I turned to his brother, my chin in my hand and shook my head. “I just don’t see how you could have thought he was gay.”
“Me too,” Will laughed. “Is it the way I dress?”
“How long are you gonna rag on me for this?” Joe said, exasperatedly. “Everyone thought it!”
“Except Derek,” Will laughed. “At least one of my brothers knows me.”
“But what made you think he was gay?”
He shrugged. “He always referred to you as Charlie. He never said she. It was like he was hinting at us to read between the lines.”
“I still can’t believe you told the whole fucking town,” Will sighed. “I’m never gonna live that down.”
“You just need to find something else for them to talk about,” I said, smiling over at him. God, he was so rugged and sexy. I had to stop looking over at him for fear that I would grab him and kiss him.
“Yeah, I need another woman on my arm or-“
“A kid,” Joe interjected. “The town would love that one.”
“Yeah, I’m not really interested in having a kid just to give the town something to talk about.”
“It was just a suggestion,” he grumbled. “Look at me, I’ve got my bike and now the whole town looks at me differently.”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Will grinned. “I could get a bike. Spring is coming. It might be nice to find a pretty lady and head out on the open road.”
I tried not to be jealous about the whole ‘finding a pretty lady’ comment, but I was seething inside.
“You’d look good in leather,” I grinned.
Joe shook his head. “What? No, I am the biker in the family. I refuse to let you buy a bike.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you held a monopoly on who was able to buy a bike.”
“It’s my thing, alright? That’s something I did for me, and you’re going to come in with your studly features and steal all my thunder.”
“Studly, huh?”
“It’s not fair. Go buy a scooter or something.”
“Somehow, I don’t think I’d find a woman that wanted to ride on the back of my scooter.”
“I would definitely ride on the back of your bike,” I said before I could think better of it.
“Yeah?” he grinned. “Of course, then I’d probably have to take Nathan out to a few ball games.”
“He said you took him to a game the other day.”
“Yeah, well, a deal is a deal,” he smiled. “Of course, I never got to take you to the theater, but I guess some other lucky bastard can do that.”
“I’d still let you take me,” I said before I could think better of it.
“Yeah?”
I cleared my throat and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “Yeah, well, a bet is a bet, and you owe me.”
“Very true. And I am a man of my word. I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay awake, but I’ll do the best I can.”
“I’ll just have smelling salts on hand,” I grinned.
“There’s just one thing I need to know before I take you to the theater.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Who is Eliza Doolittle?”
Will
“Are you sure about this?” I asked Nathan over the phone as I shut my car door and headed toward the grocery store. “Isn’t this a little weird?”
“No, it’s perfect. Everyone goes to the grocery store.”
“Yeah, but what the hell am I supposed to do? Discuss the size of melons with her?”
“No, just talk to her like you normally would. You did it at the bar.”
“Yeah, but that was different. Alcohol was involved.”
“Sink or swim time, man. Are you a pussy or a man?”
I glared at the grocery store, but I was picturing Nathan’s face. “You don’t have to be a dick about it.”
“Sorry, was that over the top?”
“Just a little, man.”
He cleared his throat. “Right, well, go get ‘em, tiger.”
“Just…stop.” I blew out a breath. “Alright, I’m doing this.”
I hung up, taking a deep breath. She had been in there about five minutes. I just had to hope that she was doing some major grocery shopping and not just picking up a few things. I might miss my chance to talk to her. I strode toward the entrance, trying my best to look casual as I grabbed my shopping cart.
I tried to think of things I actually needed at my house, but my mind was blank. Groceries? What were those? God, I was sweating. This was so much easier when I had a wingman with me. Now I was all on my own. This had never been an issue before. Then again, I had never been purposely following a woman I liked in the hopes that she would notice me, only for me to ignore her or pretend I wasn’t interested.
I glanced around the store nonchalantly as I pulled stuff off the shelves. I hadn’t seen her yet, but that just meant I had to move more quickly through the store. I rounded the corner, going way too fast, and ran right into a woman with dark brown hair and innocent as fuck eyes. She blushed as she looked up at me and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured.
Normally, I would be all over this woman. I would flirt with her and try and get her to go on a date with me, all in the hopes that I could take her home for a night of passion. But all I could think about was how she was standing in my way and I had to find a way to politely shove her out of the way.
“I’m Gillian. Well, my friends call me Gilly.”
I smiled at her and nodded. “Will.”
I moved like I was going to swivel the cart around her, but she moved with me, blocking my path. In the distance, I saw Charlie in the meat department. My eyes were glued to her as I tried to figure out a way out of this. Why the hell was it the one time I didn’t want to talk to a woman, I couldn’t get her to leave me the hell alone?
“So, I know this is a little forward, but I would love to see you sometime. Maybe grab a drink.”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” I said, my eyes darting back to Charlie.
“I know this really great bar. They serve the best drinks and they have karaoke on Saturday nights. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
It sounded like hell. If I was going with Charlie, I would probably have a great time, but this woman was doing nothing for me.
“Uh…you know, I’m busy this Saturday.”
“Oh,” she said dejectedly. Now I felt terrible, so I threw her a bone.
“Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll give you a call sometime?”
Her face brightened and she immediately handed over her phone. I stared at it, wondering what the hell I should do. I couldn’t give her my number. That would only lead to a ton of unwanted phone calls.
“You know, my phone actually isn’t working right now.”
She looked at me, obviously confused. “Then why did you suggest that I give you my phone number?”
“Uh…” I glanced past her. Charlie was moving on. Shit, I needed to get away from this woman. “I can call from a buddy’s phone.”
“Oh, well, give me his number.”
“Sorry, he would kill me if I started handing out his number. Just write it down.”
I watched with large, frustrated eyes as she started digging through her massive purse. Glancing back, I watched as Charlie disappeared around a corner. I groaned, kicking myself for standing here when I should be over there, pretending not to like her.
“Is everything okay?” Gilly asked.
“Totes,” I said, letting my brother’s millennial speak slip out. She gave me a weird look and an idea sprang to mind. “I was thinking maybe you want to come over. We could Netflix and chill.” I looked her up and down, shaking my head slightly. “You’re so thirsty. I would love it if you were my bae.”
“Your what?”
“You know,” I nodded, mimicking what I had seen Joe and Andrew do a hundred times. “Let’s sip the tea here-“
“Sip the what?”
I thought about it for a second, thinking I got that one wrong. “Uh… spill the tea. You know, lay it all out there. You’re totes on fleek and I’m kinda basic, but you’re fire and totes…ratchet,” I said, blurting out the first word I could think of. I wasn’t even sure if it made sense. “Sorry, not sorry, but this place is lit, you know what I mean?”
She looked at me like I was crazy, like I was speaking another language. I knew exactly how she felt. “Uh…I really don’t know what you’re saying at all.”
Thank fuck, because I had no clue either. “You know, quiche-girl,” I grinned, pointing at her. “You clap back and we can humble brag. Alright, Hunty?”
“Who’s Hunty?” she asked incredulously. “I’m Gilly,” she said loud and slowly, like I was fucking stupid. I opened my mouth to say something else, but then she gave me a disgusted sigh and shoved past me. “Never mind.”
When she was finally out of my way, I pushed my cart on, glad that little episode was over. I was going to have to thank Joe and Andrew for talking like idiots later. They just saved my life. I walked past all the aisles, checking each one for her as I zoomed past, but it wasn’t until I got near the registers that I saw her. I turned my cart in that direction and headed straight for her. But just as I was approaching, a woman approached her and grinned, reaching in for a hug.
I swerved, changing directions just in time so she wouldn’t see me, and ran right the fuck into Ginny, knocking her to the floor. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Charlie hadn’t seen a thing. I rushed around the cart and helped Ginny stand.
“I’m so sorry, Ginny.”
“It’s Gilly,” she scoffed. “Watch where you’re going!”
She stormed off, leaving me in a cold sweat. Damn, I couldn’t even remember women’s names anymore. That’s what Charlie was doing to me. I glanced around the corner of the aisle and saw Charlie was already checking out. I had blown my chance.
* * *
The last time I tried to run into her, it was a total bust. But this time, it would work. Nathan told me she was running into Kohl’s after work, which was perfect. I could pretend I was picking up jeans. Maybe even ask for some insight into what she thought would look good on me. It could not fail.
I watched from my parking spot, just toward the back of the lot so I wouldn’t be seen staring at her like a creeper when she walked past. I saw her drive in from the other end of the lot and park right at the front. Perfect. I grabbed my baseball cap and pulled it low over my eyes. I started walking toward the entrance with my head down, but noticed that she stopped just in front of the doors and looked over her shoulders. I almost stopped, but if I stopped, that would look suspicious. Besides, she couldn’t see me way back here, right?
She continued inside, but I still slowed my pace, not wanting to run into her immediately. When I entered the store, I realized what a mistake this was. The store was filled with women and the only men were the ones being dragged around by their spouses. They looked bored, which meant that I had no business being here. I took a deep breath and nodded to myself. It was fine. I was shopping for someone else. Maybe a birthday or something was coming up. I had this.
I headed for the women’s section, passing the clothes. I didn’t know a single guy that picked out women’s clothing. I stopped at the jewelry section, but when a woman walked over to me with a big grin on her face, I smiled and walked away. The last thing I wanted was to buy cheap jewelry from Kohl's.
And then I stopped in my tracks. In front of me was the lingerie department. Perfect. True, most women probably didn’t shop for lingerie at Kohl's, but surely they had something that was sexy enough for me to use as an excuse. Either that or it would make me look cheap. Still, it was an excuse. I walked up to one particularly nice pair of lace underwear. No, that wasn’t right. It was a thong, something I could imagine Charlie wearing. I examined it more closely and was about to set it down when I noticed Charlie out of the corner of my eye looking at bras. I stepped back, holding the thong against my body, like it might give me away.
“Did you need help with something?”
I spun around to see a sales lady behind me, a happy smile on her face. She was older, maybe in her forties. She glanced down at the thong in my hand, but her smile never faltered. What the hell? Nobody in department stores ever stopped to ask if the customer needed help. Now this woman decided I needed help?
“I’m just shopping.”
“For something in particular? Maybe for a special lady?”
I chuckled nervously, totally out of my element right now. I had never purchased lingerie for a woman. “Uh…”
“Because I think if you’re shopping for a girlfriend, you should go with something that’s a set.”
She started walking in the direction of Charlie, so I blurted out, “It’s not for my girlfriend. It’s for my mother.”
The woman turned to me, her face flushed red. I glanced back down at the thong and closed my eyes in mortification. “Um…she’s more of a friend,” I said, hoping that it would sound better, like we were more friends than mother and son, but that’s not what her face said. “Not that kind of friend,” I rushed on. “I’m not into incest. At all.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, and I got the feeling maybe she didn’t agree.
“Unless…that’s what you like,” I continued slowly. “Not everyone is, but…to each his own. Or her,” I added quickly.
Her face was super bright red and she backed away from me, like I was psycho. I saw her reach for her walkie-talkie. Shit, this was going so bad.
“This is all coming out wrong. I swear, I’m not into that kind of stuff, and this isn’t even for my mom,” I said, holding up the thong. “I lied about the whole thing. It’s really for me. I like wearing women’s underwear sometimes. It feels nice, soft against the skin,” I said, swallowing hard.
Stop talking. Just fucking stop!
But I couldn’t. My mouth just wouldn’t stay shut. “It’s no different than women wearing men’s boxers, you know? Just a different feel.”
“You know, I think maybe I…” She pressed her hand to her ear and then looked up at me. “Oh, sure. I’ll be right there.” She smiled at me. “My manager needs me.” She turned to go, but then I heard her say, “Security!”
It was louder than I thought and everyone in the vicinity turned in my direction, still holding the damn thong. I bolted for the front of the store, watching out of the corner of my eye as a security guard ran at me. I just had to get to the doors and I would be safe. It happened in slow motion. The guard leapt for me just as I tossed the thong in his face. He grimaced, his face contorting as the women’s underwear plopped against his face. I took off, not even turning when I heard him fall to the floor.
Will
After two failed attempts at seeing Charlie, I decided to take a break. I was failing miserably at this whole accidentally seeing her thing. Since it was Saturday, and I had nothing better to do, I decided to head over to visit with Josh. He had been working hard at his auto body shop, but it felt more like he was hiding from everyone. He still hung out with us, but around town, he kept a low profile.
I walked into his shop and saw him working on a car. Carly was in the office with Alessa, working on paperwork. They seemed to be doing alright, and Josh had been able to find employees easily enough. It didn’t seem to me like the town had turned on him, but he was convinced that he was hated.
“Hey, you got time for a break?” I asked, walking up to the car he was working on.
He was covered in grease and glanced up at me. “I’m kind of busy right now.”
“You’re always kind of busy.”
“I’ll see you tonight. What’s the big deal?”
“Look, it’s just lunch. You can’t spare a half hour for lunch?”
He sighed and picked up a rag, wiping the grease and dirt from his hands. “I guess we could grab something for Carly. She’s been in there all day.”
“How�
�s that going?”
He shrugged. “She seems to be a natural at it.”
“And having Alessa here isn’t a problem?”
“Well, it will be soon enough. She’s getting more mobile. We’re going to have to find someone to watch her.”
“Have you made any calls?”
He glanced down and kept rubbing at his hands. “Yeah, maybe I can just have Carly stay home with her.”
“Well, then who would do your office work?”
“It can’t be that hard, right?”
I frowned. “Is this about money? Because we can all chip in and help out if you need-“
“You guys have already done enough for me. And this has nothing to do with money.”
“Then, I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you just hire a sitter? I know there are a few women looking for work in town. You could probably just post it to the town Facebook page and get a few responses today.”
He laughed humorlessly, tossing his rag down. “You don’t get it. I got Jack’s wife killed. No one in town wants to watch my daughter. No one wants to take the risk that they’ll end up like Natalie.”
“Have you asked anyone?”
He looked up at me and sighed. “Why do you think Alessa is still here?”
Shit. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t imagine how he was feeling. None of us blamed him for Natalie’s death, and I knew deep down that the town didn’t either. But he was right, people would be scared given their history.
“Look, I’ll talk to some people. There has to be someone that needs the work more than they care about the gossip. Come on,” I said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Let’s go grab some lunch and we’ll figure this shit out.”
He sighed and tossed down his rag, telling his guys he was taking lunch. As he went to tell Carly he was going to lunch, I watched the guys at the shop. They all watched him from a distance, like they were curious and wanted to know more, but also like they were nervous. Dammit, he didn’t deserve this shit and neither did Carly. They were fighting for their lives all those years. We had to fix this. The Cortell brothers didn’t let shit like this happen.
Textbook Approach: A Small Town Romance Page 16