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As I walked over to where they were standing, I heard Tina and Shelly trying to convince her to leave. Merritt was putting up a fight.
She crossed her arms over her chest, swaying like she was standing on a boat. “I’m not leaving.”
The hell she wasn’t. In one swoop, I hoisted Merritt over my shoulder. Then, I turned toward the door. She was practically family, and I was going to take care of her.
TJ had been there to dust me off and set me straight. Hopefully, he could work his magic on her, too.
* * *
The next week was a boring blur. Work. Think about Charlotte. Train. Think about Charlotte. Sleep. Repeat. Life without Charlotte was killing me. The only thing to occupy me was keeping Merritt on the straight and narrow. I’d been driving her to and from the gym so she could train with TJ. I didn’t know if it was working, but at least she was focusing on something other than alcohol.
I woke up Sunday morning dreading the lazy day ahead of me. I needed something to do. Something different to break up the monotony. I reached for my phone and typed out a text to TJ:
Me: Who does your tattoos?
TJ: My buddy John. I’ll send you the link to his shop.
For the next hour, I lay in bed looking at pictures of tattoos until the smell of pancakes summoned me.
Merritt was cooking breakfast with Khloe’s help. I watched in horror as Khloe attempted to flip a pancake, flinging batter everywhere.
At the dining room table, Mom was surrounded by her usual stack of paperwork. Dark circles framed her dull eyes, and her hair was tossed into a messy ponytail. She only got dressed to go to work. On the weekends, she remained wrapped in her robe. Here I was complaining about my boring life—meanwhile, Mom was taking care of the house, the bills, the business, and Khloe, all by herself. I needed to get my head out of my ass and figure out a way to help her. She deserved more of my time and attention.
After we ate, I pulled Merritt into the kitchen. “We need to figure out how to help Mom with the shop. It would kill her if we had to sell it.”
Merritt grinned. “Don’t worry, little brother. I’ve got an idea. And it’s going to help you get Charlotte back, too.”
Ten minutes later, Merritt and I were in the car on the way to the gym. My heart pounded in my throat as she dialed Charlotte’s number. Would Charlotte go for this? If she did, it would force her to see me every day. Maybe that would melt her reservations.
Charlotte
“Are you going to answer it? You’re watching it like it’s a bomb.”
“I don’t recognize the number.”
“Maybe Tanner got smart and is calling you from a different phone.” Mallory winked as she stuffed another Dorito into her mouth.
“I’ll just see if the person leaves a voicemail.”
Mallory snatched my phone off the table and slid her orange thumb across the screen.
My jaw dropped as she handed my phone to me with a smirk.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Charlotte. It’s Merritt.”
My stomach dropped. Why was she calling me? Was Tanner okay? Something had to be wrong if she was calling me.
“Uh, hi, Merritt. What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine.”
Fine? Why was she calling if everything was fine?
“I’m calling because I have a business proposition for you.”
My confused facial expression made Mallory scoot next to me so she could hear what was being said.
