Page 7 of Country Road Romance

Charlie debated for a moment about just how much to tell Jared about his past and why it was that he’d avoided many parts of the state.

Well, if you want him to warm up to you, you’re going to have to open up at least a little bit.Even now, Charlie still wasn’t quite sure why it was that he was so invested in getting Jared to pay more attention to him. Maybe it was because there was something about him that went beyond appearances. Or maybe it was just the fact that by this point Charlie was so used to being adored by anyone he came into contact with that meeting with such hostility, particularly from someone who should have been starstruck, made him want to impress him all the more. Or maybe it was the opposite, and it was actually refreshing to have someone not be impressed.

Or maybe you’re just horny,he thought.

Whatever the case, he was going to get underneath that hard carapace to the sensitive guy he thought he could see beneath it.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to reveal at least a little bit about his life. Not a whole lot, of course, just enough to get Jaredto see him as a person rather than as some sort of entitled prick who’d forgotten about his roots.

You’re going to get yourself in trouble,he thought.But what the hell. Here goes.

CHAPTER 3

Jared hadn’t been pleased to be called back to pick up Charlie a few hours after dropping him off at the hotel–he’d been looking forward to having some downtime–but now that they were together, he supposed that he would just have to make the best of things.

I am not going to let anything this guy says convince me that he isn’t just another shallow celebrity,Jared thought as Charlie started speaking.He may think that he’s going to be able to use that charm on me, but he’s got another thing coming.

As Charlie started speaking, however, Jared couldn’t help but look at him every now and then. After all, this was Charlie Garrett they were talking about, and there were some very good reasons that he’d managed to become a major star. There was no denying that he was beautiful, the kind of guy that Jared would have dashed his heart against again and again in high school and beyond. It was more than that, though: there was something kind about his eyes, some inner niceness that seemed out of place on someone famous.

There had to be something about himself that he wasn’t revealing. His public image, as Jared knew all too well, was far too squeaky clean, but his digging, and that near blow-upoutside the hotel, suggested that there was more to him than met the eye, that there was a darker side to the golden boy. Now was his chance to get to the bottom of things. All he had to do was let Charlie keep talking.

“I guess the first thing you should know about me is that I was born in a shithole little town up near Morgantown,” he began. “I know I shouldn’t talk about it like that, but that’s what it was. Wedged up in this little holler, with a tiny school and a cluster of churches.” He sighed, as if just thinking about the place caused him some pain. “It wasn’t that bad, I guess, but it wasn’t the best place to grow up if you wanted to get into the arts, and I always liked acting. I enjoyed watching old movies with my grandma, and as soon as I was old enough to drive I’d go up to Morgantown to go to the movies, even if it meant going by myself.”

He paused, as if he was gathering his thoughts. Jared snuck another look at him, to see whether he could tell what he was thinking, but Charlie looked like he was a thousand miles and a hundred years away.

Don’t do it, Jared. Don’t fall for his sob story.

While Charlie was trying to think of what he wanted to say next, Jared turned his attention back to the road. He wasn’t quite sure where he intended for them to end up, but somehow he’d brought them close to Ritter Park, without a doubt the nicest part of Huntington. It was the kid of place that you brought people when you wanted to give them a good impression of the city–with its historic buildings, its towering trees, its fountain, and its posh-looking people running and walking their dogs–but he was rather disappointed to see that Charlie was too wrapped up in his own story to be bothered to look around him.

Typical,Jared thought uncharitably.I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything else.

He thought briefly of taking Charlie up to the rose garden–maybe that at least would impress him–but then the other man started talking again and he put it aside for the moment

There’s time to do that later, if you still want to do it,he thought.Besides, you don’t want to give him the wrong idea. The rose garden might be a bit too…romantic.

Even so, there was a strange little part of him that didn’t think that would be such a bad thing.

“My parents weren’t quite sure what to make of their shy little boy who wasn’t interested in the same kinds of things as the other members of the family. I mean, I liked going outside and stuff, but I always felt like a fish out of water. They did the best they could for me, but I could always tell that they didn’t understand me, at least not in the way that I wanted them to.” There was a great deal of pain there, Jared thought, but he didn’t want to interrupt.

“Finally, when I was in high school my parents enrolled me in some acting classes up in Morgantown, and it was like I’d finally discovered the meaning of life. I wasn’t just the kid that everyone called ‘faggot’ on the playground. Now I was appreciated for who I really was.” His voice turned a little wistful. “I had my first gay kiss while I was there, and that changed my life, too, even though it took me even longer to come out.”

Suddenly he paused. Jared looked over, to see why he’d stopped speaking. It took him a second to realize that Charlie was waiting for him to say something in response to his story. Jared wasn’t sure what possessed him, but before he could think better of it he blurted out: “I have a very hard time imagining you being shy.”

There was a split second where he thought he’d really put his foot in it and managed to deeply offend their headliner–again–but then Charlie’s face broke into that radiant smile, and he actually laughed.

“You have me there. What can I say? It took me a while to come out of my shell…and the closet. Once I did, though, there was no shutting me up, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed.”

“Who, you? The great Charlie Garrett? Never.” Jared hadn’t meant it to come out quite as jagged as it did, but he could tell from the flicker of hurt in Charlie’s eyes that he might have gone too far.

“Do you…do you think we could go to the rose garden?” Charlie asked. He was clearly trying to change the subject, and Jared was more than happy to let him, even if it meant that they were going to end up in precisely the romantic location that he’d been trying to avoid.

Does this guy know how to read minds?

“Um, I guess, sure?” he managed to stammer out, still flummoxed that Charlie was asking to go to the very place he’d been thinking about just a few minutes ago. “I’m kind of surprised that you’ve heard of it.”

Charlie gave him a level look. “I know that you think I’m some sort of vapid star who doesn’t have time to do his own research, but I do have an iPhone, and I am a little bit curious when the mood strikes me. All of which is a way of saying that yes, I have in fact heard of it. It’s one of the things that made me decide to come here.”

“Wait, really?” Jared didn’t mean for it to come out quite so incredulously, but it just seemed so incredible to him that an actor of Charlie’s stature would come to the city of Huntington just for the flowers, no matter how pretty they were.

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