Chapter 8 Nina
Nina
Two nights in Lincoln Carter’s apartment.
I’d slept in Lincoln’s guest room, bed soft as a marshmallow.
No, Lincoln, we can’t share a bed because we’re celibate.
The look on his smug face was priceless.
That stupid dimpled smile insinuating I’d help him in the shower.
Sure, Lincoln was attractive, anyone could see that, but I wanted my men to not be sociopaths, thank you.
I sighed. It had been a while. I’d been so consumed by Infinity Weddings—and for what?
Kevin’s visit a few months ago had been the first time I’d let loose in ages.
Back then, when we were together, my days were swallowed by internships, my evenings by waitressing.
The nights, though, were ours. We filled them with fun and love.
We’d lasted almost two years before he got an offer in New York.
We knew the truth now: there was no “us” anymore. Just stolen weekends and nostalgia.
The coffee had finished dripping a while ago, so I poured myself and Lincoln a cup. I had no idea how he took his coffee, but he didn’t know that …
Taking my mug to the counter, I called Vinny. One ring, two, three, four. Just when I thought he’d send me to voicemail again, his voice came through on the other line.
“Vinny, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since Tuesday!”
“Well, excuse me, Nins, but you and I aren’t exactly buds of the year. Figured you’d want another f—”
“I’m actually doing you a favor.”
He scoffed. “Like I’d need a favor from you …”
“Vin … your dickhead brigade of friends isn’t around, and I need to talk to you. Cut it out.”
“Alright, Nina.” He huffed. “What’s up?”
“I got a visit from Captain Dickhead after work two days ago.” I exhaled, dragging my hand through my hair.
“I was trying to get away, not paying attention.” I swallowed, giving Vinny an opportunity to ask questions, but he didn’t, so I continued.
“Honestly, he got hurt pushing me away from a car. It was an accident.”
For a minute, I let myself feel it. The guilt of getting someone hurt to the point they needed cared for, for days. It lodged between my lungs, heating from the inside out, frothing ’til it threatened to overflow. I tried to swallow it down, but it clung thickly to my throat, refusing to die down.
Vinny let out a long sigh, and I heard his fingertips doing that rhythmic tapping he did when he was anxious.
“Yeah,” he whispered, resigned. “I buy that. He can be intense. Especially to you.”
It was Lincoln, I reminded myself. I’d been walking away from his hate. The guilt simmered. Then Vinny’s words registered; I never thought he realized Lincoln was a dick to me—or to anybody.
There was a long sigh on the other end, the kind that rattled through the speaker and settled heavy in my ear. “What’s the deal now?” he asked.
“He’s okay physically, but he has retrograde amnesia.
” I tapped my feet against the leg of the barstool.
“Vin, it’s bad. Last thing he remembers is talking to you about my parents and that your cousin was about to move in.
Supposedly, it’s just personal memories, people, experiences.
He knows how to heat up some chicken noodle soup without setting his apartment on fire. ”
“Wait a minute, why were you in his apartment?”
This is the shitshow I needed his help to fix.
“They couldn’t get a hold of you, Vin.” I let that sit with him a second, fisting my hand on the counter.
“You’re his emergency contact, but I was there in the ambulance with him.
Now, somehow, he thinks I’ve been his girlfriend and wants me to live with him forever. ”
I took deep breaths, trying to keep myself from raising my voice. Then this awful cousin of mine, who ignored me on a good day, laughed. A burst of laughter. At my expense.
“Vincent, this isn’t funny.” He kept at it. “The doctors said not to tell him. It’d slow his progress, but now he thinks I’ve moved in.” He was laughing so hard I could barely hear myself. “Vinny!” I finally shouted.
“I’m sorry, Nins, I’m really sorry.”
“You don’t sound sorry at all!”
“It’s just really fucking funny!” He chuckled. “I always kind of thought he had a crush on you.”
Lincoln Carter crushing on me. Yeah, and I was a millionaire.
“Tell me you’re flying back the minute we get off the phone.”
“Look—” Vinny exhaled, his voice calm. “I know it feels like a joke, but isn’t it convenient?
You needed a new place, a cheaper place.
Now you don’t even have to pay rent.” He giggled.
“Run with it, Nina! Give up the studio and save yourself some money. Tit for tat and all. It’s actually kind of perfect for both of you!
” I could picture his signature hand wave, the whole situation just a silly little thing.
“Vin, he’s going to recover his memory, and I’ll find myself homeless!” I was being too loud, Lincoln would hear, but I struggled to care. Maybe that was it. I should just have him overhear us and end this charade.
“He’s not going to do that, Nins.”
I didn’t dignify that with a response and just let the awkward silence thickening between us speak for itself.
Vin sighed heavily, raw, resigned. “Okay. Okay.” He clicked his tongue. “Listen, he’s not bad, you guys just … never got around to fixing things. Sure, high school was bad, but this could be a fresh start.”
My nails created crescent moons in my palm. “You know what he did and what it cost me.”
The unavoidable, uncomfortable truth took a silent hold between us. Vinny had failed to stand by me over his dickhead friends. I never asked him for protection, but an ally would have been nice.
“I can’t go home, Nina,” he finally responded, tone shifting to business. That’s Vinny for you: solutions driven. “There’s this deal I need to close. If I could, I would.”
I huffed. “It’s always something with you, Vinny.” I gave a shaky exhale. “Just like your parents.”
“Don’t compare me to them,” Vinny snarled.
Maybe the comparison was unfair, Vinny and I’d had our moments, hadn’t we?
He’d get me extra food every time he went to restaurants, given me rides to and from school or work.
There were even a couple of times that year he’d made me laugh so hard my ribs hurt.
I didn’t doubt Vinny was different from his parents.
Or maybe admitting I’d been all alone was too heavy to hold.
“We’re not getting anywhere. I can’t be around him.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Vinny said. It was almost like he was in front of me, straightening his shoulders as if I was a client he was winning over.
This should be good. “You stay with him for the next two and half weeks while I’m away.
Give up your lease, all that crap. When I come back, you can stay with me and save money.
” He was fueling his own fire. “I’ll even let you stay at my place alone, and I’ll stay with Linc.
Hell, I’ll give you a deposit for a decent place. ”
My chest tightened, panic clawing up my throat.
Vinny was supposed to help me untangle this mess, not leave me stranded in it.
I wanted to argue, and opened my mouth to spit the reasons why this was a horrible idea, but there was no point, he wouldn’t step up.
I’d just have to carry Lincoln on my own.
At least this time Vinny offered something.
The absence of no was all he needed.
“Thank you, Nins.” He let out a heavy breath. “Taking him to the hospital, keeping an eye on him, hell, living with him. It means a lot you’d take care of my friend.”
I shifted in the stool, uncomfortable with this unfamiliar appreciation from Vin. “So, I’m not such a lost cause after all, huh?” It was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“Nins …” His voice sounded heavy with emotion.
“Hey, it’s—”
When I lifted my eyes, Lincoln was in the doorway, wearing dark-wash jeans and a white T-shirt. His brow pinched and jaw set.
“Lincoln’s here,” I said.
“He is? Can I talk to him?”
“Hey, Lincoln.” His eyes pierced me with their intensity. “Vinny wants to talk to you.”
He nodded and stepped forward to grab the phone. As he took it from me, his hand fell on my shoulder and squeezed. It was just a quick touch. Meaningless to anyone who saw it, but I still had to fight the urge to move away.
When Lincoln spoke, his chest trembled with contained anger and his eyes darkened.
“What did you do to make Nina feel like a lost cause, Vincent?” His tone and posture could freeze hell over.
I’ve seen it countless times. This was him.
He’d said sweet words and behaved like I was something to him, but the Lincoln who belittled my pain was just on the other side of his memories, waiting to surface.
I’d gotten used to his callousness; I wouldn’t get used to his kindness.
I couldn’t make out Vinny’s muffled words.
“Don’t give me that, Vin, I heard her.” My cousin’s response made Lincoln’s lips twitch—whatever Vin said didn’t land, but he was letting it go.
“Just don’t treat me like I lost my senses too, alright?
I see things.” The edge was still there, but his shoulders had relaxed.
He told him he had an old man’s voice, making Vin laugh.
Lincoln cupped his mouth and lowered his voice, making it impossible to catch what he said.
Linc nodded, then said, “My mom.”
He listened intently to Vinny, but his response was simple. “Yeah, it sucks but makes sense. Thanks, man.”
Lincoln passed the phone back, then effortlessly found a glass and filled it with cold water. What a missed opportunity.
“Is that okay?” Vinny pulled me away from my thoughts.
“Sure, sure,” I said, realizing I had spaced out.
“Really?” Vin clicked his tongue three times. As if it all was just pure entertainment for him. “Nins, I’m really thankful for this.”