Hustle Me (25 page)

I'd met these people a few times, but this visit was beyond awkward. Asking someone that you really don't know for fifty grand isn't exactly a friendly kind of meet.
 

We sat down in a white decorated living room and when I say white, I mean everything in the room was some hue of white. I felt like I looked filthy as I sat down on one of the plush couches. Elle’s dad was a nice looking man. I would guess he was in his forties. His hair was starting to gray on the sides, but the rest
remained a brown in color. He was wearing business attire, but had loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt two buttons.
 

Her mother sat next to him, in her suede pants and blouse. Her hair looked like it was fake it was so beautiful. She motioned the butler to come in and serve us drinks right before we started talking. I felt so out of place, sitting there with them. Elle had told me that it was worth a try, but she hadn’t sounded convincing when I arrived. I also couldn’t stand how she still called him Daddy. It reminded me of something inappropriate, but maybe it was just my own issues with my father that made me think out of the box.
 

“How have you been Charlene?” Elle’s mother asked. Apparently they felt that Charlie wasn’t an appropriate name for a lady. Since I’d never considered myself a proper lady, it didn’t really offend me. I liked my name.
 

“Well, I’m sure Elle had told you that things have been hard for me. I inherited a bar and the apartment upstairs, but unfortunately the debt that came with it. The bank contacted my lawyers and I have thirty days to come up with the past due amount in full. That’s actually why I’m here. I don’t have family to
ask, or else I would have gone to them. Would you be willing to offer me a personal loan?” I rambled all of that so fast that I wondered if they even got half of what I said. I was just so nervous.
 

Elle’s father leaned his elbows on his knees and looked right at me. “Charlene, how much do you need?”
 

I looked down at the plush carpet and closed my eyes. “Fifty thousand dollars.”
 

When I didn’t hear anything at first, I opened my eyes and looked at the man. He sat up straight and shook his head. “That’s an awful lot of money. Even if I didn’t have my money tied up in investments, I don’t see how I could be willing to risk that type of loan. Friend or not, that’s just too much, dear.”
 

My heart was breaking just knowing that they were my last resort. “I understand.” I started to cry. It wasn’t so they would reconsider; it was because I felt my world crashing down on me. “I just don’t know what to do. It’s not just my job, it’s where we live. That place means everything to my little brother.” I stood up and shook his hand. “I won’t stay and impose on you any longer.
Please don’t think badly of me for asking you. My desperate attempts were only out of love for that little boy.”
 

Her mother stood up and tried to call me back. “Charlene, wait dear. Just stay for dinner, love.”
 

I kept walking. I had humiliated myself and just wanted to leave.
 

Elle followed behind me but I didn’t turn around until I reached my car. She pulled me into her arms. “Charlie, I am so sorry. I knew it was going to be too much for them to consider. Maybe I can get them to do it. I can beg Daddy to do it for me. Maybe I can get him to take it from my trust.”
 

I shook my head. “It’s okay. It’s inevitable actually. I need to just suck it up and start preparing myself to move somewhere else. Jammer said he can make enough to get us started until we both found real jobs. As long as I have him, it makes things easier.”
 

She pulled away from me and leaned against my car. “He really seems like he’s changed you. Aside from this mess you are going through, you seem happy. I never thought you’d be fighting for that bar.”
 

“I love him, Elle.”
 

Her eyes got really big. I’d already filled her in on everything with his name and his parents, but I hadn’t admitted how deep my feelings were for him. “Wow. I never thought I would hear you say that about a guy. He must be hung like a horse.”
 

I punched her lightly in her arm. “Shut up! It’s not about the sex.”
 

“But I know it must be good. Come on, spill it.”
 

I smiled and could feel my cheeks getting red. “It’s intense. Every single time, it’s just really intense. I feel so connected to him.”
 

“Well, you did say that you knew him when you were little.”
 

I ran my hands through my hair and wiped my eyes. “I don’t remember him like he remembers me. He just feels familiar, if that makes sense.”
 

“Yeah, I guess. So, are you like going to get married and shit?”
 

Elle cracked me up how she just came out with ridiculous questions. “No, we are content with how things are right now. Neither one of us has had a real relationship, so we need time to
grow as a couple before we go to that level. Right now, he loves me and he loves Ryan. That’s really what is important.”
 

She held her arms up and hugged me again. “I love you too, Charlie. If you need anything, well, besides fifty grand, just call me. I will drop anything to be there for you, chick.”
 

“I love you too, Elle. Thank you for trying to help. I will call in a couple of days. Maybe you can go apartment shopping with me.”
 

I climbed in my car and started the ignition. She leaned inside. “Seriously girl, I could hook you up with a stylish pad.”
 

I rolled my eyes and pulled out of her development.
 

When I pulled onto the main road, I started to cry again. After pulling over to the side of the road, I turned off my car and started to cry. I didn’t know how I was going to get through this. If it weren’t for Jammer, I don’t know how I would do it. I was so thankful he was in my life.
 

While sitting there, my phone started to ring. His picture flashed on the screen and I calmed myself down enough to answer.
 

Hello?
 

Hi, baby. I just wanted you to know that Ryan has had his dinner. He’s in the back watching cartoons. Do you think you’ll be home before seven?
 

I’m on my way now. They couldn’t help me.
I started crying again.
 

Are you alright to drive?
 

Yeah, I’m pulled over.
 

Just come home. I can manage the bar tonight, if you need the break. Be careful, Charlie.
 

I’ll see you soon.
 

I let myself calm down before I pulled off the shoulder and started driving again. All I wanted to do was fall into Jammer’s arms. I felt like if he held me, it would take away all of my pain, at least temporarily.
 

Chapter 28
 

Jammer
 

The conversation with my father was weighing heavily on me, especially since Charlie had struck out getting help from her rich friend’s family. I was really counting on my mother to be of some assistance to us, but from the likes of her this morning, I doubted if she was going to be able to get through to my father. We had thirty days to figure out a way to make fifty grand. I was good for maybe five and if I went out on the road, I may have been able to pull ten grand in a good month, but that was being optimistic. Playing guys for big money, usually meant better players. Even if we had a fundraiser or some kind of big event, it wasn't going to bring in the amount of money we needed to buy off my damn father.
 

When Charlie walked in the door, I could tell she'd been crying. Her makeup was smeared and her eyes were all red. Aside from her being upset, she was still the sexiest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. I loved her wavy chestnut hair and the way she swayed her hips when she walked. Today Charlie didn't have that sexy
walk. She sulked her way behind the bar and pretty much fell into my arms. I pulled her into my chest and kissed the top of her head. Her shampoo smelled sweetly familiar and I loved that I knew exactly what the inside of her shower looked like. It was little things like that to remind me of how special she was to me.
 

"It's going to be alright."
 

She shook her head, but kept it against my chest. "It's really not. I don't know what else to do. The bank won't give me any money. There was no life insurance money left after the medical bills. I have no friends or wealthy relatives that are willing to fork out fifty g's. I just don't have any more options."
 

I pushed her away and ran my hands through my hair. "God, I fucking hate that man. How could he continue to do this? I'm his fucking son. Has he no shame for who he hurts?"
 

"So he just flat out said no?"
 

I couldn't tell her what he really said. I couldn't break her heart again. "Pretty much."
 

"What if I went to see him? Maybe if he talked to me, he would change his mind. I didn't even know Joe. In fact, I had
nightmares about him until...well, until you moved in with me. I guess you made me feel safe."
 

I was flattered that I could take away something so dreadful for Charlie. If I could make sure she never felt pain for the rest of her life, I would. Now that my father was being such a thoughtless dick, I wanted to fight for Charlie even more.
 

" I guess we both have Daddy issues."
 

"Yeah, except I am actually considering fucking killing my bastard father. I swear, if I ever have a kid there is no damn way I could ever act that way to them. How could a parent want to sabotage their kid’s life and feel good about themselves every day?"
 

She grabbed a beer and handed it to me. "Don't go murdering anyone on my account."
 

"Yeah, I couldn't go through with it, well, I don't think I could. I'm telling you, he really pissed me off. You would think after six fucking years he would have at least been cordial to me. No, everything is about business. He has no fucking soul."
 

She started walking away from me, grabbing a couple glasses to clean in the sink. "You don't have to cuss about it to me. I think your father is a grade A douche."
 

If she knew what he expected me to do, she would want him to be murdered, but I wasn't going to worry her with that. I wasn't going to let my father rip us apart. "Charlie, maybe you should try to sell the tavern. I know you don't want to, but you could walk away with something to start a new venture with. Screw my father and his fucking lien. It's all bullshit anyway. For all we know, it never even existed until he wanted it to. I'm asking you to take a leap with me, Charlie. Let's just leave and go somewhere new."
 

"It's not that easy. It would go against my credit if I couldn't sell it and walked away. We'd never be able to rent an apartment or buy a house. We have to think about this and not make compulsive decisions, no matter how good they sound."
 

I walked over and grabbed her hand. "Charlie, I'll do whatever you want. Just think about my offer. We could just leave and take Ryan somewhere nice. We could have a yard for him to play in."
 

She smiled and looked down at our hands that were laced together. "You'd really want to settle down like that with me?"
 

I let go of her hand and reached up to cup her face. "Yeah, I really do, but only if it’s with you. I'm not saying we have to rush into that paper commitment, neither of us are ready for that label, but I know when I am ready, it's going to be with you."
 

"You're being really sappy. I hope my badass boyfriend is still somewhere in there. I like how he gets in the bedroom."
 

I reached around and stuck my hand down the back of her jeans, cupping her bare ass. "Don't worry, he's never too far away."
 

She giggled and reached up to kiss me. It started out slow, but soon intensified. Unfortunately, I felt someone patting on my leg. "Jammer, I want to shoot pool now. You said when Charlie got back we could."
 

I pulled away from my beautiful girlfriend and threw the little four year old over my shoulder. He started laughing as I carted him toward the billiards lounge.
 

After a few games he started yawning and I knew Charlie would want him to go get ready for bed. He wasn't too happy that I cut our playtime short, but his sister came and snatched him up anyway and took him upstairs. She didn't come back down for almost an hour and when she did a couple patrons had come in. I gave her a sexy eyed look and she rolled her eyes. A couple girls were sitting at the end of the bar and they were eying me up more than I wanted to know about. It was obvious that they were looking me up and down and talking about me. I'd never seen Charlie act jealous, but she had enough to worry about, so I continued to ignore the girls. Unfortunately, they got louder as the time went by and soon they were calling me 'sexy' and slipping me notes on napkins. While being a bartender, you get your fair share of women hitting on you. In my experience, it was always better for business to flirt back. Still, I didn't want Charlie to assume that it was ever more than just business. When I served the ladies their next drink, one of them grabbed my arm and they both began tracing over my tattoos.
 

"Oh my God, look at his arm, Traci." The one girl continued to hold onto my arm.
 

The other one started to giggle and shove up my other sleeve. "Ever had a threesome?"
 

I let out a chuckle. Sure, I'd had a bunch of experiences under my belt, but I didn't want Charlie dwelling on them. None of them had meant a damn thing to me, so it wasn't even worth bringing up. "If I told you I'd have to kill you" I winked and pulled my arms away from the two chicks. For the rest of the night I avoided that end of the bar. They finally got up and paid the tab. Of course they didn’t leave without passing me their numbers. I left them on the counter for only a second to put the money in the register and in that time Charlie had walked up and grabbed them. She held them up in the air. "Are these yours babe?"