19. Ava
Idon”t know if I took some truth serum at one point or not, but I can”t believe I divulged all that to Charlie.
I should probably be embarrassed, but I”m surprisingly not. It felt good to have him understand where I come from, especially since I haven”t shared any of it with Marsha either.
The Sunny Girls, aka my old college roommates, all know about my past, and while they”ve tried to get me to connect with guys and date, they”ve also understood the feeling of abandonment that plagues me from my parents and ex-boyfriend.
We get the girls to come help unload the van and they”re so wired for it being late at night. It looks like they already ate by ordering DoorDash, so at least I don”t have to worry about doing dishes tonight.
”We should probably get to bed, everyone. That alarm clock is going to go off early tomorrow morning.”
After rounding them up and telling them to turn off their phones and lights, I feel like I”m their adopted mother.
Marsha is snoring in the room when I get back, and from the looks of the medicine on the nightstand next to her, she did have a migraine.
I take a while to wind down, but at least an hour goes by before I have to get up and head outside or just to get a drink of water. There”s a lot going through my mind. If I can”t quiet those thoughts, it”s going to be hard to function tomorrow.
I see movement through the glass into the backyard and I walk over to see Charlie sitting in one of the pool chairs, staring up at the sky.
”What are you doing?” I ask after opening the door a smidge.
”Just relaxing. Taking it all in.”
I debate whether I should go out there, especially since we hugged in the Costco parking lot. I don”t think I”ve ever felt that warm and protected, but taking a chance on being next to this guy again is like playing with fire.
”Do you want company?” I finally ask. I”m wearing a t-shirt and a pair of flowy shorts, but the air is cool.
”I”d love it,” he says.
I grab the closest thing to a blanket I can find, a thin throw that was on the couch, and walk out. I sit down in the chair next to him, wrapping myself up in the blanket as much as I can.
”Are you a night owl these days?” I ask, glancing over at his silhouette. He and Bobby had stayed up late during the summers when we visited Gran and Grandad. I could never make it as long as they did into the night.
”It depends on the day. Sometimes, yes. Other times I just take more time to sleep.”
”Me too.” We sit in silence for a long time, staring up at the brilliant sky overhead.
”Do you do this a lot?” I ask.
”I used to. It”s been a long time since I”ve slowed down and seen what”s around me.”
We enjoy the silence a bit more before I can”t hold in the questions anymore.
”Where all have you lived since college?” I ask, turning to watch the soft light on the porch highlight his features. Why hasn’t this guy been taken off the market yet?
I’m not asking that for me. Definitely not. My life is already booked.
Okay, full honesty here. Everything I’ve seen and heard about Charlie has been positive. And I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be in a relationship with him, to hug and even kiss him whenever I want.
He glances over and gives me a quick smile before saying, ”Ohio, New York, Maryland, here in Tennessee, Florida, California, and then Utah.”
I chuckle and say, ”And you”re how old?” He’s six years older, something he and Bobby wouldn’t let me forget all those years ago.
”A mere thirty-two. Why? Do I look older?” He sits up and tries to look distinguished.
I can”t help but laugh. ”That”s a lot of living in a few short years.”
”It sounds like you”ve done a lot of that over the years. Traveling for a sport is a big deal.”
Nodding, I say, ”Yeah. It definitely is. I think I”ve done every kind of fundraiser possible to help pay for those dreams. Then again, my parks and rec job had to pay for the things we were selling for the fundraiser.”
”So what”s the plan? These girls are going to grow up and move on with their lives. Are you hoping to coach at a higher level?”
His question hits me square on and I say, ”That was the original plan. But I guess things change as we get older. The main focus has been to help Gran in her later years. I don”t know if I could travel around full time just recruiting kids for my program if I were a college coach. So while I accomplished the goal of making it to the professional lacrosse women”s league for a couple of years, it”s like I”ve crossed off that dream and don”t have another to replace it.”
What is it I want to do?
”What was your major?” Charlie asks. The way he does it has me wanting to shift a little closer and cuddle up to him. Not like I”ve ever done that before, so that”s a weird thought.
”Communications. I wasn”t sure what I wanted to do with my life at the time I had to declare my major and realized that talking about things would go a long way to changing what happened to me in the past so I could avoid it in the future.”
Charlie frowns and says, ”Is that what you learned in that major?”
”Not one bit. Okay, that”s a stretch. I learned a lot about many aspects, but nothing deep enough to help.” We laugh and I ask, “What was your major?”
”Business.”
”I should”ve guessed that one,” I say with a laugh.
Charlie grins and nods. ”I figured it would help me, eventually. And it paid off a lot sooner than I thought it would.”
”How do you find your investment opportunities?”
He stares at me for several moments before answering. ”A lot of them are personal preference. What I want to see created or have happen. Others are brought to me by word of mouth.”
”And you”re able to make a profit on all of them?” I know nothing about investing, except for the random things in movies and TV shows about people in New York at the stock market. From what Charlie has said, this is nothing like that.
He moves his head back and forth a bit before saying, ”Sometimes they don”t earn back their investment. That”s the risk of the game.”
”Does that happen a lot?”
He chuckles. ”As an investor, I want to make money back and then some on every project. But it won’t happen like that every time. Part of it is expecting things to go well or to fail and setting up safeguards for that.”
I don”t know why everything he just said reminds me of my dating life. I usually expect everything to fail between a guy and me.
”That sounds like a lot.”
”It is at the beginning, but sometimes it”s easier to spot things that are like past experiences.”
”What”s your current investment? I assume you moved back to Utah for this reason.”
He nods, but instead of looking happy, like he”s done with everything else, his lips are a thin line. ”It”s a project down in Salt Lake.”
”And you bought a house an hour away? That doesn”t sound entirely practical.”
He laughs now, and I love hearing it. ”Who says I”m practical?”
”Not me,” I say. I drop my arm to the armrest of the chair and accidentally brush Charlie”s hand. He reaches over slowly and holds my hand with his, causing my hand to warm and all the veins leading away from it to get hot. I sit still, not wanting to ruin the magic that is this moment.
Am I a hand-holding virgin? No, because he helped me through the flight. But this is a bit more intimate, since I’m not worried about falling to my death on a plane.
Sitting next to me is a guy several years older who”s probably had his pick of women to date. And he”s holding my hand?
If this ends up being a bet from Marsha, she”s dead to me.