CHAPTER 19

“DON’T YOU ‘HEY, CHARLIE’ ME.”

Charlie

Brandon had some nerve.

I understood when he decided to leave after laser tag. I felt so uncomfortable next to David, and I knew it was making him uncomfortable as well. I would give him that. But I hadn’t seen that asshole in two days.

I didn’t text or call him on Sunday because I didn’t know what to say. But I stayed glued to my phone waiting for him to call me. He didn’t. There wasn’t so much as a peep.

When Monday rolled around, the only time I saw him was when I left the bakery for the day. He was inside the shop talking to another man over what looked like a book full of tattoos. If looks could kill, mine would have dropped him dead.

This morning, Livy and Staci dropped by to bring me some breakfast. It was a nice gesture, but I was already elbow deep in cake batter and I had eaten close to half a bowl of buttercream icing for breakfast.

“Rough morning?” Staci asked before she pointed her finger to the edge of her lip indicating that I had something on my face. I had no doubt that it was icing that I had been eating with a spatula.

“You could say that.” I pushed a dirty bowl out of my way to grab the milk.

“Anything we can do to help?” Livy asked sweetly, and I felt bad for her because her question was the final nudge I needed to go over the edge.

“Sure.” I set the milk down and wiped my hands on my apron as I turned fully in their direction. “You can tell Brandon that he’s a complete and total asshole.”

“Oh shit,” Staci whispered before she jumped up on the counter and settled in for story time.

“What did he do now?” Livy crossed her arms and looked like an irritated mom.

“He… he…” I growled in frustration. “Your friend.” I pointed my finger at Livy. “He thinks he can just do whatever he wants.”

“What happened?” Livy looked like she was truly concerned about what her best friend was capable of.

“He kissed me.” I flung my arms out to my sides.

“Okay?” she said the word hesitantly.

“He kissed me while you all were playing laser tag. He kissed me when I was supposed to be on a date with David.”

Livy and Staci exchanged glances, but I didn’t really care what they thought about me at that moment.

“And I let him. I kissed the bastard back. It was the best kiss of my entire pitiful life.”

“What’s the problem then?” Staci asked before she dipped her finger in the bowl of icing I had been eating from and popping it in her mouth.

“He left,” I practically screamed at them. “He left without saying a word, and I haven’t heard from him since.” I picked up one of the dirty bowls that were littering my kitchen and tossed it into the sink.

“Have you reached out to him?” Staci jumped down off the counter.

“No,” I said just as stubbornly as I felt.

“Then both of you are in the wrong.” She shrugged her shoulders as if that was the simplest answer ever.

“How am I in the wrong? He kissed me.” I pointed to my chest.

“And you left with another man.” She stared at me, and I stared straight back at her. Staci was a straight shooter. She didn’t sugarcoat anything, but she was right.

“Crap.” I ran my fingers through my hair.

“What are you going to do now?” Livy asked as she picked up some more of my dirty dishes and gently set them down in the sink.

“I don’t know.” Just thinking about it made me feel panicked.

Staci stepped up to me and lifted my apron over my neck before she lifted a rag off the counter and wiped something off the side of my face. “You’re going to march your little ass right over there, and you’re going to talk to him.”

“What if he doesn’t want to talk to me?” I let them hear my real fear.

“Then you kick him straight in the balls for being an asshole.” She spun me toward the door then smacked me in the ass for good luck.

I followed the girls into the shop, and the loud buzzing of tattoo guns filled the room. It seemed to match the nervousness that was flowing through me. My anger was slipping away, and worry was setting in. It was easy enough for Staci to say, but I would be devastated if Brandon didn’t want to talk to me. I would be crushed.

Brandon’s loud laughter bounced through the room followed by the laugh of someone I didn’t recognize, some girl, and just like that, my anger returned. I had been over there turning my bakery into a madhouse while I obsessed over why he hadn’t so much as spoke to me, and here he was, just laughing it up.

I marched over to his station, and I heard Staci snicker behind me. I didn’t care. I didn’t care who saw or heard what I was about to say to him.

I crossed my arms as I leaned against his doorway. He was just finishing wrapping up the woman’s tattoo on his arm, and I had enough self-control to wait until he was finished before I laid into him.

As soon as he pressed the last piece of tape against her skin, his eyes met mine.

He didn’t smile. He didn’t even barely look like he noticed.

“Livy will check you out and give you a print out of the care instructions we went over in case you forget.” He helped the woman out of the chair, and I moved to the side so she could get by.

“Thank you again.” She smiled at him before she smiled kindly at me. I tried my hardest to force out the nicest smile I could manage.

But as soon as she left the room, I let that smile drop.

“Hey, Charlie,” Brandon said as he threw used ink into a trashcan.

“Don’t you ‘Hey, Charlie’ me.”

He smirked, and I hated that I loved it. I hated that it calmed me just a fraction to see his smile.

“What would you like me to say then?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Oh, I don’t know. How about ‘Freckles, I’m sorry that I kissed the hell out of you the other night then disappeared off the face of the earth.’”

“I thought you didn’t like it when I called you Freckles.” He chuckled, and I narrowed my eyes.

“I swear to God, Brandon.” I took a step toward him, but he moved past me to quickly shut the door. It was then that I noticed the small crowd trying to peek inside.

“I was trying to give you time to clear your head.” He picked up more things off his station that I had no idea what he used them for and threw things away.

“Time to clear my head?” I asked him with a false calmness.

“Yes.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “For you to figure out what you want.”

“I didn’t need time,” I growled at him. “I fucking kissed you, didn’t I?”

His eyes sparkled, and he turned fully toward me. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

I tried not to be offended. “It does to me.” I pointed to my chest. “I wouldn’t have kissed you if it didn’t mean something.” I could feel myself starting to lose my cool, and I prayed that I could hold it together. I was an angry crier, and I would be damned if I let him see a tear.

“But David,” he said his name as if it meant everything.

“Yes. David. Let’s talk about David. Let’s talk about how I kissed you even though I was there with him. Let’s talk about how I told David that I couldn’t see him anymore because I was into someone else. Someone else that I hurt him for. Someone who didn’t even call me.”

He took a step toward me, and I held up my hands to get him to stop. “Don’t you dare touch me.”

“Freckles,” he whispered that dang name that he called me.

“Don’t even think about it, Brandon.” There was no conviction in my voice, and he knew it. He could see it in my eyes. In my shaking hands.

“I’m sorry.” He took another step closer to me, and I could feel my resolve breaking in half.

“You’re an asshole.”

“So you’ve told me.” He stepped so close to me that my hands pressed against his chest.

The anger inside me turned frantic. I needed to feel him. I needed to know that he needed me as badly as I needed him.

Brandon didn’t make me wait. He pushed my back against the door, the door where I knew Livy and them were probably listening through, and then he kissed me.

This kiss was far less composed than the first. Our hands were everywhere. I clung to every inch of skin I could find, and he looked to be doing the same. Our lips were desperate as they searched each other out. We were a clash of lips and teeth and tongues.

Brandon kissed my neck and pulled a moan out of me as he gently bit down. I had never wanted someone so badly in my life. I was going to go insane if I didn’t get more of him.

I was seconds away from ripping off my clothes when there was a small knock on the door at my back. “I know you two are making up in there, but Brandon, your next appointment is here.”

Brandon’s lips slid from my skin and he pressed his forehead against my neck. The only sound in the room was our ragged breaths.

He didn’t move for several moments. He just stood there breathing me in and I did the same. I didn’t want to let him go.

When he finally pulled away from me, I knew he could see it on my face, how badly I wanted him, because the same look was staring back at me.

“I have to get this client,” he said it as if it was the last thing he wanted to do, but I knew he was right. No matter how much I hated it.

“What time are you leaving work tonight?” he asked.

“About five.” I still wasn’t thinking straight.

“I’m booked up until eight.” He looked like he was considering how to get out of it. “I’ll call you as soon as I get done.”

“Yeah.” I nodded my head. “But you better actually call me this time.” I poked him in his chest.

“Scout’s honor.” He held up three fingers.

“You were a boy scout?”

“Nope.” He grinned before he leaned down and pressed another soft kiss against my lips. It was a kiss that lingered, and it may have been my favorite one yet.