by A. K. Evans
“Honestly?” she asked.
I nodded, biting my lip.
“He’s right, Charley. I’ve thought that since the day I thought you stopped. Of course, I realized you were going to need time after Taj, but you never went back to it. It’s you, sweets. I never brought it up because well, you know, but I think about it all the time. Wes has already brought so much happiness back in your life, Charley. I haven’t seen you this happy in so long. Listen to him on this. He’s right.”
“Wow, Em. I thought you’d be torn and I was going to call Nikki and Monroe about it to get their thoughts. Guess I don’t really need to do that now.”
“They’ll say the same thing, trust me.”
“Alright, I’ve got to go. Thank you for listening. I’ll catch you later, honey.”
“Love you, Charley.”
“You too, Emme.”
Much like the past few weeks had been, my shift at the diner flew by. As much as I’d miss my co-workers, especially Greg, I was really beginning to feel that I was making the right choice. My days were passing me by, I had very little time for myself, and I wasn’t exactly doing something I loved. I finished my shift, hopped in the Jeep, and noticed I had several text messages. They were from Nikki and Monroe. I guess Emme was doing me some favors and spreading the news to them.
About time, bitch. You need to be designing! You follow through with that, I’ll add it to my list. Reason number eight for moving — my bestie is getting her life back and I need to be part of that!
That was from Nikki. Gosh, that girl could always make me laugh. I tapped out a reply to her.
Thanks, Nikki. I’m thinking two more reasons and you and Monroe better start packing! Love and kisses. xx
I scrolled to my next text message.
Hey Charley, heard the news. Go for it. You’re the best at it and Taj would be so proud. You’ve got my vote, and my support. Whatever you need. :)
Monroe, my faithful supporter. We always joked she was the mom of the group since she was always taking care of us in the same way a mom would. I sent her a quick reply, too.
Thanks, mama. :) I’ll keep you posted on the details when I get it all figured out. Love you.
I tossed my phone in my purse, started the Jeep, and drove to Parks Ridge. I pulled in and saw Wes was already there. I pulled up next to him, glanced over, and waved at him to come into the Jeep. He got a puzzled look on his face, but quickly made his way over and hopped in. He gave me a kiss on the lips that had a little bit of tongue, but he didn’t prolong it. I’m certain he knew I had something to talk about considering this was not the norm.
“I was wondering if we could skip the snowboarding today?”
Wes got a sexy grin on his face and asked, “Sure, gorgeous. Did you have something else in mind?”
I rolled my eyes at him, “You keep that up and I’m going to start thinking you only want me for my body.”
“You can’t say that you blame me, Charley. It’s a great fucking body.”
“You’re incorrigible!” I exclaimed.
He chuckled briefly and then got serious, “Ok, so I’m guessing what I have in mind and what you have in mind are not the same thing. What’s going on?”
“I’ve been thinking about what we discussed on Sunday. I’m thinking maybe you were right. I think I need to do Taj proud. But, as you said, I need to do more than that. I need to do myself proud. I wanted your honest opinion one more time before I decide to follow through with pursuing a graphic design career. You really believe I can do this?”
“Fuck yeah, Charley. Not a doubt in my mind that you’re fucking phenomenal and will be successful at it.”
I smiled at him. “I talked to Emme this morning, she gave her approval. She said a lot, actually. But mostly, she said you were right. And I just got texts from Monroe and Nikki.”
“What did they say?” he asked.
“Monroe supports me, one hundred percent. That’s who she is.”
“And Nikki?”
“Nikki’s up to reason number eight,” I said, smiling at him.
He leaned over and kissed me hard, wet, and deep. I tore my mouth away from his, rested my forehead against his.
I could feel the lump forming in my throat and my eyes starting to sting, “Thank you, Wes.”
“For what, baby?” he asked.
My voice strained and my eyes wet, I pulled my head back from his and looked at him when I answered, “You’re giving me my life back.”
Wes stared at me. The tears spilled down my cheeks. Through the blurriness in my eyes I could see he was clenching his jaw fighting some kind of emotion.
His voice rough he asked, “You working alone tonight?”
“No. I think Mark’s on tonight until close, too,” I answered, puzzled by his question.
“Think Mark can hack it by himself tonight?” he asked.
“Sure. I do it all the time. I don’t understand.”
“Gorgeous, stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” I asked as he stepped out of the Jeep.
He looked at me and said, “Lock the doors. I’ll be right back.”
Wes closed the door and waited until I locked them. Then he walked into the lodge. I sat there dumbfounded by what just happened. A few moments later I saw Wes walking out of the lodge. He made it to the Jeep and I unlocked the doors. He opened my door and told me to get out.
“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping out of the car.
He took my keys from my hand, reached in and grabbed my purse and handed it to me, closed the door, and locked the car. He tugged me by the hand and walked me over to his truck. He opened the passenger’s side door, picked me up, and put me in. He closed the door, rounded the truck, and hopped in the driver’s seat.
“Um, Wes. I need to go to work. What are you doing?”
“Took care of work for you tonight. Mark’s got you covered. Now, I’m taking you to my place,” he said as he pulled the truck out of the lot and headed in the direction of his place.
“What? You can’t do that.”
“Charley, I just did. Mark’s good. You’re covered. Let it go.”
My mouth opened to speak and then it closed again. I didn’t know what to say. I had no idea what had gotten into him. We sat in silence all the way to his place. When we arrived, he got out, rounded the truck, and met me at the other side as I was getting out. He took my hand and led me into the house. We walked through the house to his bedroom. Wes stripped off his shirt and boots. I stood there in silence.
“Shoes off, Charley.”
I took my shoes off. Wes walked over to me, took my jacket off, then my shirt, and lastly my jeans. I was standing there in my bra and panties mentally patting myself on the back for putting on a cute, matching set today. He now had his jeans off as well and was standing in just his boxer briefs. I swallowed hard and licked my lips. He was so beautiful.
Wes pulled me close to him, bent his head, and kissed me. Through this he backed up to the bed and held me close while he fell back and pulled me down on top of him. He removed my bra and our tongues danced while our hands roamed our bodies. There was moaning and gasping. Legs were tangled. Wes eventually rolled us so that my back was to the bed and he was on top of me. He took off my panties and disposed of his last article of clothing as well.
Then, Wes was in me. He was propped up on his elbows and forearms with his hands framing my face. His eyes didn’t leave mine. And his strokes were slow. Deliciously slow. As I looked in his eyes I realized something was different. A look I hadn’t seen before was there. It was soft and warm and tender. I registered what was happening. This was not just fucking; this was love-making.
“Wes,” I breathed, my voice tight.
He continued to thrust slowly into my body, alternating between kissing me and looking in my eyes, and with each thrust my body grew hotter for him. I could feel it building deep in my belly.
“Get there, Charley.”
> His thrusts had increased ever so slightly in speed.
“Gorgeous, get there,” he said again, his voice rough.
A few strokes after, I got there. And Wes was right there with me.
Chapter 17
Charley
I was naked in Wes’ bed. He was spooning me and tracing his fingers on my hip. Gosh, I really loved that. We had just made love, or at least, I’m certain that’s what it was. I was not going to bring that up, though.
“Got a plan?” he asked.
“I’m sorry?” I asked, not following him.
“You said you were going to pursue your dream. Do you have a plan?”
“Well, not a complete plan. I only planned today and tomorrow. Today’s plan was to talk to you and to the girls about taking this step. Assuming I had everyone’s support, tomorrow’s plan was to give notice at the diner and the coffee shop.”
“How do you think that’ll go tomorrow?”
“Not sure. I’ve been friendly enough with everyone, but nobody knows much about me. I think it’ll catch them off guard. I just hope to remain friends with everyone, especially Greg and Hannah.”
“Greg?” he asked, as his fingers stopped tracing and his body tensed.
“Greg works at the diner.”
“Figured that much, Charley. Never heard about him before, though,” he said, sounding slightly annoyed.
“Are you jealous?” I asked, teasingly.
“Should I be?”
“Considering Greg is madly in love with his boyfriend, Tony, I’m going to say no. But even if he wasn’t gay and in love, I’d still say no.”
Wes stayed silent and went back to tracing. Then he said, “Happy to hear it.”
The silence lingered for a while before I spoke up, “I’m scared, Wes.”
“You’ll be successful, Charley. You’ve got too much talent not to be.”
“I wasn’t referring to that. I was referring to you.”
I felt his body tense. “What are you scared of?”
“I’ve spent nearly ten months alone. Emme’s there, but she’s always been there. I’ve made friends at work, but I’ve not let anyone in. You come along with all your hotness and suddenly my mind starts listening to my body.”
I felt the tension leave his body and the bed vibrate with laughter, “What’s your body saying?”
“My body really likes you.”
“Told you it was a great fucking body. I’m failing to see the problem here, gorgeous.”
“The problem is that this is moving very fast. I’ve opened up and shared things with you that I haven’t shared with anybody else other than those who already know, specifically Emme, Nikki, and Monroe. You and I have only known each other about two weeks and I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling like I’m already in deep with you. I’m trying to see the good that’s happening and embrace it, but I still find myself sometimes waiting for the other shoe to drop. It scares me because when that happens, I am certain I will be worse off than I was before.”
Wes stopped tracing and squeezed my hip. He turned my body so that I was facing him.
“You shared some serious shit with me, Charley. I don’t take that lightly. I know now that physically you are there, but your mind needs a little time to catch up. I’m good with that; I’m in no rush. That said, you need to know that I don’t have any intentions of having this be just some fling. I can’t make any promises about where this is headed, but I know where I’d like to see it go. If it doesn’t get there, no matter what the reason, I want you to know now that I know your heart is fragile. I’ll handle you with care, baby.”
A tear slid from my eye. This man was absolutely amazing.
“There’s more, Wes.”
“What?”
“There’s more. I shared with you about Taj and my artwork, but there’s more.”
“Fuck,” he said under his breath.
“I need time, though. I’m not ready to let that go yet.”
He closed his eyes. I had a feeling he was slightly disappointed. He opened his eyes, squeezed me hip and said, “You’ll get there. I’ll get you there.”
I pressed my face into his throat and snuggled into him. I was feeling seriously lucky.
“Happy as fuck you said what you did in the car today, Charley,” he said.
“I’m getting that now.”
“Want you to know it means something to me.”
“I know, Wes,” I began. Then I asked, “What did you do to get Mark to cover for me?”
“Asked what I needed to do to have him cover you.”
“And?” I asked.
“And nothing. He said you were good. Said that even though you’ve only started working recently you’ve been a great employee, never took off, and covered for others when they needed it.”
“Wow. And now I’m going to go in there tomorrow and give my notice that I’m leaving.”
“It’ll be ok.”
I cuddled into Wes and he squeezed his arms tight around my body.
“Since I have you for the rest of the night, I’m going to take you again now, but in the shower. Then, I’m going to feed you, followed by relaxing while watching a movie on the couch. Any chance I can convince you to stay the night?”
“I can’t, Wes.”
“Ok. Change of plans, then. Still going to take you in the shower, but then we’ll go so you can get your car now while there’s a bit of daylight. I’ll follow you to your house where you can either drop your car and then come back with me or I stay with you. Which do you prefer?”
“Love waking up next to you, Wes. Stay at my place.”
“Fuck, Charley,” he said and angled up out of the bed, picked me up, and carried me to the bathroom.
We showered. It was hot. Way hot. When we came back out into Wes’ bedroom he had tossed some clothes at me. They were all brand-new women’s clothes. All were Blackman Boards apparel.
“What’s this about?” I asked.
“You’re at my place enough. You don’t have clothes here other than what you wear on your back. I have access to lots of gear. Now, you have clothes here.”
He said it so matter-of-fact, like it was no big deal. And I had a feeling that if I tried to protest he wouldn’t have any of it, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Smart move,” he said, as though he knew exactly what I was thinking. “And, just because you have that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to bring any of your stuff from your place here. I’m kinda hoping you’ll eventually bring some of that over here on your own, especially the sexy stuff.”
With that, we dressed and left to get my car. Wes followed me home, I cooked him dinner, and then he spent the night so I could wake up next to him.
The next morning, I felt sick. My nerves were on edge and I felt horrible about having to give my notice. My coworkers didn’t know it, but they helped me through one of the most difficult times in my life by distracting me from all of the bad that had happened around me in California. Wes tried to calm me, in more ways than one, and while I was doing marginally better I was still mostly a wreck.
“If it gets bad, call me and I’ll be there,” he said before we parted ways that morning.
“Ok, Wes.”
I drove to the diner and Robert and Carol were first on my list. They were the husband and wife owners at First Tracks. They were the sweetest, most loving couple I had ever met. I knew once I told them everything they’d be happy for me, but it didn’t make it any easier. Most of my anxiety at the diner was because I had no clue how Greg was going to react. I really liked all my coworkers, but I had grown close with Greg. Considering he didn’t know what had happened in my life and I considered him to be a close friend said something about the state of my mind pre-Wes.
I pulled up, took a deep breath, and made my way in. Carol was at the front door when I walked in.
“Good morning, Charley,” she said.
“Hi Carol,” I said, feeling the knots in my belly twist. “Is Bo
b here? I need to talk to the both of you.”
“Sure, honey. Come on back to the office.”
I followed Carol back to the office where Bob was already sitting at his desk going through some paperwork.
“Darling, do you have a minute? Charley wanted to have a chat with us.”
“Sure. Come on in and have a seat,” he answered.
We all sat and I told them what was happening. I did not give details about why I had moved here and what had happened in California with Taj, amongst other things. They would worry and I didn’t want that for them. I explained that I needed to get back to my true passion and focus on building a career as a graphic designer. As I had suspected they were gracious about all of it and were very happy for me. Of course, they did tell me that there’d always be a spot open for me if I ever wanted to come back. I thanked them and left the office to start my shift.
Greg was on the morning shift with me, but I was a big chicken shit so I decided to wait until the end of my shift before I broke the news to him. Fortunately, it was so busy that the time passed quickly. My shift was over before I really had a chance to fret and Greg caught a reprieve. It was now or never.
“Hey Greg, I need to talk to you,” I said.
“Oh dear. This doesn’t sound good.”
“I talked to Bob and Carol this morning and gave them the news. I wanted to tell you about it too.”
“News? Girl, if you tell me you’re pregnant with Wes Blackman’s baby I’m going to have a shit fit.”
I jerked my head back at his exclamation.
“Gregory! Bite your tongue!” I practically shouted. “I’m not pregnant. I gave my notice today. I’m putting my focus into building my graphic design career.”
“Girl, I didn’t even know you knew how to draw.”
“I didn’t give Bob and Carol all of the details of my life in California, but I explained to them that this was my passion and something I needed to do for myself. I want to give you more of the details, but it’s not something I want to discuss here. For now, I’ll just tell you that before I moved here from California I had been pursuing this career path and was doing really well up until just under a year ago. I had some really bad stuff happen and I gave up my dream.”