The Touch - Hottie

269 Words

I wish I was in love

Since the attack, Charlotte hadn't made any move to leave her room unless absolutely necessary. She barely ate, she'd shower and change, only to lay back down and stare at the ceiling. It wasn't like she could sleep either, she was just reminded of the men that went after her. It wasn't a way to live, wondering if she'd ever be able to go out without something bad happening. She almost wished she could have lived in her naive bubble longer because at least then she'd been capable of leaving her bedroom without feeling nauseous.

Every once in a while she'd hear voices pass by her bedroom. It was the only thing that made her get out of bed. She'd walk over and sit by her bedroom door, listening to her older brother on the other side, wondering if he'd noticed that half of his wardrobe was missing. Wearing his clothes was the closest thing she had to any physical affection from him, which was sad to admit because he was her brother; her blood. Each time he went down the stairs, she dragged herself back to bed, deflated.

The only constant she had was that Hunter often knocked on her door to see if she needed anything and she'd ignored him for the most part. This time when he knocked, he didn't say anything which caused her a bit of confusion, enough to make her open the door and look up at him. "What?"

But I don't wanna cause any pain

182 Words

I wish I was in love

Usually the tone of voice he used to address her would have warranted a snarky response, mocking him for playing soldier in front of her. She couldn't muster it though. Charlotte just felt numb all over and somehow it had managed to numb her personality too. What did he expect? To teach her some cool self-defense moves that she'd never get to use because she was 5'3" and weighed less than she probably should have. It wouldn't do her any good anyway.

Charlotte turned and started heading back to her bed, "I'm not in the mood, Hunter." While the idea should have given her a spark of something, some fight or drive, she didn't allow for it. Her mind was so far in the darkness that she didn't think she'd be able to defend herself against anybody. Least of all one of the men that had attacked her. The one had yanked her around like a rag doll.

But I don't wanna cause any pain

193 Words

I wish I was in love

Before she reached her bed, she stopped and listened to what he was saying. Of course the attack wasn't random, they knew who she was. She lived every day wondering if they were going to show up at her house and try to burn it to the ground. What did he expect her to do?

Charlotte turned on him, "Yeah? And how do you think I'm going to do that? Have you looked at me? I couldn't even shove the guy inches away from me. I don't have any weight to put behind anything. What's the fucking point?" By the end of her question, she felt like she was going into hysterics. Her whole body was riled up, but she couldn't accept that a self-defense course was going to do anything for her.

She raised her hands in a surrendering gesture, "But my bad, I'm only making your job difficult by declining. Wouldn't want you to get fired, so I guess I don't have much choice anyway, do I?"

But I don't wanna cause any pain

244 Words

I wish I was in love

The fact that he could stay so level-headed while she was practically yelling at him only made her more frustrated. Where did he get off being so calm all the time? It was like she was talking to a robot that didn't know anything outside of 'yes ma'am' and 'no sir.' She wanted to shake him, or hit him or something just so that he would react in some other way than just calm.

Charlotte tuned him out when he told her the ways she could fight back. It didn't make much of a difference in her mind, and she knew that it was only because she was upset with him and her brother and everyone else in her life. If she thought about it logically, doing a self-defense course in her backyard was a good way to let out some of her pent up anger and frustration. Especially if he was going to be the one teaching her, but that was assuming she could actually do anything.

Her eyes lifted to his and she frowned, "Fine, whatever. Let's just get on with it." She grabbed a pair of tennis shoes to slip on and she shoved her hands in the pocket of her brother's hoodie, another that she'd stolen, following him down the stairs and out to her backyard.

But I don't wanna cause any pain

179 Words

I wish I was in love

Charlotte kept her arms folded across her chest as he laid out the mats for them. She didn't quite know how well the whole thing was going to go either. He had a lot more training and a lot more height and weight on her. He was probably just looking forward to throwing her around because she was such a brat to him all the time.

Her weight shifted onto one foot and she snorted, "Is that your way of telling me I'm fat?" She couldn't help the smirk that followed and she nodded, more seriously this time, "Yes I exercise regularly. Mostly just cardio though." Which wasn't quite the same as what they were about to do. It was too bad she hadn't gotten around to using the weights in their home gym. Maybe she'd have had a better chance of hurting someone if she had.

"What does that have to do with this?"

But I don't wanna cause any pain

170 Words

I wish I was in love

She was pleased by the reaction she got from him. It made her feel a little bit less tense, but her arms were still folded around her tightly. Charlotte didn't know what they were doing or how it was going to work, but she knew that she needed it. She needed to obtain whatever information she could.

When he asked if starting out with stretches was okay, she snorted, "Y'know for being a military man, you sure do ask for permission a lot. You're my instructor right now, stop asking me what's okay." Charlotte looked at the oversized hoody she was wearing and frowned. It wouldn't do her much good if she couldn't move very freely. After a moment of consideration, she decided to pull it off and discard it to the side, revealing a tank top underneath. With easier movement, she shook out her arms.

But I don't wanna cause any pain

206 Words

I wish I was in love

Charlotte had heard of pressure points often enough from television shows that she knew they were important in some regard. She'd never tried to learn them, nor did she think she'd actually be able to put enough pressure to do anything. As he explained them to her, she watched carefully. He pointed to his clavicle and she nodded, tucking away the information so that she would hopefully remember it.

He reached for her hand and Charlotte couldn't help but freeze for a minute at the physical contact. She did what she could to play it off and let him guide her fingers to where he'd pointed to before. Her eyes never left his face as he spoke, whether it was because she wanted to retain the information or because she was suddenly very aware of the fact that this was closer than he usually got, she couldn't wrap her head around. She sucked in her lower lip and nodded again at his information, still rendered speechless.

Hunter's demonstration on her made, her cringe and she nodded, "Yeah, yeah I do. Not fun."

But I don't wanna cause any pain