Chapter 27
Wreckless Love
Present
Memphis
Later that night…
Nicole groaned into the pillow, when she heard the cell phone vibrate on her night stand. She groaned again, and rolled onto her back, blindly reaching out for the phone. Who the hell was calling her? She knew it wasn’t Chase because she had spoken to him before she had gone to bed. She clasped the vibrating phone, and brought it to her ear, without bothering to see who it was.
“Hello?” she mumbled with her eyes still shut.
“Please tell me you weren’t sleeping?” asked the familiar voice on the other end.
Nicole opened her eyes. “Justin?” she said with a yawn. She sat up, and yawned again. “Of course I was sleeping.” she snapped.
“Nicole.” he started. “Its 11:53 on a Saturday night. When did you become an old lady?” he joked.
She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her and laid back down, the phone still to her ear. “When I turn 25. It was all downhill from there.” she retorted, as she stretched out on the bed and yawned into the phone again. She knew she was lame. But she couldn’t help it, every time she came home, all she wanted to do was lay around, or sit out in the back porch with a good book. Maybe it was the air. She wasn’t sure.
“Well old lady, you better get your ass out of bed.”
“What for?” she whined. “J, I was sound asleep, and you woke me up. So you better tell me the why I have to get out of bed.” she threaten.
But Justin only ignored her threat and instead ordered. “Just be downstairs in five minutes.”
Nicole opened her mouth to protest, but shut it when she heard the dial tone instead. She dropped the phone next to her and grunted, closing her eyes again. He was crazy if he thought she was going downstairs to meet him in five minutes. She had been perfectly content sleeping. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got with him. How dare he wake her up? Nope. She wasn’t going downstairs. Fuck him. She opened her eyes again and glanced up at the dark ceiling, the nights moon giving her bedroom just enough light. She shut her eyes again, chewing on her lower lip. Err! Now she couldn’t go back to sleep, damn it. She sat back up, sighed loudly, and got out of bed…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few minutes later, she sat on the stairs in front of her house, elbow resting on her thigh, and cursing herself for doing this as she waited on Justin. She looked out into the empty street. Of course the streets were empty! Why? Because, everyone except for her were in bed, sleeping.
Forget this. She was going back inside and going back to bed. Nicole stood up and was ready to turn around and head back inside, but stopped when she saw a cars headlights get closer. The truck stopped right in front of the house, and Nicole covered her mouth in surprise when she realized what she was looking at. She heard Justin turn the engine off.
“Oh my god.” she said, as she walked down the stairs and toward the old 77’ Chevy pick-up truck. “Please tell me you didn’t just steal this from your dad.” she asked Justin, and stuck her head inside The Clunker. The Clunker had been a nickname they had come up with years ago to describe Paul’s truck. It had been through hell and back, but even after all these years it was still running. And Paul would not get rid of it.
Nicole remembered a time after Justin’s first big check, he had tried to buy Paul a new car in trade of getting rid of The Clunker, but Paul wasn’t having it. He had an attachment to the truck, that one could understand, and now years later, and new cars later, it was still his baby and he still drove it around town. In a way, it was kind of endearing on how attached he was to it. She guessed that in a way it symbolized the whole saying: “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.”
Justin sat in the drivers seat, in a pair of shorts and plain t-shirt and baseball cap, grinning from ear to ear. “I didn’t steal it.” he paused. “I’ am more or less…borrowing it for a few hours.” he explained.
“Justin!” she exclaimed. Along with having the pick-up for years, Paul didn’t let anyone drive it, not even Justin.
“What?” Justin said. “I’ll take it back.” he leaned into the passenger seat and unlocked it. “Get in.” he told her.
“Are you being serious?” Nicole asked him wide-eyed. “Your dad will kill us if he ever found out about this.” but her hand was already on the door handle. This was something they would have done years ago. She felt like a fifteen year old, as she glanced back over her shoulder, expecting to see Susan open the front door and ask where she thought she was going at this time of the night.
Justin started the engine again and said with a raised eyebrow. “Then we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t find out.” he nodded in the direction of the passenger seat. “Now get in before your mom hears us.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nicole shut the passenger door behind her, and followed Justin. She should have worn shoes, instead of flip flops, the grass was still wet under her feet and it made her feet cold even though the night was sticky and warm. The thunderstorm from 2 hours ago had done nothing cool the summers heat. She stopped when she got the bed of the truck, and watched Justin tug on the latch and pull the cap down. Nicole’s stomach did a small summersault, watching him, his strong jaw shadowed by several days growth. She couldn’t help but think how good he looked that way. She watched him unfold the blanket he had brought on the bed of the truck, and sit himself down.
Hoping he hadn’t seen her gawking, she followed and pulled herself unto the end the trucks bed, shaking her head at him before she glanced out unto the creek that was now being shined by the trucks light. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to this. Paul would flip his shit if he found out that his 28 year old son had snuck out with his pick-up and had driven it down to Perry Creek, 8 miles outside of town and 3 miles down a scary down black road, that still scared the crap out of her even after all these years.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. For the first time in months, the silence between them not awkward. Maybe Justin was right, they needed to move on. Let it go and move on. Neither one could change what happen. It had just been a kiss, or two, or three. Nicole just had to let go of the thoughts that had been consuming her for the past couple of months. Because she would be lying to if she didn’t admit it-at least to herself -that she thought about the night in the kitchen at least once a day since it happened. Infact some nights she was sure she dreamt about it. Dreamt about what would have happened if they had not been interrupted by Jessica’s phone call and if she had let her self control go. She sighed as she tried to push that night out of her head.
“Don’t do that.” Justin threaten with a knowing look.
Nicole looked over at him and wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What?”
Justin accusingly pointed a finger in her direction. “That.” he stated simply. “Where you sit there and start over thinking shit and put us back there again.” Nicole locked eyes with him, and chewed on her lower lip. He raised an eyebrow, challenging her to disagree. He smiled triumphly when she didn’t say a word.
Finally she spoke up. “Don’t give me that little smile. You didn’t win anything. This is not a competition.” looking back out unto the creek.
He shrugged. “I never said it was. I just sometimes know you better than you think.” leaning all the way back, until he was laying on his back, one arm resting behind his head. She looked down at him, and rolled her eyes. “What? You don’t believe me?” he asked. He pressed his lips together, and shut his eyes. “Okay…” he started.
“Okay, what?” she pushed.
“You want another example?” he asked, but didn’t wait for a response. Instead he continued. “At dinner earlier tonight, I know you were going crazy watching your mother.” he finished.
“What are you talking about?”
“It was driving you crazy. And you want to know why?” He opened his eyes again, and spoke before she did. “Because you didn’t know she was seeing anyone.” Nicole opened her mouth for a split second, then shut it again. Justin snorted back his laughter. “You just proved my point.”
“What point is that Justin?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.
“That I can pretty much read you like a book.” he retorted.
“That doesn’t prove anything.” she protested, unfolding her arms.
“Oh? So you are okay with the fact that your mother has a boyfriend?” he asked.
“He is not her boyfriend.” Nicole snapped without thinking. She pressed her lips together in annoyance. It was moments like this where she wanted to smack him upside that big head of his. So what if her mother was seeing someone? This wasn’t the first man to enter Susan’s life since the passing of her husband. It didn’t bother Nicole. Nope. So what if this was the first man, Nicole had not known about from the beginning?
Apparently her mother had been seeing, Dan-The-Professor- for 3 months now. Three months! But had her mother bothered to share that information with her only daughter? No. Not once had he been mention in their phone conversations. She blinked back to reality, and glanced down at Justin, who was looking up, a huge smirk on his features. God, he was such an asshole.
He laughed, giving her a nudge with his knee. “I’m right aren’t I?”
“Shut up.” was all she said as she pushed his knee away.
“Like a book.” he muttered under his breath.
“Congratulations. Fine. You do know me.” she said dryly. Justin sat back up, and made a face at her. Nicole tilted her head a little bit as she met his gaze. She sighed and without realizing it, said. “I just wish I would have had some kind of warning about him before coming home.” she muttered under breath. This was the first time in months she had been home, and coming home to her mother in a relationship was not what she had in mind. It wasn’t as if she expected her mother to sit at home alone, but it would have been nice if this type of information would have been shared with her earlier, rather than the night before at dinner.
“Hmm…interesting.”
“What?”
Justin shrugged. “Nothing, but I seem to recall a similar situation a few months back…” tapping his chin lightly with his finger.
“That was different!” she said defensively. She should have known he would use some excuse to bring that back up. He had never been good at letting things go.
“Bullshit.” he coughed.
Nicole placed a strand behind her ear. “Whatever.” she pouted. Silence hitting between them. She watched him from the corner of her eye, waiting for him to make a smart-ass remark, but he didn’t. She spoke up again. “The only reason why I kept it quiet was because I didn’t feel the need to answer everyone’s questions.” she stated, finally looking in his direction.
He looked out unto the creek. “Well then…maybe your mother felt the same way.” he suggested, clinching his jaw.
“Your mother knew.” Nicole accused.
“Whoa, whoa. She might be my mother but I can’t force her to tell me everything.” he finally looked back at her and said with his hands up defensively. “And if I remember correctly-you told Rach, before you told me.” he accused.
Nicole shook her head. “That’s not true. She figured it out by herself. So I was forced to tell her about it.” She had been able to keep Chase quiet for over a month before Rachael began to get suspicious. But it had began to get hard to hide it when she was always on the phone, texting. “That biatch began snooping around and found the text in my phone.” she mumbled under breath. She had been forced to dish the information about Chase, but had made her sworn to keep her mouth shut about him. She heard Justin’s laughter and it brought her back to the present. “It’s not funny.”
Justin continued to laugh. “It kind of is. Its Rachael.”
She gave a short laugh, in agreement. “I know.” She lifted her arms up in exasperation. “But this is different J.” she started. “This is my mother.” Realizing for the first time since she heard the news, that she needed someone to vent to, and glad she could do it to her best friend. She hadn’t realize how much she missed him until that moment. He was the only one she felt comfortable going to and talking about family. Justin had always been the only one who seemed to understand where she was coming from. He always seemed to have the right advice. Because even though he was a pain half of the time, he was always there. Whether she wanted him there or not, he was always there and she was thankful for that. Even if half of the time she didn’t see it that way. Even when she could be a bitch, he never turned away from her. He was patient, and loyal, and a constant in her life.
“If its bothering you, then maybe you should talk to her about it.” he suggested, nudging her with his elbow. “But its not like this is the first man who has entered Susan’s life Nicky.”
Nicole sighed again. “I know. I know. But I just don’t understand why she felt the need to keep this from me. I’ am her daughter.” she whined.
Justin snorted back his laughter. “You might be her daughter, but she doesn’t have to tell you everything all the time. Do you always tell her everything?” he asked.
She groaned. “I am being childish?” she asked out loud, but did not wait for a response. “I mean sure I don’t tell her everything in my life but I tell her the important stuff.” she mused. “I’m the daughter, shouldn’t she be the one having these type of conversations?” she half-joked.
“Talk to her.” he repeated in a sing-song tone, poking her shoulder. “Hopefully that will stop the insanity and shut you up.” She slapped his hand away. “And to answer your question: yes-you are being childish. Stop obsessing.” he ordered.
She tilted her head up. “I do not obsess.” she told him.
“I beg to differ.” Justin said, as he jumped off the truck.
“What are you doing now?” she asked, following his lead. “And I do not. I just…over think everything. Its in every girls DNA.” she defended. “Are we leaving?” Hoping his answer was no. She was enjoying the night out. It was Memphis at its best.
Justin grabbed the blanket. “Do you want to leave?” he asked. “And the rest of the women population over think, you? Obsess. Like right now.” he observed. “Are we leaving?” he asked her, echoing her question with a raised eyebrow. But didn’t wait for a response as he walked a few feet from the truck and laid the blanket on the grass. He sat himself down, looking up at her. “You didn’t answer quick enough.” She frowned but sat down next to him. They were quiet once again, both lost in their own thoughts as they gazed out unto the creek. Justin spoke up first. “I sometimes forget about all of this.”
“About what?” Nicole asked, looking in his direction.
Justin sighed. “All of this Nicky. I sometimes get so consumed with every other aspect in my life, that I forget to just breath and see. That’s why I like coming home, it’s a reminder of it.” he murmured. “I just wish I could come back here more often. I mean I love LA, and now even New York, but it doesn’t necessarily offer what home offers.” He gazed over at her, and smiled weakly with a shrug. “It probably sounds stupid.”
Nicole tilted her head, her eyes never leaving his face. How did he do that? How could he go from a complete and total jerk to this in seconds? She blinked and looked away from him as she answered him. “It’s not stupid. I get it. Is this why you wanted to come out here?” she whispered. Why did he always do this? Go from his usual sarcastic self to his sweet and thoughtful self. It drove her crazy. When he was his sarcastic self it was easier to keep her feelings locked down…
“I just couldn’t sleep.” he said, interrupted her thoughts. “I just kept thinking: I need to get out of the house. At least for a little while. And that’s when I decided to take The Clunker for a ride…” a smug look on his face. She opened her mouth, but Justin was faster. “I promise that it will get back in one piece.”
She gave a long look. “It better. Or I’m telling them you forced me to come out here.” falling back slowly, and shifting a few times to get herself comfortable as she looked up to the nights sky. “I will turn on the waterworks in front of Paul if I have to.” grinning from ear to ear.
“You backstabber.” he teased.
“Keep The Clunker in one piece and I wont have to be.” she warned. She watched him fall back against the blanket too. She tried her best to not tense up at how close he was. It was deja-vu. Hadn’t they been laying out together before? And hadn’t they kissed? She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She cleared her throat and asked. “Why didn’t you just call Trace to come out here if you wanted company?”
“Because as much as Trace is my best friend, he would have wanted to come out here and drink and I really was not in the mood for that.” he kept his eyes up at the sky. “And if you ever repeat this to him- I’ll tell my dad about the time when you were 17 and drove The Clunker.”
Nicole quickly turned away from the sky to look over at him and glared. “You swore you never tell anyone about that!” she exclaimed. Justin turned his head in her direction and raised an eyebrow. She sighed. “Fine. Fine. I wont tell him anything.” She looked away from him, neither one speaking for a few moments. Finally Nicole said. “If I remember correctly, I drove it on a dare.”
Justin scoffed. “No one twisted your arm.”
She turned her body in his direction, and prompted her cheek on the palm of her hand and glared at him. “That’s not how it happened. Peer pressure.” she finished.
Justin rolled his eyes at her. “Please. You wanted to drive it. I didn’t have to pressure you.” Nicole tried to suppress the smile on her face. He was right, she hadn’t necessarily been pressured into driving Paul’s old pick-up, yes, it had been on a dare but at the end she had wanted to drive it.
“That’s not how I would spin it.” she joked.
Justin had reached out for a handful of grass next to him and tossed it in her direction. “You’re such a fucking brat.” he murmured teasingly.
She snorted. “The pot calling the kettle black?” Justin looked over at her again and grinned widely. Nicole settled back down, her eyes gazing up to the nights sky. Neither one speaking again for awhile. She sighed quietly, as she began to silently count the stars in the sky. She closed her eyes, enjoying the silence around her, for the moment-letting go of the thoughts and feelings that had been driving her insane the past couple of months. Her body relaxed beneath the blanket, as she licked her lips, and felt Justin’s eyes on her, she asked, her eyelids still shut. “What?”
“It’s like deja’vu all over again.”
Nicole couldn’t help but giggle and opened her eyes, looking over at him. She didn’t need for him to explain what he meant. Because she had been thinking the same thing. “Shut up.” was all she could managed to say with a light smile, as she lifted her head up once again in his direction. “I thought we weren’t going back there?” she mocked. But finding the moment kind of funny. They had been in this situation a few months back in LA, in his backyard…
Justin gave a shrug. “We’re not. I just find it kind of funny.” he hesitated for a split second before he continued. “Sometimes I think we like putting our selves in these situations.” he mused, his eyes gleaming with laughter.
“Right.” she answered sarcastically.
“I’m serious. We’ve pretty much made this a habit.”
Nicole wrinkled her nose. “Whatever.” He was talking crazy. What person in their right mind wanted to be in their situation? In a sense almost feeling confined about the feelings they once had for each other? He turned his body in her direction and smirked. “Stop smirking.” she ordered as her eyes his and she reached out and smacked his chest lightly.
He quickly grasped her wrist with his fingers. “C’mon Nicky, we’ve pretty much created a fucked up situation.”
“Wow.” she said. “Is that how you see our relationship?” Nicole asked, pretending his comment didn’t bother her as she tried to break free from his grip. She wasn’t liking where this conversation was going. “You know what? We should just stop talking before we fuck this up even more.” she spat out. How the hell did they end up talking about this anyway? The conversation had been flowing smoothly until right now.
Justin shut his eyes for a split second. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. And why the hell do we always end up fighting like this?”
She broke free from his grip and retorted. “I don’t know. But it always brings back here doesn’t it?” She sat up. “Maybe its time to go.” Feeling the familiar tension between them hit the air as her eyes met his. Her heart raced rapidly in her chest, panic welling up deep inside. “We should go.” she repeated. Before we say things we don’t mean or do something we’ll regret later. She thought. The panic hitting the pit of her stomach. She needed to stay in control of this.
“I didn’t mean our relationship was a fuck up.” he paused. “But we have this habit-”
“That we’ve created Justin.” she reminded. “Or did you forget?” Because she sure hadn’t forgotten about it. But lately it just seemed the line they had created at one point was nothing but a blur now.
“I fucking know that.” he said, clinching and unclenching his jaw. “But it doesn’t make it any easier.” he told her truthfully. “And that’s where we-I’ve fucked up. Because before, I had some sense of control over this. But lately, I don’t feel like I do.”
Nicole swallowed the lump in her throat as she listened to him. She glanced away. When had things become so complicated between them? They had always had control over the situation. Never allowing themselves to get to this point. She finally looked back at him and her heart twisted, knowing exactly what he meant.
Justin murmured and sat up. “We should…we should probably go.” She nodded in agreement, but instead of standing up, she reached out for his hand, and leaned in close. She wasn’t sure of what she was doing, but she knew she wasn’t ready to leave now. It was like a magnetic pull. A magnetic pull she had not been able to understand after all these years. The line once again a blur. The panic she had felt earlier, evaporated as he leaned in as well. He seemed to sense it too. It was just them now. She didn’t care about anything else at that moment.
Nicole froze as his mouth touched hers. Her chin jerked up and her eyes met his. The realization of what was about to happen, sinking in. “We can stop this right?” She knew it was a stupid question.
She heard him chuckle. “You’re the one that leaned in.”
“You could stop-” She braced herself, as she waited for him to pull away and tell her it was a mistake.
What she got was slow and sneaky. His lips were smooth and cool. Despite being unhurried, there was nothing tentative about the way he angled his mouth over hers, then slid his tongue inside before she had a chance to change her mind. There was just a second, when Nicole thought he would stop if she told him to. But the unbelievable sensuality of his kiss made her realize that wasn’t what she wanted. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him back down with her, his fingers gripped one side of her hip, his tongue in her mouth, her insides melting like chocolate.
After several heart-racing moments he broke his lip lock, leaving Nicole limp and dizzy. She blinked him back into focus, as the reality of what just happen hit the pit of her stomach. But unlike the last couple of times, she didn’t feel anxiety or panic over it, instead she felt relatively calm. “You didn’t stop it.” she murmured jokingly.
“Did you want me to stop it?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
She licked her lips and answered honestly. “I don’t know.”
He smiled weakly at her. “At least, we’re on the same page.” She shivered as his fingers moved underneath her tank top, his fingertips grazing her bare skin.
“We said we weren’t going to do this again.” she reminded, unwrapping her arms from around his neck.
Justin chuckled again. “You started it.” Justin tunneled his fingers through her loose hair, drawing her face up, bringing her flush against his body. Body stiff, she lifted her head, her eyes shadowed by her long lashers. “Breathe.” he urged softly.
Nicole lips parted and her eyes fluttered closed. Breathing was secondary to what was going on between them at that moment.
Justin closed the gap, kissing her once again. She felt perfect in his arms as she clunged to him, her soft breasts pressed against his chest, her body molding against his as she allowed his invasion. His mouth moved over hers, and he caught her lower lip, tasting the inside of her mouth with the tip of his tongue. Nicole moved against him, her hands coming up to comb through his hair as she nipped his upper lip between her teeth, then laved the sting with her tongue.
The simple act of kissing Nicole was stunningly arousing, but then again kissing her had always been arousing. He didn’t want to stop. He hadn’t planned on doing this. When she had took his hand with hers, he had been surprised, but he had told himself he had control of the situation. He had planned on pulling away, but that thought had lasted only a split second. And instead of showing he was in control, and he now had her wrapped in his arms and she was kissing him back and demanding more.
She made an aggressive sound in the back of her throat as she arched her soft body full against him and slanted her mouth against his, changing the tempo and the rhythm of the kiss. He felt the warm caress of her palm against his face as she brushed her cheek with her hand. Her touch more intimate than the kiss.
In the back of his head, he knew it was wrong, but when she pressed her hips hard against his now swollen dick, he could only groan in pleasure. How could this be wrong? Holding her firmly against him, he tangled his fingers in her hair and captured her moan on his tongue.
Struggling for control, the taste of her still lingering on his lips, he gently pulled away from her. Her eyes were closed and even though it was night, the flush on her cheeks was still visible to him. “I think I’ve decided I don’t want to stop.” he murmured half-teasingly. His hands roaming up to one of her bare shoulders. Her eyes unfocused, her lips swollen.
Blinking, she focused on him, and licked her lips. “I think I’ve decided that too.”
“Good.” he whispered. “Good…” trailing off and kissing her again. He wanted this moment to last. The kissing to last. He didn’t want to rush it, because he knew the moment that happened something would trigger them back to reality. And he didn’t want to go there just yet. So instead he employed a good old fashioned make-out session, no rushing, no groping, just kissing slow and easy, like when they were teenagers and kissing was enough to satisfy. He could feel her relaxing beneath him.
“J…” she whispered against his mouth. Her breathing soft and languid.
“Shh…” Justin hushed her, as he ran his tongue across her bottom lip again, enjoying the sound she made. It was a tiny sigh, a release, a letting go. He realized that’s what he wanted, what they both needed. Here in the wet green grass, with a lingering scent of rain still in the air, there was nothing to worry about. No reality. Just each other and pleasure, for a short space of time.
He shifted slightly, falling back against the blanket, his arm sliding down and wrapping loosely around her waist and pulling her on top of him. Somehow Nicole twisted, and straddled him. He dropped his arm from around her waist, and she threaded her fingers through his, carrying his hands up over his head. Her eyes full of lust.
“We’re back there aren’t we?” he asked her again.
That time she hushed him. “Shh.” and added. “I just want you. I don’t care about anything else right now…” She lowered her head to graze her lips over his again.
Soft. Slow. Unbearably sweet.
“Baby…” he moaned. The make-out session coming to an end.
Soft skin, eager delectable mouth. And she was all his-at least for the time being. Every fiber of his body was consumed with the need to flip her over and plunge deeply into her. He couldn’t breathe, he wanted her so bad. He had to grit his teeth just to maintain. It wasn’t as if he’d never had her this way before. But it had been so long…
His chest felt tight, his dick painfully hard, and his blood pumped fast and furious. “God, you’re so beautiful.” he mused out loud, placing a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “So fucking beautiful…”
Her lips twitched. Closing the gap, she kissed the corner of his mouth, his nose, his cheek, his jaw, then trailed her lips back to his. He brought his arms down so he could touch her, sliding them down and landing just beneath her ass, pressing her even closer to his hard body. He closed his eyes as her tongue, warm and wet, tangled with his, explored leisurely. His pulse raced as her kisses took a hold of something deep inside of him.
Suddenly his eyes flew open when he felt a drop of water on his forehead. He felt it again. Shit. Of course this was going to happen. He moved his hands from her under her ass, and up to her waist. He broke his mouth from hers. “Baby…it’s beginning to rain.” he informed her, sliding one hand up to her face and stroking her cheek.
Nicole looked away from him and up to the sky. She let out laugh when she felt the rain droplets on her bare shoulders. What else did she expect?
Justin tugged lightly on her hair and joked. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will stop.” lifting his head enough to brush his lips over hers.
She shook her head, when she heard the thunder. “I think that’s our sign J.” The rain beginning to come down harder and faster. She rolled off him, and sat next to him instead of standing up.
He cleared his throat and looked back up to the sky. Ignoring what she had just said. “We should go before it really starts pouring.” He stood up, and looked down at her. She was looking up at him, her eyes questioning. He smiled warmly down at her and reached his hand down to her. “C’mon.” He expected her to protest, but she took his hand, and he helped her up. They faced each other, neither one saying a word.
After a few seconds, Justin leaned in and placed a kiss on Nicole’s forehead. “Let’s go home, before we end up completely drenched.” He bend down and grabbed the blanket, their fingers still tangled together. He stood back up, waiting for the awkwardness to settle between them like those times before, but it didn’t happen. Instead, they made their way back to the pick-up with their fingers still intertwined.
Story Tags: friendsturnedlovers
