AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"People call her Charlie. The last name is made up, though." His eyes dance with humor. "Looks like you have your work cut out for you."
"That's really all you're going to tell me?" I demand. "Nothing else?"
"Yep," he says, popping the p on the word. And then he leans forward to grab his coffee mug. "You should have asked for help yesterday instead of feeding me a line of bullshit. Maybe then you wouldn't be here now. But you didn't, so now you have to do what every other man in this town has had to do and go win your girl." He takes a sip of coffee and then chuckles. "Good luck. You're going to need it."
"I hope Ophelia Crawford gives you hell today," I mutter in disgust, shooting him a final baleful glare. Tate has told me all about that old lady and her exploits. I figure she probably keeps Dillon plenty busy.
Dillon scowls, flipping me the bird. "Xavier, leave my office before I shoot your sorry ass and tell your brother it was an accident."
I chuckle, ducking out of his office. The asshole probably would shoot me and swear it was an accidental discharge. He didn't give me much to work with, but he gave me enough.
Charlie.
My girl's name is Charlie.
Now, I just have to find her sexy little ass.
Chapter Four
Charlie
"Why haven't you been answering your phone? I've called you fifteen times!" my youngest sister, Gemma, demands as soon as I answer the phone.
"Crap," I whisper, rolling onto my back to stare up at the ceiling in my hotel room. There's a water stain above my head. At least, I hope it's a water stain. This place isn't exactly the resort it used to be. I think the creepy owner died in jail, and his wife sold it off. But beggars can't be choosers.
Adalyn's other sister-in-law, Francesca, used to work at the Silver Spoon Falls Inn, the only other hotel in town. We all stay there when we come to visit, so they know me on sight. Adalynn would bust me in two seconds flat if I tried to check in there. And since I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do next, well, water-stained ceilings and lumpy mattresses just have to do.
"I've been busy," I tell my youngest sister. Gemma is my best friend. She's only sixteen months younger than me, and we've always been two peas in a pod. I hate lying to her. I hate lying at all. But lying to her is the worst. She's like an innocent little pixie.
"Doing what? You sound weird."
"If I tell you, do you swear never to tell a soul even if they try to torture it out of you?"
"Have you been watching war movies again?" she asks suspiciously. "You know they make you paranoid, Charlie."
"I'm serious!" I cry, sitting up.
"Okay, okay," she says. "Sheesh. I promise not to tell anyone, even if they try to torture it out of me. Which they won't because this isn't a movie, crazy pants."
"I got kicked out of school."
"What?"
I hold the phone away from my ear, trying to blunt the sound of her shocked squeal. Once I'm sure she's finished, I tentatively put the phone back to my ear. "You can't tell anyone. You promised. Besides, I'm fine."
"You got kicked out of school, Charlie. That doesn't sound very fine to me. Mom and Dad are going to flip out."
"I know." This isn't some little thing. I got expelled from college. I almost went to jail. They're probably going to be furious and regret ever adopting me. Can I really blame them?
Why did I have to be born nosy with no self-control?
"Where are you?"
"I…I'm safe," I whisper, not ready to tell her where I'm hiding out. She's good with secrets, but Leia is sneaky. She knows how to wheedle information out of us. It's like her superpower. If I tell Gemma where I'm at, she'll spill the beans to Leia. It'll start a whole chain reaction of bad.
"You need to call Dad, Charlie."
"I will. Just not yet."
"Charlie," Gemma groans.
"I have a plan." I don't have a plan. I'm completely planless and freaking out. For the first time in my life, there's no rescuing me from my own bad decisions. Helping people isn't supposed to be this hard! And the worst part is that I didn't even help Chloe Rothman. She still doesn't have proof that her mom and ex-boyfriend are sleeping together while her mom lives off her trust fund.
"To get yourself back into school? I think that ship already sailed," Gemma says. "How did you even get kicked out? You're on the Dean's List!"
"My professor is sleeping with her daughter's ex-boyfriend, a freshman in one of her seminars. Her eighteen-year-old daughter thought it was weird that her ex-boyfriend is passing her class with an A when he's notorious for not studying. She asked me to see if I could find out anything. I agreed because her mom is awful to her, and no one else will listen, but I got busted before I could find hard evidence. I think if I can prove it, maybe the Dean will reverse his decision."
