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She takes a second to have another drink, this time taking a longer sip. “I hate that I never fought back. I was always so scared that I had no place to go, so I put up with it for years until her new boyfriend introduced her to drugs.”
“Babe,” I say, cutting her off, fearing what direction this could go in.
“Don’t stress,” she says, reading the fear in my tone. “It doesn’t get much worse.”
I press my lips into a hard line, not sure I believe that, but I listen as she goes on. “She was always on drugs, hitting, and yelling at me. The boyfriend hardly came around, so that wasn’t much of a problem, but it made her more aggressive. I stuck to my routine and would stay out ‘cleaning’ as long as I could, came home, cooked dinner, and then hid out in my room. She would pass out by nine most nights and not wake until ten or eleven the next day, so I could generally avoid her in the mornings,” she says, then takes a breath.
“Anyway, a few weeks ago she found a stash of money I’d been hiding to get myself out, and she blew it all on pills. When she passed out for the night, they were just sitting there on the counter, and I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I flushed them,” she says with a cringe. “She had misplaced drugs before and lost her shit on me, but because of how much was there, I knew this time would be worse. So I packed my things and ran. I walked for four hours during the worst storm we’ve seen all year. Had no money and no phone, so I couldn’t get help or even order an Uber. I just had to keep walking. I was getting tired, and I couldn’t find anywhere to crash, so I stopped at a storefront where there was a bit of shelter from the storm. I thought I was about to spend my first night on the streets when this asshole tried to grab me.”
My whole body tenses and she stops, looking up at me in alarm, and suddenly she’s the one soothing me. “It’s okay. Nothing happened,” she practically coos. “He tried, but I nailed him in the balls and ran until I got here. I almost broke the door down trying to get inside. I had no idea if the guy had followed me or not, I just knew I had to find somewhere safe. And I guess the rest is history.”
“Fuck, Charli,” I mutter, unable to calm down. Who the fuck would treat this beautiful woman so poorly? Every person in her life has let her down until she came here.
Getting up off my stool, I put myself right in front of her, taking her chin and lifting her face so her soft eyes meet mine. “You are the strongest woman I have ever met,” I tell her honestly.
Her eyes grow watery, and I realize being strong is something she’s never considered of herself before. But she needs to know. I’m in awe of her. With all the shit she’s been through, she’s still managed to pull her life together. She has taken control of a shitty situation and turned it around. She has set herself on a path to freedom, which is something I desperately wish I could do for myself—take control and make the changes. I always hold back, only taking small steps at a time. But Charli, she fucking leaped, making her the most inspirational woman I know.
I capture her stare with my own, holding her captive as the tension grows between us. I slowly lean in, and she sucks in a breath, seeing my intention crystal clear. She closes her eyes just as my lips press down against hers, and it feels so damn right. Her lips are so soft against mine.
I kiss her gently at first, giving her a chance to pull away if this is too much, too soon, but she lets out a soft moan as her hand lifts from the bar and presses against my chest. She pushes it up over my shoulder and around the back of my neck before pulling me in closer, claiming control, and fucking hell, I give it to her.
Charli’s lips begin moving against mine, and I welcome every fucking second of it. She keeps it soft and controlled, never once losing herself, despite the intense hunger between us. My hands fall to her waist, and I grip her tight before lifting her from the stool and sitting her ass on the bar so that I can step in closer between her thighs.
Charli gasps and locks her legs around me, holding me as close as our bodies will allow. Her fingers knot into the back of my hair, and just as I feel her control begin to slip, she pulls back, dropping her forehead to mine as she catches her breath. “Holy shit,” she whispers, a smile playing on her lips.
