Chapter 33
Ben
Based on the way Charlie tensed up just now, I’m going to guess that this must be that piece-of-shit Brad.
He makes eye contact with me briefly, anger emanating off him in waves, but he mostly just has eyes for Charlie.
Quite frankly, he looks like crap. His dirty blond hair sticks up at odd angles like he’s been running his hands through it repeatedly, and his clothes are wrinkled and covered in random food stains.
This is the hotshot megalomaniac businessman Charlie told us about?
Looks like a lame-ass, insignificant prick to me.
“What are the chances you’ll stay in the car while I deal with this?” Charlie asks me while undoing her seatbelt. I park on the road so I don’t block Brad’s way out, which will hopefully be happening very shortly.
“Yeah, I think not firefly,” I say, taking a moment to undo my seatbelt and hopping out of the truck right after her.
Brad immediately stands from where he was sitting on the front steps. He storms down the driveway, meeting Charlie halfway. “Is this the dude you’re fucking?” he spits viciously.
“None of your fucking business Brad. Why are you here? You made it clear you want nothing to do with me, in more ways than one!” Charlie spits back.
I have never seen Charlie mad. Not once. But seeing how her eyes look in this moment and feeling the pure fury that radiates from her body, I vow to make every effort to never be on the receiving end of her anger.
“You and I have unfinished business.” He looks like he wants to reach forward and put his hand on Charlie, but I come up behind her right at the same time and glare at him menacingly.
“We really don’t. I have literally nothing to say to you.
You cheated on me and got me fired! Your chance to talk to me was that weekend, when I called and texted you a hundred times begging you to talk to me so we could work it out.
We had unfinished business then, but definitely not now, you arrogant fucking prick! ”
“All you had to do was stay off my floor and out of my office Charlie. If you hadn’t broken our rules, things could have stayed the same. I was the best you ever had; you can’t deny that. I just needed someone hotter to get my dick wet so I could stomach sleeping with that fat ass of yours.”
BAM! Charlie surprises all of us and lands a punch to Brad’s cheek. She’s clearly never thrown a punch though, so Brad barely moves from the impact while Charlie grabs her hand and screams “Fuck!”
My eyes dart to Brad and that’s when I see him lifting his hand to hit Charlie back.
I grab his wrist with one hand and use the other to clock him right in the jaw.
This time, he goes down. Charlie uses the moment to straighten up, still clutching her already swelling hand.
I give her a quick lookover, and her face is a mixture of anger, confusion, and worry. I step past her and glare down at Brad.
“Listen here dick head. I don’t know why you thought it was a good idea to drive all the way up here just to abuse this sweet, innocent girl some more, but if I ever hear you talking to her or any other girl for that matter like that again, I’ll fuck you up worse.
And my brothers will help. Your best bet is getting the fuck out of here and praying to God that I never catch you in my town again.
” My voice is calm and completely at odds with the menacing words I utter.
“You’re both fucking crazy!” Brad screams, clutching at his face while still on the ground.
“Yeah, I am. Best be running along before you find out just how crazy I can get.”
Brad wastes no time jumping up from the ground and scrambling to his car. I am pretty sure I can hear him sobbing. What a little bitch that guy is. I have no clue what Charlie could have ever seen in him. Especially since that motherfucker looks like an older, douche-y Malfoy.
Charlie and I both watch Brad speed away before I return my attention fully to her. I look down at her hand that she’s still clutching and can see bruises already starting to form around her knuckles to go along with the swelling.
'C’mon, we should get some ice on your hand.” I put my arm around her, and we enter her parents house together. Charlie sits on a stool at the kitchen island and I make quick work of wrapping some ice up in a dish towel and setting it down on her hand. She winces but doesn’t say anything.
“Are you okay?” I ask her tentatively. Watching her eyes, you can almost see the war happening inside Charlie’s head. She nods at me but then shakes her head.
“I can’t even tell you that he used to be nice.
He has always said shit like that to me.
I would just let him. I would foolishly convince myself that it was helpful criticism and that if I just worked harder, I would be better for him.
It’s only been two weeks, but I already feel like a completely different person.
I am so ashamed that I ever let him treat me that way.
” I can see tears forming in the corners of Charlie’s eyes, but she blinks them away and continues.
“I was lonely in Van and Brad was the first person to pay me any real attention. I think I held on because I was too afraid to be alone like that again. Which is stupid, because even with him I was often alone. Especially towards the end.”
Charlie snorts at herself and uses her good hand to wipe the moisture out of her eyes. “I’m such an idiot.”
“No, you are not,” I tell Charlie firmly.
“You’re a good person firefly, who got taken advantage of by some corporate douchebag with a god complex.
If anyone here is the idiot, it’s him. He let a wonderful person slip through his fingers because he couldn’t see how good he had it.
Lucky for Max, Andy, and I we all saw it right away.
You deserve better than whatever that punk ass bitch had to offer. ”
Charlie smiles warmly at me. “Ben, once again, you’re my hero.”
I feel a little tug at my heart, but I shrug it off. “I’m gonna need to teach you how to throw a punch. Loved the emotion behind it but your technique is terrible.”
“Well, I’m a lover not a fighter. So, sue me. But I would love it if you taught me some self-defense. Especially if I run into Chuck again,” Charlie says.
I growl when she says his name, which makes Charlie giggle.
“What the fuck do you do to these men, Charlie?” I ask rhetorically. She shrugs at me, hopping down off the stool and sauntering over to me slowly. As she gets closer, I can see a hint of desire in her eyes, and I smile down at her while my heart skips a beat. Okay maybe two.
In this moment, I can feel something locking into place for me.
Charlie has been a bright spot of light in my dark life from the moment she stepped into it, and I don’t want to fight it anymore.
She’s my firefly and I want her. I want every part of her she’ll allow me to have for as long as she’ll let me have it.
I’ll do anything for her. Anything to hear her laugh, see her smile, or to have her give me that look she’s giving me right now.
“What the fuck are you doing to me?” I growl quietly, and Charlie shrugs again with a coy smile on her lips.
She stands on her tiptoes and gives me a gentle peck on the lips.
She starts to pull away, but I wrap my arms around her and smash my lips against hers.
Charlie kisses me back, and I deepen the kiss, sliding my tongue against hers the second she opens for me.
I feel more than hear the faintest moan come from Charlie before she pulls away, looking up at me with lust in her eyes.
“I suppose I should go get my stuff. Wanna see my childhood bedroom?”