Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,130

was young and stupid. I actually believed that I met the man I was destined for at eighteen. The problem with bad boys, they might be protective of you and piss around you like you’re their property, but they don’t put you first. Not really.” I swallow down my emotions that are now a hard lump in my throat before I finish. “The reason this is so hard is because even though a part of me does want him, I will never let him hurt me again, which means I’ll never open up to him and we don’t really stand a chance.”

Hannah reaches over, placing her hand on mine. Victoria puts hers on top of Hannah’s.

“Honey, I hate to say this, but I think you still love him. And I think that if you let him in, you’ll fall harder. He could very well have changed. I mean, he sought you out. That’s romantic. He found a way that you’d have to interact with him because he knows you, and he knew it wouldn’t be easy. We don’t know everything you went through and even if you told us we wouldn’t truly understand. It wasn’t us who experienced it, so it’s unfair for us to tell you to put your heart on the line again for a man who hurt you so deeply.” She glances over to Victoria. “Victoria knows how hard it is to trust another man, let alone the same man who caused the damage in the first place.”

Victoria nods, her eyes telling me it will all be okay, look at how things turned out for her. Hello, am I the only one who realizes she scored the one in a million jackpot in this world?

Hannah continues, “Don’t fool yourself into thinking that hope hasn’t already sprung inside you. Just protect yourself. Have your eyes wide open.”

“Protect yourself but try to be optimistic. People do change, Chels,” Victoria adds.

Where was Miss Optimistic when Reed was trying time and time again to get her to date him? I never told her to give him a chance. Or did I? I don’t remember.

“Thanks for the therapy session girls, I’ll go home and write in my diary now.” I down the rest of my Vesper.

Their hands leave mine and they slide their backs to the booth once more.

Hannah raises her hand to the cute waiter who is probably no more than twenty-one years old.

“You know I’m surprised they don’t have women as the waitresses. I mean all the patrons are mostly men,” I say.

Victoria looks around and nods in agreement with me. “Maybe they keep him especially for us.” She smiles, looking him up and down as he approaches the table with a round of shots.

“Ladies,” he says in that flirtatious tone he’s probably trained to use.

We thank him, and he places the shots on the table and leaves. Probably something else he was trained to do. Not linger. Women usually like a challenge.

“Hannah, I think I need Tad’s help again,” I say, referring to her best friend/personal trainer who whipped us into shape when Victoria started seeing Reed.

She laughs.

“Are you sure? Remember what happened to me?” Victoria asks.

Yeah, yeah, but she’s a weakling.

“I’ll give him a call,” Hannah says. “Do you want to cleanse again or are you going to work out?”

“Probably a little of both,” I say.

“Consider it done.”

I smile. “Thanks.”

“We’re really not going to say anything about her getting in shape for Dean to see her naked?” Victoria asks. “I was open about my insecurity.”

Victoria sounds offended and so I laugh.

“I’m getting in shape for me.” I pick up my shot.

“Chelsea, you work out five days a week. It’s all we could do to get you out here.” Victoria raises her newly done eyebrows.

“There’s nothing wrong with a little tender loving care,” I say with a smirk.

They each pick up their glasses and we raise them.

“To Chelsea finally getting some.” Hannah smiles and they push their glasses to mine to clink.

They down their shots while I’m still holding mine out.

“Oh, just drink it.” Hannah shakes her head. “Who the hell cares? I’m not getting any on the regular, but my pussy is waxed in case the opportunity presents itself.”

A man who was walking by stops and looks over his shoulder at Hannah.

“Keep walking. Not interested,” she says, and he does what she instructs and continues to the other side of the bar.

I’m still getting over the fact that Hannah just said the word pussy out loud.

“Nothing wrong with