“Felix.”
“I’ll send you the money instantly if you just answer the question.”
I knew that he was asking me because Felix had always been a little insecure in bed. He hated that he’d never been able to give me an orgasm from sex alone, no matter how many times I’d told him it still felt good and that I didn’t need to climax to enjoy myself.
I should tell him it was the same with Gabe so that he’d feel better about himself, but I had already been mad when I called him, and now, he was really pissing me off. Add tired and hungry to the mix, and one might say, you had a woman scorned.
11
Gabe
I stood there, listening to Charli fight with her ex, and knew I should leave. I had stuck around after grabbing my shirt to tell her that I would have dinner with her. She’d looked so sad after she asked me and I didn’t answer right away.
I had honestly been thinking of telling her no. Being around her stirred something inside me that I didn’t like. I still couldn’t believe that I had paid for her moving truck earlier today. If my brother found out, he’d give me so much shit.
But she’d appeared so defeated, and after hearing her crying in the bathroom, I couldn’t stand to see the look of helplessness on her face anymore.
If her ex-boyfriend were closer, I would have driven over to his home and slapped some sense into him. That had been pretty low of him to saddle her with furniture she didn’t want and a bill she didn’t need.
And now, it seemed he was giving her crap about me.
“Yes, Felix, if you really want to know, Gabe makes me come. All he has to do is slide it into me, and I explode. It doesn’t hurt that he also has a huge dick, but his real gift is him knowing how to use it.”
Obviously, I knew it was a lie because I’d never even kissed her, but picturing her coming all over my cock as I pushed myself home made me instantly hard.
It also made me groan, and Charli whipped around.
Her eyes were huge, and her cheeks turned pink under the light of the sun going down through her window.
“Oh my God,” she said. “I have to go.”
“What about the money?” her ex yelled as she hit a button on her phone.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” she said to me. “That’s not what it sounded like. He was pushing me and asking me—”
I held up my hand. “You don’t have to explain.” I didn’t want her to explain because if she repeated anything she’d just said on the phone right now, I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions. “I have had exes before.”
“Someone actually dated you?” She gasped and covered her mouth. I thought it was because she was shocked by what she’d said, but I realized she was trying to hide her laugh. “What are you still doing here anyway?”
“I was going to tell you that I’d stay for dinner, but after that remark, I think I’m going to head on home.”
She dropped her arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
I shook my head, but I gave her a slight smile. “You probably did.” I moved toward the door and pushed it open. “On that note, have a nice evening.”
She stepped toward me. “I really didn’t mean it. Not the way you think. You’re a very handsome man. It’s just that…”
I lifted my brow.
“You’re also kind of a grump-ass.”
“Ah.” I wasn’t surprised. I already knew I had a tendency to be sullen, and people gave me a wide berth. It was the way I liked it.
Except I didn’t want Charli thinking of me that way.
“Will you accept my apology?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
I stepped onto the porch and turned to look at her. “Only if you remember that I’m a grump-ass who can make you come.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Your words. Not mine,” I pointed out as I let the screen door close. “Night, Charli. Thanks for the furniture.” I turned away and headed for my own front door.
Later that night, after finding some leftovers in the back of my fridge and working on a furniture order for a while, I took a shower and headed to bed, naked, as always.
I turned off the light and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to pull me under almost immediately, like it usually did.
Except tonight, I could hear Charli moving around next door. Her home was a mirror image of mine, which meant our bedrooms shared a wall.
The swish of hangers being pulled across the pole filled my silent room, followed by the claps as the plastic slammed against each other.
I sighed and looked at my clock. It was after eleven.
I really hoped that Charli would go to bed soon. I had to work at the hardware store in the morning, and I didn’t need to hear her banging around all night.
A couple minutes later, I recognized the sound of a closet door closing and breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, that meant she was done in that room, or she was going to go to sleep.
I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes again.
I was pretty sure I was halfway asleep when I heard a distant buzzing. I sat up, ready to look out the window to see who was using some sort of machinery when it was coming upon midnight.
But then I heard the faint sound of a moan.
My head swung from the direction of the window to our shared wall.
I pushed back my comforter and silently put my feet on the floor. I padded quietly to the wall and pressed my ear to it.
The buzzing got louder, as did Charli’s moans.
I yanked my head away as I realized that she was masturbating. With a toy.
Oh God.
I was going to hell for picturing her naked on her bed, red nipples hard and pointed at the ceiling while her legs were spread as she pleasured herself.
My cock jerked against my abdomen, and I bit back a groan.
If I could hear her, that meant she could hear me.
I slid back under the covers and willed myself to ignore what was happening just a few feet away because there was no way I could touch myself. Only a pervert would get himself off to his tenant getting herself off. Especially when she had no idea that I could hear her.
Except my brain had other ideas.
Charli’s words to her ex-boyfriend came back to me, and suddenly, I was the one between her legs, making her moan.
I threw an arm over my head in frustration.
I needed to get laid.
I tried to remember the last time I had, hoping that doing the math in my head would distract me from the noises next door.
It didn’t work. I couldn’t even remember what came first, June or July. All I knew was that my belly was wet from the pre-cum weeping from my dick.
Charli’s moans got louder, and I now knew what torture was.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Charli’s moans turned to cries as she orgasmed.
That’s it.
I wrapped my fist around my shaft and pumped it hard.
I pulled my pillow over my head and shouted into the cotton as I came hard.
My breathing slowed, and I rolled onto my stomach with a groan.
Not only had I masturbated to Charli, but it had also taken me all of thirty seconds to blow.
I was pathetic.
There was no way I was ever going to be able to look her in the eyes again.
12
Gabe
By Wednesday, I was feeling less like a dirty bastard, but that could be because I had managed to avoid Charli all week. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I had to talk to her again.
Maybe I simply needed to confess my sin to someone.
“Hey, Max,” I said to my brother as he came around the counter at the hardware store. “Is that lady still here that you were helping earlier?”
“No. She said she needed to talk to her husband again because she couldn’t remember which brand he needed.”
“So, are we alone?”
Max raised his eyebrows, looking at me like I was strange.
He had no idea.
“Yes,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“I need to talk to you about Charli.”
Max smiled. “Charli, huh? Last week, she was ‘our tenant,’ ” he said, using air quotes.
“You are such a child.”
Max laughed as he looked over my shoulder. “Well, well, well, speaking of Charli, guess who’s here.”
I spun around, hitting my elbow on the cash register. “Ow.” I welcomed the pain as it took my mind off of how I couldn’t stop picturing her naked.
“Hey, Charli,” Max said from behind me.
“Hey, guys,” she said.
Max nudged me with his arm when I didn’t say anything.
“Hey.”
She reached the counter and grinned. “I have something for you,” she said to me.
“You do?” I asked nervously.
Despite her smile, in my head, I saw her pulling out a restraining order because she knew what I had done the other night.
The same thing I’d been doing every night since.
Touching myself while thinking of her.
I winced. I really was a pervert.
Charli laughed. “Don’t worry; it’s a good thing.” She wiggled her eyebrows and pulled some cash out of her purse. “I got your money from Felix.” She set it on the counter in front of me.
I shook my head and nudged it back toward her. “You keep it. I told you, the furniture was enough of a payment.”
The light went out of her eyes, and she frowned, slipping the cash back over to me. “I know that’s what you said, but it’s not.”
It was my turn to shift it back to her. “I’m not taking your money.”
Slide.
“Technically, it’s your money.”
Push.
“No. It’s not.”
Shove.
“I want you to have it,” she said with a smile, thinking we were playing some game.
I jerked the bills off the counter, yanked on her hand, and slammed them into her palm. “I don’t want your fucking money.”
“Gabe,” Max warned.
Charli wrenched her arm from my grip and clasped it to her chest.
I ran my hands through my hair and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I just—” Feel incredibly guilty. But I couldn’t tell her that without explaining why I felt that way. “Look, I will get at least double the money for the pieces you gave me. Usually, I buy old furniture to remake into something new. This is my way of paying you.”
She looked at me with distrust in her eyes, but then she nodded. “I’m sorry to bother you.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “You’re not bothering me.”
“Okay.” I could tell she didn’t believe me. “Thanks again.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Max said, and I didn’t stop him.
I should have been the one to walk her out, but my emotions were too jumbled up for me to be polite.
My brother came back a few seconds later, disapproval all over his face. “What the hell was that?”
I clenched my jaw.
He shook his head. “I understand you have this whole grumpy, push everyone away thing going on, but that was a lot, even for you.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“I don’t think Charli believed you.”
“I don’t think she did either.”
“You need to apologize to her again. Maybe after you’ve cooled down.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I know.”
“What was that about anyway? The money?”
I told Max about her stuff arriving that she hadn’t wanted and how her ex had saddled her with the extra fee for the bigger truck.
“You are the strangest person I know,” he said.
I scowled. “How so?”
“You go out of your way to help her, only to snap at her a couple days later.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m just a strange guy.”
“More like stubborn and bullheaded.”
“Those two things are the same,” I pointed out.
“Maybe because it bears repeating.”
13
Charli
I picked up the plates left on a table and wiped off all the crumbs. When I turned around, I saw a familiar customer getting her laptop out of her bag.
“Hey,” I said as I stopped at her table. “I’ve seen you here a few times, and I thought I’d say hi. I’m Charli.”
She smiled at me. “I’m Mallory. I like to come in here to write.”
I gasped in excitement. “I’m an author too.” I rolled my eyes. “More like aspiring.”
“You have to start somewhere, right?”
I grinned. “Right.”
Mallory pulled out a notebook and wrote on it before ripping it out and handing it to me. “Here’s my number. If you ever want to talk shop, let me know.”
“Thank you. I will totally do that.”
The bell over the door rang as a new customer walked in. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Nice talking to you.”
“You too.” I gave Mallory a little wave and hurried back to the counter.
“I’d like a double soy vanilla latte.”
Audrey rang up the order while I started making it.
I was getting the hang of this barista thing, but I still wasn’t very fast. I knew that it would only take time and practice, but I hated when we were busy and I slowed us down. Sometimes, when that happened, I would be pulled from making drinks to being the cashier since that was an easier job.
Thankfully, now was not one of those times because I enjoyed putting people’s orders together. Especially when they made their drinks a special order. It was fun to do things differently.
I handed the customer her double soy vanilla latte and waited to see what the woman who’d just walked in was going to order.
She smiled at both Audrey and me and ordered a coffee with a little room for cream.
It was a boring order, but at least it was easy.
When I handed her the cup, she thanked me but didn’t turn away.
“Is there something else I can get you?” I asked.
“Are you Charli?”
I looked this woman over. She was blonde with brown eyes and probably a few years older than me. But I had never seen her before in my life.
“Yes.”
She grinned and held out her hand. “I’m Lauren, Max’s wife.”
I shook her hand. “Oh, hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“How is the place working out for you?”
“Great. I got all my things moved in and unpacked. It already feels like home.”
She leaned forward. “Has Gabe been treating you well? Do I need to send Max over to check on anything?”
I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”
“We all know how surly Gabe can be, and I heard about the showerhead. I wanted to make sure nothing else was wrong that you were afraid to tell Gabe about. Max owns half of that place, so don’t be afraid to let him know if you need anything.”
“Ah,” I said. “No, everything is fine.” In the house.
Gabe had been avoiding me all week. If I came outside while he was there, he either went into his side of the house, into the garage, or hopped in his truck and drove away. And he always had a scowl on his face.
And two days ago, on Wednesday, when I’d tried to pay him back, he’d about ripped my head off. I tried to not let it bother me. I was two hundred and fifty dollars richer, but he had hurt my feelings. I had been so proud of myself for getting the money back from Felix—after I explained that what I had said about Gabe wasn’t true and that he was only my neighbor and landlord—and Gabe had rejected my offer.
The sad thing was, I had thought maybe we were becoming friends. Something I was sorely lacking. But I thought he’d made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to have anything to
do with me. Which hurt. I hadn’t known how hard it would be to make friends in a small town.
“And I’m not afraid of Gabe,” I told Lauren. “I just prefer to do things on my own when I can.”
I didn’t want her to worry that her brother-in-law was being a bad landlord.
“That’s good to hear,” she said. “What time do you get off?”
“Six.”
“What are you doing after?”
I was going to go home, make myself dinner, and watch the next episode of the show I was currently binging on Netflix. Alone. But that didn’t sound like much fun for a Friday night, so I said, “Nothing.”
“Max and I are going to the Gin Mill after dinner. My mom’s going to watch the kids and keep an eye on Lee.” She winked. “Would you like to come with us?”
I grinned. “I would love that. What time?”
“How does eight sound?”
“Great!”
Lauren looked at Audrey. “You and Griffin and whoever else wants to come are invited too.”
“I’ll talk to Griff.”
Lauren smiled. “All right. I’ll see you at eight,” she said to me. “And I’ll maybe see you later,” she said to Audrey.
With a wave, she walked out the door.
“You look happy,” Audrey said.
“It’s my first night out here. The first weekend, I had just gotten here. Last weekend was moving. But this is the first weekend I don’t have anything going on besides work on Sunday.”
She smiled at me. “Don’t get too excited. Vermont is nothing like Virginia.”
I grinned back. “Good. I left Virginia for a reason. I’m just happy to hang out with people.” I realized how that sounded, so I quickly added, “Somewhere besides work.” I really liked my new coworkers, but it would be nice to sit and relax while enjoying other company.
Audrey chuckled as if she knew that I had corrected myself. She probably did. “I understand. I was lucky that my husband had a big family and that I met Zara early on.”
Sidetracked (The Busy Bean) Page 5