Page 8 of Storm Bound
“I have no idea what’s around. Want to take a look? I’m easy on anything,” I said.
“Me, too. Kind of.” He shrugged, and we walked off.
That was when I noticed he was limping.
“Ar-are you okay?” I asked him.
“What?” he said, and I looked at his left foot. He did, too. “Oh, that. Yup. I’m good.”
He took a step forward but stopped again when he saw me raising an eyebrow.
“Car accident five years ago. Femur was fractured, so when I came out of surgery, one leg was shorter than the other,” he said and straight away made me feel like an idiot.
“Oh. Crap. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“It’s quite common, you know.” I added, “Of course you do. You’re a nurse.”
Charlie laughed for a brief moment and the smile returned to his face.
“I’d like to think so, anyway. So… dinner?”
“Yes,” I said. “Lead the way.”
His shoulders hunched and he pulled his mouth to one side.
“Would you mind if we walked side by side now? I… it’s stupid, but it makes me feel awkward walking when I know someone’s watching,” he said.
“Of course,” I said, the mental slaps in my head not enough to stop me from feeling like a right schmuck.
I started walking and Charlie stepped up next to me, and we headed outside.
“I didn’t mean to make you self-aware. I’m sorry,” I told him when we got out and the noises of the World’s Capital invaded my eardrums.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. I’ve dated a bunch of men who couldn’t see past… my issues, so it tends to make me feel awkward when they come up,” he said.
“People have an issue with your limp? Jesus, they need to get a life,” I said.
“Yeah, you know how superficial guys can be, I’m sure.”
Yeah, I had some experience in the department. Not that I’d dated for a while.
“Well… fuck those guys,” I said.
He looked at me all sin and smirked. “I did.”
And then he broke out into a burst of laughter that was music to my ears.
Gosh, being in his company was so easy. Too easy. Had I been missing out in all the years of non-dating? Had I missed out on people like him? Or was Charlie simply a special guy?
According to Charlie, I hadn’t really missed much in the dating scene, so I was willing to bet on how specialhewas.
“Do you like Chinese? Want to grab some?” he said and pointed to the restaurant on the other side of the road decorated with lanterns and paper dragons.
“I love Chinese,” I said, and we crossed the road.
Once we were seated, Charlie took off his windbreaker and ordered his meal with our server without looking at the menu.
