Chapter 6 Party/Dip #3
“Can I just stay here? Can I sit here in the office with you?” he asked.
“Of course, honey, you can stay here as long as you want,” Nicki answered. She went back to her typing and snuck a glance at Tommy, sitting with his elbows on his knees looking down on the floor.
He was crestfallen. It broke her heart.
After a few minutes of clicking into the awkward silence, Nicki couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up from the desk and slowly made her way over to him.
She sat down beside him on the couch and put her arm gently around his back.
I fucking hate it when you touch me. You’re only making it worse. I hate you. I hate you! Except that I love you and I wish I could tell you, Tommy thought in his head. The words smashed from one end of his brain to the other, like a hammer.
“Do you ever think about that night?” Tommy finally asked.
Nicki’s touch burned his skin through his shirt. It was almost as excruciating as the puncture wounds across his heart.
“That night in the Bahamas? Sure I do, it was fun,” Nicki answered lightly.
Tommy nodded his head, expecting nothing more than her simple, polite, nothing-answer.
“Do you ever think about what would have happened if you said yes? If the girls didn’t end up showing up and we had stolen that horse together? Do you ever think about it?” Tommy asked with pain in his eyes.
Nicki sighed, watching him struggle.
“I can see that you do, Tommy. And I can tell you that if we did, it would be another thing to add to the list of spontaneous fun we had that night. We never hang out like that, just the two of us. I feel like I got to know you a lot better that night, and it was wonderful! Now, stealing a horse with you maybe would have been fun too. Or maybe, we would have gotten in trouble and arrested, and then Tyler would have kicked both of our asses, who knows!”
Nicki attempted to squeeze out a little smile from him. Her hand transferred from his back to linking his arm beside her.
“But you know what? I’m really glad the girls ended up coming that night. It doesn’t change the fact that we are good company. We didn’t need to steal a horse to know that,” Nicki offered.
Tommy nodded, looking across the room in front of him.
“You know what else I think about?” Tommy asked. “Karma.”
“How so?” Nicki asked, squeezing his arm.
“Earlier that night, when you asked us if anyone wanted to see that Marilyn Monroe movie with you, I answered with some smart-ass comment about how I’d rather get impaled,” he said.
Nicki let out a light laugh. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Yeah, well… I feel like I did get impaled that night,” Tommy quipped and rushed to stand up and head out of the office.
“Tommy, wait!” Nicki shouted, but his speed told her to not even try.
Poor thing, Nicki thought. Tommy’s condition sliced her heart.
Tommy entered the security pod to see Sasha.
“Hey, what’s happening, boss?” Cliff asked.
“Not much, buddy, but I’ll be going for a rip on the bike soon.”
“Oh, is it the first one of the season? Cause, it’s gonna be dark soon and there’s rain coming, I hope you plan on coming back before that!” Cliff warned.
“Yeah,” Tommy said. “Sasha, buddy, I need to talk to you.”
“Yes, boss,” he said dutifully and followed Tommy outside.
“I need to know that you will be with Nicki all the time, making sure she is safe,” Tommy said in a serious tone. “Nothing happens to her. Not so much as a paper cut.”
“Yes, boss. Absolutely. I will be taking my new role very seriously and nothing will harm Miss Nicki while she is with me, that is a promise,” Sasha confirmed.
“Good man. Thanks, buddy,” Tommy said, giving Sasha a hard handshake.
Sasha’s sincerity and good work ethic gave Tommy the temporary satisfaction he needed to at least believe that Nicki will be kept in good hands until this war with the Leemans is over. Unfortunately, he was unable to stick around for it.
Tommy collected his backpack and helmet from the lake cabin and gave Boon a goodbye nuzzle.
Even Boon knew something was up.
“Be a good boy, Boon,” Tommy said.
The Rottweiler cried as Tommy walked across the yard toward the house.
Tommy looked up at the fire escape that led to Nicki’s office.
“Fuck it,” he whispered and climbed up the metal stairs purposefully. His heart raced as he felt he was getting closer to her, and knew he was about to do something stupid.
And he no longer cared.
Steal the horse. Just steal the horse.
He walked up to the door but before he pulled the handle, he peeked through the open blinds and saw Nicki and Tyler kissing at her desk.
Tyler was leaning over her and Nicki’s hand lovingly held the back of his head as she kissed him back sweetly.
Tommy’s stomach turned before he did and then rushed back down the fire escape with tear-filled eyes.
He grabbed his helmet and his backpack and brushed past the guys on the way to the garage.
“Cliff! Gate!” he shouted.
“You got it, Tommy!”
Tommy ripped the engine and let it warm up for a few excruciating minutes after its long winter slumber.
He straddled the roaring Harley and rode away, heading for the Pacific Coast Highway without looking back.