Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
C HARLIE
The satisfying crash of old bathroom tiles as they fall from the shower wall and break when they hit the floor echoes around me. I continue to chip away at each piece that still clings to the wall as I work on the demolition of my bathroom. I’ve gotten the upstairs bedrooms all painted, the floors done, and now I just have to do the two bathrooms. And starting with mine makes the most sense, since I’m the only one living here.
I need this kind of mindless, destructive work this week to help calm my brain. Kissing Emily last week was a huge fucking mistake. Not that I didn’t want it or didn’t enjoy it—hell it’s practically all I’ve been able to think about since it happened.
And I haven’t seen her since. Six days without seeing her shouldn’t have me so worked up, but I got used to talking to her almost every day and seeing her a few times a week. Until I went and fucked things up because I couldn’t keep my hands—and my mouth—to myself. We’ve texted a few times since, and she tried to play the kiss off as no big deal, but even our text communication is strained.
Midweek, I started panicking because we had planned to do her living room flooring this weekend and things are still not back to normal with us. So, I did the mature thing and went to her house yesterday while she was at work and pulled up all the carpeting in the living room, cut it into strips and placed it at her curb for garbage pick-up today. When she texted last night to thank me, everything in me wanted to overcome the awkwardness, but I just couldn’t come up with the words. And so, this morning, desperate to avoid laying the flooring together on the weekend, I went back to her house and did the entire living room floor myself. I have to say, it turned out pretty nice. But I’m surprised Emily hasn’t messaged me yet to say thanks.
Just as I finish the third shower wall and am about to start on the fourth, the distant sound of my doorbell chimes.
What the hell? Who’d be coming all the way out here on a Friday evening without calling first?
I stand up and step out of the shower stall, wiping my dusty hands on a towel and then I head downstairs. Right when I hit the top step, a furious, relentless pounding on my front door ensues and doesn’t stop until I reach the door. When I pull the heavy wooden door open, I’m shocked to find Emily standing on my porch.
“Well, it’s about time,” she hisses. She pushes past me and steps into my house.
“Em, what are you doing?—”
She whirls around on me so rapidly it startles me, and I step back.
“Charlie Fitzgerald, you’re behaving like a total jackass.” Her flushed cheeks are an angry red, her eyes narrow on me, and she points her finger at me to emphasize her words.
“Um, well I?—”
“No. I’m still talking. And since you didn’t have anything to say to me all week, you can wait until I’m finished. It was a kiss, Charlie. A kiss. You’re acting like I sucked your dick on the front porch for all the neighbors to see.”
“Christ, Em. Your mouth.”
I grasp the back of my neck, not sure how to feel about her rage. On one hand, I’m glad to see her have her spark back. But on the other, I’m not used to her anger being directed at me.
“Yeah? Well, you’ve pissed me off. You’re supposed to be my friend. I’ve gotten used to you being around again and then you avoid me all week. And you sneak over to my house while I’m at work and do the flooring yourself, like a goddamn home remodeling fairy. We were supposed to do that together!”
There she is. God, I love how spirited she is, how strongly she feels things.
I put my hands up, palms facing her, hoping to deescalate things.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what, Charlie?” There’s a challenge in her voice and it tells me I need to tread carefully.
“I’m sorry that I?—”
“I swear on all that is holy if you say you’re sorry for kissing me…” Her gorgeous blue eyes bore into mine, flaring with anger, but also a hint of something, insecurity maybe, that unsettles me.
“I’m sorry I freaked out afterwards—that I avoided you. That I’ve been a shitty friend all week and have been acting like a sixteen-year-old boy instead of a thirty-one-year-old man. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Emily just nods, her mouth quivering so subtly that I almost miss it. She swipes the back of her hand across her left eye, wiping a single tear that spilled over her eyelid.
“Fuck, Em. C’mere.” I open my arms to her and take a step toward her. Thankfully, she steps into me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my chest. We stand like that for several moments before she speaks.
“We don’t have to talk about it. The kiss, I mean. But don’t do that shit to me again. You have to talk to me about the hard stuff, not shut me out. You’re my friend, and I missed you this week. Please don’t do that to me again.”
“I won’t, sunshine. I promise, I won’t.”
I feel like a giant asshole for what I did to her, and an even bigger weakling for allowing her to let me off the hook and not talking about the kiss.
* * *
EMILY
As we walk into Pat’s Diner, because who doesn’t need pancakes after an emotional discussion, I huff at Charlie as we continue our conversation from the ride over.
“Really? Exaggerate much? I’m sure I’m not the worst painter in Elladine. Have you ever seen Shayna’s painting skills? Hers are appalling.”
A hearty laugh erupts from Charlie, and he places his hand along the small of my back and guides us to a booth. For a man who lost his emotional shit over a single kiss—albeit an amazing one—he must not realize the sense of intimacy his splayed hand across my back creates. I’m not complaining, though. I like it.
Our server comes over and takes our orders, then brings us both coffee. It’s early evening but I can’t eat breakfast food for dinner and not have coffee with it.
Charlie opens his mouth to say something, but we’re interrupted.
“Hello, Fitz. Long time no see.” The sultry voice sounds vaguely familiar, and I glance up to see a blast from the past, Shelly, with her eyes locked on Charlie. She’s looking him up and down like he’s a piece of meat and I want to claw her eyes out.
I’m immediately irritated and jealousy niggles at the edges of my mind as reminders of the kind of woman Charlie’s attracted to floods my brain. I’m the exact physical opposite of his type. And, that bothers me.
“Shelly.” Charlie’s tone is flat, as he looks away from her and takes a sip of his coffee. It’s petty, but I’m secretly happy at his reaction to her.
A sarcastic chuckle escapes Shelly as she switches her gaze to me. I don’t smile at her. Truthfully, even though I never got to know her well, I didn’t like her much even when Charlie dated her. I didn’t think she was good enough for him.
“I see some things never change, Fitz. Still sniffing around all the wrong trees.” She looks at me the entire time she’s speaking. “Tell me, little Flynn. Has he ever told you?—”
“Shelly, leave. Now.” Charlie’s voice is practically a growl, but not the sexy kind the men in our book club books make. No, this is angry, a warning.
Shelly turns her focus back on Charlie and shakes her head. “You’ll never learn, will you?”
When he ignores her, she huffs and leaves. Thank God, because she was throwing out major bitch vibes.
I look over at Charlie and he’s staring down at his coffee, clearly avoiding eye contact with me.
“Do you want to explain what that was all about?”
He looks up at me and smiles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. “Nah.” He grins, and I know him well enough to know he’s hoping by making light of it, I’ll drop it.
I tap my fingers on the tabletop. “Hmm. I seem to recall a conversation we just had about not avoiding difficult conversations.” I rest an elbow on the table and then prop my chin up on my hand.
Charlie closes his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. When he opens his eyes again, he fixes them on me. “Shelly and I broke up because she had jealousy issues.”
I think for a second and recall a conversation we had about this when Trina and Charlie picked me up from college. “Oh, yeah. She was jealous of Trina, right?”
Charlie hesitates. “Not exactly.”
I lift a questioning brow at him and wait him out in silence.
“Fine. She wasn’t jealous of Trina. She was jealous of you.”
I don’t need a mirror to know my mouth just dropped wide open.
“Me?” I whisper.
“Yes, you. She wanted me to keep my distance from you and that wasn’t an acceptable request to me. So, I ended things.” He shrugs like he just said, ‘the sky is blue’ or ‘water is wet.’
“Okay. It makes no sense, though. I mean, even these few years later, she’s still gorgeous. Not to mention the boobs. Which she had on full display tonight.” Charlie rolls his eyes. “Seriously. She had nothing to be jealous of. She had you and she’s everything I’m not.”
Charlie’s eyes narrow on me. No hint of jesting on his face. “No, sunshine. You’ve got it all wrong. She never had me, not really. And you’re everything she’s not. Everything. Not the other way around.”
Oh. Oh, my. Hello, mixed signals…