Chapter 9
Max
Charlie is quiet on the way to dinner. I can tell she’s still thinking about our conversation in the mirror.
I meant every single thing I said. She is always beautiful, but holy hot damn she looks sexy tonight.
It’s probably for the best that we have to wear jackets this time of year, because I have not stopped thinking about peeling that little dress of her body since the moment that I laid eyes on her and I need to focus on driving.
That hasn’t stopped me from stealing glances every chance I get. Even in the intermittent glow of the streetlights, Charlie looks absolutely stunning. Screw this ‘just friends’ business, I’m pulling out all the stops. I decide to start with an attempt at getting her away from her swirling thoughts.
“What ‘cha thinking about?”
Charlie startles. “Sorry, I’m being so rude. Just got caught up in some memories I guess.”
I pull into the parking lot of the restaurant. “Good ones I hope.”
“Ehh, not really. But that’s okay. You’re helping me make new ones.” Charlie dismisses me with a smile. Hopefully soon she’ll feel more comfortable opening up to me, but I’ll let it go for now since we’re here.
Once I’m parked, I rip my key out of the ignition and scramble to get out of the truck.
Once I’m out, I hit the lock on my key fob and make my way over to the passenger door, where Charlie waits with a bemused expression.
I hit the unlock button and open the door for Charlie.
She snorts a laugh as she takes my hand to hop down out of the truck.
I catch the quick rise and fall of her skirt as she does, and I’m silently begging my dick to be cool while we walk to the restaurant door.
Thankfully, my own anatomy shows me mercy as we get inside and get shown to our table.
Of course I pull out Charlie’s chair for her and slide her coat off her now tantalizingly bare shoulders before she sits down.
I shrug my own off too, and hand both to the hostess who takes them from me, mumbling something about our server before leaving.
I don’t really hear her. My attention is solely on Charlie.
I slide into my own seat across from her, and I can’t help my wide grin. She’s so fucking pretty. “You’re so pretty,” I decide to tell her.
Charlie blushes but offers me a small smile back. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
I wink at her and crack open the drink menu. “What do you like to drink?”
“I’m not picky.” Charlie shrugs.
“Charlie, you can have whatever you like. What do you mean you’re not picky?”
“Well, I like wine. I just don’t know enough about it. I usually just get whatever is cheapest.”
The server arrives at our table, introducing herself and asking what we would like to drink.
“Red or white?” I ask Charlie.
“White,” she mumbles.
I look over at the server. “We’ll have a bottle of the house white to share, and a side of 7-up in case it sucks please.”
Charlie laughs as the server walks away. “In case it sucks?”
“I don’t know anything about wine either,” I admit. “Figured we could make spritzers if we don’t like it.”
“What do you normally drink?” Charlie asks as she opens her menu.
“I’m a beer guy mostly. Whiskey too, but it makes me rowdy.”
Charlie tilts her head. “I can’t picture you being rowdy.”
I laugh. “If we keep hanging out this winter, I promise you’ll get to see it.
You’ll get to meet Andy and Ben too, and they are the same way.
We bring out both the best and worst in each other.
Like this one time, the town decided to lock up the tennis courts for the winter instead of turning them into a rink like they normally do.
Which was bullshit. So, one night, after sharing a bottle of cheap whiskey, we decided to build the rink anyways. ”
“And you guys actually, did it?”
“Yep. Stole some bolt cutters from my dad, snipped the lock on the gate, and stayed up all night setting up the rink.”
Charlie giggles. “That just sounds like you guys did a good deed.”
“Well, we got arrested for trespassing after we were done.” I shrug. “See? Good deed but also committed a crime. Best and worst.”
“That still doesn’t sound all that rowdy, Max.” I love when she says my name.
“Yeah, that’s pretty mild, I guess. I’ve got a million stories though. Andy, Ben, and I … we’ve been friends for a really long time. They’re like brothers to me.”
Andy is going to adore Charlie. Who even knows with Ben. He’s been different since the accident, but I’m sure he’ll end up liking Charlie eventually too. There is no way he couldn’t.
“I wanna know more about you though, gorgeous.”
Andy’s the better storyteller anyways and she’s right.
That story is not rowdy compared to some of the tales he could tell her about our drunken escapades.
When we were younger and stupider, Andy had this talent for getting me too drunk to remember the night but never seemed to have a problem recounting all the dumb shit I did while I was blacked out.
Charlie shrugs. I’ve noticed this a few times now that she tends to shrink herself down when it’s time to talk about herself. I hate it. I want to know everything about her, even the boring stuff. “There really isn’t much to tell.”
“I highly doubt that. Let’s start with this. What’s your favourite colour?”
“Yellow. Yours?”
“Green. Favourite food?”
“Poutine. Yours?”
“Same.” Neither of us can help our smiles.
The waitress arrives with our drinks. “Alright, and what can I get you folks?”
“Poutine,” We both blurt out simultaneously. Charlie giggles again, and I laugh right along with her.
The poutine we get is weird, fancy restaurant poutine but it’s still pretty good. I mean its fries, gravy, and cheese. What’s not to love?
Charlie opens up to me more throughout the rest of the dinner too.
She tells me about her experience growing up here, which was vastly different from mine.
There were some shitty, fake friends and weird high school boyfriend.
Charlie didn’t seem too keen to talk about either, so I didn’t push it too much.
But I don’t blame her for moving away and soon as she could and I understand better now why she doesn’t want to stay here longer than she has to.
I get it, but it still makes me sad to think about her leaving in the spring.
“So, you said something about going dancing?” Charlie asks coyly.
My grin is wicked. “You want to? I know a place.”
She laughs. “I’m assuming it’s the one bar that this town has? Not my favourite place, but I’m willing to give it another try if you’re coming with me.”
What Charlie doesn’t know is that I also own said bar.
Just like the rink, I took it over and fixed it up into what I think is pretty nice place compared to the shithole it used to be in our youth.
I’m guessing she doesn’t know about the renos either, so I decide to ask her, “how long as it been since you’ve been there?
“A few years, but I’m assuming it’s still the same shitty, dirty, stinky, sticky bar that it always has been,” she responds matter-of-factly.
Yeah, she has no idea. “That’s a lot of adjectives,” I muse.
“One for every shitty experience I had there.”
I frown. “What happened?”
“It’s not worth getting into. Just dumb ol’ me being too enamored by shitty ex-boyfriends who could sneak her into places she shouldn’t be. Friends drinking too much and starting fights. Getting ditched by friends who found ‘better’ company ... it’s a bar full of bad memories.”
I will not hesitate to kick the ass of every single person who has made her feel this way if we ever run into them. “Sounds like the company was bad, not the place.”
“I suppose so. But if you have a bad experience every time you go somewhere, eventually you start blaming the place too. Plus, I can’t stress enough how bad it smelled in there.”
My bar does not smell! “Most bars have smells, Charlie.”
“I know. But you think the owner would at least invest in an air freshener or douse the place in bleach once a month or something,” she teases.
I have actually invested in several air fresheners and also pay Andy a handsome amount of money as my part time manager to make sure the place stays squeaky clean and up to standard during his off months working construction.
I debate telling her about me owning the bar, but then the cheque arrives. Charlie goes to grab her wallet, but I stop her. “Not a chance I am letting you buy. I’m the one who asked you to come out, remember?”
“As friends,” she reminds, and I struggle to not scoff. Friends my ass. I shake my head at Charlie as I hand the server my card.
“I tell you what. How about I let you buy me a drink at the shitty, dirty, stinky, sticky bar?” She doesn’t need to know that we won’t have to pay for our drinks at all there.
Charlie giggles and my heart soars at the sound. “Okay, deal!”