by S. Moose
I’ve stayed away from Troy these past few days since our weird conversation outside. For him to say half of the shit he does, pisses me off. Each time I think we’re making progress, something happens and it’s back to square one.
Flopping on the couch with my glass, makeup bag, and several different movie choices, I take a drink of my deliciously refreshing wine and lean back to look at my makeup. Taking a look at my nails, I decide the pink isn’t working for me anymore. I browse through my nail polishes and make the decision to paint these pretties with neon orange.
Decision made.
Done.
That’s how I roll.
After taking off the previous polish, I get up and pop in Something Borrowed. This movie is the best. The story line is classic and tissues are definitely needed. Boy and girl meet in college and fall in love, but neither says anything until girl’s best friend meets boy, and a few years later boy and best friend are getting married.
Then boom. Plot twist.
Sitting back on the couch and picking up the polish, I think about Troy and if that happened to us. I don’t think it would. He broke up with Andrea, but that’s because she’s a dirty slutbagwhore. At this point I’m annoyed. I see Kate Hudson’s character on TV and grip the polish bottle tightly in my hand. If a blonde bombshell tries to get near Troy, I will drown her in the lake.
It’s a Saturday, and I’m home. How lame. I wonder what he’s doing. Would he want to hang out with me? Internally groaning, I pick up my phone and think about texting him. Noticing the time, ten thirty p.m., different thoughts go through my head. He could be out right now with Will. Two gorgeous single men are out around town and I’m sure women are throwing themselves at them.
Jealousy rears its ugly head. I hardly ever get jealous. When it comes to Troy, my protectiveness comes out and no one can be near him.
I open the top of the polish and carefully apply the pretty color on my nails. It’s sad that this is what I’m doing when I could be out and about.
I shouldn’t be feeling these things. Troy and I aren’t together and we aren’t having sex so what’s the big deal. I’m moving on and forcing myself to get back into the dating world. He can do whatever he wants.
But when we’re together, I feel better and completely connected to him. It’s something I can’t describe. How can you describe love?
I groan and finish painting my nails. Turning my attention back to the movie, I refill my glass of wine and soon I’m on bottle two with She’s the Man playing.
Feeling restless, I lie down and close my eyes to Channing Tatum working out. A woman would think staying awake to watch that sexy man is necessary, but this girl needs sleep.
The sun shines through the windows into the living room. Slowly getting up and stretching my arms over my head, I look around and see the remnants of last night’s adventures staring at me.
Everything’s quiet and I take a few more minutes on the comfortable couch to relax before starting the day. Granted, it’s Sunday, and my day off so that means relaxation and cooking breakfast for brother dearest.
Picking myself up from the couch, I head to the kitchen and take out the ingredients I need: eggs, bacon, sausage, spinach, onions, cheese, tomatoes, and potatoes. I get into my breakfast cooking groove and pop the pan of diced potatoes into the oven, looking at the little bowls with the omelet choices. Feeling satisfied, I open the refrigerator again to get the container of orange juice. When I turn around, a blonde fucking bombshell with just-fucked hair is staring at me with her head cocked to the side.
I know Will. He’s not into blondes.
Son of a bitch.
Troy slept over and brought home his play thing.
“Uh, hi?”
“Who are you,” she asks me in her stupid whiney voice.
“I’m Will’s sister and this is my home so I should be asking who you are and why you’re in my kitchen in next to nothing?”
“Huh? I don’t get what you’re saying.” I roll my eyes and see Troy walking in. I turn my attention to him and growl. “You brought home a girl?”
“What?”
“I didn’t come home with him. Like, who do you think I am? The one I came back with is still sleeping,” she giggles. “We had a long night.”
“Ew.” I raise my hand. “Stop. Go away. Now,” I snap at her.
“You’re so rude,” she complains and marches herself out of the kitchen.
I don’t want to look at Troy right now. The intensity of his gaze is searing into my back and I feel like an idiot. I hate this anxious feeling. God, this sucks.
“Feel better?”
“Shut up,” I tell him and finish my juice. “So my brother is a whore. Sorry I got you two mixed up.”
He comes over to me and touches my cheek. “Your skin is so soft,” he whispers low, almost as if he didn’t mean to say it out loud. He leans in close. “I like how mad you get.”
I’m in so much trouble.
Chapter 19
Troy
Pulling up to Will’s house, I notice Sal’s car and hurry inside. If I knew that fucker was here today I’d have been over a lot sooner.
I walk inside and hear laughing from the kitchen. I head that way and see Sal showing her pictures on his phone. Her hand is on his forearm and they’re standing too fucking close together.
“She’s so cute! Jane and I are getting together later this week so I can meet Avery.”
“Yeah, that’s my girl,” he smiles. “One day I hope to have a little girl.” This brings a smile to Charlotte’s face and a pissed off expression to mine. That fucker doesn’t want kids.
“I didn’t expect you would be here today,” I say to get their attention. I look her up and down. She’s wearing a short dress with her hair curly and makeup done lightly. Damn, she’s beautiful. “You’re not working today?”
“Nope,” she smiles at me. “Day off.”
“Why aren’t you doing something else?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you have friends to hang out with or something, instead of flirting with our friend?”
“Calm down,” Sal says. “No one’s flirting, Troy.” A smirk spreads across his face, the fucker knows how to push my buttons. “She’s relaxing with me while Will fixes whatever the hell he’s fixing upstairs. He told me to keep her company.”
“Let’s go help him then,” I snarl and walk away. When we get to the foyer I turn around and face him. “What’s your fucking deal?”
“What,” Sal says. “Just talking, man. No worries.”
“Off limits, Sal. She’s not one of your whores, so don’t make her fall for your stupid charm,” I warn him.
“Whatever you say.” He slaps my shoulder and goes upstairs. I turn my way back to the kitchen to deal with little miss flirty.
“Are you done being mean yet?” She puts her hands on her hips and gives me a look. “I don’t know why you’re so rude and short with me. What did I do to you?” I step closer to her until her back hits the wall. “Troy?”
“Nothing, okay? When did you and Sal start getting close?”
“We aren’t. He came over and we were just talking. I mean, it’s not like you care or anything.”
“You’re right, I don’t care.”
“Then why are you freaking out?”
“Because he’s our friend and I know how he is with women. He treats women like cheap whores. You’re more than that.”
“While I appreciate your concern, you don’t have to worry. Remember, I’m dating Reed.”
“Still?”
“Ah, yeah. Why?”
I need to get away from her so I head upstairs and help the guys with whatever broke in Will’s room.
“Got a date for you tonight,” Will announces. I turn my head in his direction and glare at him.
“Don’t need one,” I tell him and hammer in the nail.
“Yes, you do. You’re fucking cranky and moody as hell. Since Andrea left y
ou’ve been a mess.”
“I’m fine.”
“Dude go on the date,” Sal encouraged me. “She’s hot. A fucking ten.”
“She’s nice. Her name’s Rae. She’s a lawyer and is one of my clients. I don’t normally do this shit, but she’s nice and lonely like your cranky ass.”
“Whatever,” I mutter under my breath. Maybe a date with Rae will get my mind off Charlotte.
Rae’s sexy as hell. She’s wearing a tight black dress and the heels she’s wearing do amazing things to her toned and tanned legs. We spend the night talking and getting to know each other. Her hand rests on my thigh for most of the time after we finish eating. A smile spreads on her face and the look of fuck me, please is in her eyes. I don’t normally take a woman home on the first date, but normal is out of my head. All night I kept thinking about Charlotte and wanting to be with her. Maybe a night of casual sex will be what I need instead of thinking about Charlotte and the way she feels in my arms.
When we finish the bottle of wine I take her hand in mine and she knows where we’re going next.
“Your house is gorgeous,” she gushes and I take her face in my hands and slam my lips against hers.
“I don’t want to talk anymore,” I bite her lower lip and hear her moan. Guiding her into the living room, I push her onto the sofa and push up her dress, feeling her wetness against my fingers.
“I’m so ready for you,” she moans. “Since I saw you, all I could think about was fucking you hard and fast. Put your mouth on me.”
I smile and slowly slide down her black thong and toss it aside. Kissing her inner thigh, I lick her clit and all I can think about is Charlotte. This isn’t right. I try hard to get her off and let her moans take away thoughts about the one I truly want to be with. Fuck, I’m not even hard and her moans are getting annoying.
“Yes! Yes,” she screams and scratches the hell out of my neck. “Meow!” I quickly stop and look up at her.
“Did you just meow?”
“Uh, no.”
“I think you did.” She gets up and pushes me against the wall and pulls down my pants. Before I can say anything else, she grips my cock in her hands and licks the head.
“Oh, you want in my mouth,” she asks and licks again, caressing my balls. “Get hard for me.”
“Keep doing that,” I tell her. I force myself to think of anything to get me hard and it’s just not hard. Imagining Charlotte in a bikini gets me hard in seconds, though.
“There it is,” she whispers and covers my cock with her mouth. I hear her sucking and feel teeth against my cock.
“Careful,” I tell her. “Fuck.”
“Don’t you like it rough?” She nips the head of my cock and I’m ready to kick her ass out. This is the worst blow job ever.
I have to stop this before she bites off my dick. Before I can pull myself away I hear a gasp and heels clicking against my marble floor. The door slams and I push her away. Fuck, that was Charlotte.
“Who was that?” Rae asks. “Will never said you had a girlfriend.”
“I don’t.”
“Then, were you expecting a third, because I’m totally down for that.”
“I have to get you home,” I tell her. “This isn’t working out. I’m sorry. I had a nice dinner with you.”
Rae glares at me and points her finger to my chest. “Listen, mister. I haven’t had sex in a year.” I’m not surprised. “So you and I are going to fuck. I want your dick in me now.”
“I’m sorry, Rae. Maybe next time.” Or never. “I need to take you home.”
“Fuck this. You’re not a man at all. Waste of time. I’ll find my own way home.” She walks away and whips out her cell phone. I figured I’ll give her some time to get a ride before I go out and look for her. Taking out my phone I send Charlotte a message.
Me: Talk to me.
Charlotte: What for?
Me: I’m sorry you had to see that. It’s not what you think.
Charlotte: Really, Troy? I’m pretty sure I know what I saw.
Me: It’s not what you think.
Charlotte: Oh, okay. So she tripped and her mouth landed on your dick? Oh wait. She spilled something on you so you had to take down your pants and she thought it would be fun to check out your cock? Please stop me if I’m wrong.
Me: It’s not like that please can you come back over and we can talk . . . I kicked her out, so I’m here alone.
She doesn’t respond and for a moment I think she’ll never talk to me again. When I hear the door open, I quickly head over and see sweet Charlotte standing in my entryway.
I close the space between us. “You scared me. Tonight was stupid. Your brother thought it would be good for me to date and I brought her home.”
“And what?” The annoyed tone in her voice is obvious. “What do you want?”
“I want to make sure you’re okay. Things have been weird between us and it’s my fault. I’m sorry, okay?”
“Whatever. It’s not like I want you or anything. We’re friends and you can do whatever or whoever you want. We’ll never be together.”
She’s slowly killing me. I need her to understand where I’m coming from. Hearing her words doesn’t make it easy. I don’t want to feel when it comes to her. She’s pushing my walls down and making me see I can’t treat her wrong and push her aside.
“Sweet Charlotte. Things are complicated and I don’t know where to take what I’m feeling. There are things about me you don’t know. I’m not the same guy as before. You deserve better than me.”
“You can think that, but I know what I want.”
“It can’t be me.”
“Why?” Her voice rises. “Why, Troy?”
“Because you left without a word,” I scream, moving closer to her I see the stance she’s talking. She’s not backing down. “I wanted you to come clean with Will and not be with Shawn. We had a plan. We made a promise. We could have told Will together. You will never be able to stand up to your brother and because of that we can never be together. I wanted a fucking chance with you. I wanted to fucking make you happy and love you forever.”
“I get it,” she screams. “You’re right, I’ll never be able to stand up to Will, but it’s not like you took the matter into your own hands. You know how I feel about Will. He gave up his life for me! I don’t want to disappoint him.”
“So you’ll be miserable forever? Is that it?”
“You’re not the only one this was hard on.” She grabs my face and makes me look at her. “Stop acting like I’m not hurting.”
I shake my head and think about Will. I think about our bro code. I think about not wanting love and not giving her what she needs. “I can’t give you what you need.”
“How do you know?” Her hands rest on my face and I close my eyes, afraid to continue looking at her. “How?”
“Because I don’t believe in love. I’m tainted and dark. Sex is sex to me. You don’t deserve that. You deserve a knight in shining armor, not the devil or joker.”
“You’ll never be that to me, Troy,” she smiles and leans to softly kiss my lips. “Never.”
Slowly moving out of her grasp I look away. “You need to leave, Charlotte.”
“Are you serious?” I nod, and don’t respond. “You want me out?”
“I do.”
“Fine.”
Without another word, she leaves me alone in the dark. This is how it should be.
Later on, I get up from the couch and turn off the TV. It’s been a long night and all I need is to forget Charlotte and the look on her face when I told her to leave. I need to forget she’s the biggest part of my life and the only woman I want. Even though we want things in life, it doesn’t mean we deserve to have them. Everyone wants love and to be happy, but when it gets hard, they run because dealing with the hard shit takes too much effort.
Before I get into bed, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I grab my phone to see a text from Jane.
Jane: You need to come t
o the hospital.
Me: What? Why? Is it Avery??
Jane: It’s Charlotte.
Chapter 20
Troy
Running down the hospital hall, I nearly push down a pregnant woman walking with her husband, boyfriend, baby daddy, whatever he is and some old man almost pissed himself when I yelled for him to move.
Finding Jane, I rush over to her and fire questions.
“Calm down,” she tells me. “Will’s in the room with her now. She was walking out of the grocery store and when she got to her car, someone pushed her and kicked her in the ribs. They stole her car and purse.” Jane dries her eyes and clears her throat. “The doctor said she’ll be okay. Nothing’s broken and no concussion, but she needs to stay overnight just to be sure.”
“How did they know to call you?”
“Because I was the last person she was texting. I’m surprised the asshole didn’t take her phone.”
“Yeah.” I look around and turn back to Jane. “Should I go in?” I have the sinking feeling this is my fault. I’m the one that dismissed her and made her leave. If she stayed or if I made sure she made it back to Will’s, then this wouldn’t have happened. Fuck. This is why she can’t be near me. Too much bad shit happens.
“Go see her,” Jane urges.
I hesitate, turn to look at her, then head down the corridor to her room. When I walk in, Will’s sitting next to her bed, holding her hand, and I hear them talking.
“I’m glad you’re okay honey. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I want to find the fucker and beat his ass. Fuck!”
“It’s okay, Will. I’m fine. I have to look at the bigger picture. I’m alive.”
“Yeah.”
“Charlotte.” Both heads turn to look at me. Charlotte’s eyes soften for a second then she turns ice cold.
“Troy. To what do I owe the pleasure of having you here?”
I ignore her snarky comment and walk in. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m going to do whatever it takes to find the asshole and make them pay.” Will nods and agrees.
