Heartless Read online

  "Oh, well thanks for clarifying that one, Captain Obvious." Charlie rolled her eyes and set her helmet on the edge of the counter.

  "So are you going to fucking tell me why you have the shitty ass grin on your face or am I going to have to pull it out of you?"

  "I was planning on telling you, Jesus. I think you need to check and make sure you still have a P and not a V, dude."

  Jules grabbed himself and mocked her with a surprise expression.

  "Hey just checking, you talk like you have a mangina all of a sudden," she said with a laugh. Charlie took off in a sprint and he jumped off the counter to chase after her. She took the stairs two at a time and Jules struggled to keep up with her. When he got to the top he bent over and gasped for air. It gave her enough time to get to her room and find something to throw at him. As soon as he stepped in the door she flung her shoe at him and he cowered.

  "Whoa there, killer." He held his arms up in an x in front of him.

  "I'm changing, don't come back here," she yelled from her bathroom and wiggled into her suit.

  "Trust me I wont, I'd like to keep my food down."

  Charlie stepped out in her bathing suit and gave him a knowing smile.

  "I guess were going swimming?"

  "I am, I don't know about you." she walked past him with a hip check.

  "Is there a reason you always have to abuse me?"

  "I have so many years to make up for." Charlie looked back over her shoulder at him. He followed her down stairs and out back.

  The sun was shining and the water looked inviting, but she was glad it was heated. He stripped down to his boxer briefs and jumped in. She dove in and came up a foot or so from him.

  "So how did breakfast go? You were gone forever."

  "Didn't know I was on the clock." Charlie made her version of the duck face.

  Jules mocked her, "Stop avoiding the question dammit."

  "It was good, I really like him, Jules." She swam over to him.

  "I know, I can tell. what did you guys do?"

  "We went to the pancake joint on Main and then the park around the corner to talk."

  "Did you actually talk or just bullshit?" he asked, while treading water.

  She kicked her feet up and floated on her back, but didn't answer him right away.

  "No, we actually talked. He used to ride motorcycles and he's into literature. We actually have quite a bit in common, it's insane."

  "That's a first for you." Jules leaned back to float next to her.

  "I know right?"

  "You gonna hook up again?"

  "I hope so."

  "You didn't make another date?"

  "Not really. He asked if he could call me later and I said yeah."

  "So when he calls are you going to say oh Sam, oh baby, oh baby." He laughed.

  She shifted and jumped toward him. Jules splashed her and tried to get away before she dunked him.

  "You're so stupid." she said, when he surfaced. He bled the water out of his nose and choked up what he'd swallowed.

  "In all seriousness, this is a huge fucking deal. You are letting someone new in for once."

  "There's just something about him, I think I want him to get to know me. The real me, not the guarded side of me."

  "Did you suck face again?" He wanted to lighten the mood. She laughed as she tread water.

  "Maybe."

  "Awww aren't you just so sweet." He mocked her and she tore through the water after him again. Jules picked her up and threw her into the shallow end.

  She surfaced and ran her fingers through her hair. "I still have a bone to pick with you about last night."

  "Oh, come on. I totally did you a favor. You should be thanking me."

  "You ditched me so you could flirt with some dude at the bar! I mean, yeah my night was awesome but that's not the point." She splashed him.

  "Okay fine, sorry I left you to suck face with a sexy dream boat. Ya' happy now?" Jules made an ugly face at her.

  Charlie burst into laughter. "Oh my God, Did you seriously just say sexy dream boat?"

  "Oh shut up." He splashed her.

  "Come 'ere my widdle sexy dream boat so I can kisses you." She made kissing noises at him and chased him through the water.

  "Get off me, wench."

  "Are you going to talk to me about this guy you ditched me for, or not?"

  "Not."

  "Oh come on, Jules, it's not like you can hide it from me."

  "Watch me try." He dove under the water and swam away from her.

  Charlie knew one day he'd be ready to talk about it, but she needed to let it go until he was ready. They swam until they were tired and went inside to hang out for the rest of the afternoon.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Charlie sat on the floor and dug through the box in her lap. Jules was supposed to be helping her unpack the rest of the boxes in her room but he was on his back playing on his phone. She pushed the box off to the side and sighed.

  "I'm so over unpacking. Please tell me I don't have to do it anymore." Charlie threw herself back on the floor next to him and crossed her arms over her head.

  "Fuck it, it'll be here tomorrow. What are we going to do today other than this crap?"

  "I don't know." She rolled onto her side and looked at him.

  "Have you talked to lover boy lately?" He wiggled his brows at her.

  "Maybe." Charlie wanted to gush to Jules but she didn't want him to give her shit about it.

  "What the hell, you're not going to tell me now?" Jules huffed and looked offended.

  "No, I mean, I will, just don't give me shit about it." She was in uncharted waters and didn't know how to navigate.

  "Why would I do that?" He sat up and leaned against her bed.

  She shrugged. "I just feel like a completely different person watching myself from the outside and it's freaking me the hell out." Charlie rolled onto her back and hid her face with her elbow. He scooted over beside her.

  "Did you guys get into a fight already? That why you haven't seen him the last few days?"

  "No, he's been busy." She peeked out at him from under her arm.

  "So are you going to call him today then?"

  "I want to, but I don't know what to say."

  "You say this...Hi this is Charlie, wanna get naked?"

  She laughed and pushed him over. "Something is seriously wrong with you."

  "Yeah, I know, I've accepted it." Jules gave her a wicked grin.

  "Is this what normal people go through when they date or meet someone?" Charlie felt her stomach flutter.

  "No, I don't think so."

  "Well, fuck. What is the matter with me?" She laid her head back and stared at the ceiling.

  "Honestly, I think you two have some crazy connection that most people would kill to find. I know I would."

  "How do you figure? You didn't even see us together." Charlie didn't believe for a second he could see some cosmic connection.

  "Still, it was more than wanting to get in each others pants."

  "You're delusional." She rolled her eyes.

  Charlie thought about asking Sam to go on a bike ride with her but she didn't know if she'd be able to relinquish control and let him be the driver. She smiled to herself and wondered what it would be like to have her arms wrapped around him for a ride. To be pressed up against his back, the thought of being that close to him made her heart flutter and her smile even wider.

  "What's the wicked grin for?" Jules mimicked her smile.

  "What if I ask him to go for a bike ride with me?" Charlie sat up and crossed her arms over her legs.

  "Uh, I know you've never ridden with a passenger before. Besides, I don't think any guy would want to ride on the back of a girl's bike."

  "No stupid... that's what I meant, let him ride with me." She held her breath and braced herself for his reaction.

  "Whoa. What the fuck? You'll let him ride your bike but you won't let me? This is bullshit. I've asked for years to rid
e with you and you always said no."

  "You don't even know how to ride, spanky, let alone be a passenger." Charlie shook her head and pushed herself off the floor. She knew that was how he was going to respond.

  "So, that's just semantics." He shrugged.

  The more it sunk in, letting someone else ride her baby made her regret bringing it up.

  "Nevermind, it is a dumb idea. I don't know what I was thinking."

  "Oh, no, no. I think you should definitely ask him. The fact you even thought of it surprises the hell out of me. For real, you should do it."

  She didn't have a lot of control of most things in her life and when it came to her bike she was a control freak. She hoped she'd be able to really let Sam take charge. Charlie smiled as she thought about how he'd kissed her during that dance and she hoped he would kiss her like that again soon.

  "I guess I can try," she said.

  Jules crawled across her floor. He reached onto her bed and she didn't know what the hell he was doing. As soon as he turned back to face her, she saw her phone in his hand and scrambled toward him. Charlie knew what he was going to do and she wasn't ready to call Sam yet. She wrestled with him as she tried to get her phone out of his hand, but he was stronger than her and pinned her. Jules pulled up Sam's contact info and hit dial. She could hear the phone ringing and she scowled at him.

  "I hate you," she whispered. Jules gave her a wicked grin and extended the phone to her. Charlie snatched it out of his hand and flipped him the bird as she heard Sam answer.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Sam heard his phone ring from the kitchen. He walked casually over to the counter and looked at it. Charlie's name popped up on the screen and he scrambled to answer, but dropped it. "Fuck," he growled, and grabbed it off the floor, hoping she hadn't hung up.

  "Hello?" he said, breathless. Sam heard Charlie in the back ground talking to someone.

  "Uh hey."

  "Everything okay over there?" Sam questioned if she meant to call him or if she'd butt dialed him by mistake.

  "Yeah, just another possible homicide situation in the making," she said and laughed. He knew she was talking about Jules and wondered what he did to her now.

  "What are you up to today? Did you get the rest of your stuff unpacked??"

  "Yeah, some what. Still have a lot to do and I was supposed to have help." Sam heard a smack and someone yell "Ow." Followed by laughter. He felt like he was interrupting her even though she was the one that called him.

  "I can let you go if you're busy."

  "No, sorry. I was actually thinking about going for a bike ride."

  Sam's heart sank a bit. He wanted to see her but she obviously already had plans. "That sounds like fun, the weather is perfect for it today." He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

  There was a pause before she spoke again and he could hear a male voice in the background and her mumble "I know," but it was muffled, like she had covered the phone.

  "I uh... wanted to know if maybe you were interested in going on that ride with me?"

  Sam's pulse raced and a smile spread across his face. He couldn't believe she'd invited him to ride her bike with her. YES. "Yeah... I mean that sounds awesome."

  "Okay, I'll be over in a bit?"

  "Wow, I feel honored you trust me enough to be on your bike."

  "I wouldn't go that far."

  He could hear her smile through the phone and it made him think of her perfect lips.

  "Sure, what time?"

  "You tell me," she said like she was unsure.

  "Well, want to say in about an hour? I can text you directions to my place." Sam held his breath and hoped she wouldn't back out.

  "Okay. I'll see you then."

  "I look forward to it."

  Sam set his phone back down on the counter and leaned forward on his forearms. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The thought of her with her arms wrapped around him and her body pressed against his made him sweat.

  His phone beeped and he glanced down at the screen. It was a text from Alex but he didn't care what it said. Glancing at the clock on the oven it was later than he thought. "Shit," he mumbled and took a whiff of his underarms. He grimaced at the stench and sprinted to the shower, then realized he didn't send Charlie his address. With the water still running, he ran into his room dripping wet and sent Charlie his address. Dude get it together, he shook his head and got back in the shower.

  Sam stood in front of his closet with his towel wrapped around his waist and rubbed the back of his neck. Nervous, and a little nauseated, he forced himself to shove it down. He pulled on a pair of jeans he used to ride in, then dug around in the back of his closet for his riding boots. He couldn't remember the last time he wore them or the last time he'd ridden. It was unseasonably warm out but it would get cooler later on. Sam pulled on a white undershirt and a long sleeved black t-shirt. He grabbed a hoodie off the hook on the back of his door and went into the kitchen. A knock on the door made his heart thrum so loud it echoed in his ears.

  Sam opened the door and his breath caught when he saw Charlie standing in front of him with sexy tattered jeans and a gray long sleeve tee that hugged her hourglass figure the way he wanted to.

  "Hey," he said with a smile. He watched her cheeks flush and she brought her eyes to meet his.

  "Hi."

  "You sure you're ready for this?" Sam raised his brow and tilted his head to the side.

  "Um, about that. I've never let anyone ride with me before." She bit her lip.

  He gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey we can do something else. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about it."

  "No, Jules and I talked about it. I've never ridden with a passenger before and since I know you have I guess you can take the reigns." She looked at the ground.

  "Are you sure?"

  "I'm taking a leap of faith here, don't make me regret it."

  Charlie looked nervous. He prayed all of his riding skills would come right back to him.

  They headed out front and Charlie shot him a hesitant smile."Do you want to take her for a spin so you can get comfortable?"

  "Yeah, its been a little while."

  "Go for it."

  She stepped back as Sam swung his leg over the bike and sat down. He raised it off of it's kick stand and flipped it up with his foot. Sam loved how it felt to sit on a bike again, he squeezed the clutch to get a feel for it and moved the bike side to side.

  "How many gears does she have?"

  "One down, four up," she said like she was impressed with his question.

  He held the bike steady with his right foot and clicked through the gears with the bike off. "This thing is pretty light weight compared to my old GSX-R. The clutch feels different too"

  "Yeah its thirty pounds lighter," she said, matter-of-factly.

  Sam smirked, he was impressed at how easily she knew the weight and he knew it wasn't something she was trying to impress him with.

  "Are you sure you're okay with me taking it for a spin?"

  "As sure as I'm gonna be." Charlie gave him a nervous smile.

  He started her bike and eased it out of his driveway.

  Downshifting into first gear, he slowly took off down his street and it took him all of a minute for everything to come back to him. He weaved back and forth as he got a feel for how the bike handled and responded to him. It had a lot of power and shifted a lot smoother than his old bike. He rode down a few blocks before he circled around and headed back to his house.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Charlie chewed on her thumbnail as she sat on the back of Sam's Jeep and waited for him to return. It seemed like he knew what he was doing but it didn't calm her nerves at all. Taking a deep breath, she had to remind herself to relax.

  Her bike was a strong connection she shared with her dad. When Joe actually had an off day, they rode together all day. She loved to ride with him but his schedule was so crazy, they didn't get to do it often enough. She fro
wned when she couldn't remember the last time they went out together. The sound of her bike pulled her attention back to the driveway as Sam pulled in. His smile was glorious and wicked. She knew that smile, she wore it every time she was on her bike. Sam revved the engine twice before he shut it off and laid it over on it's kickstand.

  "Wow. She's somethin' special," he said, and blew air out of his cheeks.

  Charlie pushed off his Jeep and walked over to him. "I know right?"

  "Where'd you want to go?"

  "You know this area better than I do. So, where ever you think." She was curious to see what he'd come up with.

  His facial expression changed and he had something brewing. "Care to share what that look is for?" Charlie arched her brow.

  "Oh, I know the perfect place to go. Let me grab a few things from inside and we can head out."

  "Okay."

  She watched him disappear into the house and wondered how it was possible for a man to look that sexy in jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

  Sam emerged a minute later wearing a dark gray hoodie and she had to force herself to swallow as he got on her bike. She slipped her helmet on and stuffed her hair in, then climbed on.

  Once they were both seated he looked over his shoulder at her. "You ready?"

  "As I'll ever be." She inched forward and wrapped her arms around him. The smell of his cologne was incredible as it filled her nose. Sam's neck was hidden between the hood of his sweatshirt and his helmet but she wanted to pull the fabric down to kiss the back of his neck.

  Charlie was pulled out of her thoughts as they began to back out of the driveway and onto the road, toward the main part of town. She was impressed at how well he rode and didn't feel the need to play back seat driver like she thought she would. She closed her eyes, sighed and sank against him. The exhaust of the bike was loud enough that she couldn't hear, and she lost herself in the moment. She felt his muscular chest and abs through his clothes. Every instinct she had screamed for her to let her hands roam.

  Nothing looked familiar when she opened her eyes and looked around. She guessed they'd been riding for about a half hour. Sam pulled off into a small parking lot. It looked like it was some sort of scenic outlook as he backed into a spot and killed the engine. He paused and waited for her to get off. They took off their helmets and stretched.