Page 47 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“So, you’re making fun of her?” That doesn’t sound like my Charlotte at all, and I jam my hands into my pants pockets.
“No. God no. I’d never make fun of someone like that. She prefers to be called Sharky. The only ones who call her Avalon are her parents and Boone McGregor. I’ve heard that the two of them have an on-again, off-again thing going on. I can’t believe you’d think I’d tease someone like that, and to their face. Jesus, Thane.”
Her fists clench into little balls as she speaks, her stance widens, and her lips are tight.
“Are you…are you scolding me?”
“She’s handing you your ass for something,” Rafe says, walking into our circle. “What did you do?”
My fingers tap, tap, tap in my pockets.One, two, three, and four.
“Nothing. I’m trying to take them to lunch, then Lottie began walking off on her own, a stranger named Sharky started yelling ‘tone,’ and now here we are.”
“Ah, something like that,” Lottie says, but without the stance of a soldier she had a moment ago.
“I don’t understand the names around here. Sharky? Boone, for fuck’s sake? At least Avalon has a place in history.” Unlocking the SUV, I round the hood and open the door. “Get in, Charlotte.”
Nose. Fucking. Scrunched. Again. I might need to buy some patience before the month is out.
“Like Thane is a normal name.” Kara laughs but at least attempts to hide it behind her hands.
“My car is one block down.” Lottie stands frozen on the sidewalk.
“And I’m taking you to lunch.”
“Did you ask her to lunch?” Rafe and his intrusive freaking intrusions.
“Yes,” I say with a glare.
“No.” Lottie crosses her arms over her chest. Does she have any idea that it presses her breasts together in that tiny tank top she’s wearing? She might as well serve them on a platter.
Rafe’s attention hasn’t left Lottie, and it blows the lid off my internal volcano. “Don’t stare at her, Rafe.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m gay.” He moves a step closer to Lottie. He’s testing me, the asshole.
“You are?” Lottie drops her arms as she takes in my friend.
“Yup. For most of my life.” Rafe laughs, and I pinch my nose to block him out. He sounds like a howler monkey.
“Charlotte. Would you please get in the car?”
Kara climbs into the back seat. “Try again, Brad.”
“Charlotte, would you like to go to lunch with us?”
Her cheek twitches. It’s going to take me a lifetime to learn all her expressions.
Somehow, that thought doesn’t repulse me.
“I would. But I still have my own car and can drive myself.”
“Get in the damn car, Charlotte.” My hand aches, and when I peer down, it’s gone white where I grip the door. This woman is going to give me arthritis.
“What about?—”
“Rafe can drive your car home. He needs to put away the groceries anyway.”
Lottie finally notices the bags in both of Rafe’s hands. She really needs to learn to be more aware of her surroundings. I could have been a murderer in that alley earlier, and she’d have had no idea and nowhere to run until it was too late.
