Chapter 1
"This is fucking stupid!" Charlie says as she swipes left on her phone yet again, photo after photo of dickish looking boys flying off the screen as soon as they appeared. Her friend Nora sighs and then again goes to explain the phenomenon that is online dating. Swipe right if you like their face, swipe left if you don't, it really was just that simple. Charlie was making it complicated.
"Why do you even have this app anyway? You have Miles." Charlie gives Nora a look that is a cross between amusement and protectiveness.
"Sometimes it's nice to feel wanted by other guys even if you don't want them."
Charlie understands that. Her last few relationships she felt anything but wanted. Now she doesn't bother with relationships, just the one night stands that leave her satisfied without the familiar aching feeling inside. She's curled up on the chestnut leather couch, her legs tucked under her as she repeatedly swipes left. Nora sits on the floor by Charlie's knees swiping more right than left, the annoying chiming noise echoing through the room when someone likes her photos back, the flirty it's a match! Phrase popping up on Nora's screen like those annoying pop up ads.
"Remind me again why we're doing this." Charlie groans as she swipes left yet again and looks down over her phone screen to shoot Nora a look of utter exasperation for the millionth time.
Nora doesn't even bother to look up at Charlie as she repeats the same sentence that she always does when Charlie asks.
"Because you need someone who makes you laugh."
"I laugh!"
"You laugh when you're trying to get a guy to fuck you. You run like hell when someone actually likes you Charlie."
"I don't see what's wrong with that…" Charlie mutters indignantly
"You have commitment issues Charlie. We're gonna get you over them."
The way Nora says this makes Charlie scowl at her before picking up her phone and resuming swiping left. Having people leave her entire life would make anyone wary of commitment. Her mom left, her dad left, her friends left –except for Nora of course, even her brother left, not of his own free will at first but he's still gone nonetheless. She only has Nora and Miles.
"Okay I've gotta meet Miles for our date tonight."
Charlie rolls her eyes at Nora but gets up anyway and hugs her, closing her eyes at the familiar warmth and scent as Nora holds her close for a moment before releasing her. "I'll see you tomorrow hey?"
Charlie scrunches up her nose in confusion and Nora sighs at Charlie's constant forgetfulness. "We're all going to that new Italian place that opened by Miles…."
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes I'll be there." Charlie says as she scoots Nora out the door, a soft smile playing on her lips as she closes the door behind Nora. Her apartment is suddenly deathly quiet and she picks out a record from the huge collection on her bookshelves, setting the needle down on the vinyl and listening to the first few notes of Let It Go by The Beatles start to fill the room.
She doesn't mind being alone, enjoys it really. But there are some moments where it really hits her that if not for Nora and Miles, she would honestly and truly be alone in this world. It's a depressing thought and it always brings her to slightly entertaining the thought of having someone around who likes her, even loves her and was there for her when these moments happened. The thought is always entertained for a moment before she remembers how it feels when people leave. She remembers falling to the floor, wine staining the hardwood and the pain in her chest like someone had ripped out the best parts of her. She'd rather be lonely than feel that ever again.
She cleans her apartment, she showers, she binge watches f.r.i.e.n.d.s on Netflix's. The feeling is still there and it hurts. She glances at her phone for the umpteenth time and finally gives in, opening the app and continuing to swipe left. She didn't need a relationship. Maybe just a friend would do.
She has almost given up, the overwhelming number of half-naked mirror selfies and drunk off their faces pictures making her question the entire male population when she stopped at one.
He wasn't smiling, wasn't frowning either, he looks almost haunted and sad and it was though someone had put a face to her emotions. Golden curls and piercing blue eyes, his body relaxed as he looks into the distance. There was only one picture and no bio, only the name Bass which she would have usually taken as a red flag if it hadn't been for his expression. She sat there looking at his photo for what seemed like hours. Then she swipes right.
Sebastian Monroe sighs, the beer in his hand getting warm as he restlessly looks around the bar from his regular perch on the stool in from of the bar. It's Tuesday night and the crowd is a sad crowd of regulars including himself, the sound of the football game blaring louder than the pathetic crowd that had gathered. He downs the slightly warmed beer and pushes it to the side.
"You want another?" His friend Jeremy yells from behind the bar and Bass nods, accepting the frosty cold beer.
"I thought you'd be fucking some girl tonight." Jeremy was never one for subtly in front of people and Bass never really cared what people thought as he shrugs, "Haven't found anyone yet."
Jeremy shakes his head and starts drying the glasses stacked behind him, "You will man. You always do."
Bass laughs it off and takes a drink of his beer before pulling out his phone and opening his last resort app. He begins to swipe through photos of girls, most of them with duck faces and in a group of ten so you never really knew which one she was. He swipes left a lot, easily dismissing the girls with the cliché faces and boring bios until one girl named Charlie stops him.
She's undeniably something, her hair a wild mess of curls as she looks up towards the clouds above her, her face wistful and almost sad as she stands alone, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. He flips to the next picture and takes in the concentrated look on her face as she is setting the needle down on the record, her eyebrows knitted and her bottom lip caught between her teeth as her delicate fingers hold the record. Her hair is piled on top of her head, her face is makeup free, and her ripped skinny jeans and tank top give him the impression of a carefree girl. He flips to the last picture and his breath catches in his throat as he takes her in. She's looking directly at the camera this time, her hair in loose waves framing her face as her head rest against her arm on the couch. Her other arm rests in her lap as her knees curl to her chest. She wears a soft smile across her face, her blue eyes surrounded by black eyeshadow a harsh contrast to her sweet smile but it's the look in her eyes that startles him, it's the same look he seems in the mirror every day. He now questions who this girl is and what the hell she went through. She's alone in all the photos but someone had to have taken the photos of her and he wonders who took them. A friend? A boyfriend? He hopes it's the former.
He swipes right.
The startling chime of her phone wakes Charlie up at 2am. She does not like being woken up at 2am and she growls as she picks up her phone, squinting blearily at it from the blinding light radiating off the screen.
It's a match!
She looks down at the screen, the photo of him staring off into space and the photo of her setting the needle on the record both of them looking at ease in their surroundings. Well that was easy. She stares at her phone unknowing what to next, the minutes passing by as she sits crossed legged on her bed. Its six minutes later when her phone chimes again.
'Hello Charlie.'
She sits there, in the dark squinting at her phone screen unable to move her fingers to form a response. Finally she starts to type, a response forming that pulls a smile to her lips.
'Hello Bass.'
It's nothing special, but neither is she. A mundane answer for a mundane girl.
She flops back onto her bed and awaits his next message.
Bass chuckles as he reads Charlie's message and rapidly types out his next message. Usually he would wait a few minutes but there's something about his girl that has his blood fizzing through his veins.
'Why are you up so late Charlie?'
He glances at the numbers on his phone as 2:30 flashes back at him and he takes a drink of his warming beer as he places his phone on the bar top and waits. Charlie, he likes that name. It's rough and sensual and the kind of name that fits her to a T. She isn't anything ordinary.
His phone chimes and he grabs it immediately.
'I wasn't but you took your time swiping right.'
He grins as she states that she had been sleeping before the night even had a chance to get interesting and that she figures he took his time swiping right.
'I sincerely apologize for that Charlie. No one should ever make you wait for anything.'
He grasps his phone in his hand and tries to not stare at the screen for her response. Minutes go by and he wonders if she fell back asleep or worse –that she wasn't interested anymore.
His phone chimes as it vibrates in his hand and he looks at it eagerly.
'Nice guy huh? No one ever does.'
Her words bring a smile to his face at the nice guy comment. He is a nice guy, he just chooses not to show it. Heat courses through him at her other words and he has a flash of images of bringing her to the brink of orgasm over and over and then denying her, making her beg for him to let her fall.
He shifts uncomfortably and tries to rid the image from his head, but it's burned into his mind now.
'Do you not like nice guys?'
'I like good guys, not nice guys.'
He grins and can't respond fast enough.
'Well then it's a good thing I'm a good guy.'