Textbook Approach: A Small Town Romance

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  It took me all week to work up the courage to go after what I really wanted. I debated the positives and negatives about having any kind of relationship with Charlie. She had texted me a few times this week, but it was always vague, leaving me reeling. I couldn’t figure out what she wanted, and that made it difficult to figure out what I wanted. One thing was for sure, I wanted her. And the more time I was away from her, the more I felt this ache deep in my chest. The idea of never seeing her again was unbearable, but seeing her, touching her, talking to her, but never having all of her was even worse.

  Against my better judgement, I called Nathan and found out what Charlie was up to this week. It was now or never. I knew I would chicken out if I waited any longer. I drove over to her apartment and knocked on the door before I lost my nerve. When the door swung open and her beautiful face glowed at me like a damn angel, I lost control.

  “Will-“

  I pushed inside, kissing her hard as I kicked the door shut. My hands were all over her, tearing at her clothes as I guided her back to her bedroom. She didn’t resist, kissing me back with the same intensity. Her hair was still damp from her shower and she smelled so damn good. I missed this about her, the way her shampoo made her hair smell, the softness of her skin after she put on her lotion, and I even missed the mint of her toothpaste. She was a drug, and she was slowly pulling me down, drowning me in her intoxicating scent.

  “Will, I need you,” she panted.

  That should have a soothing balm on my battered heart, but instead, it had me turning hard inside. Pushing aside my feelings, I refused to kiss her anymore, sliding my lips along the curve of her neck instead. I gripped her tits, relying on touch instead of caressing her skin like I loved her.

  No, I refused to fall back down that rabbit hole, falling for her and needing her so bad it hurt. I would fuck her, use her body like she had been using me, and then I would walk away.

  I ignored her panting, her moans as I finally settled between her legs and slid inside. I clenched my eyes closed and pushed back those feelings of love as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fuck her like this, where I could still see those beautiful eyes staring at me. Pulling out, I flipped her over and yanked her to her knees, sliding in from behind.

  I knew I was being rough. I knew my fingers were digging into her with a bruising grip, but I needed control right now. I was lost in the struggle, fighting not to start kissing her everywhere as I fucked her hard. My movements were jerky, my body tense and fighting a losing battle. I needed this to be over. I slid my hand around to her clit and played her the way I knew worked best. I felt her tighten around me, squeezing me so hard. I was breathing hard, barely hanging onto my sanity as she came around my dick. When I came, I just knelt there, refusing to press my body to hers like I normally would.

  I pulled out of her and yanked my pants back on, ignoring her hurt look as she stared at me. I didn’t kiss her before I walked out the door. I didn’t thank her for the fuck or even make plans for another time. I just pretended like it meant nothing and walked out her door.

  Charlie

  Three excruciatingly long nights. That’s how many nights in a row he showed up on my doorstep and fucked me hard before leaving me without a word. If I didn’t know how he felt before, it was clear now. He still wanted to fuck me, but he didn’t want a damn thing from me anymore. It was over between us. Any chance I had was long gone.

  When he showed up the second night, I tried to pull back and talk to him, but he wouldn’t let me. He glared at me, his eyes hard, unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was clear, if I wanted him, this was all I was getting. Why had I been so stupid? Why had I ignored my feelings for him when I could have had him all this time? Oh, that’s right. Because I was an idiot.

  And when he showed up on the third night, he made it clear with just one look that this was just sex, and that’s all it would ever be. So, I let him take me into my bedroom and fuck me. I let him use my body, because I needed him too. And as long as he was still coming over, that meant he was still attracted to me and I still had a chance. I could still win him back, though it wouldn’t be with sex. There was no way that sex would win him over. I needed to be smart about this, find a way to let him know that I was serious about having something more with him, and I knew exactly who to talk to about that. It would have to wait though. I knew he would be coming by tonight. Last night, I had Oliver, and he was suspiciously absent. That could only mean that he was still getting my schedule from Nathan, the bastard. He was on Will’s side in this whole thing. But Oliver was back at his dad’s now, and I wasn’t about to miss out on the opportunity to keep him in my grasp.

  I waited with my glass of wine, sipping it as I watched the clock. He had shown up every night like clockwork at eight o’clock. He never asked about dinner or grabbed a drink, so I had to set the stage tonight. I had to tempt him. I pulled the beef tenderloin out of the oven just five minutes before eight and put the mashed potatoes in a bowl on the island. Two wine glasses sat out, ready for the feast in front of me. I nodded to myself and took off my apron, hanging it on the hook. I was as ready as I could be.

  I wasn’t stupid enough to think that this would win him back, but maybe it would get him to stay for a little longer. Maybe he would actually speak to me today. I missed hearing his voice, his laughter that filled my apartment and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. God, I was so stupid.

  The knock at the door had me jumping slightly. I swallowed down a gulp of wine and made sure my hair looked nice. Taking a deep breath, I swung the door open and beamed up at him. He looked so damn sexy tonight. He kissed me hard, the same way he did every time he came over, and started tearing at my clothes before the door was even closed.

  I felt his gaze slide over to the island even though his lips were still plastered to mine. He was kissing me, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore. This was exactly what I wanted. He pulled back and stared at the food for a moment, then looked back at me, hands on his hips.

  “I thought we could eat dinner,” I said with a shrug.

  His eyes hardened and he sighed, buttoning his shirt before walking over to the counter. I grinned to myself, happy that this was working. Now I just had to think of something to say, anything to make him smile at me with those bright eyes. But when he reached the counter, he grabbed the pan of beef tenderloin and headed for the door.

  I looked at him in confusion. “What are you doing? I thought we were going to eat together. I made potatoes.”

  He glanced back at the island and stalked over there, grabbing the bowl of potatoes in his other arm, then stormed back for the door. When he got there, he nodded for the door, telling me to open the damn thing. Not knowing what else to do, I opened the door and watched as he walked away with my food and my dishes.

  “Wash them before you bring them back!” I shouted as he walked down the hall.

  Baffled, I closed the door and sighed, wondering what I was going to do for dinner now. I couldn’t believe he did that. He didn’t want to eat with me so much that he just stormed away with my food! He didn’t even stay for sex. This was insane. He was insane! If food didn’t help at all, I was going to have to be really clever.

  Will

  Not knowing what else to do, I drove over to Josh’s place and used my foot to bang on his door. When he answered, he looked down at the food and then back up at me, his eyebrows pinched in confusion.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Depends,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Are you sharing?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him and sighed. “Fine.” I shoved past him into the townhouse, nodding to Carly as I passed. When Josh joined me in the kitchen, he pulled out plates and silverware while I started carving into the beef tenderloin. It was extremely tender, practically falling apart as I cut into it. That made me hate her even more. Apparently, she could cook meat really well.

  “So, are you going to tell me where y
ou got this meal from?” Josh asked.

  “I stole it,” I said, sliding a piece of meat into my mouth and groaning.

  When Josh didn’t say anything, I glanced up at his baffled face. “Did you say you stole it?”

  “Yeah.”

  I cut another piece and popped it into my mouth. God, the second slice was even better than the first.

  “Will, these are someone’s dishes.”

  “I know,” I said slowly, as if he was stupid. What did he think I meant when I said I stole the dinner?

  Carly walked into the room with Alessa on her hip, staring at the food in front of her. “Where did you get dinner?”

  “He stole it,” Josh said, still baffled.

  Carly tilted her head to the side, squinting slightly. “So, was this like a drive-by thing or did you know someone was making beef tenderloin and you decided to steal it?”

  “Drive-by,” I said around a mouth of food.

  “So…snatch and grab?” Josh asked, making a plate for himself.

  “Basically.”

  “How did you get out the door?”

  I swallowed my meat and wiped my mouth. “I nodded at the door.”

  “And whoever this was just opened it and let you walk out with the food,” Josh said slowly.

  “Basically.”

  “Okay, we know what basically happened, but what really happened?” Carly asked.

  “Yeah, I gotta say, I’ve done some shitty things over the past few years, including murder, but this just seems wrong.”

  I held a strip of tenderloin just inches from my mouth, but paused when he said that. “You’ve murdered someone, but this seems wrong to you?” I said, waving my hand at the food in front of me.

  “Well, the people that I killed deserved to die. This…stealing a beef tenderloin from someone? That’s low.”

  I glared at him and swallowed down my food. It was so damn good. I didn’t want to tell them about my situation with Charlie. None of my brothers knew about my current situation with her, and I wasn’t sure they would look at me in a different light for it. But apparently, it was a worse offense to steal someone’s dinner.

  “Charlie made it.”

  “Oh,” Carly said, taking her seat and making her own plate. I held out my hands, waving for her to hand over Alessa. She handed her over and I smiled down at my niece, playing with her little cheeks as Josh fumbled on in confusion.

  “Oh? Charlie made it so it’s okay to steal it?”

  “Well, obviously something happened between them and Charlie made this dinner in the hopes of getting him back. And when he walked in there, ambushed with a meal that would tempt any man, he took it and ran like any normal person.”

  “Any normal person?” Josh exploded.

  “I like her.” I grinned at Carly, who winked back at me.

  “You deduced all that from a stolen meal sitting on our table and Charlie?”

  “Well, it’s not hard to figure out if you put the pieces together.”

  “Yeah, but you skipped like twelve pieces and jumped to that. There’s no way what you just said happened. It’s too unbelievable.”

  “She hit the nail on the head.”

  Josh shook his head and started eating, mumbling around his food. “So, what did Charlie do that persuaded you to pull off the great beef tenderloin heist?”

  “She broke the rules.”

  “What rules? What happened?”

  I covered Alessa’s ears so I could talk openly. “I told her I loved her and she didn’t say it back. So, it’s over. She doesn’t want a relationship. But I still want her, so I’ve been showing up every night for s-e-x, but tonight she sprang this on me.”

  “You do know that not only does she not understand a word you’re saying, but she doesn’t know what sex is, so you don’t have to spell it,” Carly said, nodding to Alessa.

  I removed my hands and glared at Carly. “I was protecting her.”

  “Yeah,” she snorted. “And an hour ago, you had your hands on another woman’s ass. Did you wash your hands first?”

  “Can we go back to the part where you and Charlie broke up? When did this happen?”

  I moved my attention to Josh and sighed. “We got in a fight like two weeks ago. She made it pretty damn clear that she didn’t want any kind of normal relationship with me.”

  “And so you decided it would be a good idea to keep fucking her?” Josh said incredulously.

  “Don’t forget, tell her that he loved her.”

  I glared at Carly. “I thought I had a chance to change her mind.”

  “Right, because women change their minds so easily,” Carly snorted.

  “They don’t?” Josh said, raising an eyebrow.

  “No, they don’t.”

  “You change your mind twenty times a day.”

  “Not about important stuff.”

  I watched their conversation volley back and forth, wondering if this is what it would be like if Charlie actually gave me a shot. Would we bicker?

  “You changed your socks three times yesterday morning!”

  “And does that seem like an important decision to you?” Carly snapped back.

  “It’s not even a decision!” Josh threw his hands up in the air. “You just reach in and grab a pair.”

  “I would, if I was like you and only owned black socks.”

  “What guy do you know that wears colorful socks?”

  I plopped my leg on the table and pulled up my jeans, showing off my argyle socks. Josh shook his head disgustedly at me. “What? Ma gave them to me for Christmas.”

  “She didn’t give me argyle socks,” he grumbled.

  “That’s because she doesn’t love you as much as me.”

  “I like them,” Carly shrugged. “I think you would look good in argyle socks.”

  “I’m not wearing argyle socks! You don’t shoot people and then gain a reputation as a good guy by wearing fancy socks!”

  “It’s a start,” I said, grinning at him.

  “Well, no mechanic wears those socks,” he huffed. “And that’s besides the point. We were talking about you and your fucked up life. So, what happened after you said you loved her?”

  “She didn’t say it back. So, I was talking with Robert-“

  Carly snorted. “Great choice.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “Anyway, I was talking with him and he said that I either needed to walk away or I could just…” I couldn’t do it. I covered Alessa’s ears again, drawing another eye roll from Carly. “Or I could just fuck her and still have her in whatever way she could give me. But it turns out that I couldn’t fuck her and have all that in-between stuff.”

  “So, you booty-called her,” Carly said. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing. I thought it was all working out. I was slowly detaching myself from her every time I was over there.”

  “I beg to differ,” Josh said. “If you were really detaching yourself from her, you wouldn’t have stolen her dinner.”

  “She was trying to entice me to stay and talk. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

  “Funnily enough, I’ve never heard of anyone stealing someone else’s dinner so that they didn’t have to have a conversation,” Josh said.

  “Hey, you’re reaping the rewards now. Don’t pretend like you’re in disagreement with me.”

  “Do you think you could ask her for the recipe?” Carly asked, licking her fingers. “This is really good.”

  “Sure, when I return the dishes, I’ll casually ask her to give me the recipe.”

  “I would appreciate that.”

  I sighed and picked up another slice of meat, slowly savoring it like it was her.

  “Oh, God, he’s got the sex look,” Carly groaned. “He’s imagining eating this off her.”

  “I might be sick,” Josh said, shoving back from the table. “Just take your beef and go. I can’t be around you when you’re thinking about sex and food.”

  “I wasn
’t-“

  “Don’t lie to me! That was a sex face. That’s disgusting. I’ll never be able to eat beef tenderloin again without imagining that face. You’ve ruined beef for me!”

  He stormed out of the room, leaving me alone with Alessa and Carly. “Did I ruin it for you?”

  She shook her head. “No, if anything, I was thinking maybe you should leave so I could eat some meat off Josh.”

  “And now it’s ruined for me.”

  I stood and plopped Alessa down in her arms, heading for the door. First my booty call was ruined, and now beef was. This day was really starting to suck.

  Charlie

  I got off work and walked to my car, watching the shadows, thinking maybe Will was out there stalking me. I wasn’t scared. I was actually hoping he would jump out of the shadows and tackle me. At least that would mean that he was still following me. Oh, God, I was messed up. What woman prayed that a man would stalk her? I was definitely going to end up as a chalk outline now.

  I got in my car, needing to call Nathan on the way home and tell him that I had officially lost it, but my phone wouldn’t connect to the bluetooth. I scrolled through the menu on my phone until I came across the bluetooth settings, and promptly got teary-eyed. Instead of my car being listed under the bluetooth options, it now said My skinny and beautiful woman’s car.

  “Goddamnit!” I said, slamming my hand against the steering wheel. I was such a fuck up. I connected the car and dialed Nathan’s number. When he picked up, I was already crying. “What the hell?” I took a shuddering sob, my chest hurting so bad.

  “Uh, Charlie? Are you crying?”

  “Yes, I’m fucking crying!”

  “Why are you crying?” I could hear the hesitancy in his voice. He knew I had lost it.

  “Do you know what that jackass did?”

  “Um…I’m assuming we’re talking about Will.”

  “Of course! Do you know any other jackasses I would be talking about?”

  “Well—“

  “He changed the name of my bluetooth for my car. Can you believe that?”