13. A Very Grown, Very Hot Man
A Very Grown, Very Hot Man
Missy
‘This is so weird,’ Zoe says from the iPad propped on Bree’s coffee table.
‘Come home then.’ Bree pouts and Cara wraps an arm around her shoulder.
Girls’ night is a little different with Zo in California, but she still wants to join us.
‘Where’s Leo tonight?’ I ask, and the handsome tattoo artist appears behind Zoe, his inked hands coming to her shoulders.
‘Hey, ladies.’ He smiles. ‘I’m leaving now so you can talk about boys.’ He winks, and Zoe tips her head back so he can lean in to kiss her before he leaves.
‘Oh god.’ Bree moans. ‘Stop being cute.’
‘Can’t,’ Zoe beams, ‘we’re adorable.’
They are — they are so fucking cute it’s ridiculous, but I’m finding it hard to muster a smile. I can’t cope with Nick and his animosity toward me. It’s like he wants to piss me off, wants to fight with me. I’ve longed to have neighbors for years, and now that I have one, he hates me .
‘Miss, you okay?’
I blink and find them all, Zoe included, staring at me, concerned. I must have spaced out.
‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ I shrug, unconvincing.
‘Missy, you look like you want to cry.’
At Bree’s words, I do just that. Unable to stop it, I burst into tears.
‘Oh my god.’ I hear Cara’s sweet accent expressing her concern as I feel her drop into the seat next to me and wrap me up in her arms.
‘What happened?’ Bree asks, firmly, police chief mode engaged.
‘Who are we burying?’ Zoe calls out from the coffee table.
‘It’s nothing.’ I sniff, wiping my tears.
‘Miss, you are not a cryer. What’s got you feeling like this?’ Bree asks.
‘Or who?’ Zoe presses.
‘Ugh.’ I groan, more hot tears coming. Bree’s right. I’m not a crier. I don’t know why he’s got under my skin like this.
‘Is it Nick?’ Cara asks, and all eyes snap to hers. ‘Doug told me the two of you haven’t been getting along.’
‘Nick?’ Zoe questions, and I nod.
‘He’s such an asshole. He is so fucking mean.’
‘ Nick? ’ Bree repeats her twin’s questioning but with a little more feeling, and I can’t hold it in anymore.
‘He hates me. Like he really can’t stand me, and I just wanted to get along with him because he’s my neighbor, you know?’ I shrug. ‘I mean, he’s really my only neighbor, and I thought we’d be friends, but he’s so mean to me. Then he goes and answers the door shirtless and fuck , he’s like Superman but better and with tattoos, that are not just on his arms but his very, very nice chest too, and he comes down to my salon in sweatpants and clearly no boxers, and damn, I needed a minute, but he just wanted to yell at me.’ I’m ranting now, and my friends, the besties that they are, stay quiet and let me. ‘He complains about everything that I do: the work on the apartment and the salon, the parking spaces, my music, my singing, my goddam cooking stinking up the hallway, then he blares his fuckin’ music and wakes Jonah and laughs when I go over there to ask him to turn it down.’
‘Are we talking about the same Nick?’ Zoe interrupts, and I stand from the couch with a frustrated growl.
‘Yes!’ I snap.
‘Miss, it’s just… ’
‘Why are y’all acting like I’m making this up?’
‘Missy, we’re not,’ Bree answers softly. ‘It’s just confusing to us because we’ve known him forever, and the Nick we know actively avoids confrontation.’
‘Well, maybe I’m just special then.’ My arms come out the sides before slapping down against my thighs.
‘Maybe you are.’ I meet Cara’s stare as she smirks and stands. ‘Okay, hear me out.’
‘Turn me around,’ Zoe calls out, and Bree turns the iPad so her sister can see Cara. ‘Okay, go.’
‘When I got here, Doug was awful to me, like, really horrible,’
‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘I saw and heard the way he was with you, and it was always obvious he wanted to bang you. Nick wants nothing to do with me at all.’
‘I don’t know.’ Bree chimes in, and I shake my head. ‘He’s attracted to you — you know that because he hit on you at the wedding.’
‘ What? ’ Zoe screeches.
‘Oh hardly, he was wasted — he could barely even stand.’
‘ Ohh ,’ Zoe’s exclamation has us all turning our attention to the tablet to see her bouncing excitedly. ‘He was wasted, but he was also in a really bad mood. We gave him a ride home, and he was not himself at all.’
‘And that’s exciting because?’
‘ Because my sweet summer child, Nick, can’t talk to women he’s interested in — never has been able to. He fucks it up every time.’
‘ Oh my god .’ Bree stands now. ‘I forgot.’
‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
‘Look, I’m not going to lay his shit out, but Nick is complicated. I’m willing to bet he got so drunk at the wedding because he wanted to talk to you.’
‘And he’s being an asshole now because he’s embarrassed,’ Zoe adds to her sister’s words.
‘That makes no sense.’ I drop back down to sit. He’s a grown man, a very grown, very hot man. There’s no way he can’t talk to women. If he liked me, he’d have made that known.
‘Remember when I said to give him another shot at a first impression?’ Bree asks, and I glare at her.
‘I did that and ended up with a dent in the side of my car.’
‘He’s a good guy, Miss. I’m sorry he’s made you feel shitty, and if you want me to talk to him, you know I will, but I’d put money on his behavior toward you being about something other than him not liking you.’
‘I’ve had my fill of letting men talk to me like shit,’ I say, resigned. ‘I’m not giving him another chance.’
And I mean it. Bree and Zoe know him, and I trust them, but there’s no excuse for the way he’s been treating me. I promised myself a long time ago I’d never let a man make me cry ever again. He made me break that promise to myself, and that’s unforgivable.