Chapter Twenty-One #2
Chloe smiled. ‘I was very awkward and distributed the flowers poorly, but thank you, James. Oh, Sam is a professor, too, like Mom, and James does something in city government.’
James rolled his eyes as though this was an old family joke. ‘I’m the mayor,’ he told Nicky.
Chloe waved a hand to her left at the fit young guy who seemed uncomfortable in his khakis and polo shirt.
‘And last, but certainly not least, is Devin. He was with us when I was in high school and gave great advice on the twisted minds of teenage boys and never ever told Mom about that time he had to pick me up because I was sloshed.’
‘Two times,’ Devin corrected, with a smile. ‘There was that time at Grant’s when—’
Chloe waved her hands dramatically. ‘Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay, let’s not go into those details.’
‘What details?’ Lucy asked.
‘It was fine!’ Chloe said cheerily to Lucy. ‘See, I’m here and I’m fine.’ Chloe turned to Nicky. ‘Devin is the women’s soccer coach at the university where Mom and Sam work. Phew, so there. That’s everyone, yeah?’
Nicky said, ‘Thank you.’ Desperately trying to infuse it with the sincerity he felt. ‘I do hope you were joking about that quiz, though.’
Conversation turned to the wedding, with Chloe answering questions about flowers and cocktails and all sorts of things Nicky didn’t have a clue about. He simply nodded, and tried not to stare at Lucy as she smiled and laughed along with Chloe.
It was only after the food arrived, and Nicky was three bites into his eggs Benedict, that he noticed the room had gone completely silent. He looked up and found three pairs of eyes on him.
‘Oh, God. Sorry,’ said Sam.
James offered, ‘I told him not to stare.’
James had been staring, too, but it didn’t seem the time to mention it.
‘Can we talk about it now?’ Sam asked as he eyed various people around the table.
‘Talk about what?’ Lucy asked dryly, fooling no one.
‘Ugh, okay,’ Sam said, laying down his fork with a chunk of breakfast ham still attached. ‘I know I’m supposed to be cool about it and not freak out. But, dude ,’ he said, looking at Nicky, ‘you’re Nick Broome .’
Nicky couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Uh, yeah. I am.’
‘Holy shit,’ Sam said.
‘Funny, that’s what my mom calls me,’ Nick joked.
‘I’m just …’ tried Sam. ‘My mind is blown.’
A bunch of heads nodded. Kim’s sort of shook back and forth as she stared at her fruit salad.
‘I saw you in Philly. In 2016,’ Devin grumbled, as though suddenly pissed about it.
‘Oh, yeah?’ Nicky did some quick math and scanned his mind over the roughly seventy-million shows he’d performed in his life. ‘Was it the one where Dave Grohl came on for a few?’
‘Yeah,’ said Devin.
Lucy’s hand stopped midway to her water. Nicky eyed her curiously, wondering if she was all right.
Nicky added, ‘That was a good show. At least from up front. I hope you had a good time.’
‘Yeah,’ he grumbled, even more pissed about it. ‘I did.’
Lucy turned slowly toward him. ‘You know Dave Grohl?’
‘Sure,’ Nicky replied. ‘Why?’
Lucy replied, ‘Um, this may be out of line but … can you tell him that I love him with all my heart and that The Colour and the Shape changed my life. And that I love him. Oh, and that his eyelashes are mesmerizing. And he’s the best drummer ever.’ She paused. ‘And also, that I love him.’
‘Yeah, you said that already.’ Nicky laughed.
‘Said what?’
‘That you love him.’
‘It bears repeating. You can say it as many times as you feel comfortable with,’ Lucy instructed. Then added, ‘As long as it’s no fewer than three.’
Nicky cracked up at both the earnestness and complete insanity of that statement. ‘You really want me to say that to him? Word for word?’
‘Yes, dammit!’ Lucy slapped his arm playfully. ‘I’ve been wanting to say that to him for about thirty years, give or take a month.’
‘She had a Dave Grohl poster on her wall in high school, Nick,’ chimed Kim. ‘Not Kurt Cobain. Dave Grohl.’
‘Got a thing for drummers?’ Nicky asked.
‘Just one. That one,’ Lucy replied.
Note to self, lose Dave Grohl’s number.
‘Okay,’ Nicky said matter-of-factly.
Lucy sputtered, ‘Really?’
‘Sure. I’m going to call him.’ Nicky pulled his phone from his pocket. ‘Right now, as a matter of fact,’ he said, calling Lucy’s bluff.
‘That’s okay,’ Lucy said, smiling. ‘I don’t mind. He needs to know.’ Her grin widened. ‘That I love him.’
Nicky scrolled through his contacts. Actually clicked on Grohl’s contact page. ‘Was that two times that you love him?’
‘Three,’ Chloe piped up cheekily. ‘Minimum.’
‘Thank you, Chloe,’ Nicky replied.
Moving with ridiculous speed, Lucy snatched the phone from Nicky’s hand and shoved it between her ass and the chair.
‘You are probably committing an actual butt-dial right now.’ Nicky laughed.
‘Since it’s your phone, I don’t feel bad about it,’ Lucy teased.
‘It’s cute how you think I won’t just dive in there and get it,’ Nicky said, raising an eyebrow for effect.
‘Try me, Broome.’ Lucy chuckled.
The sound of someone loudly clearing their throat pulled Nicky’s focus back to the table. It was Kim, covering her mouth with a napkin, but obviously trying to get their attention.
Then Nicky realized that the entire table was ogling them, their eyes bouncing between Nicky and Lucy like they were a couple of zoo animals copulating in front of an observation window. Devin, especially, gave him the feeling of being examined and considered like a specimen behind glass.
Nicky and Lucy both silently went back to work on their food, Lucy’s ass still warming his phone.
Sam tried to cover the awkwardness by blurting, ‘“The Breathing Room” was the first dance at our wedding.’
Nicky’s heart traveled directly to his throat, making it next to impossible to swallow the bite of eggs he was chewing. He coughed. Tried to breathe.
His head whipped toward Lucy, whose blue eyes had shuttered, even as her fork moved around her plate.
‘It was,’ James said dreamily, looking at his husband.
Nicky let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. It was Sam and James ’s first dance. Not Sam and Lucy’s.
Fuck.
Nicky didn’t have time to ponder why the idea of Lucy dancing to ‘The Breathing Room’ at her wedding to some other guy had made his chest feel too tight.
‘That’s great,’ Nicky said, struggling to get the food down past the lump in his throat. ‘I’ve heard it’s a popular song for that. Weddings.’
‘What’s your first dance going to be, Chloe?’ Kim asked.
‘“Grow Old With Me,”’ Chloe replied. ‘No offense, Nick.’
‘None taken,’ he said. ‘John Lennon?’
‘Tom Odell,’ she said.
‘Solid choice.’
The rest of the meal passed with Nicky feeling increasingly sick to his stomach, a condition he did not attribute to the excellent food.
He was asked about his Grammys and where he kept his platinum records. Chloe offered further details on the honeymoon. Brandon spoke about the Hamptons. Devin said something about a marathon. Nicky couldn’t seem to hold on to any of the threads of conversation.
He knew he and Lucy had to get the song stuff out in the open. Intellectually, he recognized it as a barrier. A fixed stopping point to anything more that he might hope to have with her. He just really didn’t know how to bring it up. Or, to be honest, what to say.
Nicky was beginning to suspect that the song meant something to Lucy. He had felt her stiffen next to him when Sam brought it up, couldn’t help but note how her eyes had closed as though pushing it away. And it scared the shit out of him.