by A. K. Evans
“Dinner time. You ready to eat?” he asked.
“Wow. It really has been a couple hours. I guess I don’t feel so bad now. I didn’t fall that much over the last five hours. I guess I could eat now.”
We finished riding down the mountain to head into the lodge. Thankfully, I didn’t fall again. As we walked through the lodge I stopped by Brew Stirs to say hello to Hannah. We confirmed plans for next weekend at Big Lou’s and then I took off with Wes back to his place for dinner.
Wes and I had settled on grilled cheese and tomato soup from a local cafe for dinner. After spending the better part of the day on the mountain, I found that there was nothing better than a bowl of soup to warm you up. That, and, cuddling up with my man in front of the fireplace.
We sat on the floor at the coffee table in Wes’ great room eating dinner. After dunking my sandwich into my soup, I took a bite and looked around the room.
I finished chewing, swallowed, turned to Wes and said, “Why haven’t you finished?”
“Come again.”
“Your house. You’ve got enough furniture and essentials to live and get by, but you don’t have decorations or personal touches. Why haven’t you finished it?”
Wes took a bite of his sandwich, chewed for a moment, then answered, “Couple of reasons. First, been too busy with everything in the company. Putting in late nights all I want to do is come home, eat, and sleep. Second, when I started carving out more time for my personal life a few months ago, the only thing I was interested in doing with my free time was you…and maybe a little bit of riding. And last, I’m a guy and know shit about decorating a house. In my opinion, if there’s furniture, it’s decorated.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Well that’s just ridiculous,” I said. “You could have at least put up a couple of pictures.”
“I did. In my bedroom, on the nightstand,” he said with his sexy grin spreading across his face.
“That, my friend, does not count. I gave you that for Christmas. And I had to guess on what kind of frame to put it in since I had no idea what your style was.”
“It’s a fucking picture frame. Does it really matter? Besides, I really only care about the picture that’s in it.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
“You can not be serious,” I exclaimed.
He gave me a look that said he absolutely was serious. I just shook my head at him.
“I like your style. You picked out a good frame,” he said, teasing me.
I didn’t answer him. I smiled inwardly and went back to my soup.
“Decorate for us, gorgeous.”
I dropped my spoon.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Decorate for us.”
I swallowed hard and asked, “What do you mean ‘us’?”
“You my woman?” he asked.
I nodded.
“So, decorate.”
After staring at him in silence for a moment, I finally said, “It’s your house. I can help you decide on things that will look good together, but our relationship is still relatively new. I don’t want to put my style here and then if things don’t work out…”
“Don’t even fucking finish that statement, Charley.”
I shut my mouth and looked at him. He was not playing around. I bit my lip. His eyes dropped to my mouth for a beat before coming back up to my eyes.
“This, what we have between us, isn’t a game for me. I’m at a point in my life where I know what I want and when I find that I’m smart enough to not let it go. And baby, I don’t give a single fuck about a wreath on my front door or candles all over the place. But you? I fucking want you all over this house.”
He stopped speaking for a moment, letting that sink in. It barely got through the surface before he started speaking again.
“Want you to move in, baby. I’m more than happy to have just you here. Realize that women are into all that pretty shit. I’m good with whatever you decide to do if that means your head is on the pillow next to mine every night.”
“You want me to move in with you?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He laughed. A deep throaty laugh. I loved that sound and while it would normally make me smile I continued to sit there staring at him. Wes’ face got serious again.
“Seriously, Charley?”
“Isn’t it a bit quick?”
“Just said you were my woman. And I just told you that I’m not going to let go of what I want. Time isn’t going to change that in a bad way. So yeah, gorgeous, I want you to move in.”
I didn’t know what to say so I stayed silent.
“Doesn’t have to be today. I know you need to figure shit out with Emme. But soon, ok?” he asked.
I pushed my soup bowl back from the edge of the table. Then, I turned toward Wes. He leaned his back against the couch while I climbed over into his lap and rested my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me as I spoke.
“Ok, honey. Soon.”
Chapter 37
Charley
“A sexy dress, a pair of heels, and a night out with friends always does the trick.”
I was currently trying to convince Emme to come out for the night with all of us. She’d been back to work with editing photos from the X Games on top of her other clients. That was the only part of her life that had gone back to normal, or the new normal, since we returned from Aspen. Other than that, she was much quieter and I knew she was still feeling very sad about the whole situation with Zane. I attempted to get some details on that whole issue, but she had not been willing to discuss. I respected her choice, at least for now.
It had been a week since Wes asked me to move in and I was too caught up in trying to figure out how I was going to bring up the whole Operation Move In With Wes to her. My life was at a point now where I was enjoying living and I wanted everything that went along with that, including moving in with my boyfriend. As much as I wanted that, I would never abandon Emme.
In an effort to try to lift her spirits and possibly loosen her up a bit so that she’d start talking about the Zane situation, I figured a night out with a little alcohol might work.
“I’m not really up for it,” she said.
“I know. And that’s exactly why you need to go. You’ve been really bummed since we’ve come home from Aspen and it’s been hard to see you this way again. I get it, Em — I really do, but I can’t keep watching you live inside your head. I am not going to push you to pursue anything with Zane, even though I think he’s really great for you, but I am going to push you to live a little.”
“I understand what you are trying to do, Charley. I do appreciate your concern, but I’m just not feeling up to it.”
“Then you leave me no choice. I’m going to have to cancel with Greg, Tony, Hannah, and Wes and tell Elle I can’t come watch her tonight because I’m staying in with you. We will then call up Nikki and Monroe and tell them all about why we are staying in,” I said.
She gave me a death stare, pushed up off my bed, and said, “Ugh, fine. I’ll go out.”
I rolled from my belly to my back and shouted to her as she walked out of the room, “That’s my girl! And you better have a sexy dress on that ass, Em!”
A couple hours later I had just putting the finishing touches on my makeup. Emme walked in and I was shocked to find that she had listened to me. She was dressed in a pale pink, spaghetti strap dress. The top of the dress had a plunging neckline which did wonders for her cleavage. The dress pulled in at her waist and pulled tight in a crossover pattern mid-thigh. She curled her hair, which only made her massive amounts of hair even bigger. Smoky eyes, pink cheeks, and a hint of gloss on her lips finished off her look. The girl was sex on a stick.
“You are one smokin’ hot lady, Em,” I said walking out of my bathroom.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head at me.
“You’re not so bad yourself, sweets.”
I looked at my reflection in my full-length m
irror. My carnation pink dress also came to mid-thigh, but was a body-con style with a v-neckline. It was sleeveless, but had straps that covered the entire top of my shoulders. The whole front of the dress was ruched to the center and met in the middle at the rope like pink band that ran down the front middle part of the dress. The look gave me curves where I didn’t necessarily have them.
I smiled back at Emme and said, “Ready?”
I told Wes that we’d meet him there. He was initially not happy about it, but when I explained that I was bringing Emme along he understood and conceded.
“Physically? Yes, I’m ready to go.”
“It’ll be a great time, Em. Come on,” I reassured her as we walked out of my bedroom.
We locked up and made our way to Lou’s. After we parked we walked up the steps to the saloon where Elle would be performing. I was surprised to see Lou just inside the entrance.
“Charley! Emme! How are my pretty girls doing?” he asked pulling us both into hugs.
“Hi, Lou. We’re doing well. Thanks,” Emme answered.
“Yeah, we came to hang with some friends and watch Elle tonight,” I added.
“Elle always draws my biggest crowds. Love that girl as if she was one of my own. Go on in. I saw Wes inside already,” he replied. Then, he turned his attention solely to Emme and said with a puzzled look on his face, “Sorry darlin’, didn’t see Zane yet.”
She looked to me and back to Lou. I chimed in.
“No worries, Lou. We’ll just head in and see if any of our other friends are here yet. Good to see you again.”
“Same to the both of you. Have a good night girls,” he called as we walked away.
As soon as we got out of earshot of Lou, Emme tugged on my arm and stopped walking. I turned to her and she asked, “Is he going to be here?”
“Honestly? I don’t know, honey. I haven’t seen much of Zane since we got back from Aspen. I used to see him frequently in the offices and I may have seen him twice in the past couple of weeks. He hasn’t talked much either when I did see him.”
Her eyes grew big.
“Really?” she asked.
I nodded.
She swallowed hard, her eyes welled up, and she said, “Oh, God. Do you think he’s really mad at me?”
I felt for my friend. What she was going through wasn’t easy, but I knew she needed to hear the truth on this.
“I can’t say for sure as I haven’t seen him much since we got back home, but I know that he really likes you. He’s spoken to me about it a couple of times. Initially, I only told him that you had been through a lot and that it might be tough to convince you that a relationship is right for you. That last night in Aspen when you took the Tahoe back to the house while we were all still out I told Wes and Zane about Taj.”
Emme’s eyes snapped to mine. “What?” she asked.
“I only told them that he was murdered and that you feel responsible. They don’t know anything else and I won’t divulge that. It’s yours to share if you want. That said, I really do think that if you shared with Zane it would not be a bad thing. And, it might help to bring a little understanding to the situation for him.”
She nodded her head, but said nothing.
“I want you to think about this, but let’s not worry about it tonight. Come on, Em. I want you to have a good time.”
“Ok, Charley, let’s go.”
We walked into the room where Elle would be performing and immediately I spotted Wes. He was standing next to Elle. His back was to me, but Elle saw Emme and me enter and acknowledged us with a bright smile and a wave. Wes turned to look at us and his face warmed when his eyes locked with mine. Then, his eyes traveled my body and back to my eyes. His face went from warm to smoldering in seconds.
We walked over to them and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders pulling my body into his.
“It’s nothing new, but you should know you look amazing,” he whispered in my ear.
“Thank you, honey. You are looking pretty delicious yourself.”
And he did. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a short sleeved white t-shirt that showed off the muscles of his arms, shoulders, and chest, and his black motorcycle boots.
“Come on, Wes. Stop hogging her and let me say hello to Charley,” Elle said, taking me out of my own little world with Wes.
He chuckled and loosened his hold on me. I turned to Elle, pulled her into a hug, and she squeezed right back. Wes greeted Emme.
“It’s good to see you,” I said to Elle.
“You, too. I was just telling Wes that he needs to bring you by the house again. Mom and Dad haven’t stopped talking about you since Christmas. If Wes doesn’t bring you by again soon, Mom is going to send out a search party.”
I looked to Wes and he said, “She probably will.”
“Then we better go soon,” I said to him. Turning back to Elle I said, “Tell your parents hello for me in the meantime, please.”
“Will do. I’m going to head back and get ready to go up here shortly. I’ll talk to you later tonight. Enjoy the show.”
“You’ve got it. Rock it, El!”
“Good luck, Elle,” Emme said.
Wes bent his head, kissed her on the cheek, and wished her luck. It warmed my heart every time I saw his closeness with his sister. Seeing that always made me remember the close relationship I’d had with Taj.
As Elle walked off I turned back to Wes and asked, “Have you seen Greg, Tony, or Hannah yet?”
He began shaking his head, then stopped and said, “Looks like they just walked in.”
They spotted us right away and walked over. Everyone exchanged greetings and we all grabbed seats front and center to watch Elle. Everyone ordered a round of drinks and I told Wes that I wouldn’t be having more than one since I think Emme needed a night to loosen up a bit more than I did. He acknowledged this with a nod.
I then turned my head to Hannah and said, “I thought you were bringing a date.”
“I was. Then I decided not to,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders.
“What she really means is that the guy she was seeing is no longer in the picture,” Greg added. “But, it’s for the better. He wasn’t good for her. Nice guy, but way too rigid. Hannah needs someone who is much more flexible. This guy scheduled everything!”
“He liked routine,” Hannah barked back.
“Yeah, that’s all good until he wants to start scheduling sex,” Greg shouted back at her.
Tony, Wes, Emme, and I all just laughed.
Wes decided to break up the banter between Greg and Hannah and asked, “So how’s the recovery coming, Greg?”
“Really well, Wes. Thanks. Other than a few bruises marring my to-die-for body, you wouldn’t know I was even in an accident that bad.”
We all laughed again. Leave it to Greg to make light of such a serious situation.
Lou was up on the stage at that moment introducing Elle. Everyone cheered for her and she rolled right into her set. With the music, the drinks, and the conversation we were having such a great time. I noticed Emme had even started to really get involved in the conversation. Since she was typically very quiet in situations like this, I knew I had accomplished my mission.
Three or four songs into Elle’s set I felt a hand at my back and turned to see Stone there. Behind him were Luke and Zane. Uh oh.
Wes cut in, greeted the guys, and thanked them for coming to support Elle. I exchanged a ‘hello’ with all of them, and they did the same around the rest of the table. When Zane got to Emme he simply nodded at her and said, “Em.”
She replied, “Hi, Zane.”
That was it. I saw the sadness wash over her face and her eyes well up while the frustration washed over his. Neither acted on these feelings, though, and Emme managed to pull it together before she fell apart.
The guys had pulled up a couple of chairs and joined us. Despite the tension I noticed between Zane and Emme, everyone still had a great time.
Elle finish
ed her set and joined the group. The music began pounding over the speakers so I got up to go dancing with Emme, Elle, and Hannah. Greg joined us briefly, but eventually went back to hang with the guys. After dancing for a long while the four of us took off to use the restroom.
We finished up in the bathroom and made our way back toward the table. The girls and I were wiped and were ready to call it a night. As we approached the table Hannah and Emme were ahead of Elle and me. They turned around to face me and both said, “Oh no.”
“What?” I asked.
I looked beyond them to the table to see Dana sitting in my chair with her hands on my man. Wes’ back was to me.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I heard Elle said beside me.
She started to take off toward the table when I grabbed her by the arm.
“It’s ok, El. I’ve got this.”
I walked up calmly and all eyes at the table came to me. All eyes, except Wes and Dana. She still hadn’t noticed I was there.
I heard her say, “You’ve obviously changed and are making time for things other than work in your life. You know we would be much better together. I miss you, Wes.”
He pushed her hands off his arm and leg and said, “I’m making time for other things because they are important to me. Charley is important to me. It’s over between you and me and there isn’t a chance in hell that we’ll be getting back together.”
“Oh, Wes, we’re so good together. I mean, she’s…”
“Standing right behind you,” I cut her off.
She turned to look at me and she actually had the audacity to smirk at me. Wes was looking at me with concern on his face. I decided to immediately calm his fears.
“It’s okay, honey. Despite everyone else here understanding what you said and knowing what that means you aren’t speaking in a language that she understands,” I said to him. Then, I directed my attention to her, “Last week, Wes and I sat in his great room in front of the fire and he asked me to decorate his place. Actually, correction — he asked me to, and I quote, decorate for us.”
Her eyes rounded and her jaw dropped.
“Now she gets it,” I heard Greg say.
I decided not to let it go at that.