Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Lake
M y heart raced, and I told myself that everything would be okay. That this was a dream. It wasn’t a nightmare, maybe an anxiety-filled dream, but not a nightmare.
“I have questions.” Leif stared at us, wide-eyed and yet…not surprised.
I assumed my cousin had questions, considering he had just seen his best friend kissing me in the park behind our shop.
Probably not the most discreet place, but I hadn’t been thinking about anyone but Nick.
And we still hadn’t finished our conversation. Because what did that kiss mean?
“Seriously. Questions.”
“It’s not what you think,” I blurted at the same time as Nick said, “It’s not like that.”
Hurt sliced against my heart, even though I had just said something similar, and I gave him a look. He raised a brow before he rolled his eyes.
Then he opened his mouth to speak, but I held up my hand. No, Leif was my cousin, and Nick and I needed to focus on exactly what was going on between us and not worry about the family, which wasn’t always easy.
“Please go. Nick and I need to finish our conversation.”
Nick’s lips twitched, and I sucked in a breath.
“Seriously, what the fuck is going on?”
I narrowed my gaze, even as Nick reached out and gripped my hand to give it a squeeze. My cousin noticed the action and narrowed his gaze. He didn’t look angry, just bewildered. And honestly, I didn’t blame him. All that Nick and I ever did these days was fight. At least in front of everyone else. Behind closed doors? That was something different. That was something the two of us needed to talk about. Alone.
Leif might be confused, but I wasn’t just going to blurt out what I was thinking in front of him. Especially when I wasn’t even sure what that was.
“I love you, Leif, but don’t be a jerk right now, okay?”
“You’re right,” Leif said as he looked between us, his eyes wide. He threw his hands up in the air. “I know it’s not my business. But I love you both. So if you need to talk with me? Go for it. I’m here. Same with Brooke, I bet. Make that happen because, dude. This was not what I was expecting.” He waved his hands between us. “I mean, you guys fight, but I didn’t think you guys fought .” He emphasized the word fought, and I held back a laugh.
“Are you done freaking out?” Nick asked, his voice low.
“I’m not quite sure,” Leif answered. “Because you sure as hell know that I’m not going to be the only one that freaks out.”
“Keep this to yourself,” I said quickly. I looked at Nick. “Not because I’m ashamed. I’m not.”
His lips twitched. “I figured. You’re never ashamed of anything that you do.”
I blushed and Leif cleared his throat. “Seriously. So many questions, but I kind of don’t want any details. So I’m just going to let whatever this is be, and I’m going back to work. Nick, you have a client in two hours, and I know you wanted to go over paperwork. Lake, I assume you’re going to want to do the same. Just don’t dirty up the office.”
Nick flipped him off as I scowled.
“Grow up.”
“What? I’ve made out with Brooke in that office. It’s a nice office.”
I cringed. “Seriously? That’s a shared space.”
“We didn’t have sex in the office. My God. You know that Sebastian’s made out with Marley in there, too, right?” Leif asked.
“That much I knew. It’s a good place for privacy these days for that couple.”
I looked between them, aghast. “I will not make out with Nick in the office.”
“Ever, or just like today?” Nick asked, his eyes filled with laughter, as Leif snorted.
I looked between them, utterly bewildered. “First off, I need a minute. And you and I need to talk.” I looked at my cousin. “Go away.”
“That’s not very nice, cousin.”
“Really?” I growled, a real growl, just like Nick often did.
“Nice. A little more guttural next time,” Nick teased as Leif beamed.
This is how it always was between us. It was us three amigos against the world, taking turns on who we would gang up on. Apparently this time it was me. And I still had no idea what I was doing with Nick. Because I wanted him to kiss me again, but if we screwed this up? It would ruin this dynamic. It was already different now, and how was I supposed to think?
Nick seemed to sense that my emotions were going off the rails, so he gestured towards Leif.
“I’m going to take Lake out to lunch. We need to talk.”
“What?” I asked.
“I’m hungry, pissed off, and can’t deal. So let’s go eat.”
Leif looked between us, shrugged, waved, and headed back into the shop.
“Keep this between us,” I called out.
“Not going to lie to Brooke,” he said over his shoulder before he jogged back. I just stared at Nick.
“You want to eat right now?”
“There’s a lot of things I want to do right now, but eating sounds good.”
Why did I feel like he wasn’t talking about food? But I wasn’t going to let my mind wander.
“Like, on a date?” I blurted, wondering why that was the first thing that came to mind.
Nick smiled and finally looked relaxed. Because this wasn’t just about me and him, it was about his mom too. Everything. And I didn’t know how to make it better, or even if I should. But I wanted to be with him. Somehow.
“Yeah, Lake. Let’s call it a date.”
And crap.
“Where are we going?” I asked, feeling as though I was having an out of body experience.
“Where do you want to go?” I saw the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw tightened. I knew he wasn’t okay. And it probably had nothing to do with Leif, and maybe not even me. This was something deeper, so we would talk. Because above all else, he was my friend. Even if something might have just shifted.
“How about that café within walking distance?”
“Sure. I know you like that spinach salad they have.”
I smiled. “I do. Although right now I could do with a big hearty sandwich with French bread.”
He groaned. “Damn it, now I want French bread. And you know the best sandwiches and bread that they have are at your friend’s place down in Denver.”
I nodded as I walked beside him. We were both very careful not to touch, as if we knew this moment was important. Why did I feel so awkward? I wasn’t new at dating or whatever this was. But I was new to this version of Nick.
“You don’t have to stay away from me, you know. I’m not going to jump you on the sidewalk. Not unless you ask nicely.”
I nearly tripped over my own feet, reaching out to Nick’s arm to keep me steady. He raised a brow and I rolled my eyes at him.
“You’re trying to make me act the fool.”
“I would say I wasn’t trying, but that would make you feel as though I was actually calling you the fool. And you’re not.”
“So what am I?”
He looked down at me, his face impassive. “You’re my friend Lake. Even if sometimes you annoy the fuck out of me.”
I stared at him, my mouth open, before I threw my head back and laughed.
An older woman walked past us, glaring, but I ignored her. “Oh my God. Is that how you’re going to hit on me?”
“I don’t need to hit on you, Lake.”
“Excuse me? No. If you want whatever ‘this’ to happen, you’re going to have to work for it.”
“Oh I can work for it. But I don’t have to hit on you. I can just be myself. And you can be yourself. Maybe we can finally figure out what the fuck we’re doing.”
“Does this work on other women?”
“You’re not other women, Lake.”
Maybe some part of me should have taken that as a blow, considering I knew he saw more than his fair share of women. But not with the way that Nick said it. He meant something different. And I sort of hated the fact that I was melting.
“So you’re not going to hit on me?”
“No. I can still make you swoon.”
I pushed at his arm. “I do not swoon. And seriously? Are these real moves you’re using?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, Lake. But I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
“Okay, we can do that.”
“Finally.”
He took my hand and practically dragged me into the café.
I held back a laugh, because I knew he was annoyed about this whole situation too. This wasn’t what I was used to, this Nick who wasn’t sure of himself, and yet growling. But I think I liked it. And there was probably something wrong with me because of that.
“Okay then,” he said as we sat down at a table, looking at the menu. “How’d that vampire thing go?”
I blinked up at him. “As in pointy teeth?”
He just stared at me. “You had a meeting with the vampire lady.”
It took me a minute to realize what he was saying. “The café. Oh, it’s going great. It’ll be up and running soon. I’m happy that I’m an investor. You’re really going to like it.”
“There’s not real blood or anything, is there?”
“There’s going to be no blood,” I said with a laugh. “There will be drinks and blood bags. And random vampire-esque and goth-esque items.”
“There will be a cheese plate though, right? You’re a Montgomery. There needs to be a cheese plate.”
I put my hand to my chest. “Of course there’s going to be a cheese plate. Who do you think I am?”
“Well, it’s the little things. We worry.”
I smiled at him, and before I could say anything, the waitress was there, and we ordered two sandwiches on crusty French bread and iced teas.
“I’m surprised you didn’t get a cheese plate for lunch now.”
I put my hand over my stomach. “I thought about it. But I was craving the one down at our other café.” I whispered that last part, and he bit back a smile.
“Your next goal in your world-takeover business is to find a person to come and build our favorite café next to the shop.”
“I’ll think about it. But I have a few other things in mind first.”
“Are you talking about work now? Or something else.”
I pressed my lips together as the waitress came back with our iced teas. Grateful, I gulped a good third of mine, while Nick just stared at me, shaking his head.
“What? I’m trying to remember what I was doing.”
“How about you just talk to me.”
“I was going to say the same to you.”
He looked at me, then shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about my mom. Or anyone else right now.”
“What are we doing then?” I asked, and he rolled his eyes.
“For fuck’s sake, I hate that question.”
My lips twitched. “Well, it’s a good question.”
“Maybe. But do we need a label? It’s been forty-five minutes.”
He sounded so grumpy, and I liked it. There was seriously something wrong with me.
“Okay. No labels. We’ll just be. So I guess this means we get to eat cheese and sandwiches and go out together, and then what?”
“And we don’t hide whatever this is.”
I looked at him. “I would never want to hide this. I also don’t want the rest of our family to be in the middle of the situation at all times.”
“So we’re in a situation?”
I flipped him off discreetly and he just snorted.
“Sorry. Sorry.”
“You better be. But I don’t want our family to have an opinion. Or at least one that’s going to shade everything.”
“See. You said it right there. Our family. ’Cause yeah, Leif is family.”
“So we figure things out. No labels, no interruptions. And you’re allowed to growl.”
He looked at me and laughed, looking far too sexy for his own damn good.
Then he leaned across the table and kissed me hard on the mouth. I blushed, ducking my head.
“Thank you. I will. I like spending time with you. I like seeing your mind work. I like going out to dinner with you when we talk about random shit that we see around us. I like the fact that when you’re worried about work that you actually tell me things. At least, we used to. So let’s keep doing that. And every once in a while, I’m going to kiss you.”
Damn it. It was getting really hard not to freak out when he spoke like that. Because he was amazing. He was great. And he got me.
And I hated it. Because I didn’t want him to get me. Or maybe that was the problem. Maybe I wanted him to get me. What exactly would that mean?
“You’re thinking too much again.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’m not thinking enough.”
He shook his head. “No. Far too much. We’ll just be . And if this fades, you don’t look at me like I’m a horrible person. And I won’t be a horrible person. And you don’t stay away from your family because you’re afraid of hurting me.”
I looked at him, the kick to the gut unexpected.
“I wouldn’t.”
“I don’t want you to lose your family because you’re worried about me.”
“I was just thinking I don’t want you to lose this family because you’re worried about me.”
“So we don’t worry. And we don’t mess this up.”
And when the waitress handed us our sandwiches, Nick took my hand and kissed my palm. I swallowed hard, my emotions a little too much.
Because this had come out of left field, even though truly it hadn’t if I looked back hard enough.
I couldn’t mess this up.
Only, I had this horrible worry that I would.
I refused to let him get hurt.
No matter if my heart broke along the way.