Take Me Out (9 page)

Chapter 7

Head Over Heels

(Bentley)

In just a few days, my world had turned upside down. Charlotte was back in my life and we showed no signs of slowing down. A few days before, I’d been sitting at home wallowing in my own self-pity when Drew texted me from the bar. Charlotte was there getting completely shit-faced and grinding on any guy who would go near her, which apparently was a long line with
her
dance moves.

I rushed to Boston Beer Works as fast as I could. I didn’t want her to do anything she’d regret the next day. As soon as I walked in, I saw her at the bar, throwing back a shot and chasing it with a beer. I made my way towards her and begged her to talk but she wanted to dance instead. We talked and she had this carefree nature about her. Maybe it was the alcohol? Maybe it was the time apart? I was over-analyzing everything until she asked me to go home with her. It turned into one of the best nights of my life that was for sure.

When we walked out of the bar, I fully expected to carry her home and tuck her drunk ass into bed. As we walked and talked, it seemed like she sobered up a bit. Her playful nature became more serious and you could see every emotion on her face. She had it just as bad as I did and the alcohol made it difficult for her to hide her feelings. Shay hated me, I could see it in her eyes. I didn’t worry about her right then, how she viewed me didn’t matter if I couldn’t get back in Charlie’s good graces.

As right as it felt when we made love, I still can’t believe I was stupid enough to go through with it. The very thought of our intimate moments was controlling my existence. I feel like I fucked up so bad but on the other hand I needed to use the event to my advantage. I needed her in my life. I needed her to love me. I already wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that loved knowing I would be the only man she had ever been with.

The very thought of claiming her barely touched womanhood made my dick grow hard.
Down boy
.

“Why the hell are we going to a jewelry store, bro?” Drew complained as he drove to Copley Place. I wanted to stop by Tiffany & Co. to get something special for Charlie. While all the caution in my head screamed not to even go there; my heart told me it was now or never.

“Just don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to bro.” Yes, it was a bit soon for jewelry, certainly too soon to give her that little turquoise box most girls would die to receive, but I knew in my heart this was what I wanted. This was right.

“But you just met her. You have been dating for what, a day?” He was starting to push my buttons, but I wasn’t going to be bothered by it. He was only trying to look out for me. Drew was really the only person who cared enough to worry about me besides my brothers and they had no idea what I was getting myself into.

“I just want to get her a little something. I was thinking a three carat pink diamond should suffice,” I joked. If Drew was going to jump to conclusions, I was going to fuck with him a bit. I really just wanted to get her something nice to give her the night I met her parents. Nights like that are supposed to be special right? I had never been down this road as an adult. And when I was in high school with Layla, I never had money or the means to do anything special for her anyway.

Maybe that’s why she had ended up in the back seat of my best friend’s car?

We strolled around the store for a few minutes. Once the young blonde behind the counter noticed us, she practically ran across the store to flirt while trying to get us both to spend a good chunk of change. I could never understand women like that, flirting with unavailable men when they’re in the process of spending thousands of dollars on another woman. “Did I mention that I’m going with you guys too?” Drew asked as we walked out of the store. I found the perfect silver heart pendant for Charlotte, not too plain, but nothing so fancy it would scare her away.

“Going where?” I asked.

“To the Cape. Shay invited me. She didn’t want you to feel like the odd man out since it’s one of those rich-bitch social hour events. She must like you for some ungodly reason.”

“Sounds like a plan! I’m going to need my wingman with me,” I said. Drew had no clue just how much I meant those words. I was just about to the car when I heard someone yelling my name. As he jogged across the parking lot, I realized it was Christian Windsor, one of Charlie’s older brothers. I knew her brothers from different business dealings, but we weren’t what you could call friends. There was bad blood between us, well deserved thanks to some of my past mistakes.

“What is this thing with my baby sister, Young?” He asked bitterly.

“What do you mean
this thing
? I’m dating her. I have feelings for her. It’s pretty simple.” It was taking all I had in me to try and be somewhat polite.

“Why her? Why not the thousands of other co-ed’s you’ve always had your way with? Remember, I’m all too familiar with how you treat women. If you think you’re going to pull your shit with my only fucking sister, you’ve got another think coming.”

“Listen, Christian. I don’t want to fight with you. But all that shit was in the past. I like your sister, a lot. I’m not going to hurt her. She’s special to me.” Just thinking
about
Charlie made my pulse race.

“You’d better not hurt her or I’m coming for you. You fucking understand Young?” Christian looked pissed. I had only seen him seriously this mad once before and it wasn’t pretty. I wanted to get back into his good graces; solely for Charlie.

“I won’t, Christian.” And with that I reached my hand out as a peace offering. Christian took it tightly and shook.

Drew and I turned to get into the car trying to make the goodbye as polite as we could. If I had spent any more time with him, no good would have come of it. I wanted badly to just spit out the fact that I loved her, but I was pretty sure it would have only made things worse.
Did I love her?

Things were going way too fast, but could I imagine this all any other way? Probably not.

Chapter 8

The Date

(Charlotte)

Around six forty-five, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. It was still early so I assumed it was Shay. “Come in,” I yelled as I finished getting dressed.

“Wow...” Bentley choked out as he stared at me in nothing but my matching lime green panties and bra.

“Oh shit! I thought you were Shay!” I growled at him, rushing to find my clothes. “You’re way early!”

I quickly slipped on my jeans and zipped them up. I made a mad dash to get dressed knowing that if I didn’t get some kind of clothing on, we wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I grabbed a random t-shirt out of my drawer and slid it over my head. When I look down I realized I’d grabbed yet another hardcore band t-shirt. The one that impressed Bentley on our first night together was Hatebreed, this one: On Broken Wings.

“Is that an On Broken Wings shirt?” He asked, seeming surprised by yet another shirt in my collection.

“Uh, yeah... how do you know who they are?” I know I’m not the only person in Boston who enjoys the hardcore music scene, but I couldn’t believe I’d managed to find someone who was not only sexy as hell, but also shared my tastes in music.

He turned to me and whispered the lyrics of one of my favorite songs,
Lovesick
. Of all the songs, he’d picked that one. It was almost too good to be true. I shook it off and gave him a kiss, my lips lingering against his, desperate for more.

“So Mr. Mystery, where are we off to tonight?”

“It’s a surprise, now come on,” he said, grabbing my hand and heading into the living room. As much as I was dying to know what he had planned, I had no desire to leave the bedroom. Bentley whisked me out the door to the elevator, never letting go of my hand. Once outside, I noticed a beautiful black motorcycle sitting near the curb. The side of the gas tank was inscribed with “Indian” in beautiful lettering. Bentley walked to the motorcycle and straddled the seat.

“You ready?” he asked, reaching a hand out for me to join him.

“Ready for what? You can’t possibly think I’m getting on that thing with you.” I snorted. I had never been on a motorcycle in my life and I didn’t plan on getting on the back of his deathtrap. Bikes were nice to look at, but way too dangerous for my taste. Why couldn’t he have just picked me up in his car?

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Let’s go or I am going to leave without you,” he said, amused by the panicked look on my face. A second later, the engine roared to life threatening to make good on his promise to leave me behind. I guess if I had to get on a motorcycle with anyone, Bentley was the best person to trust with my life. I took his hand and climbed onto the back. Wrapping my arms tightly around him, I held on for dear life.

“Enjoy the ride honey, it won’t take long to get where we’re going,” he teased, turning to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. The ride wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. The wind whipped through us on the motorcycle, engulfing my face in the warm summer air. As soon as we were parked, he took my hand in his as we walked down the street. People were giving us strange looks, probably because of Bentley’s infectious excitement.

“Hungry?” He asked as we headed into Quincy Market. I’d been there thousands of times, but didn’t see why this could be so special.

“Of course,” I replied as he practically dragged me in the direction of all the little fast food stands. All the scents in the air had my stomach grumbling for food.

“This is Philadelphia Steak & Hoagie. I live here at least three days a week. It has to be my favorite place in all of Boston.” He beamed like a little boy on Christmas morning.

“Hey Brian, two for me and the lady,” he said to the guy behind the counter. They started chatting away as if they’d known each other for years. If he visited often, I was sure they were probably close friends.

He grabbed our food and headed over to a little table in the corner. It was isolated, much more private than the others.

“This is delicious,” I mumbled around a huge bite of my sandwich. I had never had a steak and cheese
that
good before in my life, not even in Philly!

“Now you see why I’m here so often.” While we ate, I told him about my parents in an attempt to prepare him before walking into the lion’s den at dinner. My parents could be easy going, but I was also their only little girl who also got into a ton of trouble as a teen.

“My mother is a hoity toity, upper-class Boston historian. She inspired me for so long which is why I’m a History major.” I wish I could have told him how much respect I’d lost for her over the past two years. I loved her because she was my mother but things between us had changed. She was much too ignorant of the world around her. Between her own childhood and years spent living the high life, she was one of the most judgmental people I knew. If she weren’t around, I would still have been living at home with my Dad.

“My dad is a doctor. He’s down to earth. I think you guys will get along great. And from the sounds of it, you already know all of my brothers.” I didn’t want to press him about the subject, but it was driving me crazy at the same time. Most of Boston knew my brothers, but I would have seen Bentley around a long time ago if he was actually friends with them.

“I’m really looking forward to dinner with them and of course the holiday weekend with you. Do you want to drive down? I don’t think we could fit too much onto my bike.” He smiled mischievously, knowing damn well I wouldn’t agree to taking the motorcycle.

“We’ll take my car. I think Shay will be riding with us too, but I have plenty of room.”

“You ready to get out of here? It’s getting late.” He cleaned up our garbage, trying to rush me away.

“Late? It’s only eight-fifteen?”

Bentley laughed at my confused response. “I have another surprise.”

I mentally added “keeping secrets” to my list of things Bentley did well. I still wasn’t a fan of the bike but I did like how alive I felt when I was on the back of it. It didn’t hurt that I had to hold onto Bentley extra tight. If I could overcome my fear, it could easily become my new favorite place in the world.

We pulled up outside of a small hole-in-the-wall bar. I couldn’t imagine what date-worthy surprise could possibly be within those four walls.

“This is my favorite place in Boston to come see hardcore shows. I knew from your Hatebreed shirt you were at least interested, but I didn’t know if you had ever been to a show, so here we are,” Bentley explained. It had been nearly five years since I had the guts to show my face at any show in the Boston area.

The last time I was at a show wasn’t pretty. If anyone saw and recognized me from that night, it was going to get ugly in a hurry. I didn’t need Bentley knowing about that part of my past. It was something I honestly wished I could erase from history.

“I really appreciate the gesture, but I can’t go in there.” My palms became sweaty and my pulse started to race. I hated the fact that I caused the downcast look on Bentley’s face. I knew he was trying to do something nice for me, but I couldn’t put either of us in a bad spot. “Look, the last time I actually went into a show, it wasn’t pretty. I don’t know if anyone here will recognize me, but I don’t think I’m comfortable taking that chance tonight.”

“That’s fine, I’m sorry I didn’t ask you first. We’ll go someplace else special to me.” Even though I could see the disappointment wash over his face, a flash of happiness filled his eyes. A smile spread across his face.

He climbed back onto his motorcycle and I joined him, grasping him tightly before placing a kiss on his cheek. I expected him to be either annoyed or concerned by my refusal to go in, but he wasn’t. If anything, he was more concerned over my past and my well-being. The sun was setting as we crossed into Cambridge and parked along the Charles River. Hand-in-hand, we walked towards the banks, enjoying the view.

“I’m sorry I don’t have a blanket to sit on, this wasn’t my plan for the evening,” Bentley apologized. With a smile and a chuckle, I assured him that it was just fine.

“I think your Chinese food and a baseball game was a much better idea than this.”

“You think? I thought getting drunk and grinding on you in a cheap attempt to turn you on and then leave you behind was a much better idea.” I couldn’t help but joke with him because that night changed everything. It made us a couple, even though it was the complete opposite outcome from what I had planned when I saw him in the bar. I had become his; heart and soul, and I didn’t want to think back to the month we foolishly spent apart.

“Come on, let’s go back to my place for a little bit and then I’ll take you home. I want you to see where I live,” Bentley offered and to me it sounded like a grand plan.

As we walked back to the motorcycle, Bentley checked his phone and immediately tensed.

“Is everything okay?” I choked out, my stomach started to churn. I thought back to the huge misunderstanding which caused us to lose a month we could have been together, it certainly had put me on the alert for some time.

“Drew called me a bunch of times. He didn’t leave any messages or texts, which is strange. If he isn’t at the apartment, I’ll just call him when we get there.” His words were rushed as he picked up the pace. I was nearly jogging behind him, trying to keep up.

Other than the fact that he was hurrying back to the bike, he seemed completely in control of whatever emotions were coursing through his body.

As we walked up to Bentley’s townhouse-style apartment, we could hear yelling inside. Without a second thought, he ran into the house and found Andrew yelling at a red headed woman. I stood in the doorway and watched everything unfold in front of my eyes.

“I swear I’m not hiding him lady. You need to chill the fuck out,” Drew said, trying to stay calm.

The leggy red-head wasn’t buying it. “I know this is where he lives...” she shrieked. As soon as she saw Bentley, she charged towards him.

“How dare you just stand me up like that? I went to your apartment and you were gone! That boy said you don’t even live there!” She pounded her fists into his chest, obviously beyond upset with him. I could feel heat rising through my neck and face, anger brewing inside of me. This wasn’t what I expected to see when I walked into my boyfriend’s house for the first time.
Was this something I would have to get used to?

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Bentley yelled, trying to be heard over the woman’s shrill voice. He removed her hands from his body and his arms flew up to block her flailing arms. “Do I even know you?” he asked his face showing that he was genuinely shocked and confused by this sudden outburst. Whoever she was, he clearly didn’t know her.

“Is this for real? You don’t remember me? Molly from the City?” Bentley’s face morphed from confusion to worry and understanding. His eyes were darker than normal when he looked over at me to see my reaction.

I just stood there like a deer in headlights. I had no clue what I was witnessing or who she was. Clearly, it meant nothing to him because he couldn’t even remember her.

I found the nearest chair and sat down crossing my legs, listening to them hash it out. It was more like watching a scene unfold on television than a scene in my own life.

“I’m sorry, I was kind of in a rough place when I was in the City: I’d had a little too much to drink. I apologize for not remembering you, Molly, but that doesn’t explain why you’re in my living room.”

Bentley was clearly being as nice as he could. I could see the tick in his jaw, a sign he was desperately trying to keep from blowing a gasket.

“I thought I would drop in to see you. It’s been a month or so and I was in the area,” she said as though it was a normal occurrence. I couldn’t help but think this Molly chick was completely off her rocker. Bentley didn’t even remember her and yet there she was, freaking out in his apartment for running off on her.

“Well Molly, it was nice to see you as well, but I have company this evening. I am sorry if I led you on at all, but I have a girlfriend now.” He glanced in my direction again with a slight nod. I wasn’t sure if it was to impress on Molly that I was his girlfriend and she was causing an uncomfortable scene in front of me or to see if I had run for the hills, which I was moments from doing.

I wasn’t sure if this woman was going to burst into tears or try and kill Bentley, but I didn’t want to stick around to find out. I turned to walk towards to door and slip out when I felt a hand grab my upper arm. Andrew had a tight hold on my arm as he whispered into my ear “Please don’t go anywhere Charlotte, he loves you and this bitch is absolutely insane, I promise you.” He was pleading with me on his friend’s behalf. I appreciated what he was saying, but I couldn’t stand there and watch that. I needed fresh air. I needed the comfort of my own home. I needed time to think. But above everything else, I needed to get the hell away from that nutcase red-head who was single-handedly ruining the best thing in my life. As I walked out the front door, I heard the confrontation inside grow louder.