Charlotte (Marked Heart #2) (23 page)

29

C&A

Rushing home from The Dog House, Auggie couldn't wait to see Charlotte. He had to laugh at himself for being so excited. He hadn't seen or talk
ed to her in a whole day.

He was going to call her the previous night but when he saw her text that said see you tomorrow, he figure
d she was busy with her family. It was fine at the time because he had spent the morning looking for something special for her and only caught around two hours of sleep before work. By the time he got off, he was so tired he laid down on the couch and passed out.

Tonight
, just as he started to close up, Charlotte texted him saying she was at his house along with the pictures she took of them drunk and laying on his floor. One picture in particular stood out from the rest. He was smiling while she kissed his cheek. Between that picture and knowing she was at his house waiting for him, he couldn't get there fast enough.

Sprinting to his front door,
he knew she had missed him too when he reached the porch and the door swung open. Standing there, waiting for him to get home, wearing his Dog House t-shirt and little red shorts was his girl.

Lifting her off of the ground as he hugged her tight and kissed her he managed to say, "Gah, I missed you," in between kisses.

"I like that," she assured as he put her down.

"That I missed you?"

Nodding with a smile, Charlotte pulled away before blurting, "Oh, I got you something."

"Lotte," he said, wishing she hadn't.

Picking up a box off of the coffee table, she replied, "I know you don't like the idea of me buying you things but I still owed you one and when I saw this I had to get it for you." As he scowled taking the package from her, Charlotte swore, "It wasn't even expensive."

Shaking his head at her, Auggie opened the box and pulled out a gray beanie.

"Turn it over," she instructed as he gave her a confused expression.

It
looked exactly like the one he had on until he turned it over. In little white letters, C&A was embroidered on it. Instantly he knew, Charlotte and Auggie.

As he stared at it, Charlotte said, "You don't have to wear it. I was shopping with Silvia, saw it and thought you'd get a kick out of it."

Pulling the one he was wearing off, he tossed it at her, sharing, "Are you kidding? This is my new favorite."

Auggie ran his fingers through his hair before pulling the new beanie on.

Charlotte seemed pleased that he liked it which made Auggie like it even more.

She eyed him, saying, "Looks good," before sliding his old one over her head, asking, "What about me?"

Auggie wasn't sure what it was exactly but seeing her wearing his beanie caused all the air to leave his lungs.

Scowling at him, Charlotte held out her hand and stated, "Augustus Caffrey."

"You're too pretty to be me," he replied with a smile.

Shaking her head, she pretend griped, "You wanna fight? Girls are pretty. I'm a man."

Rolling his eyes, Auggie played back, "Okay big talker, let's go."

Holding her fists up, she continued to make fun of him, saying, "Come on, I'll put you on your ass."

Auggie
picked her up and tossed her on the couch before pinning her down. They both laughed as he playfully kissed her face and neck. Stopping to catch his breath Auggie was suddenly aware of their position. She was lying underneath him with her legs wrapped around his waist. As his breathing slowed his heart rate picked up. Staring up at him, Charlotte's smile faded into a look of urgency.

"Kiss me," she breathed.

There was no thought, he simply acted.

Moving under him as she unbuttoned his shirt, Charlotte's sighs of anticipation made it hard for him to concentrate. Auggie kept trying to remember not to touch her shirt. The last thing he wanted was for her to stop him but at the same time he wanted to feel her everywhere.

Breaking their kiss for a moment, he whispered, "I know under is off limits. What about over?" sliding his hand across the front of her shirt.

Nodding, she breathed out, "Over's fine...over's good," before pulling him back to her lips.

Pleased with her answer, at least it was something and since he didn't plan on their first time being there only time, he could talk her out of her shirt another day. For the moment
, those little red shorts were his goal.

Bracing himself with one hand on the arm of the couch, he hovered over her smoothing his other hand down her side to her hip, urging, "I wanna hear you say it, Lotte."

Running her fingers into his hair while sliding his new beanie off, she swore, "Want... I want you," as she pulled him back to her.

With
tunnel vision and only one thing on his mind, Auggie knew he needed to slow things down for a minute. The last thing he wanted was to shoot first and have her disappointed later. Pulling away from Charlotte, he went back on his knees.

"You're prepared, right?" she questioned as he took his shirt the rest of the way off.

H
er face was flush and she was all kinds of beautiful as he looked down at her.

"There in my room," he informed, letting her know he was, just as she'd asked him to be.

A sly
smile formed on her face as she reached behind herself under the couch cushion and pulled out a little square wrapper.

"I gotcha covered," Charlotte shared, waving it in front of him between her first two fingers.

He almost questioned how it got there
or why she asked if she had one, then quickly decided it wasn't important as he grabbed the bottoms of her shorts and pulled them off and her legs against his chest in one fluid movement. Charlotte slid her legs down his sides before wrapping them around his waist. Tucking the wrapper against her palm, she grabbed the front of his pants. Popping the button from its hole as she unfastened his pants, Auggie couldn't believe the feeling it created. It felt like a pulse or even maybe a spasm.

It wasn't until Charlotte gave him a strange look, asking, "Are you vibrating?" that he realized his phone was still in his pocket.

She gave a slight laugh as he pulled his cellphone out and tossed it on the coffee table.

Auggie's cellphone continued to vibrate loud against the coffee table with each incoming text message. Reaching over, he picked it up and tossed it on the floor next to the couch where the only sound was a light hum.

"Do you need to get that?" she asked, sounding disappointed.

Laying over her, he kissed her before saying, "It's just Kieran."

"What if something's wrong? It's really late. There could be an emergency."

"It can't be that serious if he's sending a text."

Charlotte nodded before
running her lips from the side of his neck to the top of his shoulder. She glided her hands down his back until her fingers met the waistband of his boxers. Sliding her hands under, she stopped when his phone started to ring. 'Somebody's gonna die' Auggie thought as he reached for his phone on the floor.

"What?" he growled into the phone as Charlotte slid her arms to the center of his back.

Kieran's voice was stressed as he demanded, "You need to get out here."

"I'm with my girl," Auggie snapped into the phone as Charlotte gave him a soft smile.

A bit more hostile now Kieran shared, "Braden's here with a damn heart."

Auggie scowled, glancing at Charlotte before s
cooting back and sitting up.

"Tell him no!" Auggie griped into the phone.

Charlotte sat up next to him as Kieran reminded, "You know I can't. It's not up to me to decide who gets what."

Frustrated and torn, Auggie looked at Charlotte as she whispered, "You need to go."

Auggie placed his hand over his mouth before running it down the front of his beard saying, "I'm coming."

Ending the call, Auggie leaned to Charlotte and softly kissed her.

"It's okay, take care of your family," she assured.

Pulling her closer he shook his head onto her shoulder, "Braden's..." before she stopped him, saying, "I heard Kieran. You need to stop him."

The drastic change, from we're doing this to my dumbass brother is ruining his life, made Auggie feel
slightly woozy and if he was honest, sad.

"Don't go until I get back," he requested before giving her another soft kiss.

Charlotte reached down and grabbed the beanie she had bought him.

Pulling it over his head, she gave him a kiss before replying, "I should go."

Reaching down, Auggie picked her shorts up off of the floor, saying "I'll walk you to your car," as he handed them to her.

Taking her shorts from him, Charlotte shared, "I'm punching Braden right in the eye the next time I see him."

With a heavy sigh Auggie stood up, buttoned his pants and pulled his shirt back on thinking, 'I'm kickin' everyone's ass when I get out there."

~

It took around twenty minutes for Auggie to make it out to Kieran's place.
When he arrived Kieran's wife, Liv, was standing on their porch waiting for him. He'd known Liv for about seven years. In fact, Auggie was there when Kieran first met her. She wasn't really Auggie's style of woman although he always thought she was pretty. Liv had long black hair, blue eyes and both her arms were completely covered with brightly colored tattoos. Kieran was smitten the moment he saw her. All in all, she was fun to be around because she always felt like the girl version of Kieran to Auggie.

Stepping onto the raised porch
, all he had to do was look at the expression on Liv's face to know he was too late.

"What's goin' on Auggs?" she greeted with an irritated tone.

Shaking his head at her, Auggie griped, "Where are they?"

"You know where they are," she snapped back at him.

Auggie started to walk past her when she jumped in front of him, warning, "You can't go in there."

"The hell I can't," he argued.

Pushing him back a little, Liv fussed, "What are you gonna do? He already started."

Narrowing his eyes at her, he answered, "I'm gonna knock him out and have Kieran cover what he's already done with a pink unicorn or maybe a princess."

"Ha!" Liv blurted before sharing, "That'd be funny but you know you can't."

Taking a step back, Auggie snapped, "He should of told him no."

Nodding, she agreed, "I told him the same thing but you know he takes this serious. His legacy and all."

Auggie paced back and forth for a few minutes before saying, "Kieran should have called me as soon as he showed up."

"He did, the second Braden handed him the heart, he walked out of the house and called you."

"Y'all couldn't have stalled him 'til I got here?"

Giving Auggie a dirty look, Liv fussed, "You think we didn't try? We don't want him to do this anymore than you do. Braden made Kieran feel bad, like he wasn't following behind his dad right."

"It's just a damn tattoo!"

Pointing her finger at him, Liv snapped, "You and I both know that's not true. If it were, you wouldn't be here right now."

Stepping away so her finger was no longer in his face, Auggie shook his head.

Auggie was at a loss. Furious and disappointed in his brother all he could think about was Charlotte lying under him. He could have been wrapped up in Charlotte, all of her, instead of standing outside his cousin's house arguing with Liv if Braden wasn't such a dumbass.

"I'm gonna go."

Liv appeared confused, asking, "You don't want to wait for him to come out?"

"I don't want to see him at all right now," he replied, stepping off of the porch.

Walking back to his truck,
he turned to see Liv wave at him before stepping back into her house.

Hopping into his truck, Auggie noticed his phone flashing from the dashboard. Swiping the lock screen picture of Charlotte kissing his cheek, he smiled at the picture, then the text message from her that said 'Nite' with a little heart beside it.
Instead of texting her back, he called.

"Hi there," Charlotte answered in a hushed tone.

"Did you make it home okay?" he asked, adoring the sound of her voice, low and sleepy.

"Yea, did you stop him?"

With a heavy sigh, he replied, "Kieran had already started it by the time I got there."

There was a long pause before she consoled, "Sorry."

"Yea," he muttered before saying, "I'm on my way home now."

"Okay. Oh, I almost forgot, I made plans with Penny tomorrow so I'll see you Friday."

Disappointed, he said, "Alright, see you Friday."

He could hear the smile in her voice as she whispered, "Goodnight Augustus."

"Goodnight Charlotte."

Setting his cellphone in the dash compartment
, Auggie drove home, wishing she would have stayed. There wasn't a whole lot of things he could think of that were better than knowing she was there waiting for him.