Chapter 8 #2
“Thank you, thank you kindly. I have to keep myself together for hot guys such as yourself. Where have you been hiding away?”
“I’ve been keeping myself busy trying to be like your cousin—” He stops in mid-sentence when he sees Cat behind Ava.
“Wow! Who is this?”
Ava steps to the side and sits down. Cat smiles and holds out her hands to Matt.
“Matt Fuller! Oh my God, I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
“Baby girl, look at you all grown up.”
He holds both of her hands and pulls her into his arms for a hug that lasts way too long.
I want to rip his frigging hands off her; his hands are all over her skin.
He whispers something in her hair, and she pulls back, the corner of her mouth lifting up.
He looks her up and down in a way that’s far too familiar.
“Are you two going to stand here looking at each other all night or are you going to sit down?” I snap. The three of them look at me a bit sideways, but I’m beyond caring. Cat moves to sit next to Ava, but I grab her hand and pull her next to me.
“What are you doing?” she hisses.
“Why don’t you sit next to me?”
“Why?”
“It’ll be easier for you to get up, and you’ll have a better view of what’s happening in here.”
She’s looking at me strangely, but I don’t care. I’m sure as hell not letting her sit in a booth in the middle of Matt and Ava. He can sit next to Ava.
“Baby girl, I can’t believe how grown up you look. The last time I saw you was before you left for college. Your hair was pulled back into a ponytail, it was raining, and you had on a jeans skirt and a white shirt. You looked more like you were going to high school than college.”
She looks at Matt from across the table, smiling. “You remember that? I can’t believe you remember that day. I’m impressed.”
“I wasn’t sure if you were ready to leave home, but I was wrong. You’re all grown up now, and it appears going away was a good thing.”
“Yes, it was. I learned how to make my own decisions and to do some things on my own. It was a good experience, and I’m glad I made the decision to leave, but I’m glad I’m back. I missed New York, my family and my friends.” She looks at Ava when she says the last.
“I have no doubt that they missed you as much as you missed them, maybe even more.” He reaches over and puts his hand on top of hers with an intense look in his eyes.
She looks back at him and smiles a soft smile that reaches her eyes.
What the hell is going on here with all the looks and the touching?
Clearly I shouldn’t be worried about all the men in here looking at her.
I should be worried about Matt, who can’t seem to keep his freaking hands off her.
“Baby girl, do you want a drink?”
What the fuck is up with the “baby girl?” Is that her new name?
They knew each other before, but he didn’t know her well enough to be calling her baby girl.
He even remembers what she was wearing the day she moved away.
Why was he even there that day? Wait a minute—is this the fucking so-called friend of her brother’s? He better not be.
“Yes, thanks, Long Island iced tea.”
“Ava, Nick, can I get you something?”
Ava says she’ll have the same as Cat, and I knock back my Patrón because I definitely need another drink.
“Scotch on the rocks.” When he leaves, Ava turns to me.
“Scotch already? I hope you’re not planning on driving home?”
“No. My driver’s outside.”
“Then get your drink on. I won’t say another word.”
“You have a driver now?” Cat asks me.
“I only use him for business purposes or times like this, when I know I’m going to drink and I don’t want to drive. I didn’t know you and Matt were so close.”
“We’re friends; you and Chris used to spend a fair amount of time with him.”
“Yeah, we did.” I look her directly in her eyes, and she turns to Ava like she’s asking her for help.
I turn my attention to Ava, daring her to say something.
She’s surprisingly quiet, and I know she knows what I’m thinking about Matt and Cat.
Chris walks up to the table before I can ask my next question.
“What’s up, sis? You finally showed up. I thought maybe you changed your mind.”
“We couldn’t decide what to wear, but we figured it out.”
“I see. Did you bring a shawl with that…dress?”
“Not you too, Chris. I already got an earful from your buddy over here.”
“She’s not an old lady,” Ava says to him.
He turns to Ava like he notices her for the first time. She licks her lips and smiles at him, dimple flashing and he returns her smile.
“Ava, I didn’t know you were coming, you look…very nice.”
Now I know he’s tipsy. Ava’s eyes light up at his compliment, and I know she’s going to take full advantage of it.
“Thank you. I think this is the first time you’ve ever given me a genuine compliment.”
“You sure about that?” He looks at her with a crooked smile, like he’s trying to remember.
“Trust me, I would have remembered one of those from you.”
He stops looking at Ava and turns back to Cat. “Hmm. What were you saying, Cat?”
“Nothing.”
Ava and Cat exchange glances. My cousin’s practically glowing—this is probably the first time Chris has ever given her a compliment. She’s going to be the happiest person in here tonight.
He looks around scanning the room. “Where did Matt go?”
“He went to get us drinks.”
“He won’t be back for a while, it’s packed over there. You practically have to elbow your way through the crowd to get to the bar. Shawn told me to tell you guys hi and bye; he left with some chick he met.”
I see a girl in a skin-tight black dress looking in our direction. “Isn’t that the girl you were dancing with earlier?”
“Where?” He looks behind him and puts his drink on the table.
“To your right, she’s headed this way.” Cat and Ava turn to get a look at her.
“You don’t look happy to see her.” I smile to myself because he looks ready to bolt.
“From a distance her body and her face were rocking. But when I got close up, it was all plastic,” he says, looking beyond disappointed. He got a Twinkie.
We start laughing, and he turns back to us. “I’m not against it or anything, a little nip here, a tuck there, but damn, give me something that’s real.”
I nod my head at Cat in agreement. “I know exactly what you mean. There can never be a substitute for the real thing.” She smiles and looks away.
Ava stands up next to Chris and places her hands on his shoulders, and with a slight southern drawl she says, “Don’t worry, I’ll save you.
Everything over here is all natural, no fillers or additives necessary.
Let’s go hit the floor so she can see you’re taken by a real woman, not plastic Barbie. ”
He sighs before he lets her lead him in the opposite direction of his former dance partner train wreck.
“Fine, but I’m going to need to get another drink from the bar first.” Off they go with her swaying her hips to the beat of a Robin Thicke song. Cat and I watch them make their way through the crowd to the bar.
“He just made her entire year—like summer vacation, Christmas, and her birthday all rolled into one.” She looks at me with a smile on her face, and I can’t help but stare at her lips. I love her smile.
“I know, this is probably the happiest day of her life,” I say, pulling my eyes off her lips and back up to her eyes.
“Do you think those two are ever going to get together?”
“Are we?” She stops smiling and her body tenses. I shouldn’t have said that.
“Look, Matt’s coming back with our drinks.”
Great. “What’s with the baby girl?”
“Nothing, he used to call me that sometimes, because I was Chris’s baby sister.”
“You’re not his baby or his girl. He sounds like an old pimp about to put you to work.”
“He does not.”
“Maybe you can have that written across your ass on a pair of sweat pants.” I look at her with a smirk on my face. “In big, bold letters.”
“You need to stop.”
“Come on, you have to admit it’s a little funny, think about it.”
“My dad calls me baby girl sometimes.”
“How old is he again? Besides, you actually are his baby girl.”
“Jealous much?”
“Never.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“I’m sure there is. He’s yours?” I point my head in Matt’s direction and watch her reaction.
“What?”
“You heard me.” I study her while she nervously bites her lower lip. I’m instantly turned on at a time I shouldn’t be, but that’s the effect she’s had on me since she came back. If I’m being honest, since she was thirteen. She looks at me with pleading eyes.
“Nick, please don’t say anything, don’t make a scene. It was a long time ago, and we’re friends now, and he’s always treated me with respect and kindness.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You know if you start this Chris will come over here and side with you. Don’t do this, not tonight. If you care about me, let it go.”
“You know I care about you. I always will.” Sighing, I brush a piece of her hair behind her ears watching her profile as Matt walks toward us.
“Nick, let it go. It was a long time ago. Please. It was fully my choice, he didn’t know what was going to happen that night and neither did I, but it was my decision. He was completely respectful.”
“Fine. Only the one time?”
“Does it matter?” She looks at me, lips parted.
“Yes, it does.”
“Only once.”
“Okay, I won’t say any more about it tonight.”
“Good. The last thing I want broadcasted in a crowded club to my brother is that I lost my virginity to one of his friends.”
Well, how the hell do you think I feel hearing it?