Charis.
My Charis.
The reason I gave a fuck.
"You thought wrong. We're done, Aura." When she flinched, I gentled my tone. "You are exquisitely desirable, you've got a face and body to make any man sweat, there's nothing wrong with your appearance or your fuckworthiness—and I hope you finally see it one day. But it won't be me who convinces you. Accept that we're finished and move on. To Karl, to the King of England, to Joe Bob, I don't care who."
That wasn't true. I don't wish my brother on any woman. But I was trying to drive home a point here.
"Then why haven't you given me my stuff back? Or asked for your keys back?"
Holy absentmindedness, she was right. "Give me the keys."
"I don't have them here."
"You can mail them to me. And you'll get your stuff soon," I promised.
Karl had been stopped by some people at the bar. Charis was lingering at his side. She hadn't seen me yet. Or maybe she was refusing to see me.
"I don't care if I get it back or not," Aura was saying tearfully. "You know what I want back. Who I want back. I'm not whole without you, baby. I'm nothing without you. Sometimes…sometimes I don't even want to live."
I pinched my nose, eying her. Luckily, Winnow had warned me she'd pull the can't-live-without-you card at some point. (Winona's a blogger and claims to be an expert at everything, from dating to cracking lobster to learning Hawaiian.)
Aura was continuing her end-it-all routine: "Oh, Asher, what will I do without you? I'm so afraid I'll do something I regret…I mean…I don't know what I mean…"
Charis and my brother were heading to the table. I shoved my chair back.
"Aura Renaldi," I said sternly, "if you do something as idiotic as off yourself, I'll grieve like hell and then I'll move the fuck on. Nothing will get you forgotten faster than taking yourself off the map. Now cut it out. You know you've got it going on, so find yourself another dude to fuck."
So now you know why I never offered my own services as Aura's therapist. I have zero patience for B.S.
She regrouped, putting on a brave smile. "You don't understand. Nobody can understand because nobody's been through my hell. I'm alone. I've always been alone."
"Only because you chose to be." I stood up as Karl reached us and cuffed his arm a little too hard for brotherhood. "You'll be glad to know the bruise on my shoulder has faded."
"That's nice." He surveyed the table I'd purposefully chosen over a more intimate booth. Charis was lagging behind him. She refused to meet my eyes and seated herself at his side.
I grabbed a chair and wedged it between them.
Karl coughed.
Charis skidded her chair as far away from me as she could. That put her next to Aura. Neither of the ladies seemed pleased about that.
Charis was still not looking at me. I was officially the pariah here.
Whatever. At least she'd showed up.
Wearing, I might add, the hottest outfit I'd ever seen her in—a pale green camisole that bared her arms completely over her tightest pair of jeans.
She looked sleek, her upper arms buff, her bangs combed back to reveal the bones of her temple. She was awfully pretty, but I don't think she knew or cared. Her eyes were sad and remote, her mouth flattened. She definitely did not want to be here.
Just seeing her here, so close but not reachable, hurt my heart.
When her eyes finally did lift and meet mine, they skittered away and landed on Karl, now touching distance from my ex.
My brother didn't notice Charis's panicky appeal his way—another cut for me, that she'd look to him for rescue from me—because he was grinning at me. I grinned back, with all my teeth.
"Right," I said, since nobody else seemed inclined to start things off. "You two still on for Saturday?"
"What's happening Saturday?" Aura sniffed.
"Karl and Charis are tying the knot," I said, glancing down at my menu. "I think this calls for an appetizer."
"Wait, what?" Aura turned in her seat and stared at Karl. "You're getting married? Married to her? Is this true?"
Charis said nothing, only crossed her arms. Karl inclined his head while watching me curiously.
Aura couldn't seem to decide whether to jump on the table and celebrate or cry. She directed a look I knew toward Charis. When women do that, whoa nelly. I made a mental note not to let them go together to the washroom. Fact: Double Xers get up to some vicious shit in public washrooms.
"Don't worry," I said with a big, fake smile. "It's a marriage of convenience. My brother has no intention of cutting off his dating life after they make it official. He's wide open for offers. Just don't take him seriously and you'll be fine."
Charis gasped. She stared at me like she couldn't believe her ears. I stared back without an iota of remorse.
Karl sighed. "Mama would not be proud, Asher."
"Sure about that?" I challenged. "Let's call her. I'll bet she doesn't know all the shit you're planning." I took out my phone. I was not bluffing.
Clucking his tongue, he swiped the phone from me as Charis spoke to me for the first time in days. "You are being such an asshole, Norrell. We're planning to tell your parents tonight after dinner."
Not exactly what I wanted to hear. Pursing my lips, I reclaimed my phone and stuffed it away.
"Well?" I demanded of Karl. "True or false? Let's hear you say it. Do you plan on being faithful to Sloane?"
"That is none of your fucking business." It was Charis who answered, her voice shaking. A feeling of sick misery washed over me. This was getting ugly, and I had only myself to blame.
The server came with our beer. I didn't notice what anyone ordered, including myself. Charis was all I could see.
She was more than pissed; I'd hurt her. Fucking hell, I hadn't meant to. But it was for her own good.
She had to see the truth of what she was letting herself in for. Forget for a minute that I wanted her; it was my job as her friend to make her see it.
She stood up after the server left. "Asher, I would like a word with you."
"Oh, yes, ma'am," I said.
I followed her into the hall outside the kitchen. It was loud back here, but it wasn't the restaurant staff that distracted me. It was Sloane's neck. Why hadn't I ever noticed that sweet spot right at her nape? I wanted to press my lips to it, suck on it and mark her up, stop her being mad at me.
She whirled around. "What are you on?"
"You." It wasn't a line. I felt foggy, like I knew exactly where my destination was but I couldn't ground myself enough to reach it. My emotions were drugging me, so yes, technically I was "on" her.
She rolled her eyes. "For real. What's gotten into you? I only came tonight because I intended to wake you up to the fact that Aura was playing you with your own brother. Now you go and pull a—what even was that? Why are you being so rude to us?"
"Rude to Karl, maybe, but—wait a minute, you intended to rescue me?" I staggered back, no lie. Charis getting involved in my love life was radical and very encouraging. "What were you going to do?"
"I'm not sure." Abruptly her face clouded with guilt. "I was gonna put Aura on the spot, make her admit she was leading Karl on so you would stop acting like a blind buffoon. Then you went and put Karl on the spot. I guess that makes me as bad as you." She seemed bummed at the realization.
"Wow, Sloane, I had no idea you were so conniving."
"I didn't either. It's not something to admire."
"Yes, it is, when applied to you. Do you know how impossible it is to get you to stop standing on the sidelines all the time? You did something bitchy. That's worth bitcoin right there."
To my delight, she reached out and punched my biceps—if only half-heartedly, while staring down at the floor. "She is playing you, Asher. She…she flirts. A lot. With other guys. Even when you were together, she did it. I never said anything because I didn't feel like it was my place, but…"
"I know, babe."
Her eyes
flew up. Her cheeks reddened. I decided I liked the splotchy look on her. "Don't call me that, you dork."
"I didn't call you that, I called you babe."
"Why? Why? Huh? Tell me why you keep doing that."
"Because it feels good."
Her chin jutted out. "If you know she's playing you, if you know the way she is, then doesn't it bother you?"
"I'm not worried about it. I told you, we're done."
"Really? Because what it looks like to me is you're getting back together with her."
The unhappy expression in her eyes—I'm not gonna lie. The idea that Charis wasn't thrilled about this reunion warmed the cockles of my heart…or do I mean the heart of my cock?
Point is, I took it as a sign that my extreme yearning for us to be together might not be entirely one-sided.
I shook my head deliberately. "We are never, not ever, getting back together. When have you ever known me to change my mind about anything?"
Her shoulders abruptly slumped. "Yeah, okay, well, so…does she know that?"
"She does."
"Then why is she even here?"
"She's still trying to get what she thinks she wants—me. But she doesn't, Sloane. That girl wants a man she can wrap around her little finger, and I'm not that flexible anymore."
"She and Karl are sending each other flirty texts."
I narrowed my eyes. "You knew about that?"
"He told me."
All the gooey goodness filling my balls evaporated. I ground my teeth. "Do you still plan to marry him?"
She hesitated, then nodded firmly. "Yes."
My jaw tic started bothering me. "And it doesn't matter to you that he's sitting at the table right now liplocked with Aura?"
"He's what?"
"Look for yourself," I invited, but she was already turning.
She jolted back. "Wow. They're…wow."
"Pretty blatant, huh? You think that's not going to be your life after Saturday?"
A giggle bubbled out of her. A fucking giggle. "Ah. Well. Boys will be boys, or however the saying goes. He can kiss who he wants. Girls can be girls too."
My foggy vision grew red. "Charis, marrying somebody is not a joke. It should mean something. It's a fucking sacred union. It shouldn't be a lie on paper."
She met my eyes, and I saw her register my expression. "You're really troubled about this. I don't get it. Why is it so important that we don't get married? Do you have a problem with my being in your family?"
"I have no problem with your being in my family. I just don't want you to suffer a world of hurt. I know how seriously you take marriage, so the fact that you're even doing this is a problem." I also have certain blocks against boning my brother's wife.
"And…that's it?"
She fucking well knew it wasn't. "No, that's not it, but that's damn well enough."
"Hey, guys."
We turned to see Karl and Aura standing there, holding hands. Karl was smiling wryly. Aura was glowing. I'd never seen her looking so giddy.
Honestly, in the few minutes we'd been gone, her mood had done a complete one eighty. She looked like the sun had just promised her it was going to shine on her and only her for the rest of her existence.
I'd never brought on a look like that.
I had the strangest feeling…
Karl raised Aura's hand in his to bring her wrist to his mouth and simultaneously saluted us with his right. "You're off the hook, squirt," he said to Charis. "I've explained my problem to Aura, and she's agreed to marry me instead."
After dropping that bomb, Karl bent and kissed Aura right there in front of us.
This time, I was the one who threw the punch.
CHAPTER 17
One Year Ago—In the Middle of Robocop
Charis: If you had to guess, at what point did human beings stop turning to violence to settle petty disputes?
Asher: That's another trick question, right?
Asher
IN THE AFTERPUNCH, I FELT a helluva lot better.
I was alone there. Karl and Aura were—well, who knows what they were doing or where they'd gone, I don't really care. But I guarantee you Karl wasn't smiling anymore.
Nor was Charis. She sounded depressed. "I told you you weren't over Aura."
"What gives you that impression?" I asked.
We were strolling, vaguely headed toward her place, fighting the wind and stinging rain. After I'd belted Karl in the jaw, we'd all stood around staring at each other until he and I said simultaneously, "I'll just—" and grabbed the arm of the nearest woman.
I let him settle with the restaurant and headed out with Charis. I didn't know where her car was, but mine was blocks away and the only thing that mattered was that I had her to myself for the first time in ages.
"Oh, gee, I don't know, maybe the fact that you just slugged your brother in the middle of a crowded tavern because he decided to marry your girlfriend instead of me."
I paused, rubbing my sore hand. "You've got to be kidding me. That's not why I slugged him."
"Oh, no? Then why?"
"He just reneged on your engagement, taking assholishness to a whole new level. At least now he'll have to wait until the swelling goes down before he actually fucks her."
"How is this not jealous behavior again?"
I opened my mouth, then shut it and started walking again. How to convince her that the thought of my ex-girlfriend in bed with my brother was weird, a tad unsavory, but not a major thing? "I was defending your honor, Sloane."
Now it was she who halted. "Oh."
"That's it? Oh is all you can say?"
"That was…I guess nice of you? Is that what you want to hear? Even if it was pointless violence toward a perfectly innocent family member."
"Innocent my ass. He booted you to the curb, Sloane. Why are you making excuses for him?"
"I'm not. I wasn't offended by what he did. He knows that. But as I said, it's nice of you to care."
If she wanted to think I was being nice, rather than possessive, that was fine by me.
We were stopped half a block from her place. The rain smelled like the honeylocust next to us, which hadn't even bloomed yet. I turned her to face me, liking the way she freaked at my free and easy handling of her.
Get used to it, sweetness.
I stepped close and let my bare hands cup her cold cheeks. "Karl's okay. He could have avoided that punch if he wanted to. But since I'm such a nice guy, I'll call him tomorrow and make sure I didn't hit a pimple or something."
I felt zero hostility toward Karl at the moment. As soon as that punch had landed, I'd seen that by snatching up Aura, he'd done me a huge favor. In hindsight, I wasn't sure that hadn't been his intention all along. I only wondered why I hadn't thought of the whole scheme first.
"Do, uh, you fight like that with your brother a lot?" She looked cute pretending to ignore the way I was holding her face.
"Not since it dawned on me that he can cream my ass every time. The only exception is when I catch him by surprise."
"He knows how to fight, like, really fight?"
Her cheeks were warming up. I stroked them with my thumbs, enjoying the satiny feel of her skin. I wondered how many men had discovered that Charis's skin was the softest, silkiest thing you could ever hope to touch.
"He spent all his tender years in Detroit, he's worked as a bouncer, he's done some MMA and boxing, he basically taught the rest of us how to defend ourselves…and why don't you know this about your ex-fiancé?"
She adjusted her hat. "We're not that close. Uh, Asher, what are you doing?"
"You know what I'm doing." My thumb was near her mouth. I skimmed the corner of it. It opened.
Opened. Sweet. Maybe she did it out of habit or reflex, but it meant her guard was down. Just how I wanted her.
I cleared my throat. "So you're disengaged. Unengaged. Reverse engaged."
She blew bangs out of her eyes. "Yeah."
"How does it feel?"
&
nbsp; "It's a relief," she admitted. "He shouldn't marry Aura, though."
"No fucking kidding."
"I mean, it's kind of twisted, the whole idea. Not of marrying someone. I'm talking about, you know. Marrying your ex."
"A nightmare for everyone involved," I agreed.
"Still…I'm glad he did it. I was close to crapping out on him. And I felt really bad about that."
Her confession sent a surge of blood to my cock, like she'd reached down and given it an encouraging yank.
"Thank the lord, Char. Not doing so would have been a move of epic stupidity."
She scowled at me. "I'd promised. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. And you know, I was kind of lonely. You weren't hanging around. I just thought it might work out fine…"
I couldn't help it; my thumb swiped across her lower lip. That made me groan and her smack her lips together.
"No, don't close your mouth." With increasing urgency, I probed the seam of her lips.
She jerked back, looking confused. But she didn't shove me away.
"You're weirding me out," she said, hardly moving her lips.
"Let me see some tongue."
Her eyes started crazy-blinking.
"Come on. Pink tongue. I've seen it before, woman, what's the big deal here?"
She was breathing hard, steaming little puffs of air against my thumb. She knew my question wasn't as innocent as it sounded, all right.
My voice turned coaxing. "Aw, one tiny peek…just the tip…that's all I'm asking. Once I get that, I'm good for now."
A laugh sputtered out of her, giving me what I wanted. "You are such a goofba—mph!"
Her mouth was warm and slick and so luscious that taking it made my cock aim straight for the sky. Kissing women in the cold, your primary thought is generally, get inside where it's warm. Kissing Charis out here in the blowing rain, I had no primary thought, just more of that. More. This is so fucking right.
I withdrew an atom's width to mutter, "It's a done deal that I'm going to see your naked body," then took her mouth again.
She made a muffled sound and tried to pull back. "You can't—Asher—you really can't say that to me."
"Charis Sloane's naked body, naked body, naked body…" This time I didn't actually withdraw, just chanted against her mouth.
Unfriended: A Geek and Stud Romance (Love in New Highland Book 1) Page 14