Page 21 of Speechless
“Not to mention all the coin he’s made off of it. Hope he’s splitting it with you, since you were his muse and all.”
I laughed. “Come on now, Charlie. You know me better than that. I don’t take handouts from a man.”
His eyes met mine for a brief second before he smiled. “Tough to find love with an attitude like that, sweetheart. Take it from an old-timer, who’s done and seen it all. Every man wants to feel like his woman needs him for something.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not Mav’s woman, so I don’t need him… or anyone else for anything.” There was a hard edge to my voice. I almost didn’t recognize it. When had I become so averse to needing someone? Did I think it made me weak… or put me at risk of a relapse if I loved or leaned on someone outside of my family?
“The way he was singing to you in that video I saw, made it seem like he might need you for something.”
“I don’t think so.” Mav had good people around him. His management team, record label, his band, Trey, his brother… why would he need me?
“Did I ever tell you how my wife and I got together?” He grinned, revealing a chipped front tooth, partially hidden behind his long white beard.
“I don’t think so.” I was used to people telling me their life stories while I tattooed them. I likened myself to a hair stylist. I had my clients captive in my chair for hours sometimes and given time and one-on-one attention, most people loved to talk about themselves.
“She’s my second wife, you know, but should have been my first and only.”
I smiled. “That’s sweet.” I’d never known Charlie to be very romantic, but if life had taught me anything it was that people could often surprise you. “How did you two meet?”
“Like you and your boyfriend, we went to high school together.”
My eyes met his. They sparkled with mischief. “Behave now, you know he’s not my boyfriend.”
His grin spread. “If you say so, Codie. Like I was saying, me and the Mrs. met in high school. She was a couple of years behind me. I hung around with her older brother, mostly.”
“Hmm. Did she have a crush on you?”
He laughed. “No, the other way around. I finally got her to go with me, but we had to keep it a secret from my buddy. He would have kicked my ass for defiling his little sister.”
I smirked. “You defiled her, did you?”
“What can I say? It was high school. If it wasn’t me who stole her innocence it was going to be someone else, and I couldn’t let that happen, could I?”
“No, I guess you couldn’t.”
Mav had been my first too. We’d taken an impromptu camping trip and made love for the first time in a borrowed tent. I hadn’t even noticed the bugs trapped inside the tent until I woke up the next morning covered in mosquito bites. In spite of the relentless itching that followed, I wouldn’t have traded that memory for anything. We’d sat by the campfire roasting marshmallows, making S’mores, and talking for hours about the future we hoped to have… together.
“Anyhow, my old man got laid off and I had to quit school and get a job.”
“So, you broke up with her?”
“I got mixed up with some…” He cleared his throat. “Less than reputable people, let’s say.”
I raised an eyebrow, whispering, “We wouldn’t be talking about a biker gang, would we, Charlie?”
“Sssh.” He pressed his index finger against his lips. “It’ll be our little secret.”
I laughed, because everything about my friend screamed biker, from his boots to his long hair and beard, and old school, symbolic tattoos. “Okay.”
“So, I thought Sylvia would be better off moving on. She was too sweet and innocent for the likes of me, anyhow.”
“Hmm.” I wondered if Mav felt the same way about me back in the day. He’d always had a reputation for partying too much and getting into fights. People, especially my mother, told me to stay the hell away from him. But there’d always been a softer side to Mav, he only let me see.
“She moved on, got married. So did I. But I came back to town for her brother’s funeral, about twelve years later. By then we were both divorced. Didn’t take long for us to realize there was still something there.” He smiled. “And we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.”
I felt a twinge I couldn’t identify when he described his second chance at love. “That’s sweet.”
“Sometimes I think it’s all pre-ordained, don’t you, Codie? And we know it. We feel it, when something’s right or when it ain’t.” He touched his protruding belly with his palm. “Right here, in our gut.”
