by Aria Cole
“Hmm, well…” He was silent for a long beat, as if really searching. “I guess I’ve led a pretty privileged life. No abuse, no addictions, no painful revelations to be had.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Well, don't get carried away. Just because there are no big revelations doesn't mean I haven’t struggled.”
I crossed my arms. “Struggled how? I know you didn’t pay for this car on a bartender’s salary, so I’ll assume it was given to you. Let me guess—graduation present?”
He huffed. “Quick to judge, love. That’s not a good thing.”
“So I’m right?” I squealed as though I’d caught him in a lie.
“You’re not far off. Listen, I haven’t suffered in some of the ways I’m sure you’ve suffered, but that doesn't mean I can’t understand it, can’t empathize with it. I’m here for you, Charlie, always.” His hand slipped to my thigh, and he gave it a friendly squeeze. “So what’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you?”
My mind told me to stay quiet, but against my better judgment, I spoke up. “My first boyfriend betrayed me. When I refused to sleep with him, he told the entire school I was a slut. And then when he finally did break me down enough that I gave him my virginity, he broke up with me and passed around at school a picture of me without my clothes on.”
“Jesus Christ!” Liam hit the brakes and pulled over onto the shoulder. Slamming the car in park, he turned and put his hands around my shoulders. “Fuck, that’s awful. What’s his name? I’m going to make him swallow his teeth.”
I shook my head, a smile cracking my lips. I was so touched and turned on by how protective he was of me. Liam made me feel safe, something I didn’t think would ever happen again. For the first time in a long time, I felt like myself again. “Believe me, Vince already did that, and Daddy threatened him with his shotgun. Literally.”
“Goddamn, love. I had no idea. First your mum, then you had to live through that?”
“It wasn’t so bad,” I said, making light of it. I was uncomfortable with the spotlight he’d put me in.
“Bullshit, it’s fucking atrocious and he should be in jail for it.” He grit his teeth violently.
I could tell that he was trying to hold it together to avoid upsetting me.
“I haven’t seen him since he graduated, and I heard he’s working at the sewage plant in Cambridge, so looks like I got the last laugh.”
“Don’t make light of that, Charlie. Don’t ever make light of what you went through.”
“No, it actually feels good to get it off my chest. Like it doesn’t have power over me anymore. I was haunted by the word slut for so many years. I never dated anyone after that. Even if they didn't know me or hadn’t heard the story, I thought for sure they could see it dripping off me. I couldn’t even wear skirts for the longest time. They were too revealing, made me feel like all those kids were right when they’d called me the school slut. It’s all about little steps, right?”
“Absolutely, baby. Little steps.” He pulled my head in for a kiss on my cheek, something Dad or Vince normally did. It made me feel cherished, protected.
“So now that I’ve unloaded my life story on you, you have to promise no secrets between us, okay? If we actually have a shot at being friends, it’s all honesty all the time. I just can’t take secrets.” I shook my head, trying to impart to him just how important this was to me. “Gino kept so many secrets from me that they’re a trigger now. So if I let you in, promise not to make me regret it, ‘kay?”
“Never, baby. I promise.” He pulled me in for a hug, his palms stroking my hair and sending warm and fuzzy feelings through my system. “From now on, I’ve got you.”
FIVE
Liam
Christ, she’d been violated. She’d been emotionally and verbally abused, and I wanted nothing more than to slap her dad and brother on the back and thank them for taking care of her when I couldn't. It was silly since I didn’t even know her back then, but I felt protective of past Charlie just the same.
I wanted to find the fucker. I wanted him to feel pain. I wanted him to walk with a limp for the six years of painful memories my beautiful girl had had to carry. Fuck that—I wanted him to walk with a limp from my hands forever.
Charlie was so much more fragile than I’d ever dreamed. That chip on her shoulder had thrown me for a loop in the beginning, but I saw now exactly where she’d gotten it from.
After we stepped out of the car, I locked her hand in mine and pulled her along the dirt trail as the ocean breeze washed across our faces.
I wanted to forget both of our pasts, pretend they didn’t exist, and just live for us, for our future.
“This is it,” I said when we walked to the rocky ledge of remote coastline on Marblehead. From here, you could see the entire ocean spread out before you, islands dotting the coast, and even sea lions or a whale on a good day.
“This is gorgeous.” She spun, letting go of my hand and relishing the wind in her hair. She looked free, as though she wasn’t carrying the burden of pain on her shoulders anymore. She looked alive.
“That’s the prettiest smile I’ve seen on you yet.” I caught her mid-spin and pulled her to me. “I can’t tell you what it means to me that you told me about your past. I know it must have been hard. I know you didn’t want to tell me, but I’m really fucking honored that you did.”
“I want you to know everything. I’m sick of doing this dance with you. I like you, Liam, but I had to tell you what you’re getting in for. I’m mouthy and loud and sometimes reckless and prone to bad decisions. You get what you get with me, and if you can’t accept that, then you should walk away.”
“Never, and I disagree with almost all of those statements. You’re lovely and thoughtful and so kind. You’re stubborn and smart and have an independent streak a mile long. You’re also a little wild and a lot of fun, but cautious and reserved too. You didn’t make a bad decision. You fell in love; it’s how you pick yourself up that determines your future. Don’t let that arsehole control how you see yourself anymore, promise me?”
Her eyes held mine for long beats, her lips twisting together before her palms were suddenly on my cheeks and she was kissing me. Full-on, body pressed to mine, kissing me.
My hands circled her instantly, and with the Atlantic breeze at our backs, Charlie finally let go of all her inhibitions and reservations and kissed me like she really meant it.
“You’re the kindest Irish bastard I’ve ever met.”
“Mm.” I nipped at her bottom lip, her body still plastered to mine. The wind pushed us together as though we were meant to be melded as one. “Dropped the playboy, now?”
“You earned it. Unless there are any other surprises you’ve got to tell me, you’re officially my favorite Irish bastard.” She pressed up on her toes, curled her arm around my neck, and pulled me back down into a breathtaking kiss.
“Fuck, you don’t know what you do to me.”
“Tell me,” she purred.
A low groan escaped my throat before I pulled us both down in the long grass. I settled her across my thighs, so she was straddling my waist and took to assaulting her neck with my tongue.
“First I want to peel this tank top off you and see your creamy tits in this sexy lingerie. I know you wore it just for me.” I grinned and snapped the lacy black strap of her bra.
She shifted in my palms, her core grinding directly over my thick cock. Fuck, she drove me crazy. I wanted to strip her, fuck her senseless, then come all over her sweet cunt and rub it in until the only thing she smelled was me on her.
“Then I want to pull this skirt down your legs and bury my head between your fuckable thighs. I want to taste you until you’re screaming my name and coming all over my tongue.”
“Liam…” she said huskily as her hips moved back and forth across my body.
“I want to hear you call my name every night. I want to hear those little fluttery moans fall past your lips when I get
you off in the morning, and again before work, and then after a long shift at night. I want to make you so fucking happy, you forget everyone's name but mine.”
I held her chin and attached my lips to her neck, sucking and pulling at the flesh as she sighed and rocked quicker. I trailed my tongue down her throat and sucked at the hollow before pressing my thumb between her legs.
My cock strained behind my zipper as I rotated my thumb at her clit, way too much fucking fabric between us for my liking. Little pants fell past her lips, and I covered her mouth with mine, determined not to waste another of those precious gasps. I wanted to soak myself in her and leave her so drunk at my hands she couldn’t think straight enough to tell me to get lost. Her thighs shook around my hips before I felt the orgasm rock her body, her teeth clamping into my shoulder as she rode the waves of pleasure.
Watching Charlie come was so captivating that I nearly forgot my name. Charlie brought out feelings in me I’d never had before—the instinct to nurture, protect, and love her as though it was the only thing that mattered in life.
“I want your heart, Charlie, and once I’ve got it, I won’t ever give it back.” I kissed her lips. “And you won’t want me to.”
She moaned into my mouth, a smile pulling at her lips before she broke our kiss. “Maybe you should be upgraded to the Irish charmer.”
“That’s a welcome improvement, but I kind of like the way Irish bastard rolls off those sassy lips of yours.”
She broke into a giggle, her fingers still trailing in the neatly trimmed hair at the base of my neck. I loved seeing her like this, so happy and carefree. I wanted her to always smile, no more of her days filled with sadness or pain. I wanted her to always feel sunshine on her face and the beauty that was life. My beautiful Charlie. My girl…
“You’re a dangerous man, Liam… what’s your last name?”
Her question shocked me, and I instantly thought I needed to lie. Was there a chance she’d heard of my family name? All the way in America, it was doubtful.
“Fitzpatrick.” I opted for honesty. I owed it to her.
“Mm, a strong Irish name. You’re probably descended from the royal kings and queens of Ireland,” she teased.
“There isn’t actual royal families left where I come from. It’s now a bunch of politicians who are the great-great-grandsons of some Duke or Earl that still cling to their lineage like it actually means something.”
“I know. Still fun to think about.”
“Not really. A bunch of old stodgy white men making the rules. Nothing fun there.”
“You know a lot about it.” She tapped my lips with a delicate fingertip.
I caught it between my teeth, sucking on her digit and imbibing her scent into my very being.
“History is big in Ireland. Believe me, I know much more than I’d like.”
“Whatever you say.”
She kissed me again until we both fell back in the grass. With hands and lips roaming everywhere, I allowed us to have this moment.
No more talk of the past and history be damned. I had her right now, and nothing would tear her away from me. She was as good as mine.
SIX
Charlie
“So I was thinking about what you said about Irish history, and I think I’d like to do some digging into my ancestors,” I stood at the stove, stirring Liam’s Irish stew.
We’d stopped at the market on the way home so I could pick up some groceries for Daddy, and now Liam and I were making dinner together.
It was so normal, so homey, so perfect.
“That sounds like fun.”
“My dad says we’re all Italian, but I think my mom had some Scottish too. Hey, maybe we’re long-lost cousins.” I bumped his shoulder slyly.
“Irish and Scot are not the same,” he chastised.
“I know, I know, but with all the Vikings going back and forth the Irish Sea…”
“No, still not likely.” He grinned and dipped a finger into the bubbling brown gravy before trying a taste.
“Tell me more about your family. What are they like? Your siblings, did they go to Harvard?”
“My family is boring. My dad is a history buff. It’s the only thing he thinks about—you can hardly hold a conversation with him otherwise. My siblings went to Oxford and Cambridge. I was the dark horse, insisting on coming to America for university.”
“What made you do it? Going against their wishes and coming here?”
“I was sick of expectations, being told what to do. My family is very… singular in what they expect of my brother and sister and me. I guess that fits them well—they never had the desire to leave—but I couldn’t imagine staying…”
“They don’t sound that bad.”
“Not bad per say, more just not for me…”
“Do you have any pictures of home?”
“Maybe when you come to my place I’ll show you some.”
I grinned cheekily at him. “So… I’ve got an invite to your place?”
“An open invitation, love.” He winked at me and nearly sent my heart free-floating.
Every reaction I had to him was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. My teenage heart had thought I’d loved Gino, but this was something altogether different and more than consuming.
“I think the stew’s done. Should we share it with your dad?”
“Aren’t you generous? And here I thought you’d want to keep me all to yourself tonight.” I winked back at him. I didn’t know who this girl who’d taken me over was, but I was enjoying every minute of banter with Liam Fitzpatrick.
“I’ve had you to myself all day. I don’t mind sharing for a few hours.”
“Okay, I’ll pack it up, then we can head next door. Thank you, Liam. Honestly, you’re the sweetest.” I pecked him on the cheek before rummaging through a drawer and pulling out a large Tupperware bowl
A few minutes later, we walked the short block to my father’s house.
I stepped through the front door of my childhood home with Liam trailing behind me.
“Daddy!” I called. “We brought dinner!”
“Hey, sugar.” My dad came around the corner of his old, outdated kitchen and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Irish.”
I nearly choked on a laugh when Daddy nodded at Liam.
“Liam, Daddy. His name is Liam. This is his family’s recipe actually. Irish stew.” I pulled bowls from the cupboard.
“Smells good. No fancy shit in there, right?” Daddy cocked an eyebrow at Liam.
Liam shook his head, a little confused. “No, sir.”
“We made it at my place,” I said.
“You’re hanging out outside of work?” Daddy tipped his head to one side, dark eyes darting from me to Liam.
“Perhaps I should go…” Liam took a few steps back.
“No. Stop giving him a hard time, Daddy. Yes, we’re hanging out outside of work. Chill.” I placed a palm on my father's broad shoulder.
A low rumble escaped his lips when he looked from Liam and back to me.
“Please,” I said.
“Fine.” He pulled a chair out from the small round kitchen table and waited.
“Can’t thank you enough, sir, for giving me a chance on the job downstairs. I know I didn’t have any bar experience, but I think I’m picking it up pretty quick.”
“No bar experience? Christ.” Daddy ran a hand through his hair. “Vince said you’d worked in countless pubs, or whatever the hell they call a bar over there.”
“Oops. Well, it all worked out.” I placed a bowl of hot stew in front of my dad and set my hand on his shoulder. “Eat up. Liam promises it’s the best lamb stew you’ll ever taste.”
“Lamb?” Daddy grunted just as he finished swallowing his first bite. “Thought no fancy shit?”
“Lamb isn’t fancy. Besides, it’s what’s supposed to be in an authentic Irish stew.”
“Actually, sir, where I come from, lamb is sort of like beef—one of the more common and inex
pensive meats.”
“Lamb.” Dad shook his head before shoveling another spoonful into his mouth. “Pretty good.”
I shook my head as a shiver of relief seemed to course through Liam’s body.
“Sit down. Aren’t ya gonna eat?” Dad asked.
I shot Liam a silly face to calm his nerves before I poured two more bowls of stew and set them at the table.
“What your folks do, Liam?”
Liam nearly sputtered on his first spoonful of stew before swallowing and answering, “Politics.”
“Bunch of crooked bastards then?”
“Daddy!”
“It’s the truth. Prove me wrong,” Daddy replied.
“Just because a few get caught lying—”
“Ain’t about that. It’s about the fact that they live up on their high horses and rule us, little people, when they have no idea what it takes to walk in our shoes. Middle class is disappearing, girl, don’t forget I said it, and it’s ‘cause those greedy corporate bastards running all these countries are all in bed together. Makin’ each other richer is their only goal.”
Anger at his outburst had my hands shaking. “Dad—”
“It’s okay, Charlie. He isn’t far off.” Liam cracked a wide smile. “I’ve met too many, and most of them are greedy arseholes.”
“But that doesn’t mean—”
“Listen to the Irishman. Sounds like he knows a thing or two.” Daddy pointed his spoon at Liam for dramatic effect.
“I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to bring dinner down here,” I grumbled.
Daddy broke into a small chuckle before I heard the quick scrape of his chair as he went back to the counter for seconds. “Damn good stew.”
“Thanks, sir. My grandmum will love to hear that.”
“Any of this family of yours live in the US?”
“No, pretty deep Irish roots. I don’t think you could get them to leave if you offered to pay them.”
“I wouldn’t mind gettin’ over there to a pub sometime. Is that what they call ‘em?”
I shook my head, astounded by the one-eighty this dinner had taken. Daddy liked Liam now?
“Yup, going for a craic at the pub means going to the bar for a good time.” Liam finished his bowl and relaxed into his seat. “You’d get along well at the pubs in Ireland. They’re a no-bullshit sort of people. You’d fit right in, I think.”
