Chapter Twelve



Nick adjusted his jacket and looked at himself in the mirror one more time before he drove over to Lucy's place. He knew he was disobeying Brian, and this made it that much more appealing to pursue Lucy. She was wearing a red dress this time, her blonde hair tied back.



"Nick....nice to see you." Lucy said sweetly, grinning at him when he came to her door. He took her to a club downtown where they ate dinner first and then danced.

"Thanks for coming out with me, Lucy. I couldn't get my mind off you these last few days." Nick said softly as they ordered drinks.

"I have thought of you as well. You're wonderful." she answered, her hand stroking his thigh. Nick felt warm, that feeling was coming back again. He licked his lips and grinned, placing his hand on top of hers.

"We still need to be properly introduced," Lucy whispered in his ear before kissing his neck. Nick grinned wider, feeling his blood rise with her touch.

"I can arrange that," he whispered seductively. He took her back to his place and they began to kiss, slowly at first until it escalated. He let her remove his shirt, her hands moving across his back...her nails grazing his spine. Nick had a thing for nails, he loved how they felt on his body. She moved to his pants and that's when he heard Brian's voice in his head.



"I told you to stay away from her." Brian echoed angrily. Nick ignored him and kept kissing Lucy, his hands fumbling with the clasp on her dress.

"I warned you..." Brian said again, and Nick opened his eye to see Brian standing in the room. He wasn't really there, Nick knew he was a figment of his imagination.

"Go away." Nick whispered. Lucy didn't hear him, she was nibbling on his earlobe.

"She's trouble..."

"Stop it!" Nick muttered.



"Excuse me?" she had definitely heard him that time. Nick's eyes went wide and Brian disappeared.

"Lucy...uh..." he said, unable to explain himself. Talking to an imaginary version of his best friend didn't seem like a plausible excuse for interrupting a steamy makeout session, at least not to him anyway. She looked angry, her green eyes narrowed at him...clearly annoyed.

"Do you want me to leave?" Lucy asked. As much as he wanted to go further with her, there was no way he could bring himself to go all the way. What was he thinking?

"I'm getting a little tired of this game, Nick." Lucy scolded him as she got dressed. Nick wanted to kick himself for even taking her to his house, he should have thought about this better.

"Lucy, I really like you...but I think we are moving too fast?" Nick said, more of a question than a response. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed as he followed her to the door.


"I won't wait forever." Lucy said, kissing him gently before she left. Nick sat in his living room, trying to make sense of everything. The pink envelope caught his eye on the coffee table, the one he had found in the hotel a few nights ago.


"I'm coming for you..." he read. Nick still wondered what it meant. Who was coming for him....and when? Nick decided to go for a walk to clear his head....and that's when he found another envelope taped to his door. This one looked just like the other....pink with glitter. His hands shaking...he opened the note.


"I'm here..." he gasped. Nick dropped it and stepped back, his heart racing...looking around as if someone was going to attack him right now. He turned to go into the house, and that's when someone placed their hand on his shoulder. Nick screamed bloody murder, his body trembling.

"Nick...what's wrong?" a soft voice asked. Nick turned to face them, not opening his eyes. If they were going to kill him...Nick didn't want to see who it was.

"Look at me..." the voice said again. Nick finally opened his eyes and gasped.





"Lauren?"