Chapter Ten
CHAPTER TEN
“GETTIN’ ANYWHERE WITH THIS old thing?” Joseph’s muffled words catch my attention before I hear his hand knock on the edge of the truck’s body.
Before the dead of winter set in, I asked Joseph if I could work on the old Ford. He told me it had been sitting outside the barn for at least ten years, so he wasn’t sure much could be done with it, but I was welcome to try. Since then, it has been my pet project to pass the time. Something that I could call my own, instead of picking up other things to do around the ranch. It has been a few months since I got my hands dirty under the hood. The heavy snow that fell this past winter made it nearly impossible to work on it because I couldn’t get it inside the barn. But now with the temperatures rising and snow melting…I could finally get back to it. And it feels great.
“We’re getting somewhere, but not quite there yet,” I say, crawling from under the truck. “Need something?”
“Actually, yes.” Joseph wrings his hands before he folds them, leaning over the bed. He waits until I’m fully on my feet to continue. “I know you and Charlie have had your…differences the past year.”
That’s one way to put it. After our little spat in the barn yesterday, she’s been doing her best to ignore me.
“But tomorrow is her birthday and…Well, she’s supposed to go out tonight with her friends, and it seems like any time she goes out lately, Cooper shows up. But if you were there—”
“Joe.” I sigh and pull one of the work towels through the open cab window to wipe my hands. “You know I’d do anything for you, but—”
“I know that you two aren’t exactly friends, but I think if you gave one another a chance, you’d actually see you could be! You’re not as different as you might think.”
I rub the crease between my brows. I’m starting to get the feeling no matter what I say, I’m not getting out of this. Not if I want a (somewhat) peaceful night. If he tries to tell Charlie she can’t go out with her friends because of his fear that Cooper will show up…it’ll be World War III in the Blackwood household. And if she goes out without a chaperone, she will most likely wake me up at three in the morning again.
“Just think about it, hmm? She’s supposed to leave in a bit to meet them.”
“Fine. But I’m not going to be happy about it.”
I know I’m going to regret this. This is a bad idea, but how can I say no to Joseph? This man took me in when I had nowhere else to go, no questions asked—okay, maybe a few questions asked, but not really—and he hasn’t asked much of me outside my normal workload. I owe him this much…
“You have no idea how much I appreciate this, Xavier!”
I grunt in response, turning my back to him to put my tools away. At least I have one thing going for me…I’m not the person who has to tell Charlie that I’ll be her babysitter tonight. Joseph can do that.
“I cannot believe my dad is making you come tonight.” Charlie huffs with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. That’s at least the third time she has said it since we left the ranch. I’m sure she’ll say it at least one more time before we get to Layne’s Dive Bar. “I’m a grown woman. I don’t need someone to babysit me.”
My eyes remain on the road ahead, ignoring her. I haven’t responded the other times she has said it, and this time isn’t any different. Because that’s what she wants…She’s baiting me, hoping I’ll say something to add fuel to her fire, and I will not fall for it.
“I’m not a child.”
I roll my eyes and mumble, “Sure are acting like one.”
“What was that?”
Great. Good job, Xavier. You weren’t supposed to say anything. Now look what you’ve done.
“Nothing.” I toss a sweet smile over my shoulder, pulling into the parking lot.
Charlie barely lets me pull the truck to a complete stop before she jumps out, making a beeline for the front door.
“You owe me, Joe,” I whisper, rubbing my face, and climb out of the truck. This is going to be a long night, the kind of night that is bound to have consequences. What those consequences would look like…I’m not sure, but I know they can’t be good.
The heavy metal door sticks when I try to open it, requiring a good tug to free it. No one had gone in behind Charlie, and while the door might be a little sticky sometimes, I can almost guarantee this extra-strength hold is intentional. When I finally get inside, I spot her auburn waves leaning halfway over the bar, pointing to something on the wall before batting her eyelashes at the bartender.
Oh, for the love of God.
Is this what I have to deal with all night?
The bartender offers a wink before he starts mixing her drink, keeping his attention solely on her. Charlie swings her hips from side to side against the edge of the bar before throwing her head back in laughter. She’s really laying it on thick.
Before I even step up to the bar, I catch the eye of the bartender. He turns on a dime, focusing on whatever drink she just ordered.
Charlie glances over her shoulder to see who so rudely interrupted their conversation and rolls her eyes, climbing off the bar. “What’s it going to take to make you go away?”
“Sorry, Char. You’re stuck with me.”
“Can you at least try not to be a buzzkill?” She groans, swiping the drink off the bar. The bartender set it down and walked away without a second glance. I barely registered him to begin with. “I know my dad sent you to—”
“Your dad only sent me to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” I shrug, stepping up to the bar. “You wanna get wasted? Be my guest. Just don’t do anything stupid .”
Charlie steps into me, looking up from underneath her long lashes. She gingerly places the straw against her tongue and sucks. “What constitutes stupid?”
My lips pull into a firm line, staring down at her.
“I’m kidding!” She doubles over in laughter. “C’mon, since I can’t get rid of you, I guess I should introduce you to my friends.” Charlie drags me toward the farthest corner of the bar, where a few people have already taken up residence near the billiards tables.
“And who is this?” A blonde girl purrs, and it’s hard to miss the glare Charlie sends her way. “Is this the—”
“My dad made me bring him,” Charlie cuts her off. “He promised not to get in the way tonight. Right, Zay?”
“It’ll be like I’m not even here,” I say.
“That’s a bit hard to imagine when you’re right there,” a different blonde says.
I’m going to call them Blonde #1 and Blonde #2. That seems easier than trying to remember their names. I’ll never see these people again, so why do I care?
“Is that such a bad thing?” I ask Blonde #2, earning a glare from Charlie. It’s a threat, telling me to be nice to her friends. “Whatever, I’m going to get a beer.”
I thought birthdays were supposed to be fun. This is anything but fun…Tonight has been dragging. Every time I glance at the clock behind the bar, it’s only been another five minutes. How long am I supposed to sit here? I might combust if I have to sit here for another two or three hours. I can think of a million other things I’d rather do, but I remind myself that I’m doing this for Joseph. And, I guess, for Charlie, too. It is her thirtieth birthday, after all.
So far, there have been no signs of Cooper.
Thank God. If it stays that way, I can report to Joseph that nothing happened, and he won’t ask me to tag along with Charlie and her friends next time.
“This is so exhilarating, ain’t it?” the guy I nicknamed “Cowboy” says, sidling up next to me at the high-top table. I think Charlie said his real name is Jackson, and he’s dating Blonde #4. “You’re Xavier, right? The guy who doesn’t know who he is.”
I nod.
“I’m Jackson.” He sticks his hand out toward me. So, I was right…His name is Jackson. At least I know my short-term memory still works. “I belong to Katy, the one sitting across from Charlie over there.”
Jackson points to the high top a few tables down where Charlie sits with five other girls, all blonde except one. Why does she have so many blonde friends?
“Nice to meet you,” I say, shaking his hand.
“I didn’t know you and Charlie were a thing.”
My brow cocks. “We’re not.”
Why would he say that?
“Oh.” Jackson hesitates, looking between me and the girls’ table. “I guess I thought you were because you’re here tonight. I mean…You’ve been living up at the ranch and Charlie has told Katy all about—”
“Jackson!” A shrill scream comes from the other side of the room. We both turn to see Katy flagging down her boyfriend with wide eyes. She and Charlie practically sprint to our table. “Honey, it’s our turn to play darts. Come on!”
“But I was—”
“Now!” Katy heaves Jackson off the barstool and back across the room to the darts area.
“Should we play some pool?” Charlie asks, cutting me off when I try to ask her what in the hell just happened. She gnaws on the corner of her mouth, glancing toward the darts game where Katy has already begun to scold Jackson for almost spilling the beans. “One of the tables finally opened up.”
A smirk tugs on my lips. She knows that she’s been caught. Jackson was one second from spilling the beans earlier, and with how squeamish the thought seemed to make her, I wanted to push the subject further. “Lead the way.”
Charlie swims her way through the crowd that has started to gather inside Layne’s, and I stay one step behind. She sets up the rack when we reach the billiards table.
“How ’bout we make things interesting,” I say, downing the rest of my beer.
“How so?” she asks without looking up from her task.
“For every ball I pocket, you have to tell me a secret.”
“I don’t have any secrets.”
“No?” My brow raises. “Then it won’t matter if I win.”
“And what do I get if I pocket a ball?” Charlie asks, looking up at me, bent over the side of the table. If I were any other man, I’d probably enjoy the view. Hell, who am I kidding? Seeing her bent over the edge with her perky ass in the air is a sight, but I can’t let it distract me from the task at hand.
“I’ll remove a piece of clothing.”
That stops her dead in her tracks, fumbling with the rack in her hands.
“We…I…Xavier, we’re in a public bar!”
“And?”
Charlie glances around the room, leaning in to speak a little softer. “I’m really good at pool. You’ll be naked in front of the whole town!”
She’s right. I’m not wearing much, but I’m not worried. At least, I don’t think I am. I hope I know what I’m doing.
“Sure about that?” I ask with a lot more confidence than I feel on the inside.
“You seem very confident for someone who can’t even remember his own name.”
Damn, that stings a bit. That is her favorite thing to use against me. Whenever I get a little too comfortable, she has to remind me that I’m still the town freak who can’t remember a damn thing about himself.
Grabbing two pool sticks, I hand one over to her. “Are you in or not?”
Charlie’s gaze narrows, but I see the fire ignite in them. She’s intrigued and wants to know what game I’m playing. When she reaches out to take the stick, she lets her fingers ghost over mine before wrapping her hand around the shaft and sauntering to the other side of the table. “Your break or mine?”
“You go ahead. I’ll give you a head start.”
Charlie rolls her eyes but lines herself up at the opposite end of the table, bending over the edge again, and I push down any thoughts that might distract me from the game. Her tongue pokes out the side of her mouth as she sends the stick straight into the center of the white ball, breaking the rack and sending one ball into a pocket. It’s a stripe.
She looks up from the table with a raised brow. She doesn’t think I’m serious about the stipulations. I prove her wrong by shrugging the leather jacket off my shoulders and hanging it on the back of a nearby chair.
Charlie lands another ball in a corner pocket, and I remove my long-sleeve Henley, leaving me in a white T-shirt. I watch her throat swell as she swallows before dropping her gaze to the green felt.
She lines up to make another shot, but it’s a scratch, landing the cue ball in a side pocket. She tries not to react, but the corners of her mouth fall for half a second before she fixes her face. She’s disappointed.
With a smirk, I pull the cue ball from the pocket, setting it at the end of the table. Finding the easiest ball to pocket, I line up the shot and sink it. “You wanna tell me that secret now or later?”
By now, a small crowd has gathered to watch the show, including Katy and Jackson.
“My first kiss was in the back of this bar,” Charlie grumbles.
“Classy.” I smirk, lining up another shot and sinking it again.
The process repeats until there are only two balls left. Each secret she has shared so far reveals a little more about her, but none tell me what I really want to know.
“With this next one, I get to ask you a question and you have to tell me the truth. Deal?”
“Better hope you make it, then.”
I smirk, sinking the ball into the corner pocket without looking. That earns the biggest eye roll of the evening. “Why were you so scared for Jackson to talk to me earlier?”
“I wasn’t.”
“You and Katy about lost your minds seeing us talking.” My weight shifts onto the pool stick as I lean down toward her. “Scared he might say something he’s not supposed to?”
Charlie doesn’t back down. Instead, she stands up taller.
“Ticktock, Char.”
“That’s none of your business,” she hisses.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Katy silently reprimanding her boyfriend with a stern look. He wasn’t supposed to be talking with me earlier. He knows something, and whatever it is (it’s not too hard to figure out), they worry he’ll let it slip. But that’s a secret Charlie won’t let go easily; it will take more than a wager on a billiards game to make that happen.
I shrug, taking a step back from her. “Rules of the game, Charlie.”
Charlie’s mouth opens and closes twice as she tries to think of the answer to give me. And before she offers it up, there’s a loud commotion behind us.
“Where’s the birthday girl?” a voice booms and the crowd parts like the Red Sea, where a monster of a man stands. He’s at least six foot one, maybe taller with a mesomorph physique. Broad shoulders give way to thick biceps that strain underneath the black T-shirt. Blonde hair has been cropped close to his scalp. His overall image exudes dominance and power, but the kind of power that gets you into trouble. I glance at Charlie, but she’s too busy staring at the newcomer, and she looks pissed.
“There you are!” He wraps Charlie in a tight hug, sweeping her off her feet and swinging her to-and-fro, even when she tries to push him away. “I’ve been looking all over for ya, baby.”
“Get off, Coop!” Charlie scolds.
Shit. I sigh. I thought we were going to get lucky and go a whole night without him showing up.
“Aw, come on, babe. Don’t be like that,” Cooper pleads, but she pushes him away still. He doesn’t take the hint, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her deeper into his embrace.
When they turn toward me, it feels like the world slows down…I’m almost certain my heart stopped for a moment. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I’m pretty damn sure it did.
I know him, and not because I know his name or have heard the stories about him. There’s something about him that feels…familiar.
“What are you doing here?” Cooper hisses when we finally make eye contact. His reaction is all the confirmation I need. There is history here, but how is that possible? I’ve never seen this man before now.
Charlie finally breaks free from his hold, taking two big steps away from him and closer to me. “Zay, this Cooper…my ex -boyfriend.”
“Oh, don’t be like that, Char.” His attention returns to her, almost like he’s already forgotten I’m even here. “I’ve missed you!”
“That’s how you ended up in bed with Missy?”
“You were gone!” Cooper defends himself, earning an eye roll from the green-eyed beauty. “How many times do I have to apologize for—”
“Save it for one of your fuck buddies, Coop. I don’t care! We are never getting back together.”
Cooper tries to say more, but this time I step in. “I think it’s time you leave.”
“You movin’ in on my girl, city boy?”
“Nobody is moving in on me, Cooper Hayes.” Charlie huffs, planting her hands on his chest to push him out of the billiards area. “And the only person moving better be you. Moving on out of here.”
Cooper doesn’t budge. His feet remain planted in the same spot, her shoves barely even registering to him.
Charlie groans in frustration. “Cooper, get out now!”
He finally relents when she practically punches his chest. Turning away from me to look at Charlie, he says, “Why don’t you come with me, babe? We can talk. That’s all I want.”
“I’d rather bury myself six feet under.”
That was dramatic.
“I can make that happen.” Cooper smirks and Charlie deadpans. “I’m only kiddin’, baby!” He kisses her forehead and allows her to push him through the crowd. I watch them swim through the sea of people until they disappear out the front door.
I know I should follow, but the weight that has settled in my stomach after seeing him tells me otherwise. Despite what Cooper said, I’m sure he can and has buried someone “six feet under.”
After about five minutes, the door swings open again, and Charlie walks back inside…alone. She looks even more annoyed than she did when she walked out.
“Everything okay, birthday girl?” Katy asks when Charlie rejoins us.
“Can we go?” Charlie asks me, ignoring her friend.
“You sure?” I ask. “We can stick around for another—”
“No, I want to go home.” Charlie doesn’t wait for any more conversation, ripping her jacket and purse off the back of the chair and walking straight out the front door.
“Well, looks like we’re leaving. Have a good night, everyone,” I say, offering an apologetic smile for the way she ditched her friends.
Leaving the bar, I find her propped up against the side of the truck. Her hands stuffed deep in her coat pockets, Charlie stares down at her shoe that toes through the gravel beneath her feet.
“Let’s go, troublemaker,” I say, opening the passenger door for her. Unexpectedly, she doesn’t say anything in return, only climbs into the seat without a word.
That’s odd.
“I can’t believe you dated that guy,” I add after I’ve settled into my seat.
Charlie scoffs. “Coop wasn’t always that way. He used to be pretty sweet when you got to know him.”
“Sure.”
“It was high school,” she says with a shrug. “Live and learn, I guess.”
“Hmmm.”
“Don’t hmmm me.” She points one of her fingers at me from across the front seat.
“I didn’t say anything!” I laugh and lift my hands in surrender.
“You didn’t have to. It was written all over your face.” Charlie sighs, one of those full-body sighs you feel deep within as it rolls through you. She keeps her gaze locked on her hands as her fingers twist around each other. “Please don’t tell my dad about this. I don’t want him thinking I’m running around with Cooper again. He already does, or you wouldn’t be here. But I don’t need him knowing that Coop showed up tonight. He’ll never let me leave the house.”
“Hate to break it to you, Charlie,” I say, peering over my shoulder out the back window to pull out of the parking spot. “You’re a thirty-year-old woman. You can do what you want.”