AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A beautiful, wealthy woman was willing to go to a boring ass baseball game with you, and there’s nothing else you want to mention?” Nick sounded irritable. “You said so surely that you didn’t plan on seeing her anymore, and now you’re spending time together? Wasn’t this the girl you thought was too frilly?”
A trace of guilt poured in at the memory. He didn’t badmouth Charlie back then, but he didn’t exactly praise her either. If Nick and Charlie ever got together for a conversation, he wouldn’t want this to come up.
“It was one game,” Rick simply said. “Don’t make it into something it’s not. She gave me the tickets. It was only fair that I invited her.”
His buddy gave up. “Fine, if you’re going to be a jackass about it, I won’t ask. Are you ready to get your ass kicked again by Wilkins?”
“He’s not here today. Got a competition at Santa Clarita. And I think I’ll just do weights this time. My back’s hurting.”
Nick frowned. “From what?”
It had been two days since carrying Charlie on his back fromthe stadium to the parking lot. She wasn’t heavy by any means, but he was no spring chicken, and the soreness of his lower back still lingered. He wasn’t going to tell Nick that, however.
“Slept wrong,” he said.
Fully changed into their gym clothes, they walked into the weight room, where metals clanged and banged. The faded black logo of a boxing glove holding a barbell spread across discoloring red-orange walls. He’d been a member for nearly a decade and had made friends along the way. Despite being away often, he knew about half of the regular members who came in.
For the next hour, he and Nick rotated between the kettlebell and bench press. Feeling spent, he took a seat on the bench by the weights while Nick completed his burpees reps.
“You want to get something to eat?” Rick asked when his friend finished, running a towel over his face. He had one protein shake in the morning and a piece of toast. That was almost six hours ago.
Breathing heavily, Nick pulled out his water bottle for a long sip before settling down next to Rick.
“Sure, what are you thinking of?”
While listing the closest venue in his head, Rick heard his name called.
“Hey, Min! You got a visitor!” someone on the other end of the room shouted. Rick and Nick turned to see Arlo, one of the gym’s coaches, looking in their direction.
A visitor?He and Nick looked at each other with matching blank expressions, then stood simultaneously as Arlo then pushed the door wider to let someone in.
Charlie.
“Holy shit,” Nick murmured.
Charlotte Ha knew how to make an entrance, giving Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly a run for their money. She made a show with her chopped hair. The silky strands at the front were curled inwide waves that stuck to each other with the ends clinging on her neck, reminding him of those vintage 1920s actresses.
Pearl earrings clutched her earlobes, her eyes rimmed in black and lips tinted in a light shade of red. The straps of her dress bared her shoulders, a pattern of pink and orange floral that narrowed around her waist and stopped at her knees. If he didn’t know her by now, he’d ask if she was going to a party, but this was purely Charlie in her natural state.
The attention was on her as she walked into the room with her shiny smile. Nick was next to him, equally transfixed. A stream of murmurs followed in the background; Rick knew the spotlight was on them.
“Hi,” she said to him, her voice breathy. She turned to Nick and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Charlie.”
“Wow,” Nick breathed, stunned, before snapping out of it and shook her hand. “I mean, hi Charlie. I’m Nick.”
She smiled at them. “Rick and Nick. That is soadorable.”
“You hear that, man?” His friend slapped him on the chest. “We’readorable.”
Ignoring him, Rick pulled Charlie to the side. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make up for what happened at the baseball game, so I thought I’d bring you food.” She pointed to the cooler by her feet, and that was when he finally noticed the guys behind her, who also had roller coolers with them.
“Jackson? Steve? What’s going on?”
Jackson Rossi, Rick’s sometimes sparring partner when Nick was busy, and Steve Lin, a Muay Thai trainee, grinned at him.
“I found her in the parking lot pulling out these coolers all by herself,” Steve said. “Said she was bringing youandall of us food. I couldn’t just stand by and not help. And they’re sandwiches from Weston Farm!”
