Chapter 14
NICK
It’s finally fucking Friday and my stomach has been flipping with anticipation all week.
Lois and I agreed not to see each other until the weekend, but I'm ready to say fuck that.
My balls are blue and more importantly my heart is aching to see her, that how I ended up here this morning before training.
I had to get up at 6am just to drive over here before I'm needed at the rink at 8am.
But it will be worth it to spend a hour with my favourite girl.
I tap lightly on the door, worried about waking Molly and receiving a literal kick up the arse.
The door creaks open after a few minutes and my chest responds by squeezing immediately at the sight of her.
“Good morning beautiful,”
I coo, pushing her inside the dorm and lifting her to my waist.
Her thighs squeeze around me instinctively and I feel my shoulder muscles relax for the first time this week.
“What are you doing here?”
Her sleepy voice is like a melody in my ears as she grips me tightly, her face buried in my neck.
“I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”
I press my cold lips to the warmth of her neck.
“I really wanted to see you before practice this morning.”
“I love you for that,”
she breathes, then tenses in my arms.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Lo, it’s ok,”
I chuckle, placing her gently to her feet and gripping her waist reassuringly.
“I know what you meant.”
“Ok,”
she breathes a shy smile.
“Good, good,”
She pulls me to her bedroom, closing the door softly and I drop down onto her bed, leaning back on straightened arms and just watching her.
She’s wearing satin, pink pyjamas, the shorts barely cover her ass and her hardened nipples point through the sheer, button up shirt.
I’m fucking here for it and my eyes wander slowly downwards, travelling over each breast and trailing down towards her as—
“Ah-hem!”
Lois clears her throat dramatically and when I lift my eyes back to her’s she has a sassy, raised eyebrow expression on her face.
My grin is wide and cocky, I know this because she purses her lips, trying not to smile back at me.
She spins around and flicks through her record collection, pulling one from it’s sleeve and gently placing it in the player.
She drops the needle into place and the room fills with the quiet hum of light jazz.
Lois falls flat on her back beside me and I pull her into my side, kissing the tip of her nose as her eyes fall closed.
“You like music?”
She mumbles, eyes still lightly shut.
“Of course I do. Not sure we have the same taste though.”
I get up from the bed and explore her record collection.
It’s extensive to say the least, she has everything from Bing Crosby to Luke Combs.
As I rummage through she sits up, resting on her elbows, her loose curls cascading down her back like a waterfall.
She looks like an angel, as usual.
“Which one is your favourite?”
I half mutter as I continue my rummaging, peering at each record as I flick through her entire collection.
“Hmmm,”
she ponders for a moment, “probably Amy Winehouse, or…maybe Lauryn Hill, you know, girl power and all that?”
I pause, my fingers still between the records as I turn to look at her in disbelief.
“You’re serious?”
She nods, flashing me a toothy grin.
“Jesus mini Taylor, we’re not in 2008 anymore you know?”
“Hey!”
She points a warning finger at me, sitting up straight.
“Those women are timeless. And I'm impressed you knew the year they were popular.”
I laugh under my breath and she continues.
“Their music just makes me happy, it reminds me that I'm strong, I can do things on my own you know?”
She lifts her shoulders in a shrug.
“It reminds me of being a kid too, I still had my troubles like all kids do but…” a light sigh leaves her lips.
“Life was just so much more raw and real. I didn’t constantly think about what I looked like or what people thought about me. That’s the best part about women like them, they do their thing, they’re themselves unapologetically.”
My hands stop exploring and I stand still, struck for a moment by her honest vulnerability.
“Woah, that’s deep,”
“I know, sorry.”
“No,”
I move towards her, “it’s ok, I like it when you open up to me like that.”
I take her hands and bring her to her feet in front of me.
She looks down for a moment and I twist a lock of her hair around my pinky finger.
“I got into the Royal College of Music you know?”
She blurts, finally meeting my gaze.
“I’m a pianist.”
“Really? I had no idea you could play piano. Why didn’t you pursue it?”
She shrugs, it’s heavy with sadness and regret.
“My parents thought gymnastics was a better path for me, with Sean being a hockey player and all.”
I take her face in my hands.
“You’re not Sean though, you’re Lois and you’re worth just as much as your brother whether you want to be an athlete, a pianist or a fucking astronaut.”
She breathes a slightly watery laugh.
“Thank you. I don’t blame my parents, they were just trying to do what they thought was best for me at the time. I was always good at gymnastics, I had natural flare and it was an easy choice to make to follow Sean to Redwood on a scholarship. But the piano is where I'm happiest and I'm good at it Nick, I'm really fucking good at it.”
“I know baby, I believe you.”
I kiss the tear from the tip of her nose.
“I’d love to hear you play sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe…”
She smiles coyly, tiptoeing up to press her pouty lips to mine.
“Thank you for coming over this morning. What’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“Ah,”
I wink, smacking a hand to her ass cheek.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
I make my way out of her bedroom and towards the front door, she follows behind me like a puppy nipping at my heels.
“Nick come on, just give me a hint, pleeeeease.”
She whines and I turn to face her as I yank the door open.
“Ok,”
I sigh, “we’re going into Camden Town, staying in a hotel and going to see a show… among other things.”
She opens her mouth to speak, but I push a finger against her lips to silence her.
“No, I'm not telling you anything else.”
With a lingering kiss against her lips I leave her dorm, feeling a little more satisfied than I did when I woke up this morning.
It’s Saturday and my stomach is suddenly awash with nerves for today’s date with Lois.
I have the whole weekend planned, we’re going into Camden Town, away from campus and any wandering eyes who might snitch to Sean if they see us together.
I stayed up way too late last night texting the girl who’s taken over every inch of my brain, which means I'm tired as shit this morning.
To make things worse I'm needed at the rink for an hour this morning before we can head off on our date.
Sean roped me into helping the under 10’s team who use our rink on Saturday mornings.
I don’t even like kids, I only agreed to this two weeks ago because I’d already fucked his sister and I felt guilty for keeping secrets from him.
Sean, Kyle and Lewis are the only real friends I’ve ever had.
When I was at school I had a few friends here and there but nobody ever stuck or stayed around me when they found out about my dad.
Not many people wanted to be associated with the kid whose dad was in prison for battering him.
I can’t say I blame them to be honest, but it left me pretty lonely a lot of time.
The only attention that I could rely on was from girls and it’s something I’ve come to lean on I think, that’s why I was always flitting from one girl’s bed to another.
That’s definitely something that’s behind me now.
I couldn’t even imagine looking at another girl and wanting her like I want Lois.
The rink is echoing with the slapping of pucks and high pitched voices when I arrive.
Sean is already on the ice with the children, they’re gathered around him, gazing up at him in awe like he’s Father Christmas.
“Right, let’s split into pairs and practice passing from across the rink.”
He spots me and grins, “Nick is here now too so you better get moving before he kicks your asses.”
“Taylor!”
Coach throws him a warning glare from the sidelines where he sits, tapping away at his laptop.
This under 10’s team isn’t even his so I have no idea why he’s hauling his players into helping out on a fucking Saturday morning.
I shove my skates onto my feet and glide across the ice to Sean.
He has his back against the plexiglass, stick in one hand, throwing a puck into the air with the other, then catching it again.
“What the fuck is that grin for?”
I look over my shoulder as the boys pass the puck to their partner, most of them clumsily.
“Also, where the fuck is Ky? Why hasn’t he been roped into this crap?”
“Davis is a bit…”
he tilts his head once, “preoccupied this morning.”
“Oh, ok, great. So just because he’s balls deep in Molly Crawford that means he gets to skip this shit,”
I sigh hard.
“So unfair, I don’t even like kids.”
“Hey! You like my kid.”
He stands straight, hazel eyes blaring into me in a familiar way.
I nod fast to placate him.
“Of course, she doesn’t count though because she’s yours.”
His features soften and he nods.
“Yeah, good. Anyway we better start setting up some drills for these boys before Coach frisbees a few pucks at our balls.”
I spend the rest of the morning clearing away equipment at the rink after the under 10’s finish their training session.
Much to Sean's annoyance I tell him I need to leave by midday.
He has way too many questions about where I’m going and what I'm doing.
If he knew what I was going to do to his sister this weekend he’d keep his questions to himself and mind his business.
I’m knocking on Lois’ door at 12:30pm, my car waiting downstairs with an overnight bag fit for a borrower. What can I say? I pack light.
The door swings open and a pair of bright hazel eyes gleam back at me.
She holds a large gym bag in one hand and a wheeled suitcase in the other.
I did tell her this was only a one night stay didn’t I? It looks like she’s packed for a two week trip to the Bahamas.
“Hey,”
she pants, pulling the door closed behind her and rising on her tiptoes to drop a peck to my lips.
“Ready to go?”
“Are we going to Camden, or to Spain for two weeks?”
I laugh and she rolls her eyes, swatting a hand at my chest.
“Fuck off,”
she mutters and my dick twitches, I love her sassy side.
She walks ahead of me and I take the opportunity to snatch the bag from her hand and swing it over my shoulder. She turns, fisting her hip with a dragon like annoyance in her scowl.
“Are you trying to annoy me?”
She says, eyebrows lifting on her forehead.
“Yes,”
“Well it's working,”
“Good,”
I smirk, “it turns me on.”
Her gaze drifts down to my slightly tighter than usual shorts and I watch her lips dance into a smirk. With a flick of her curls she turns back towards the lift and presses the button without another word.
The car journey is quiet, but a peaceful quiet, not an awkward one.
I let Lois plug her phone in and choose the music, she of course chooses her usual favourites.
She gets chattier the more I ask her about music, but when the topic of her upcoming gymnastics competition comes up, I feel the shift in her bubbly energy.
My hand has been resting on her thigh the entire journey and now she lays her hand on top of mine with a heavy sigh.
“I don’t know really, I'm excited for it but,”
she sighs again and leans her head back against the headrest.
“I’m not sure I'm totally ready to lead the team in competition like Callie used to. I’m not as strong as her, not mentally anyway and I don’t know if I'm good enough for the girls.”
I give her thigh a squeeze.
“Of course you’re good enough Lo, you’re more than good enough.”
I think fast, trying to bring back her chipper mood.
“Which routine is your favourite, tell me about it.”
Her lips purse, then she beams widely.
“I love, love, love my floor routine.
I’m still perfecting it but I’m finally able to land my full twisting double back and I'm so fucking proud of myself for that.
It’s the one skill I’ve been trying to get for ages and when I landed it a few weeks ago for the first time I could have cried with happiness.”
She’s lost in her own world now, dimples constantly on show.
“Ellen didn’t think I’d be able to get it consistently in time for the first competition of the season next weekend, but I proved her sorry ass wrong.”
She turns to me then, her smile falling a little.
“Sorry if I'm being annoying. I know I can ramble on and I'm a bit too much sometimes, I do try to tone it down.”
“No,”
I grip her thigh tight again and she blinks at me.
“Don’t do that. Who told you that you were too much? That you were annoying?”
She shrugs lightly.
“Sean used to say I was an annoying little weasel who didn’t know when to shut up.”
My ears are hot for a moment at her comment, at the way her face fell when she thought she was irritating me, that she was too much for me.
I mean, what does that even mean? She could never be too much, I want all of her and I’ll take every single bit that she’ll give me.
As the fury ignites in my chest and my protective claws spring out, ready to slit her brother’s throat, I remember who Sean really is.
Him and Lois never used to get along, the fights during their teenage years would deter anyone from having more than one child, but that is all behind them now.
I know if Sean heard how his words as a teenager made Lois feel, he’d feel pretty fucking shitty himself.
He loves her, I know this and that’s why the rage I initially felt fizzles out pretty quick.
I take her hand in mine and swallow it in warmth.
“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re annoying, or that you’re too much. Don’t apologies for being yourself, or for being excited about something, or being proud of something you did.”
She peers across at me.
“You’re not too much, you’re the exact right amount, you’re perfect just as you are.”
Lois resembles a deer who’s just ran out in front of my car.
Her hazel eyes are wide with shock, but I see the hint of a tear in the corner of her eye.
I meant every word, but somehow I didn’t expect this reaction from her and now I don’t know where to look.
I’ve never done this before, never had feelings like this for someone and I have no idea what I'm doing.
We pull into the lot of the hotel five minutes later and still, neither of us have said a word.
Lois took to staring wide eyed out of the windscreen and I kept my gaze firmly on the road, too scared to even glance her way incase I scared her off with the intensity of my words.
I switch off the engine and get out of the car, following Lois around to the boot to collect our bags.
“You know,”
she finally says and my heart calms down at her breaking the silence.
“I always had you pegged as a ‘I don’t believe in love’ kind of guy, but you really are just a secret softie aren’t you?”
She grins at me, cheeky glint in her eye.
I flex a bicep.
“Not a softie mini Taylor, you should know that better than anyone.”
She gifts me an eye roll and I lower my arm, grabbing her suitcase from the car.
“Seriously though, I definitely believe in love, I’ve seen it first hand. I tried to fall in love before, but I think that’s where I went wrong.”
I drop her suitcase to the ground and she takes hold of it, watching me intently as I continue.
“You shouldn’t have to try, it should just happen without you having to do anything at all.”
‘ That’s what happened with you ' I think to myself.
But then Lois has her jaw on the concrete again, this time she’s so surprised that she lets go of her suitcase and it begins to roll away from her.
“What?”
She croaks, looking like she’s seen a ghost.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
I didn’t fucking think that did I? I said it out loud.