Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
S o far, Charlie meeting his parents (and several other members of the family) hadn’t been quite the nightmare that Jared had been expecting. He wasn’t sure just how much any of them knew about Charlie’s sexuality, but he thought he could see some knowing looks among several of the cousins.
There goes Jared again, he could almost hear them saying, trying to hook up with someone who is so far out of his league as to basically be on another planet.
He wanted to shout at them that that was definitely not what was happening, that he had no romantic interest whatsoever in Mr. Charlie Garrett, but he decided against it, both because they wouldn’t believe him and because he wasn’t sure he would have believed it himself. Leaning against the kitchen counter and watching the effortless way that Charlie navigated the family–sharing a story about his own upbringing in the country with his mother, telling his dad some arcane story about the nuts and bolts of filming, or making faces at some of the younger members of the family–Jared couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. As he’d said to Charlie, pretty much every person he’d ever brought home to see his family had looked down on them in one way or another, so his behavior made for a refreshing change.
I guess that doesn’t say much about my own choices regarding significant others.
“So, cuz, you finally brought home a movie star. I gotta say that I didn’t think you had it in you.’
Hannah sidled up to him, smiling sarcastically in the way that she’d perfected. She was always the one who was willing to tell the uncomfortable truths that everyone else was content to just let slip by.
“I wouldn’t say that ‘I’ve brought him home’…,” he began.
“I know you don’t really believe that, Jared.”
“And how do you know what I believe?”
“Because I know you better than almost anyone else, either inside this family or outside of it. The two of us have always been more similar than anyone else, which means I can tell when starting to fall for someone and when you don’t want to admit it to anyone, including and especially yourself.”
“I’ve only known him for twenty four hours. That’s not nearly enough time to really get to know someone, let alone to fall in love.”
“Who said anything about falling in love? I implied that you had feelings for him. See the difference? It’s like in those movies, where the hero or the heroine starts to realize their feelings for the other person.”
“Life isn’t a movie,” he deflected.
“I know it’s not, but there’s always a grain of truth in even the most ridiculous rom-com. I’d think that as a writer you’d know that.”
“I’m not really a writer, you know.”
Hannah gave him the look that said he was being a pedantic idiot and missing the forest for the trees.
“We both know that you love writing. That’s why I don’t really understand why you waste so much time in that job with the Huntington City Council. I’m sure it’s nice to be involved in the arts in some way, but wouldn’t you rather spend your time actually writing something that makes you feel fulfilled?”
As always, Hannah had a way of cutting right to the heart of the matter, but that didn’t mean that he liked what she had to say.
“Can we change the subject, please?”
In typical Hannah fashion, however, she shook her head. “I’m not going to let you off that easily. The truth is that the same thing that keeps you from being the writer that you truly want to be is the same thing that’s going to get in the way of you making anything lasting with Charlie.”
“Hannah,” he said, trying to give her a warning about this without being an asshole. “Please.”
Hannah shook her head at him. “Fine. Then will you answer me a very simple question?”
“Sure.”
“Why are you always so determined to not let yourself just…be happy?”
That question hit him like a ton of bricks, mostly because he’d avoided addressing this question in the privacy of his own thoughts, let alone talked about it with anyone else. And, because he was Jared Russell and hated to feel vulnerable, his first response was anger.
“I find that a bit rich coming from you, considering that you’ve never liked one of the guys that I’ve brought home before now.”
“Jared, you know that’s not true. I’ve just been honest with you when I thought that you could do better.”
“I see. And better according to whom? Has it ever occurred to you that I’m an adult and can make my own decisions about things without constant interference from my family?”
He didn’t know why he was acting this way, particularly not with Hannah, one of the few members of his extended family who hadn’t ever been an asshole to him.
“Jared, knock it off,” she said. “You’re just being defensive because you know I’m right, and it’s not a good look.”
Well, now he just felt sheepish.
“Damn it, Hannah, do you have to know me so well?”
She just smirked. “It’s kind of my job, cuz. You’ve always been the runt, and I’ve always had to take care of you. That’s not going to stop just because you’re pushing forty.”
“Now you’re just being mean and rude.”
“Just returning the favor.”
This was the kind of banter and repartee that he missed when he wasn’t home. Sure, he had a nice bond with Rebecca, and the two of them were able to give each other a hard time, but it was different when it was with someone who’d known you your whole life and who knew you better than you knew yourself and wasn’t afraid to be honest about your own shortcomings.
“So, uh, what am I going to do about this whole situation?”
“I don’t think that you have to do anything per se,” she said. “Just see where it goes for now. You don’t have to make any decisions, unless you want to. I think you might want to remember that you’re in charge of your own life, no one else.”
Those words were an uncanny echo of what Charlie had said just a bit ago.
“You’re wiser than you look, you know.”
“That’s high praise coming from you.”
They continued on bantering like this for a few more minutes, until Charlie ambled over.
“He really is the human equivalent of a golden retriever,” Hannah said without missing a beat.
“You’d be surprised how often I get told that,” Charlie said, utterly unselfconscious. “In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s what got me the job with the Romance Network. They saw the kind of guy I was, the way that my brown eyes are like limpid pools of chocolate, and the rest is history.”
“Well listen to this guy,” Hannah said. “He’s got it all figured out, including his own career.”
Even as Charlie was clearly having a good time chatting with Hannah, Jared noticed that he kept looking at his phone, and while he wasn’t normally one of those people who was offended when people did that, he thought he could sense that something was wrong.
“Charlie, do you need to take that?”
“Um…no, no I don’t,” he said, shoving the phone into his pocket. “It’s nothing.”
Jared tried to give him the kind of look that he was so used to getting from others. “I may not have known you very long, Charlie Garrett, but I can still tell when you’re lying. You’re not very good at it.”
He hadn’t thought it was possible, but if anything Charlie got even cuter when he blushed like that.
“I mean, I guess if you want to know the truth, it’s my mother. She’s been texting a lot, and I haven’t had the chance to respond.”
“And don’t you think that you ought to answer her texts?”
Jared didn’t actually think that it was any of his business whether Charlie Garrett texted his mother or not, but he also couldn’t help thinking about how his own mother would feel if she was constantly texting her son and not getting a response.
“She might be worried about you, you know. Particularly if she managed to hear about what happened last night.”
“Yes,” he said, dragging the word out, “I suppose I should.” He sighed. “It’s just that things with her are always a bit difficult. I know she loves me, but we don’t always see eye-to-eye on things.”
Before he could think better of it or let his nerves get in the way, Jared was hugging Charlie. At first the other man didn’t seem to know what to do, and then he was returning the gesture, sending little jolts of electricity shooting through every nerve in Jared’s body.
“It’ll be okay, Charlie,” he said. “We’ll be here for you when you finish the call.”
Charlie was the first one to break the hug, but there was still a fond look in his eyes that made Jared’s stomach do a backflip.
“I’m just gonna run upstairs and take this,” Charlie said, and that quickly he was gone.
“Well,” Hannah said, “this should be fun.”