Maybe I was just being selfish. Was my wanting to sell because I didn’t want the challenge? Maybe giving up was just the easy route. “Whatever. I have to get back downstairs.”
“And just like that, she’s back to her old self.” My shoulders fell as I looked down at the floor. He was right.
“Look, I didn’t ask you to be my friend.” We couldn’t be friends. It was too dangerous. “I know the company you keep. I’m nothing like those girls you hang out with.”
He chuckled and put his hands over his face. “Yeah, maybe that’s why I actually want to be your friend.”
“Why? Why are you doing all of this? If it’s to get into my pants, I can assure you that it is never going to happen.”
He shocked me when he stood up and approached me. I put my hands on my hips, but didn’t back away. He leaned against a brick pillar separating the living room from the kitchen and crossed his arms. If he was going to continue staying here, he had to start wearing a shirt. “Yeah, you keep saying that, but I can’t decide who is looking at who more.”
“I have a boyfriend.” Okay, it was a lie, but Zach would be my boyfriend to ward off Jammer, if I asked him to.
“Why hasn’t he offered to help you? Have you even told him that you have another guy staying at your place?” I hated that he just stood there looking at me with his arms folded. He was clenching his jaw waiting for me to answer.
“No, I haven’t told him. He’s busy at school.”
“If you really want my help, I suggest you tell him about me staying here. I’d hate for him to walk in on me being here and get the wrong idea about us, because you have assured me that you would never be with someone like me.” The way he said it was sarcastic. I tried not to smile, but it came out anyway.
“You can keep taunting all you want. Unless you do laundry, you’re never going to see my panties.” I put my hands on my hips. I meant what I said, but the whole time, I was wondering how he looked in just a pair of underwear. Then I started thinking about if he wore boxers or briefs. Then I pictured them hanging low as he bent over.
Suddenly, I realized I was staring and when he started waving his hand in front of me. “Earth to Charlie.”
“Sorry, I was…um…I was just thinking about something. I gotta go. See you around six.”
I rushed out of the apartment before he could say anything else. Why was this happening to me? One minute I was telling him things I didn’t tell anyone, the next I was imagining him taking off his clothes.
I didn’t like him.
I couldn’t like him.
But…he was so damn sexy.
When I got back downstairs, a few new patrons had come into the bar. Shaun was up front, but looked like he was relieved I was back. I threw myself into the customers and, in my free time, I started scrubbing down the baseboards. Jammer was just upstairs, probably naked in the shower.
I didn’t understand how I was thinking so much about a guy that I knew nothing about. I’d told him all about me, but he’d offered nothing about himself. If he was a serial killer, I hoped he would kill me when I was asleep.
NO! He protected me.
Still, he must have secrets. Some kind of secrets that he wouldn’t want me to know. Why didn’t he live anywhere? What kind of person drives from city to city and has no place to call home?
Maybe he was going through my underwear drawer. Maybe he was some kind of freaky cross dresser. That would definitely make him less sexy. Yeah, he has to be a cross dresser. A harmless, weirdo cross dresser.
Chapter 14
Jammer
I don’t know how long I stared at that picture. Charlie felt betrayed by everyone she loved and now I was starting to realize that maybe she wasn’t the only one who had been lied to. Joker knew my name. He knew who my parents were and never mentioned that to me. In the picture, they appeared to be friends. This couldn’t be fucking happening.
Six o’clock came fast and I was showering quickly to be downstairs before I had to hear Charlie’s shit. Since I’d offered to help her, and not really asked for anything except a bed to sleep in, I didn’t feel like pissing her off any more than she already was. Honestly, there was something about her that was different and I liked it. She didn’t choose the terrible upbringing she had. Charlie was a victim in all of this.
Still, after finding the picture and hearing what she had to say at lunch, there was no way that I could tell her my real name. Aside from lying about it at first, now I was even more involved. Clearly, I needed to get to the bottom of things before I told her anything else. Maybe it was a coincidence that Joker and my father were in that picture, but the fact that it was in his album was enough for me to wonder what was going on.
My hair was still wet when I got downstairs and since Tippy hadn’t brought me my bag of clothes, I had to wear what I had on the night before. Luckily, Charlie hadn’t cleaned out the cabinet under the sink. After five years, some of my things were still lingering around. I found an old bottle of cologne and sprayed just enough to freshen up. Even though I found some of my old clothes, they needed to be washed and I couldn’t tell her where I had found them.
I headed downstairs and saw her at the bar. She was on the phone and signing a work order for a beer vendor. I think I almost saw a smile lingering on the corner of her lip when she spotted me.
I walked right up to her, just as the beer guy was leaving. “Hey, you’re just in time. Shaun just left for the day and no new customers have come in for dinner.”
I looked around and noticed that it was pretty quiet. "Are you expecting a big crowd tonight?"
She shook her head. "It's usually really slow during the week, but there is pool league tonight. They drink a lot and order food. Normally they don't come in until around seven. Do you want me to show you around, so you know where everything is?"
I kept forgetting that she didn't know I’d been here before. "Yeah, that would probably be helpful."
For the next twenty minutes I followed Charlie all around the bar while she told me where I could find everything, and I’m glad she did, because some things were different than I remembered. As I listened to her talking, I couldn't help but check her out. Everything about the girl was hot. Boyfriend or not, I wanted to see her naked. She bent over in front of me to pick up a pen and her ass was all up in my face. I licked my lips and tried to gain composure when she turned around to face me. "So, you think you can handle it?"
Oh, I could handle it alright...I could do more than handle it. I could make her forget all about that boyfriend. If I was going to have to stick around, I may as well take advantage of the perks. Charlie was definitely a perk.
"Yeah, I think I will survive."
I felt something grab at my leg and I jerked back, but it was just the kid hiding under the counter. "Where did you come from?"
"He likes to hide under there. Apparently he did it before I met him." Charlie giggled and handed her brother a cookie. "Ry, you need to stay out of Jammer's way. He's going to be helping us until we can find someone else."
He poked his head out and looked at me. "You mean he can't stay forever?"
She squatted down in front of him. "He's just here to help me until I can find someone else. Jammer can't stay forever. He has a life."
Really I didn't. I would hardly call drifting around hustling people "a life".
"Don't worry, kid, I'm going to teach you to shoot pool before I leave."
"But I can already shoot pool. My daddy taught me when I was littler."
"You mean smaller." Charlie corrected.
"It's okay, I got what he meant." I looked down at the kid. "Maybe you can teach me a few things then?"
"Okay." He seemed genuinely excited.
Charlie made her way into the kitchen and Ryan followed behind her. When people started coming in, I was concerned that someone would recognize me, but the two teams shooting were all new faces to me. Most of them drank bottled beer, which was a piece of cake. A few people wa
nted mixed drinks, but nothing too complicated. Charlie worked hard making the food in the kitchen and by eight, she was taking Ryan up to bed. She came back down about a half hour later, but I’d already run back in the kitchen and filled an order for a turkey club. I probably put way too much meat on it, but the customer seemed happy about it.
At ten the kitchen was officially closed. With the baby monitor on her hip, she came to the front of the bar and started counting the register. I leaned in beside her. “Don’t trust me?”
She raised her eyebrow and kept counting. “I never said that.”
“If I wanted to steal from you, I would have just taken the money and walked out. I know I can be…difficult, but I’m not a thief.”
She shut the register and turned around to face me with all of the money in her hand still. “I take out all of the money except forty dollars and keep it upstairs in the safe. If someone comes in to rob the register it is never full of cash. As far as you being a thief, again, I never said that.”
I finished wiping down the bar and helped Charlie get the lights turned off and double check that everything was locked. I gladly followed her upstairs, watching her perfect ass the whole way. She had to know that I was looking, but never hinted that it annoyed her. When we got inside the apartment, she locked the door behind us and accidentally brushed against my chest. We both realized it at the same time and stood there facing each other. I cleared my throat and looked down at her little mouth. “It’s too bad you have a boyfriend.”
She didn’t move her eyes from mine. “Why is that?”
I scratched my head. “You know why.”
I moved a couple inches closer and honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t come onto girls like this. I most certainly didn’t move into their place or want to spend more than a day with just one girl. This wasn’t me.
She didn’t back away from my advance. “No, I don’t.”
I took my hand and brushed the back of it against her cheek. She closed her eyes as I did it, showing me that she trusted me enough to touch her. I got closer to her lips, so they were almost touching mine. “I want to kiss you.” I grazed my lips over hers.
Charlie grabbed my bottom lip in between hers and kissed me one time. She pulled away and opened her eyes. “We can’t. I can’t do this with you. I don’t know anything about you.”
I tried to grab her hand, but she started walking away from me. “Charlie, it was just a kiss.”
“If you are only helping me to get into my pants, you can go right now.” She put her hands on her hips and got all serious.
I put my hands back behind my head. There was no sense in arguing with her. “If that was all I was here for, I can promise you that we’d be in your bed right now. Goodnight, Charlie.”
I didn’t let her argue with me over what I said to her. I closed my bedroom door and plopped down on my bed.
I’m not really sure what time it was, but I woke up to screaming and went flying out of my bedroom door with half of a pool stick in my hand. At first, nothing was out of the ordinary but, as the screaming continued, I realized it was coming from Charlie’s bedroom. My heart started racing as I feared that someone had broken in and was actually attacking her. The door was cracked open and I ran right in. At first, it took a second for my eyes to adjust, but Charlie was still lying in her bed. She was thrashing around and screaming while still asleep. I’d never heard someone have such a horrific nightmare before, so I rushed to her side. “Charlie…Charlie, wake up. It’s just a dream. Wake up.”
She shot up and looked around the room. Her chest was covered in sweat and she immediately began to sob. I sat down on the edge of her bed and pulled her into my arms. “Jesus Christ, woman, it was just a nightmare.”
She sobbed for a little longer and pulled her head away from my shoulder. “I’m so sorry I woke you up. I thought for sure they would have stopped by now.”
I grabbed her chin and pulled her to look at me. “You mean, you have these a lot?”
She shook her head. “I have them every night that I sleep by myself. If Ryan is with me, they aren’t as bad. You must think I’m crazy. First I’m a total bitch and now this.”
I laughed. “Yeah, actually I think you are the most interesting woman I’ve ever met. You’re different.”
She laid back on her pillow and covered her face. “This is so embarrassing. How loud was I?”
“I thought someone was killing you.”
She immediately started laughing. “Oh my God, I am so sorry.”
I reached down and grabbed the bottom shaft to the stick. “I came in with a weapon to kill the fucker.”
She grabbed the stick and laughed some more. “Wow, this was your weapon of choice? You really are obsessed with the game.”
I patted her on her leg. “I’m glad you’re okay. I really would have fucked somebody up. I know you don’t believe my intentions, but you and that kid don’t deserve what’s been happening. I better get back to bed. See you in the morning.”
She grabbed my hand. “Jammer wait. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but do you think you could just stay in here a little while longer? Just until I fall back asleep?”
I thought about what she was asking me for a second. “I’ll be right back.”
I was making a mistake, I knew I was, but I was going to do it anyway. This was her idea, not mine. I went into my room and grabbed my blanket and pillow. When I got back to her room, I laid my blanket down on the hardwood floor and climbed on top of it.
Charlie leaned over the bed and looked down at me. “What are you doing?”
“If you can’t sleep without someone in your room, then I can’t sleep because you will be waking me up with your screaming. This way we both sleep.”
“But the floor is hard as shit.”
I rolled over and looked up at her. “Are you asking me to sleep with you, Charlie. All you have to do is say the word and these boxer briefs will hit the floor.”
One of her pillows came down over my face. “Is everything about sex?”
“I don’t know. It’s fun and I enjoy it. What about you? Do you enjoy sex?” If she was going to ask me questions, then I could ask her the same.
She giggled like I had embarrassed her. “I guess. I mean… never mind.”
“No, enlighten me. I asked you a question. It’s only fair you answer me. I mean, I am half naked, laying on your floor, keeping you safe.” I waited a second and knew what she was doing. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, Charlie.”
“I wasn’t rolling my eyes,” she giggled.
“Yeah, right. Are you going to answer? Please don’t tell me you’re a virgin.”
She giggled some more. “No, I’m not a virgin.”
“How old were you when you lost yours?” I asked.
“You first.” She replied.
“Ten.” I lied.
“Oh my God, that is horrible. You were just a child. Did you even have hair down there?” This time I burst into laughter.
“I was just kidding. I was fifteen. She was a girl from my neighborhood. We went to school and church together. It happened one night when our parents were playing cards. It lasted about five seconds, in case that was your next question.”
She laughed again, but this time it was at my flaws. I liked hearing it.
Almost a minute went by before Charlie finally answered my question. “I was fourteen. It happened at one of my foster homes. There was this kid who was fifteen and in the middle of the night, he forced me. The next morning they found him stabbed but never found out what happened.”
I sat up and looked right at her. “You’re kidding right?”
She laughed again and I grabbed the pillow and threw it back at her. “You suck. I fell for that shit.”
“I was sixteen and my boyfriend was the same age. My foster family didn’t want me anymore and I knew I would be moving to another school. We had sex the night before I left town. He lit candles and held me all night
long. After that night, I never let myself have another serious relationship, because I didn’t want to feel the pain of losing anyone else.”
The room got quiet and I knew that she’d just told me something that was important to her. “That sucks, but at least he’s alive. I’d hate to think I was trying to get into your pants and find out you killed a dude for sleeping with you.”
“So, you are admitting you want to sleep with me?”
Damn, did I admit that out loud?
“Maybe. I ain’t going to lie, you’re sexy as hell. You think your attitude will keep me away, but it attracts me more. I’m fine if it never happens, but you just say the word if you want it to. I’d be all over that shit.”
She laid back down on her pillow. “Wow, thanks, I think?”
“For the record, I did just want a kiss tonight.”
Chapter 15
Charlie
I couldn’t believe this guy was in my room and, not only that, I was telling him things I’d never told anyone else. Was I that desperate for a friend?
It sucked that the dreams were still happening and now Jammer knew about them. I hated feeling fragile to anyone, especially a guy.
He told me that he wanted to kiss me and, truth be told, I wanted to kiss him too. Zach was a great friend of mine and, once in a while, we had benefits with our friendship. But, when we kissed, it was almost orchestrated. It never gave me that weak in the knees, heat between my legs kind of feeling. Standing close to Jammer tonight gave me those feelings and he didn’t even have to touch me to do it. It was both scary and turned me on.
I liked sex. I liked the way it made me feel and how relaxed I became afterwards but, for the past few months, I was too stressed to have the time or energy. When I did, it just never seemed to happen. Now I had this guy staying with me. He wasn’t going to be around long and he was drop dead sexy. He’d admitted that he was attracted to me and if I wanted something, I could have it.
Hustle Me Page 9