Chapter 28 Nico
TWENTY-EIGHT
NICO
I can’t believe she’s here.
I can’t fucking believe she’s here.
I genuinely thought I was seeing things when I looked at the TV as I was pacing, waiting for my name to be called.
Especially when I saw her sitting next to my parents, having a conversation with my mom.
Because at that moment, it was so, so easy to picture her in my life.
At the family dinner on a Sunday, or sitting on the sidelines at the gym. It was so easy.
I knew I couldn’t see her before the fight, but hell, if I wasn’t eager to hold her in my arms afterwards. It’s why I went for the knockout. I didn’t want to wait a second longer than I needed to.
And now she’s here. With me. Saying she wants to stay with me.
This is infinitely better than tonight’s win.
“Are you ready to get going?” I ask, trying and failing to tamp down on my deliriously giddy smile.
Her lips twitch with amusement. “Are you ready to get going?” When her gaze darts down to my chest, I revel in the sight of heat flashing in her eyes.
“What, you don’t think I’d fit in shirtless in New York?” I tease.
“It’s less the shirtlessness, and more the blood smeared across your skin,” she says with a pointed nod at my chest.
“He’d still probably fit in,” Lucas mumbles from where he’s furiously typing away on his phone.
When we turn toward him, realizing we’re not the only ones in the room—how did I forget we’re not the only ones in the room?
—he looks up and asks, “So are we going? I reserved the private dining room for us.”
I sigh, even though I know he’s right. “Yeah. Let me just shower and get myself together.” I turn toward Scarlett again. “You okay to wait a few minutes for me? We can send everyone ahead and then taxi over together.”
In all honesty, I just want her to myself for a few minutes. Not that I’m fooling anyone.
“Yeah, of course,” she says. “Take your time.”
I don’t take my time. I hurry through the entire process. If I was a little clearer on how things stood between me and Scarlett, I would’ve pulled her into the bathroom with me just to have her in my vicinity.
But as it stands, having her here, knowing she came tonight for me—not for a date, not because I’m paying her, but to be with me—it’s a heady feeling.
And it’s strong enough to make it impossible to keep my distance from her once I step out of the bathroom and see her still sitting there, a happy smile on her face when she sees me.
“You look better,” she says sweetly. “Feel better?”
I pull her to her feet and into my arms. “I felt better the second you walked into the room, baby,” I murmur into her hair.
She hums, the sound content, as her arms tighten around my neck.
I can’t quite find the courage to look at her while I say what’s on my mind, so I tighten my hold around her waist and bury my face in her neck. “I’m glad you came tonight,” I admit. Then I gather enough courage to add, “Am I allowed to say I missed you?”
I don’t breathe as I wait for her answer. But then…
“I missed you too,” she whispers.
Thank fuck. That’s one clarification on the relationship.
I press a kiss against her skin, and then another. God, I wish I could kiss her properly.
But that’s going to require a conversation, and now’s not the time. Now, I want to simply revel in the fact that I have her here with me.
So I pull back and ask, “Will you stay with me tonight?”
And I swear, if kissing her feels half as good as the sight of the smile she gives me…I’m fucked.
“I’d like that.”
But first: dinner with my family.
The taxi ride is a short one, but I eat up every second of it. As soon as we’re in the car, I pull her tight against my side so there’s no space between us. I can’t stop touching her, can’t stop pressing kisses against her skin.
After the tenth one, she giggles and asks, “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re awfully touchy tonight.”
I sigh and fall back against the seat. “It’s the adrenaline. It makes me a little punch drunk for a few hours.” Peeking at Scarlett with one narrowed eye, I add, “It also means you can’t hold anything I say against me, at least until tomorrow morning.”
“Unfortunate, but I understand,” she says, amusement lacing her tone.
“I kind of like you worrying about me, though.”
She ducks her head to hide her smile, but I reach up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear to see her better.
“I also kind of wish we were going back to my hotel right now,” I admit quietly. “Room service and cuddling, maybe putting a movie on, sounds really good right about now.”
Her mouth twitches with another pretty smile. “Cuddling? I didn’t think grown men used that word.”
“They do when it means having you in their arms,” I murmur, my nose pressed to her temple. God, she smells good.
I have to force myself to sit back before I get too drunk on her. “But just to set expectations, there probably won’t be any of that later anyway.”
When she frowns in confusion, I explain, “Once we put a few burgers in me, I’ll for sure be passing out as soon as we get home.
I’m not going to be great company.” Then I’m the one frowning when something occurs to me.
“I just realized your time with me tonight is going to be mostly spent with my family. Shit.”
Scarlett lets out a cute breath of laughter. “First of all, I kind of figured about the passing out thing. I came to watch and support you, not to make you entertain me. Second of all…” She shrugs, a softness about her as she says, “I like your family.”
My chest warms at that. “Yeah?”
She bites down on her lip and nods.
“Try to keep that sentiment for the next hour, because I guarantee you, they’re about to grill you,” I say instead.
At that, a look of nervousness takes over. “Really? Shoot. I have no idea how to talk to parents. I didn’t think this through.”
I press a comforting kiss to her temple and pull her closer. “Relax. Just be yourself. They’ll love you.”
Her nerves don’t lessen. They actually increase by the time we reach the pub, because I can feel the way her muscles tense as we take a seat with my family. I give her hand a reassuring squeeze under the table.
“There you two are!” my mom exclaims gleefully. “We were just talking about how good you looked in your fight tonight.”
“Well, don’t let my presence stop you,” I say, gesturing between us. “Continue.”
She rolls her eyes with a smile. “As if you need a bigger head.” Her gaze darts to Scarlett for a split-second, then back to me. “But in all seriousness, honey, you did look amazing. Did he get you with anything?”
I shake my head as I slide an arm along the back of Scarlett’s chair. “Not really. One or two kicks landed, but nothing big.”
She nods. “Okay, good.” Then she turns her attention fully to Scarlett. “In that case, I’d much rather chat with Scarlett.”
I give Scarlett a look that says I told you so, but I’m grinning. “I don’t blame you.”
Scarlett smiles at my mom, but I can see the stiffness in her shoulders. “I’m not that interesting, Mrs. Price,” she protests weakly.
My mom waves her off. “Nonsense. Nico clearly being smitten with you makes that impossible.”
“Christ, Mom,” I groan with a wince.
She ignores me. “And none of that Mrs. Price nonsense. Call me Stephanie.” Leaning forward, excitement shines in her eyes as she clasps her hands together. “Tell me something about yourself, dear. What do you do?”
I stiffen just as Lucas chokes on his beer. Shit. I should’ve anticipated this happening.
But mostly, I hate the way Scarlett’s panicking. If I couldn’t read her as well as I can, I might not have noticed, but it’s obvious to me.
“I, uh—”
“Scarlett’s in college,” I interject quickly. Not just because it’s my favorite pastime to remind Scarlett how smart she is, but also because mentioning academics is the easiest way to get my mother, the teacher, talking.
Sure enough, she perks right up. “Really? Where? What are you studying?”
The tiniest bit of tension releases from Scarlett’s shoulders, but it’s enough to make me breathe easier. “Um, I’m studying psychology online at ASU,” she answers with a tremulous smile.
“Oh, they have a great liberal arts program.” My mom nods along. “And psychology, that’s amazing. Why did you pick that?”
Scarlett shrugs. “I guess I just like knowing why people do the things they do.”
Lucas snorts from his place across the table. “When you find out, let me know. It would make my job a hell of a lot easier. What year are you in college?”
There’s only a beat of doubt this time before she answers. “Senior. I didn’t start until I moved to New York, so I had a two-year delay.”
Lucas frowns. “But Nico said you’re twenty-two. You’re finishing your bachelor’s in two years?”
A self-conscious shrug this time. “Two and a half.”
He’s laser focused on her now, his curiosity piquing. “Do you know what you want to do with your degree?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” she says quietly, taking a sip of her water.
“Have you ever thought about law? If you can get through a liberal arts undergrad that quickly, you’d probably kill it as a paralegal.”
To my surprise, Scarlett says, “Briefly. Never say never, but legalese doesn’t really interest me.”
He huffs a laugh. “Fair.” Then more to himself than to her, he adds, “I almost wonder what you’d score on the LSATs.”
I see the split-second debate that starts in Scarlett’s mind. She wants to say something, but her natural reaction is to hold back.
I’m waiting with bated breath, not just to hear what it is, but hoping she’ll decide to say it out loud instead of having me nudge it out of her.
A big part of me wants to cheer when she steels her spine and says, “One seventy-one.”
You could hear a pin drop around the table.
Because we all know that despite his jokes, Lucas is insanely smart. And even he didn’t score that high on his LSATs.
“You scored a one seventy-one?” he asks, gaping. “What, just for fun?”
Scarlett shrugs again, a proud smile tugging at her lips. “I wanted to see if I could do it.”