Chapter 12
12
Nick
“ G et Ready With Me! You’ll never believe where I’m going. I’m not just going to a ball. I’m not just going to Versailles. I’m not just going to a ball at Versailles! I’m going to the, wait for it, Grand Masked Ball! Holy forkin’ shit! So…we have three choices. First choice. Remember that Lanvin gown I found at that vintage store in Marais? The burnt orange column dress with the funky ruffles…well, I had it tailored and I was able to get that little red wine stain out of the hem. Though, honestly, I kind of loved that stain, you know? The woman who wore that dress in 1972, she liked a good time. Anyway. Are you ready? How amazing is…this?”
In the video Nora stood in her bathroom in Paris, surrounded by black and white tiles with gold fixtures, and she stepped back from the camera and dropped her bathrobe to reveal her orange strapless dress that fell in one long sheet down her body. There was a ruffle at her knee and another one at her feet – I didn’t understand it, but she was so happy in that video.
I skipped down to the next video, which, arguably, was my favorite. Nora wore a deep blue ball gown that some modern designer had given her for the event, that hugged her waist and made her tits look awesome.
“Can you believe it? I’m literally Cinderella.”
The knock on the door startled me. Instantly, I swiped off the app and tossed my phone on the couch like it was a snake.
It wasn’t unusual for someone to knock on my apartment door after hours. There was always someone in town who needed a jump or a tow. It never bothered me. Being the lone mechanic in a small town was similar to being the town doctor. Always on call, really.
Right before I opened the door, I had a weird sense of déjà vu that took me back six years ago. When it had been Nora, standing there, on her birthday asking me to…
“No,” I barked at myself and yanked open the door.
“A little harsh there, bro.”
Wyatt stood, arms crossed, on the landing just outside my door. It was always so startling seeing one of these guys up close. It wasn’t just because I usually saw them on my television or because they were so damn big. Like they were a different species kind of big.
It was that I couldn’t stop the thought that crossed my brain every single time.
Brother.
“I wasn’t talking to you, I was…never mind. What are you doing here?”
“Syd had to fly back to L.A. for the weekend.”
“Okay?”
“Liam’s got a game tonight.”
None of this explained why he was at my door. “So?”
“Dad’s at Liam’s game,” he said, as if that was a perfectly logical answer.
“But why are you here?”
“What are you talking about? I’m here to watch the game with someone.” He bent over and picked up a six pack of my favorite local beer and a bag of potato chips. “Sour cream and onion. If we’re actually related by blood, they’ll be your favorite.”
They were.
Still, I tried one last time to dodge what I imagined he thought might be a bonding experience. “I don’t remember saying anything about being open to unexpected company.”
“You didn’t. But I’m all alone in this town.” He made a pathetic face which looked ridiculous on him.
“Give me a break,” I said, but I opened the door all the way and took the beer from him.
He stepped inside and pointed at my dark television. “What? You don’t like hockey?”
I did. If the Bruisers were on, I was usually watching. Though less now that I knew the truth. I’d been a huge fan of Liam, but once I knew he was my half-brother, I couldn’t watch him without feeling…uncomfortable.
“I was pre-occupied.” I found the remote and turned the game on. It was scoreless in the first period.
Wyatt plopped down on my couch and opened the bag of chips. I pulled two beers from the carrier, opened both and put the remainder in the fridge.
The living area of my apartment wasn’t huge. It was only half the size of the garage. There was room enough for the couch and one other chair, which I knew damn well was uncomfortable as hell. A woman I’d been dating a few years ago took it upon herself to buy it for me, because she needed a place to read when she came for overnight stays. I think she’d read in the damn thing once. I’d offered to return it after we were done, but she’d refused.
So I sat on the other end of the couch, sipped my beer and grunted when I wanted him to pass me the bag of chips. Wyatt, who was usually the strong and silent type, kept up a steady stream of commentator on everyone’s play.
“Are you practicing?” I asked him, annoyed by Wyatt being there, but as a hockey fan I was enjoying the commentary.
“For what?”
“For being a hockey commenter?”
“Not sure. I’ve got a Game of the Week I’m doing next week to test things out with the network. So we’ll see. Future’s uncertain just yet. Syd and I want to settle down first, map out a five-year plan, that kind of thing.”
Five-year plan. I didn’t have a five-day plan. Other than going to the wedding with Nor, there was nothing on my calendar. I glanced at my phone which was sitting between us on the couch, face down. I’d double checked it. It’s not like it was going to spontaneously start playing her videos.
“Ran into a friend of yours at the diner.” Wyatt sat up, every muscle tense, his eyes glued to the screen. “There it is, Liam, there it is. His left side is weak…Nice!”
The red goal light behind the net went off and Liam lifted his stick in the air like a Viking marauder, as his team rushed to him on the ice.
“Will you lay off about Nora? I told you, she’s just a friend.” I didn’t want to talk about Nora and that strange moment in the garage before Terry came and I felt compelled to sign up for fake date duty.
That morning she’d been standing beside me and she had an eyelash on her cheek. It had taken everything in me not to reach up with my filthy hands and brush it off. The urge to touch her filled me with guilt, but I couldn’t pretend it hadn’t been there.
Wyatt grinned at me like he knew something I didn’t. “You mean the cute brunette, who I heard is working at your garage? Nice move, by the way. Keep her real close. Wasn’t talking about her. Guy named Mal. Fifty-ish. Nasty looking scars on his face. He said he’s got some property he’s willing to sell. Said you gave him permission.”
“I didn’t…” I took a breath. “Mal does what he wants to do. I just told him I had no beef with you moving to town. He owns most of the property around here, so if he’s willing to sell you some, consider yourself lucky.”
“Thanks.”
“Whatever,” I said and kept my eyes fixed on the game. And my phone. Did it buzz? Was it Nora telling me to forget being her date to that wedding?
When she’d been making videos in Paris, I’d had a notification set up so every time she posted I’d know about it. Got so bad I’d drop everything just to watch it and then I’d save them to rewatch.
“Is she why you keep looking at your phone?” Wyatt asked.
“Huh?” I said, shoving chips into my mouth so I wouldn’t have to answer.
Wyatt laughed and shook his head. “Dude, I’ve been there.”
“I’m nowhere,” I insisted.
“You can fight it. You can dodge it. Tell yourself it’s not happening. Even tell yourself you don’t want it, but once it grabs hold of you there’s no shaking it. I knew after one day I was going to spend my life with Syd, and then wasted a whole bunch of time trying to prove myself wrong.”
“For the last time,” I said between gritted teeth. “Nora’s just a friend.”
“Uh huh. Another beer?” he offered and I nodded. Definitely another beer was a good idea. He walked into the kitchen and came back with two more.
“You know,” he said as he plopped down on the couch again. A commercial about some prescription medicine that gave you the shits as a side effect was apparently not enough to grab his attention. “You could always just…test the waters.”
“What?”
“Test the waters,” he repeated. “Maybe take this person, who’s been a friend and only a friend, out on a date. See if you can unfriend-zone her.”
I shook my head. “Not possible.”
“Okay. I’ll shut up about it.”
“Thank you,” I said tightly.
Test the waters. I didn’t even know what the hell that meant. I mean it wasn’t like I was going to…kiss her? How bizarre would that be? To kiss Nora. To feel her lips under my lips. I had to guess it would be like discovering kissing for the first time.
“Liam, no!” Wyatt barked at the television. “He’s looking to egg you into a fight. Stay away from that asshole.”
“What the fuck does testing the waters even mean? In practical terms,” I asked.
Wyatt shrugged and took a sip of beer that drained half the bottle. “It means taking her some place you wouldn’t normally take her. Get out of your comfort zone. Dress up. Take her someplace special.”
“Like a wedding?”
“Exactly, like a wedding. She’ll be dressed up, you’ll be…” he scanned my jeans and t-shirt. We wore the same work boots and he was in sweat pants, so I wasn’t sure what he was getting on his high horse about. “Hopefully a better version of you. Maybe you have a nice slow dance, hold her close and just see.”
“See what?” I asked, exacerbated.
What was I going to see? It was going to be Nora. Nora who I adored, cared about and would kill for. None of that had changed in six years. My feelings for her were what they always were, they were just never going to be sexual.
Never?
“Do I really have to spell this out for you?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I said, because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to see when it came to Nora.
“It’s basic biology, man. You wait for the music to slow down, you pull her up close into your chest and you gaze deep into her eyes-”
“Geezus, you sound like a fucking country music song . Your fiancé is rubbing off on you.”
“Hey, you asked the question,” he shoved my shoulder and it made me want to punch him in the face. “You do those things and if your dick twitches…welp, then she’s not a friend.”
“Dick twitch, that’s your answer?”
“To this particular question, yes.”
Not a friend. More than a friend? It seemed like a mistake waiting to happen. Like the whole thing could blow up, leaving me without her. These last six years had been grim, without her. I wasn’t interested in seeing that stretch out for the rest of my life.
Wyatt leaned back against the couch. Took a pull on his beer and sighed like a man who was content with his life. There was something about his ease that made me jealous. “It’s basic biology. If your dick twitches…it means you want to fuck her.”
Fuck Nora?
Fuck me.