Chapter 20
Dillon
I’ve changed my shirt about five fucking times. The rejected ones are lying in a pile on the floor while I stand at the mirror like an asshole.
My hands are sweating, and my stomach churns uncomfortably. It reminds me of when I had to stand in front of the entire school and give a speech on the changing environment. It feels like I’m facing down the most important night of my life.
Not wrong.
I didn’t expect much when I gave Charlie my number because I refused to let myself hope that she might reach out. When she messaged two days ago, asking to meet for a drink and talk…
Ominous as fuck, but I will take whatever I can get.
I’ve spent the last six months in some sort of purgatory. I’ve been working through all the bullshit in my head, talking out the things I grew up with, and confronting why I would lash out at the one person I least wanted to hurt.
And Sandra also forced me to look at my relationship with Bliss, and understand why I would cling to it the way I did.
I said it was because the friendship with her was a habit.
Sandra told me I was scared of Bliss turning on me.
I said that was bullshit, that I wasn’t scared of Bliss.
Sandra stared at me in silence until I glanced away, unable to stand the knowing look in her eyes.
I can’t really say it makes any more sense now than it did all those months ago, but having Bliss firmly out of my life has been like removing a tight noose from around my neck…Except I never even realized it was there.
Bliss didn’t speak to us at all after she made that walk of shame out of her job.
For about a month, it was almost as if she never even existed.
Until one day, she blew up my phone with all kinds of unhinged texts and threats, fixating on the belief that Charlie and I were the sole reason she lost everything.
Apparently, she had conveniently forgotten about fucking Callum while Marisa was in the next room, but I wasn’t buying into her delusions.
Not anymore.
I blocked her, and when random numbers started messaging me, I just changed numbers completely.
Not long after that, Corey reached out, wanting to invite Jack and me out for drinks.
I agreed despite my misgivings, but when I walked into the bar and found Bliss already there, looking smug as shit, I almost left.
Jack was the one who forced me to sit down, both of us icing Bliss out like she wasn’t even there.
Everything had been fine until Amber loudly claimed that Jack, Marisa, and I were all overreacting and that Charlie needed to grow a thicker skin. She looked me dead in the eye, telling me it was time to forget the chipmunk and get back to real life.
I didn’t even blink before I calmly told her that Corey was a dumbass because she was obviously a gold-digging bottom-feeder, considering they lived in his apartment that his parents had bought him, and she had never kept it a secret that she was excited about him inheriting the family restaurant.
When Amber got all offended and huffy, Jack jumped right in to tell her to grow a thicker skin.
We left after that, and as soon as I got home, I blocked Corey and Amber’s numbers too.
It took me too long and cost me too much, but I was finally realizing what keeping people like that around said about me—nothing fucking good.
I couldn’t let myself be dragged back down into that hole, especially when it had already cost me everything.
Finally settling on a blue dress shirt that just happens to be one of Charlie’s favorites—or used to be—and shrugging on a jacket, I walk down to The Foundry Taproom, wanting to clear my head before seeing her.
I’m about thirty minutes early, so I head for the bar, ignoring the side-eye the grizzled bartender gives me when I order a soda, not wanting to cloud my head with alcohol. Drink in hand, I choose a table against the far wall to give us some semblance of privacy.
When Charlie walks in, I just about swallow my tongue. She’s not dressed up—just in some high-waisted jeans that seem like they’re painted over the curves of her hips, and a soft sweater that makes me want to reach out and touch. She looks soft, warm, and so much like the Charlie who was mine.
I grip my glass tighter, my knuckles going white as green eyes lock with mine.
There’s a pause, a slight dip in her brows, and for a terrifying moment, I think she’s going to turn and walk straight back out.
But then she drops her chin, resolve crossing her features as she heads toward the bar, leaning over it as she orders a drink.
Charlie’s hair is thick and loose, flowing down her back.
It looks lighter than I remember, and I wonder if she’s been spending a lot of time in the sun.
I can see the profile of her face and the way her cheek tugs up into a close-mouthed smile.
It’s the polite smile she gives to strangers or people she’s not comfortable with, hiding the gap in her teeth.
When we first got together, that was the only smile I ever got, but I remember, clear as crystal, the first time she really let go.
We were at the movies, watching some horror film where it was more about scaring the shit out of people than plot.
I got caught by a jump scare and upended my bucket of popcorn over both of us.
Charlie…She laughed so hard that several people turned around to shush us, but then she was just sitting there, grinning at me, showing off that adorable gap between her teeth, her eyes twinkling in the darkness of the theatre.
I grinned, knowing I was sunk. I immediately started thinking of other ways to make her laugh, desperate to see it, to hear it all over again.
A chair scrapes against the wooden floor, jerking me back to the here and now as Charlie takes the seat across from me.
“Hey,” she murmurs, setting her wineglass down in front of her.
“Charlie,” I say, just as quietly. “Thanks for meeting me.”
Her brows furrow again, her eyes not quite meeting mine. “I’m not entirely sure why I did, honestly.” She leans back in her seat, crossing her arms around her body. “I guess…” She swallows hard. “I guess I want closure.”
My stomach drops, but I keep any kind of reaction off my face as I slowly nod. I lift my glass to my lips, like sipping on my soda will help draw this situation out.
“That’s fair,” I tell her when I set the glass down. “Ask me anything. I’m an open book.” My smile is small, optimistic.
“Now,” she corrects stiffly. “Now you’re an open book.”
My smile falls away. “Right. Now.”
She watches me, green eyes bouncing between mine, and I stare back, wondering what she’s seeing. What she’s thinking.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Marisa?”
Guess we’re diving right in, then.
I rub the back of my neck, not looking away from her. I’m not hiding from this anymore, and I need to live in the aftermath of my choices, even all this time later.
“At first, I was just…” I search for the words. “I wanted you to like my friends, and I wanted them to like you.”
“Bliss?” she cuts in with a scoff. I don’t bite back. Charlie is allowed her anger, her reactions. They’re all justified, and I don’t blame her. If anything, I deserve the venom.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Even her. I figured, if you knew that anything had happened between Marisa and me, there was no way we could just hang out, you know? And I didn’t think you’d be okay with me hanging out with her on my own.
I figured that we’d only just got together, so it wouldn’t hurt if I just told you later. ”
Charlie presses her mouth together, face hard. “But you didn’t.”
“No,” I agree. “I got scared of losing you, and then…” I blow out a breath between my lips. “And then I just forgot.”
Her smile is small and humorless. “It’s funny how you can forget something that devastated me so completely.”
Her words land like a physical blow, and my eyes fall shut as I absorb the hit.
When I lift my lashes again, I lock my eyes with hers.
“I’m sorry, Charlie.” My voice is rough, and I hope she hears the sincerity.
“I have no excuses for…any of it. I just…I fucked up so badly, and you were the one who paid the price for it all.”
Charlie’s jaw firms as she looks away. “Barrett told me about Bliss. That she got fired and couldn’t get another job.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Not sure where she is now. She was harassing me for a while. That’s, uh, why I got a new number.”
Her mouth parts at that, her eyes wide with shock. “What was she saying?”
I lift a shoulder in a shrug. “Threats, mostly. Said I’d ruined her life, so she was going to ruin mine.
Mentioned you a couple of times.” Her eyes go even wider, and I rush to reassure her.
“I gave it all to the cops. There wasn’t much they could do, but they told her if she didn’t knock it off, they’d have her up on harassment charges.
And they kept everything as evidence.” I try to smile, but it’s weak.
I tell her about the ambush with Corey and Amber, finishing with, “I haven’t heard a peep since.
Word’s out that she might’ve left town.”
“I’m not sure what I expected,” Charlie says, almost to herself, “but it wasn’t that.” She has a large gulp of wine before asking, “So, you got her fired, right? What happened to Callum?”
“He lost his job too,” I murmur. “It was the only time he stepped a foot out of line, and he didn’t kick up a fuss like Bliss, so he wasn’t blacklisted. Last I heard, he’s with a family law firm over on Anderson.”
Charlie nods, mouth pursed. “Still don’t understand how they could do that to Marisa.” She sighs softly, tipping her head to the side. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know.”
She blinks rapidly and then leans forward, piercing me with a glare. “How could you not know?”