by L. L Hunter
“Is everything alright?”
I jumped. “F... Frankie. You scared me.” He stepped out of the dark and I saw his face—well, half of it. The other half was hidden by shadows.
“So, are you alright? I was looking for you.”
“Yeah. I’m fine. But I think I’m going to go back to my dorm.”
He moved in front of me then, his voice deep and low in my ear. “I saw what that jerk did to you. Want me to go speak to him?”
I looked up and met his gaze. There was concern there, and something else.
“No. It’s fine. I can handle it.” I tried to move past him, but his hand came out and grabbed my arm. I found myself flush against his chest for the third time that night. What was he doing to me?
“Frankie. I’m fine. Let me go.” The way he was looking at me, it frightened me for some reason. It was intense. He finally let me go after a few tense seconds, and I hurriedly made my way to the dorm building.
With all the intensity Frankie’s gaze held, I hadn’t noticed how wet I really was. I shivered as I fumbled for my keys in my clutch and opened my door. Just to make sure no one had followed, I stuck my head back out and looked down the hallway. When I was sure the hallway was empty, I locked the door and leaned against it.
What had just happened? I was having a good time until the moment Nathan left to get me a drink. Then everything turned to shit. Frustrated and a little rattled, I decided the best medicine for the way I felt was a hot shower and a glass of wine, in that order. The music from the concert was still throbbing as I stripped from my booze-smelling wet clothes and slipped into the shower.
Standing under the hot water, I let the shower’s steady beat throttle my skin, washing away my worries. After ten minutes, I finally managed to pull myself out of the shower stall and wrap myself in a towel. I heard a low rumbling noise and realised it was my phone. It was vibrating on the kitchen counter. I ran to catch the call, but missed. When I checked it, I saw it was my mother. She was last person I wanted to speak to right now. I went into my bedroom to dress in pyjamas and when I came out, I poured myself a big glass of Pinot Noir. I didn’t care what Mia said about my choice of alcoholic beverage—I was a wine drinker. Growing up in the household I did, I was accustomed to it. As I took my first sip, sinking down into the couch, my phone began vibrating again. I groaned and grabbed it. I pressed answer.
“Hello?”
“Charlotte? Are you okay?” said my mother. She sounded panicked.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I replied warily. How could she know anything about what was happening tonight?
“You weren’t answering your phone. I tried calling four times.”
“I was at a concert. But I’m home now. What’s up?”
“Nothing in particular. I was just calling to check in. How’s the boyfriend search going?”
I rolled my eyes. I knew she wasn’t going to drop it until I gave her an answer.
“Good. Actually, it’s a bit… complicated.”
“Oh? Complicated, how? Please tell me you’ve met someone.”
“You could say that.”
“Please, do share.”
“As I said, it’s complicated. I’ve met two guys.”
“Two? And what are they like?”
“Mia introduced me to one of them, Frankie. He’s really sweet…”
“I hear a tone of uncertainty in your voice.”
“Don’t get me wrong, Mum. I like Frankie. Actually I really like him, but he’s so mysterious.”
“Honey, men are mysterious for a reason: to get you interested.”
“Really?” I couldn’t believe I was confessing all this to my mother! This conversation was beginning to sound like the type of conversation I would have with Mia. I mentally slapped myself.
“You said there were two guys?”
“Oh, yes. The other… actually, Mum. I think you’ll approve of Nathan.”
“Nathan?”
“Yeah. He’s a gentleman. Totally different from Frankie.”
“What does Nathan look like?”
“Dark blond hair, blue eyes, nice big smile. Why?”
“Oh, nothing. You said I would probably approve, so I thought I would see if maybe I knew of him or his family.”
“Oh, okay.”
After I hung up with my mother, I sat still on the couch for a good five minutes. Something didn’t add up. Why was Frankie acting so possessive? Why had Nathan acted strange after saying I looked hotter in real life than a photo he had seen? And why was Mia acting so distant? I rubbed at my temple, feeling a slight migraine coming on. I decided all the questions my mind was asking could wait until morning, after coffee. I went to bed, leaving the rest of my wine untouched.
Nathan
As I left the bathroom, I felt my phone vibrate in my jeans pocket. I clicked on, pushing the handset to my ear and my finger in my other ear.
“Yes?”
“What happened tonight?”
“Pardon?” it sounded like Mrs Jayne on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t be sure. The music was too loud. I ran out into the courtyard. The air was fresh and there were a few other people mingling, smoking, and making out. I walked behind a pillar. “Mrs Jayne? Susan?”
“Yes. It is me. What’s happening?”
“Sorry, the music was too loud to hear.”
“Were you with Charlotte at the concert?”
“Yes. I was.”
“And where is she now?”
“I… I’m not sure. She left.”
“Well, you better find her. It’s your job to protect her. I am not paying you to lose her.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“She’s in her dorm. Go, and make sure she’s okay. She sounded shaken up.”
“Shaken up?” I slapped my forehead. “Susan, forgive me. It was my fault.”
“What did you do?”
“I accidently spilled some drinks on her. I tried to apologise. I even followed her into the girl’s bathroom. But… she wouldn’t hear me out. I… I screwed up.”
“Well, you’re going to go unscrew it, you hear me?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” I pushed away from the wall and hurried towards the dormitories.
“And Nathan?”
“Yes?” I paused before the doors.
“I want her heart to be yours. Not his.”
I couldn’t speak. I knew exactly what she was asking of me.
“Nathan? Are you there?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m here.”
“Make her fall for you. You have a week.”
Chapter Ten
Charli
It was bright when I opened my eyes. I groaned, trying to shield my eyes from the glare. I rolled over, then rolled the other way, and checked my phone display. 7.45am. I remembered it was a Saturday and almost squealed with joy. There were no classes on Saturday. I sank back into my bed and pulled the covers over my head.
Then I heard the knock.
Bloody hell. No rest for the wicked.
I groaned and rolled out of bed. Searching for my fluffy grey bed socks, I found one under the bed and the other under the bed covers. I pulled them on, grabbed my robe, and stumbled to the door.
Who the heck would come see me at this time on a Saturday?
The downside to cheap student housing was that the dorms had no peephole in the door, so I couldn’t see who was on the other side. I opened the door and peered through the crack.
“Morning. I want to apologise for last night. Can we talk?” It was Nathan. He stood there grinning at me. How the hell did one person look so good so early in the morning?
“Fine. But you better have come bearing coffee.”
“You’re in luck.” I watched as he bent down and picked up two takeaway coffee cups and a brown paper bag. I gave him a small lopsided grin and opened the door wider.
“You should’ve given me a heads up before coming over here. I just woke up.”
“Sorry. I w
anted to surprise you.”
“Surprise, you did.” He offered me my coffee, and I took a sip and moaned with pleasure.
“How did you know my coffee order?”
He sat on the arm of my sofa and crossed his ankles. Damn, he was sexy. I tried to refrain from staring.
“Turns out that you’re pretty well known at the café. The barista knows you.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, Talia is in my English Literature class.” I took a few more slow sips of my soy caramel latte, inhaling the sweet, delicious scent.
“Oh, before I forget, I bought you breakfast, as well.” He stood and held out the brown grease-covered paper bag towards me. I took it and peered inside.
“Mm, bacon and egg breakfast roll.” My stomach growled. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was. I walked into the kitchen.
“Want half?” I asked, bending down to grab some plates from the cupboard.
“Only if you can’t eat all of it.”
“I’m a light eater.” I grabbed a knife and placed the bacon and egg roll on one of the plates. I attempted to cut into it, failing miserably.
Nathan chuckled, watching me in amusement. “Here, let me.” He came to stand behind me. Taking the knife from me, he pressed down into the bread and commenced cutting. It was then I noticed our proximity to one another. He was standing to the right and a little behind me. His left hipbone was touching my right buttock cheek, and his left arm grazed my right arm. I looked up and caught him looking at me. The hand that was cutting froze. The knife fell to the plate and his lips were crushed against mine before I even knew what was happening. His fingers found their way into my hair, and my body was pressed against the kitchen counter. My hands came up flat against his chiselled chest, creeping up and over his shoulders, making their way around his neck. His lean hips sandwiched mine between him and the kitchen drawers, and I felt the handles stick into my butt cheeks, but I ignored the pain. He pulled me closer against him and his tongue found its way inside my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I could do was kiss.
He picked me up and sat me on the counter, spreading my thighs to either side of his hips. He kissed me harder and with more passion. Soon his hands found their way underneath my robe and underneath my pyjama top. I suddenly realised only a thin piece of fabric separated his hands from my bare breasts. I shuddered at the thought.
“Nathan,” I gasped.
“I’m sorry. We can stop if you want.”
Did I want to stop? “No. No, don’t stop.” I kissed him again. That was when my mind went to Frankie. I pulled back.
“What?”
“Actually, yeah. We should stop.” I jumped down off the counter and went to find my phone. I was aware of Nathan following me into the bedroom.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry, Charli.”
I checked my phone and noticed I had an instant message.
“Charli? What is it?”
“Nothing. I… you should go. I have to get ready.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah. Mia and I usually go jogging in Centennial Park on Saturday.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll talk to you later. Call me?”
Distracted by the message waiting for me in the chat room, I half-heartedly dismissed Nathan. “Bye.”
Nathan glanced at me once more and then left. As soon as he was gone, and I was alone again, I turned on my computer.
A blinking chat window awaited me. I clicked on it, expecting Mia or Frankie. I was surprised and a little disappointed when it wasn’t either.
“Hi Charli,” read the message. It was from a person unknown to me.
“Do I know you?” I typed. His username read A.D. Walker.
“I am hoping you might. I’m in your social studies class.”
“There are a lot of people in Professor Stanley’s class. What do you look like? Do you have a picture?”
There was a pause of a few seconds before he answered again.
“No. Sorry.”
“Well, describe yourself.”
“Tall, dark and handsome.”
This guy was so cocky!
“Right. That sounds like half the male population.”
“No, I’m only stating the obvious.”
My phone vibrated with a text message. It was Mia asking if I was awake yet. I texted back saying I was and looked back at the computer screen. After a second, my phone buzzed again.
“Get your ass down here, lazy bones.” It read. I laughed and replied.
“Coming.” I typed “G2G” into A.D. Walker’s chat window and signed out. As I changed into exercise gear, I pondered over why everyone suddenly wanted to talk to me. In high school, I was like the disease people wanted to stay away from. Or rather, I stayed away from them. I didn’t want to be friends with someone who only wanted to use me because of my status. Sometimes I wished I wasn’t the daughter of one of the most powerful couples in the state.
* * * *
Ten minutes later, I met Mia by the entry gate to the University. She was stretching out her legs and giving some of the male students a good view. I rolled my eyes and she smiled when she saw me.
“About time. What kept you? Frankie?” She said with a smirk.
“Um, no.”
“Are you blushing? Are you getting all embarrassed about something?” She laughed, playfully shoving me as we walked to the park.
“No…”
“You totally are! Tell me what happened.”
“It wasn’t Frankie. Okay?”
“Then who was it? Nathan? Some other guy you’re now hooking up with?”
“Mia! I’m not a slut.” It was my turn to shove her. She laughed and broke into a jog. I started running too. After a few minutes of silence, I finally confessed.
“Nathan came to my dorm this morning.”
“Ooh! He’s so sexy. Have you felt his muscles? Damn, that guy works out.”
“Uh… yeah. I have.” She must have seen the blood rush to my cheeks again.
“Something happened, didn’t it?”
“You can say that.” I fiddled with my hair, uncomfortable.
“Oh My God! Did you sleep with him?”
“No!”
“Well, what did you do that’s making you blush like that?”
“We made out.”
“It must have been a pretty hot make out session for you to be getting all flustered about it.”
“It was.”
We made it to the park and turned onto the wide dirt track. It was nice, warm, and sunny this morning and there were many other joggers in the park. As my feet beat a steady rhythm in the dirt, my mind drifted to thoughts of my two men. Was it right to call them mine? They had made themselves a part of my life in such a short amount of time that it was hard not to get caught up in their webs.
Once we had jogged about two kilometres, I paused to catch my breath. I was so out of shape. I really should start up my ballet again. But after being treated like a pageant queen since a young age, being paraded in front of the world like a human doll… I quit as soon as I turned eighteen. I found a drinking fountain and bent over to take a sip. I didn’t hear his voice until it was too late.
“Hey.” I glanced sideways through my hair and my heart skipped a beat.
“It seems like you are stalking me, Franklin.” I said his full name deliberately, hoping to annoy him.
“Whatever do you mean? This is my usual route.”
I stood up and faced him full on. “Then why haven’t I seen you here before?”
“Okay, you caught me. I saw you were going for a jog, so…”
“So, you followed me,” I finished for him. “Sounds like stalking to me.”
I began to walk back the way we had come, until I realised Mia was no longer around.
“Have you seen Mia?” I asked, turning in circles.
“I passed her on the way here. She said to tell you she got a cramp and was heading back. She’ll see you lat
er.”
I exhaled, blowing my bangs out of my face momentarily. “Great.”
Something didn’t add up. Why did Mia seem to disappear every time Frankie showed up? I made a note to confront Mia about it later. Right now, I had Frankie to deal with. I took a moment to take him in—every inch of him. It was the very first time I had seen all six-foot-something of him.
He wore lightweight black jogging shorts and a sleeveless army-green shirt. It did wonders for his lean but muscular physique. He caught me looking and I blushed.
He chuckled. “Like what you see?” he said, smirking.
“Why are you here, Frankie?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I wanted to see you, Charli. Last night, when you left… I thought you were mad at me about something.”
“I wasn’t. Sorry. I just wanted to get home.”
“You don’t do that a lot, do you?”
“Do what?”
“Get out much.”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“I’m sorry to say, it is.”
“Right. Thanks.” I shoved him. He laughed and shoved me back. When I went to shove him back, he caught hold of my hand and pulled me to him. Again, he spoke in that low and sexy tone of his that made me shiver.
“We still haven’t been on our date.”
I couldn’t speak. I flattened my hands against his chest and inhaled his scent. Sweat, aftershave and the distant smell of leather.
“Unless, of course, you’re seeing that Nathan guy?” he added. I flinched and met his gaze.
“I’m not. Seeing Nathan, I mean.”
“Good. Then I’ll pick you up at six.”
I still couldn’t find the words to say okay, or yes, or anything. Why was it that he always rendered me speechless? When I didn’t move or say anything, Frankie’s hand came up and brushed my hair, tucking some behind my ear.
“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered.
Oh God, I had the strongest urge to kiss him. But I didn’t need to make a move, because he did it for me. His lips were warm and moist against mine, making me crave him more. What was this man doing to me?
