Charity For Nothing: The Virtues Book III (16 page)

“Good lord, Radar,” I sighed out rolling my eyes.

“What happened?” Hope demanded.

I shook my head and just came clean, ripping it off like a Band-Aid, “Nothing brought me back to the house, one thing led to another, got our freak on, went to bed and he had a nightmare. There’s really nothing to tell.”

She touched the corner of my lip with a thumb, gently cradling my chin with her fingers and I frowned, jerking my head back.

“Looks like one hell of a bad dream,” Marlin commented dryly and he didn’t look at all happy.

“More like a flashback, I think.” Hope and Cutter exchanged a look. “I figured the two soldiers in the room could appreciate what those are like,” I said just as dryly as Marlin had been the moment before. “Look, legit, it was an accident and I think he’s taking it really freaking hard.”

Faith sat down next to me and poked at my arm; I scowled at her and jerked it out of her reach. “And those?” she asked softly. I looked and sure enough, there were bruises on my upper arms from where he’d gripped me.

“I tried to comfort him, it didn’t work out. He just wanted away from me.”

“Don’t worry, Trouble; I get it,” Cutter said soothingly.

“Glad someone does,” I muttered.

Cutter’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his leather vest, checking the screen. “Yeah?” he answered it. “Uh huh, good to know. No, keep him there, let him drown his sorrows, take the keys to his bike though, me an’ Marlin ’ll come and get him. Yep, Thanks, man.”

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“Seems you were right, Trouble. Nothing’s drowning his sorrows at one of the places on the boulevard that has a generator going. Charlie says he’s kind of a wreck. Let him drink some, Marlin and me, we’ll get him home. Don’t you worry none.”

I nodded, “Cool.”

Marlin and Cutter left after some more checking with me, finally taking their asses out when I started to get irritated. Hope searched my face and Faith giggled.

“Well, Nothing’s fucked,” Hope said and I scowled at her.

“In more ways than one,” Faith said and put her fingers over her mouth. I rolled my eyes so hard I saw brain matter and flopped back into my bed.

“Move it over, Blossom,” Hope ordered.

I obliged with a “Whatever you say, Corporal Badass.”

“Neeah!” she said and stuck her butt out at me which of course made me move faster.

“Seriously, you okay?”

“Scared the shit out of me, but I’m pretty sure it scared the shit out of him, too. It was an accident and I’m fine. I’m worried about him though.”

Hope sighed and we three sisters snuggled into a cuddle pile, “He’ll be fine, but Jesus you two came together in one hell of a passion-plosion, didn’t you?”

“He’s so freaking hot,” I moaned like it was the hardest of hardships.

“Hey! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Mmm! You did. I just don’t know where to go from here.”

“My advice?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t let him get away with shit. Spend time with him, don’t shy away.”

“Radar said I should give him a day or two, otherwise he might retreat further.”

“Pfft! Fuck that,” Hope said but it was Faith that stopped us both.

“You know Einstein’s definition of insanity?” she asked quietly.

“What, doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result?” I asked.

“That’s the one,” she said.

Hope huffed a sigh, “Seems to me these guys have been giving Nothing, nothing
but
time to sort himself out. It doesn’t appear to be working, though, now does it?”

“Not really, no.”

“So what are you going to do that’s different?” Faith asked.

I thought about it, and made a decision.

“Something different,” I uttered.

“That’s my girl,” Hope said and got up to switch out the light. It’d been a long time since we’d all tried to squeeze into one bed. It was kind of nice.

Chapter 20

Nothing

The bed bounced twice as someone flounced down on it and I winced, pushing myself up. A cup of coffee was thrust under my nose and I looked up into a pair of very guarded and very serious icy blue eyes.

“The fuck?” I asked.

“Time to get up,” Charity said.

“Charity, I meant it, I’m not –“

“Save it. The boys are outside to put your house back together.”

I glared at her but she just kept looking at me with her cool, level gaze. My eyes fixated on the small split at the corner of her mouth, and the little bruise there.

“You should see me when I’m naked,” she stated dryly, “Oh! That’s right; you already have. Now come on and get dressed. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere. So take this coffee monstrosity with no sugar, drink it, get in the shower and move it.”

“I’ll ride, I’ll meet you there.” I said trying to think through the haze of my pounding head. Hangovers were a bitch.

“No dice, your bike is back at Cutters. Marlin rode it there; you were too drunk last night. Do you even remember how you got home?” she asked.

“Not really,” I grated out.

“Are you even listening to me? I said that the guys are all
here.
It’s your house we’re doing today. They’re outside waiting.” She set the coffee cup on the nightstand and flung a leg over my hips, straddling me. I turned my face and stared at the photos around the bedroom mirror. “You really think they’d want this for you?” she asked, voice husky with a sort of sadness that brought me back around to look at her.

“What would you know?” I demanded and she raised her eyebrows at me.

“Let’s see, I know that you’re sick and tired of hurting, for one.”

“Yeah, how do you figure that?” I challenged, and she kissed me. Fuck, I couldn’t not kiss her back and I winced knowing that after a night of hard drinking, I probably tasted like ass.

She drew back and I was throbbing where I was pressed against her heat through our clothes. She rested her forehead on mine and I closed my eyes and just basked in her soothing presence.

Someone once told me that it takes a special woman to soothe away all the rage and pain. If that was the case, Charity was definitely something special.

“Come on, they’re waiting for us,” she whispered and I nodded, our foreheads still together, that healing aura of hers working it’s magic. I let myself savor it for just a moment longer before I gently gripped her upper arms to move her back off me. She sucked in a sharp breath and I froze.

Her eyes were a little wide and I cocked my head, “What was that for?”

“Nothing,” she clearly, lied. She wore a light hoodie, long sleeves, in the muggy heat of Florida? I didn’t think so. I pushed it off her shoulders and sighed at the ring of bruises on her upper arms.

“Fuck, Charity. I told you, you need to get –“ she put her fingertips to my lips, and shook her head.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do. Remember that,” she said, steel in her voice.

“Get off me,” I said and she arched a delicate brow, we stared in a proverbial stand of until I exhaled sharply. “Get off me, please.”

She moved off my lap and I had to adjust myself. She smirked and handed me the coffee again. “Shower, and let’s get a move on. Yours isn’t the only house that needs attention.”

“Mm,” I uttered around the first slug of lukewarm coffee. A sugar free vanilla late. She’d remembered. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, pulling on the back of my head to ease the tension in my neck and between my shoulders. I was finding it difficult to concentrate and had to believe it was because I still might be drunk.

“Did I just earn points?” she asked, her voice breaking through the fog like the sun. I looked up at her, an easy smile painting her lips that I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at mine. She made it hard to wallow, made it hard to stay a miserable bastard.

“Maybe you did, but just a couple of ‘em,” I conceded.

“I’ll take what I can get,” she said, rolling her eyes, and just like that, the atmosphere eased, became something more bearable for the moment; almost friendly. She had a way about her. I wanted to pull my anger and my hurt around me like a cloak, but around Charity, it was next to impossible. She just had that
way
about her. It was easy to lay down the hurt, and it seemed that no matter how much I tried to drive her away, to protect her, she just came gravitating back with a stubborn set to her chin that reminded me a whole lot of her sister Hope.

I went and took a shower, when I came back to the bedroom, clothes had been laid out for me and Charity stood leaning against one wall, her shoulder pressed neatly to its painted surface, her arms cradling her breasts, one foot planted firm, the other crossed in front, toe of her Keds canvas sneaker resting on the hardwood.

She was model perfect, and my dick stirred just looking at her. I had the feeling she felt the same, given the way her eyes roamed my body, lingering where the towel was slung low on my hips.

“A little privacy?” I asked.

“You sure? Because last night we got pretty intimate,” she said with a wink.

“I know, and it was a mistake,” I said. A glint of hurt flashed in the depths of her eyes but she covered it with an easy smile.

“Well, I don’t regret a thing,” she said softly, pushing off the wall and making easy strides. I caught her sleeve between thumb and forefinger and she looked up at me.

“This is a dangerous game,” I murmured.

“Doesn’t have to be, Nothing. You’re the one making it that way, so why don’t you just stop?”

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, I mean, I hadn’t quite thought of it that way but at the same time, “It’s not that simple, Charity.”

“Why not? The only one I see complicating things, is you.”

“Just what do you want from me, anyways?” I demanded, scowling. This was getting uncomfortable for me.

She stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment, “I want you to stop acting like a dick and start using your dick,” she said and I scoffed, incredulously. “Let me ask you something,” she said, before I could recover.

“What?”

“Does it feel good?”

“What?”

She gave me a look, like ‘don’t be stupid,’ “Do you seriously want me to get into the gory details?” she demanded.

“No, I mean yes, it feels good; it feels really good when I’m with you.” She had me off kilter and she knew it, but I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to get at through my fog of a hangover.

“Okay, then. Fuck me, use me, do whatever you want as long as you keep the orgasms coming,” she fucking winked at me while I stared at her slack jawed. “We’ll figure out the rest as we go along, because let’s face it, if it’s one thing we’ve figured out, we’re good together when we’re in the sack. It’s probably the one uncomplicated thing about us.”

I laughed incredulously, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Serious as a fucking heart attack over here,” she said. “Now get dressed,” she slapped me on the ass as she went by and I jumped, grabbing for the towel that was coming unhooked at my hip.

I thought to myself,
did she just tear a page out of fucking Hope’s playbook or what?

Chapter 21

Charity

My body very nearly hummed with how anxious I was. I had Nothing off base, for sure, which was my goal. I mean, really, the only thing I’d accomplished was talking faster than Nothing could think, given his hung over state. I stepped out his garage door which was just finishing trundling up its track and walked out into the bright sunshine.

“Did it work?” Hope asked and I gave a one shouldered shrug.

“We’ll see.”

Cutter and Pyro exchanged a look and Pyro said, “I’m not sure if I feel bad for Nothing or if I’m cheering for him.”

“I’m thinkin’ a little of both,” Cutter winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

The rest of the guys were already at work cleaning up the yard, and I looked around. Flowerbeds were weed choked and overgrown, bordering the walkways and beneath the boarded up windows. Some of the guys were already in the garage opening up what appeared to be packages of replacement shingles against one wall.

I looked over at Faith, “Fancy planting some flowers with me?” I asked and she lit up, smiling. There were a lot of smiles and the sound of industry filled Nothing’s small side street as we all picked up something to do and got to work.

It was a long day, but a satisfying one. By the end of it, Nothing’s roof had been repaired, as had his small front stoop. The shutters he had piled off to the other side of the garage, that he’d never gotten around to installing, had been put up, and the paint in places on the outside of his house had been refreshed. The weeds had all been pulled, but most importantly, Hope had led the charge indoors and every floor had been swept, every picture frame and piece of furniture had been dusted and, thanks to the power coming back on, all of the bedding and curtains had been laundered.

She’d taken charge of the indoor operations with Pyro’s girl and Hossler, while Faith and I had brought the flowerbeds in line. There was one, lonely little circular bed in the front that had nothing growing in it. I’d gone to Nothing and had touched his shoulder. He’d jumped and turned to look at me, expression grave. He was sweating, in the heat and from his efforts to clear a fallen tree in his back yard.

“What was in the round flowerbed in the front yard?” I asked.

“Nothing, it died. Just leave it alone.”

“Do you mind if I plant something in it?”

“Yes, just leave it alone, please.”

I sighed and put my arms around his waist and looked up at him until he capitulated, his eyes closing, “It was a lemon tree. Corrine and I planted it when we found out she was pregnant, it was supposed to be so she and Katy could make lemonade, for a lemonade stand on the corner when Katy got old enough. A drunk took it out last year with his truck while I was out on a run with the guys. I just haven’t replaced it.”

I went up on tiptoe and gave Nothing a quick, soft kiss. “Thank you,” I said and he frowned.

“For what?”

“Sharing that with me, I know it was hard.”

Some of the tension drained out of him and he sighed, nodding. I left him and went back around front. Faith was waiting for me and she asked, “What’d he say?” I got close to her before I told her, repeating what Nothing had told me. She stared at my face intently for a long minute and chewed her bottom lip. She pulled out her cellphone from the back pocket of her shorts and said, “Give me a minute,” before wandering to the curb and making a call. I shrugged and went back to work.