Chapter 19
SAM
“Are you sure about this, Charlie?” Sam asked as he tossed the small duffle bag that she’d packed onto his bed.
It felt a bit strange as she sat on one of the bar stools in Charlie’s apartment.
Unlike her own apartment, Charlie’s two-bedroom apartment offered plenty of space to ward off the sense of claustrophobia plaguing her at the moment.
She’d been here more times than she could count, but the current circumstances made it feel awkward and uncomfortable.
When Charlie had insisted that she stay with him, after it was suggested that she find somewhere else to stay for the time being, she hadn’t had it in her to protest. Not that she wanted to in particular—other than that sense of pride at not wanting to put him out.
There had been no hesitation on his part, and if she thought about it, she had a feeling that he wouldn’t have entertained any other suggestions.
He’d watched her like a hawk when the cops had shown up, when they’d gone to the station for her to give a statement, when they’d been escorted back to her apartment so she could pick up a few of the remaining items left to take with her.
The whole time, he’d watched her. Hovering so close that she was in constant danger of bumping right into him.
So, she had a feeling that he wouldn’t be letting her out of his sight anytime soon.
She clutched the blanket that Charlie had draped over her shoulders, nursing the warm cup of tea he’d made.
“For the hundredth time, yes,” he replied, returning to the kitchen and leaning against the kitchen counter as he folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not comfortable leaving you alone. Staying here with me for the time being makes the most sense.”
“Still, thanks for letting me stay. I really appreciate it,” she said.
“Of course, Sam. You didn’t even have to ask.”
She did, but it still didn’t ebb the guilt that currently wracked her.
Once the initial shock had worn off, it hadn’t taken a rocket scientist to figure out who had done it. There was only one person who came to mind.
She should’ve known better. It was laughable now, in hindsight, for her to hope that he would leave her alone.
She felt stupid for thinking any differently.
A youthful naivety that assumed the best of people had still tried to flicker to life inside of her through all the layers of doubt and mistrust.
After all, the cops were out looking for him as it was. For him to do something like this, it showed he had no intention of giving up.
Sam had never expected much from anyone. She knew all too well just how quickly the rug could be pulled from beneath her feet. But this was different. This was dangerous.
“I’m glad I decided to bring my laptop today…” she whispered, mostly to herself.
Charlie shifted. “I’m just glad that you weren’t there when it happened…”
If she’d known that Paul had been on the way to her apartment when he had called her, thinking she was there…
“This is such a disaster.” She sighed heavily, resting her head in her hands.
Sam hated being fussed over, always had. She knew how to take care of herself and had done a damn good job of fending for herself in whatever ways she could. But any argument she might have had quickly died down whenever her thoughts drifted back to her ruined apartment.
“It’ll be okay,” Charlie offered, a soothing lilt to his words that didn’t seem as confident as it normally would have.
“How do you know that?”
“I just do. I’ll take the couch while you’re here.” He motioned toward the bedroom when she looked at him. “You should go get some sleep. It’s been a long day. We can talk about everything in the morning, after you get some rest.”
She knew what he meant. He wasn’t going to press for details right now, despite how much he probably wanted to. How much he deserved to.
It was easy to see the swirl of emotions, the curiosity, the worry, the anger, blazing in his eyes.
Even when he averted his gaze from her, she could see it.
She saw it in the way he shifted his weight, moving his arms to hold onto the edges of the counter behind him like he was trying to hold himself back.
She saw it in the tight set of his jaw, the way he clenched it shut as if to keep the words from bursting out.
And while it was a very sweet notion that, even now, Charlie was being so considerate, the thought of even trying to sleep seemed impossible.
“I… I don’t know if I could rest right now,” she said honestly, pushing the mug of tea away from her, “and you deserve to know, so ask.”
He looked pained, as if unsure whether he should.
Sam hated this. She hated this feeling pulsing in her chest, stabbing into her with each breath that Charlie wouldn’t look at her. It was absolute torture, seeing all the things he probably wanted to say to her pass over his face.
If he was mad at her, she was going to have to live with that.
Hell, she was mad at herself.
Eventually, a frustrated breath wheezed out of him. “Sam, why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”
She found it hard to meet his eyes when they pierced her once again—those harsh blue eyes of his. She could feel the barely restrained heat in them, as if he was a breath away from igniting.
“I didn’t want anyone to know,” she said simply.
“Even me?”
“Especially you!” she cried out, the emotion catching in her voice.
“You have enough on your plate with the charity coming up, the anniversary coming up. I thought I could handle it on my own. I know how protective you can get, and I didn’t want to worry you.
I was going to tell you about it tomorrow, which I know probably sounds like… ”
Charlie scoffed. “You didn’t want me… to worry? That you had a stalker?”
Well, when he put it that way, it did sound ridiculous. She’d known it had been. But hearing the words coming back at her didn’t exactly help.
She shrugged shyly. “I didn’t... I was handling things.”
“Handling things? Sam, some lunatic broke into your apartment! Who knows what could’ve happened if you had been home when…” Charlie stopped and clenched his eyes shut before swallowing thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat from the effort. “How did this start?”
Strangely, this was the part she felt most awkward about. It felt weird having to tell Charlie—who she was currently fake dating for her book and who she had literally just made out with against the wall in her hallway only hours earlier—that she had gone on a date with another guy.
She sighed. “Angel suggested I try getting out there and go on a date, so I met him off of a dating app. We went on one date, and… well… it didn’t go well.”
Only leaving out a few details as to why Angel had made such a suggestion, but that was semantics right now.
He nodded thoughtfully, something she couldn’t place flicking across his features as he worked his jaw once again. “Did he do something to you?”
She shook her head. “Not at the time. He was just a pretentious jerk, and I wasn’t interested in seeing him again. I told him so and went home.”
“Then what?”
“He didn’t like that I’d rejected him, so he kept calling and messaging me to try and convince me that we were meant to be together. I blocked his number, and he started calling me on random numbers. It’s why I changed my phone number.”
Charlie cocked his head back. “Which time? You’ve changed your phone like three times since…” He paused, blinking his eyes a few times before clenching his fists against the counter. “How long? How long has this been going on?”
She licked her lips. “I met him earlier this year… I didn’t want to worry you…”
“Well, mission not accomplished. Look… I get that you have this insane need to take care of yourself, but—Don’t even start with me,” Charlie stated as Sam went to protest, “—but someone wanting to hurt you tips the scales a bit, don’t you think?”
“I honestly thought he would stop after what had happened at the cafe the other—”
Charlie held up a finger to silence her. “Hold on, what? What happened at the cafe?”
Shit. Shit. He was about to be really pissed off at her.
Sam pushed her mug forward and rubbed her face. “He… Look, I don’t know how he found out where I was, but he showed up at the cafe the other day while I was there working.”
“What did he do?” Charlie growled, his voice taking on a dangerously low tone, deeper than she’d ever heard from him before.
It was enough of a difference that it caused her to meet his gaze again.
He hadn’t changed his posture at all from a moment ago, but something about his stance now felt carnal— like a wolf pacing at the edge of its enclosure.
And she’d been pushed inside without the key.
“Charlie…”
The intensity exuding from him should have unnerved her. But for some odd reason, it didn’t.
It was Charlie.
It only made her feel… safe.
“What. Did. He. Do?” he repeated slowly, carefully releasing each word.
She squeezed her hands together to try to stave off the tremble threatening to come on, not from the intense look on Charlie’s face but from the memory that rose.
“He just showed up. Sat down at my table when I was distracted and tried to get me to talk to him. I got up to leave, but he grabbed me and…”
“He put his hands on you?” Charlie seethed.
He would see them anyway at this point if she was going to stay. It was better for her to yank the metaphorical, and literal, bandage off now.
She reached for the bandage on her left arm, unwrapping it as Charlie watched on.
He fell into a deathly silence as the bandage fell away.
Worlds could have collided together in the silence stretched between them, but not a word was uttered.
His pupils were blown out now, chasing the sea away with a storm of darkness.
He released his hold on the counter and took the few steps separating them to hold her arm in his hands.