Nick Carter was carrying groceries and approached his house. He knew his girlfriend, Natalie, was there because he saw her car. He loved when she dropped by for a surprise visit. The things she could do with that body. He had to stop that train of thought. He needed to get these groceries away before anything perishable went bad. He couldn’t get her out of his head. He could envision her long flowing blond hair, and her sparkling green eyes and her practically perfect body. He reached the door and tried the knob. Why did Nat lock the door? He fumbled with his keys while struggling not to drop the groceries.

He finally got the door open and walked through his living room until he reached his kitchen. He unloaded the bags onto the kitchen table. He then began sorting out what needed to be refrigerated and what could be stored in the pantry. Once his groceries were put away, he went in search of Natalie.

He checked the basement which held game room, studio and gym. She wasn’t in the game room or the gym and his studio was always locked when he wasn’t in it. He went up to the main floor. She wasn’t in the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, which he knew from when he was putting his groceries away. There is a bathroom just off the kitchen, and he wondered if she was in there. But when he passed it and saw an open door, he knew she wasn’t. The only other place she could be on that floor was his office. He headed to that room. He opened the door to a dark room. The computer wasn’t running so that meant she hadn’t just stepped out of the room for something. He headed upstairs. There was only one place she would be up here. He started toward his room. As he got closer to his room, he began to hear moaning. He didn’t think anything of it, because she frequently watched porn. He got the shock of his life when he opened his door. There was Natalie, naked.

Normally, he loved it when she was waiting naked for him. The problem was, she wasn’t waiting for him. She was getting fucked from behind, while giving another guy a blow job.

He held his breath to stop a sob that was threatening to escape. He felt his stomach churn and tasted bile in the back of his mouth. He ran out of the room and to the bathroom down the hall. He made it just in time to vomit.

When he was sure he was done, he leaned back, resting his head on the tiled wall. He let the tears he was holding back fall, and he began sobbing quietly. How could she do this to me? I love her. I really do. I thought she was the one for me. He felt his stomach churn again and soon he found himself vomiting again.

Natalie, wearing only his bathrobe, entered the bathroom while he was throwing up the second time. “Oh baby, are you sick?” She said as she began rubbing his upper back.

“Don’t touch me.” He said weakly. “Get out.” He said with a little more strength.

“Ok. I’ll wait for you outside the bathroom.”

Nick flushed the toilet as he stood up on shaky legs. “No.”

“No?”

“I didn’t mean get out of the bathroom. I meant get out of my house and mostly get out of my life.”

“Nicky, I love you.” She said with fake tears. “Why?”

“You know why.” He was fast getting angry. She smirked and that made him even angrier. “Get out.”

“Fine, but you know you’ll never find someone better than me.”

Nick followed her around the house to make sure only her stuff was packed. She kept trying to convince Nick that he was making a mistake. As she was packing, he gathered her clothes. He felt sick again when he realized what her clothes consisted of. She had a tight black skirt that barely covered her butt and a low cut spaghetti strapped top that showed more of her chest and stomach then it covered. He used to love how she dressed. It was always a major turn on for him. Now her clothes screamed slut and made him feel just a little bit queasy.

He was standing by the door to his room holding her clothes as she finished packing. She tried to walk past him wearing his robe. He stopped her and thrusts her clothes at her. “You are not leaving in my robe.” It was no secret that she loved his robe. She wore it more than he did, especially after they…no, he wasn’t going to go there. She grabbed her clothes and shed the robe giving Nick a full frontal view. She made it a little too obvious that she was trying to entice him with her body.

Nick held his ground and showed no reaction to her seduction. She huffed when her attempt did nothing. She stopped her seduction and put her clothes on. Then, she stormed out of the room. Nick knew she was gone when he heard his front door slam.

His gaze fell on the bed. He had so many memories that were associated with that bed. All those memories were physical. He thought back to their relationship. They spent more time in bed than anything. It was that realization that made him realize that she didn’t love him. She was using him for sex. He still wasn’t enough for her.

He sat on his bed and then quickly jumped up. He couldn’t get the image of Natalie having sex with two other guys in his bed. He thought back to their relationship. He had asked her to house-sit numerous times. The thought scared him. How many other guys had she slept with in his bed? The mere thought made him feel sick to his stomach. He would never be able to sleep in this bed ever again.

He grabbed handfuls of his clothes and moved them to one of the guest rooms. He threw some clothes in the closet and some in the dresser. When he was done he began walking aimlessly around his house. The house now felt empty. He was struck with a memory of Natalie in every room. I can’t live here anymore. There are just too many memories of me and her. Maybe AJ will let me move in with him until I find a new house.

He trudged to the phone and dialed.

“Hello?” AJ rasped

“Hey.”

“Hey Nick. What’s up man?”

“I have a favor to ask?”

“What’s that?”

“I can’t stay in my house anymore, so I’m selling it. I don’t want to stay here longer than I have to. Can I stay with you until I get a new place?”

“Sure, you know you are always welcome here.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna go so I can prepare to get out of here.”

“Nick, wait.”

“What?”

“What happened? And don’t you dare say nothing. I can hear it in your voice and there’s obviously a reason why you can’t stay in your house.” Nick squirmed on his couch. He really didn’t want to get into this on the phone. “Nick? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“So what’s wrong?”

Nick hesitated again. “J?” Nick’s voice was small.

AJ chuckled. “What Nick? Spit it out.”

“I don’t want--
to get into this over the phone. Can we put this off until I get to your house?”

“That’s fine. But you won’t get away from it then.”

“Ok.”

“By the way, when are you getting here?”

“As soon as possible. If that’s ok with you.”

“That’s fine dude.”

About 4 hours later, Nick stood on AJ’s porch and rang the bell. Soon he heard footsteps heading to the door and then the door flew open.

AJ stood there and then smacked Nick playfully across the arm. “You idiot.”

“What?”

“Why are you ringing the bell?” Nick just shrugged. “Well come in.” Nick grabbed the bags at his feet and followed AJ into the house. “Is this all you have?”

“No. There’s more stuff in my car.”

AJ gasped. “He speaks.” Nick laughed slightly. “Ha. I got you to laugh. What took you so long to get here?”

“I packed, put a few things in storage that I refuse to part with but couldn’t take here. I also talked to a realtor and sold my house to the real estate company. I also called all my utility servers to shut off things like water, electric, gas, phone and other such things.”

“You can go ahead and get settled in your room. You can use the same room you always used when sleeping here.”

“Thanks man. I really appreciate this.”

“It’s no problem. Now go upstairs and get settled. We’ll talk when you come back down.” Nick nodded before he headed upstairs

About an hour later, AJ made his way upstairs. He knocked on Nick’s door before he opened it. “Dinner’s here.”

“What is for dinner?”

“Pizza.” Nick stood up and followed his friend and brother downstairs. “After dinner we’ll talk. I don’t have any booze so I hope whatever is wrong doesn’t require alcohol.”

“No alcohol. It’d make it worse. I have been getting physically sick since it happened.”

Dinner went by quickly and soon they found themselves in AJ’s basement playing pool. Nick talked about what happened. AJ spent the night making Nick see how pathetic Natalie was. By the end of the night, AJ had Nick laughing. Nick went to bed feeling better but not over Natalie.

Nick entered AJ’s house and found AJ watching TV in the living room. “Anything good on J?”

AJ jumped since he didn’t hear Nick come in. “What? Oh, no.”

Nick chuckled and moved around the couch. “That’s what you get for watching TV mindlessly.”

“Yeah, I know.” AJ turned the TV off. “So, how did the house hunt go?”

“I found a place.”

“That’s great Nick. Although, I must say, it is going to be quiet around here without you. I was getting used to you always being around.”

“Yeah sure. I’ve been here for 6 months now. I’m sure you can’t wait to have your house all to yourself again.”

“Well, for the most part you are right. But I will miss always having someone to hang with.”

Nick laughed. “You’ll get used to it. After all, I’m surprised that you haven’t wanted to kill me after awhile.”

“So where is this place?”

“About 15 minutes from here. It’s smaller than anything I’ve lived in previously and it has a great view of the water for a backyard.”

“Cool. We need to go out and celebrate tonight.”

“No thanks.”

“No thanks? Come on Nick. Dark club, loud music, girls whose skirts are too short. It’ll be great.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Nick, you haven’t gone out since you caught Natalie in your bed with two other guys.”

“Did you have to bring her up?”

“Sorry Nick, but you need to get over her.”

“I am over her. I realize that she never loved me and I’m over that.”

“Then why won’t you go out anymore?”

“Because I’ve given up on women.”

“What? Nick, you can’t be serious.”

“Well I am. Every serious relationship I’ve had has ended up badly. Mandy used me for her career. Paris, well that relationship was so publicized that the only way you don’t know what happened between me and her is if you were living under a rock. Natalie, well we all know what happened with her. And the list goes on. I’m not going to submit myself to another relationship. We already know the outcome and that’s me getting hurt. I won’t go through this again.”

“You’ll be alone.”

“I’d rather be alone than being hurt by yet another girl. I’m going to go start packing up my stuff.” Nick left the room.

AJ was starring after Nick. He decided then that he needed to do something for Nick. He needed to speed up his progression back into the dating world, somehow. It was at that moment that his phone rang. AJ jumped a mile off his couch and landed on the floor from being startled. He picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Boo.”

AJ smiled despite the silly childhood nickname. “Hey girl. Must you still call me that?” AJ asked his childhood best friend, Erica O’Dell.

“Yes I must call you that. It’s more fun than AJ.”

“I don’t agree.” He said with a smile. “So how ya been? Do anything interesting lately?”

“Nah. Just worked. I just moved back.”

“Really that’s awesome. But what about your boyfriend?”

“I’m single.”

AJ snapped to attention. “Really?” He may have just found a way to help Nick.

“Yes. Really. You seem shocked.”

“No. Not shocked. Just excited about how well things are working out for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember Nick?”

“Yeah. He seemed nice enough. Why?”

“He’s been going through a rough time and I need to find someone for him so he can see that giving up on women isn’t what he wants.”

“Did he tell you to do this?”

“No, but I can’t stand seeing him giving up like this.”

“So what do you want from me?”

“I want you to go out with him?”

“You’re trying to set me up with Nick?”

“Come on Erica. Please? I don’t want to set him up with just anybody. I need it to be someone I trust with my life. Who fits that description better than you?”

“Ok. I’ll go out with him once. But after that, I’ll only pursue something with him if there’s something there.”

“Deal. Thanks so much Erica.”

“Well, I’m going to finish unpacking. I just wanted to let you know that I was back in town. Call me when you know when I’m meeting Nick and where.”

“I will. Talk to you soon.” He hung up and sat on the couch thinking about how to convince Nick to do this. He was startled out of his thoughts when Nick came down carrying his suitcases. “Hey Nick. Come here man.”

“What’s up?”

“Sit down.”

Nick obeyed. “What’s this about AJ?”

“Do you remember my best friend?” Nick gave him a blank look. “Erica?”

“I can’t say that I do. Why?”

“Well she recently moved back into town.”

“So? What’s your point?”

“I think you should go out with her.”

“What? No.”

“Why not?”

“Did you not hear me before? I said I was giving up on women.”

“Which is why I want you to go out with her.”

“No AJ.”

“Nick.”

“What?” Nick was getting defensive.

“You are too young to give up women.”

“Says you. I’m tired of thinking that I found a good girl only to be hurt in the end.”

“Erica is a good girl, the best. I’d trust her with my life.”

“Then you date her.”

AJ laughs. “Erica is like my little sister. And who better for my little brother than my little sister.”

“That logic is fucked up man. Listen. I’m heading over to my new place. I will not meet this Erica. I’m staying single, and that’s the end of the conversation. I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow.” With that, Nick grabbed his bags and left the house.

AJ stayed on his couch contemplating what to do. He knew Nick would fall in love with Erica the moment he met her. He just had to get Nick to meet to Erica. Maybe he could trick Nick into it. No that wouldn’t work. That would only cause Nick to storm out of the room. He had to convince Nick to go on his own free will. The question was how. He reached for the phone. If anyone would know what to do, Brian would.

“Hello?”

“Hi Leigh, is Brian there?”

“Sure J, I’ll go get him.”

AJ waited for Brian. “What’s up J?”

“I need help with something.”

“With what?”

“Nick.”

“What’s wrong with Nick?”

“He told me today that he was giving up on finding love because he was tired of getting hurt.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, and then I talked to my best friend. You remember Erica right?”

“Of course. What about her?”

“Well I got her to agree to going on a blind date with him. The only problem is that I can’t get him to agree to go.”

“Maybe he’s just not ready.”

“It’s been 6 months.”

“I know, but this is Nick we’re talking about. You know he dwells in pain.”

“I know. Which is why I need him to go out with Erica. She can change that. I know she can.”

“Well, since you seem so certain, I’ll help you. I’ll have some way by tomorrow.”

“Thanks Bri.”

“I’m not doing it for you J. I’m doing it for Nick. He deserves to find love.”

“I totally agree. I’m going to go to bed. That meeting tomorrow is just too damn early. See ya tomorrow Bri.”

“Goodnight AJ.” They hung up the phone and made their way to bed.

The next morning, Nick was the last one to arrive at the meeting; which didn’t shock the other four group members. Nick sat in silence throughout the whole meeting. He refused to meet AJ’s gaze. He was pissed at AJ for trying to set him up on a blind date. He wondered why none of his friend’s listed to him and respected what he wanted.

After a boring 5 hours, the meeting finally came to an end. By this point Nick was starving. He grabbed the bag he had with him and began to head out. Brian’s voice stopped him. Nick turned around reluctantly. The request AJ made the night before annoyed him and in fact kept him awake for half of the night. Now he was tired, hungry, and the last thing he wanted was to have to stay here. “So AJ tells me that he set you up with his best friend Erica.”

“What? No, he tried. I’m not going.”

“It might be good for you.”

“No. What will be good for me is you all minding your own fucking business.”

“We’re just trying to help you.” Kevin spoke up.

“Then honor my wishes and stay out of my love life.”

“According to AJ, you don’t want one.” Howie said softly.

“And it’d be nice of you if you’d all respect that. I’m not going.” Nick turned to leave, but Brian blocked the exit.

“Nick, just one date won’t kill you.”

“Maybe not, but if it becomes more than one date, it will in fact kill me when she pulls what everyone else I have ever dated has pulled and uses me for something.”

AJ approached him. “Erica isn’t like that. She doesn’t care about fame and she has her own ambitions.”

“I’m not doing it.”

Kevin approached. “Nick, giving up women may seem like the answer now, but you’ll be lonely in the long run. You’d be alone when everyone else is making the families. I’ve known you for 13 years. I know you don’t want to be alone for the rest of your life. I think you should give AJ’s best friend a shot.” Leave Kevin the voice of logic. “And besides, any girl who has put up with AJ for as long as she has must have a heart of gold.”

Nick was getting frustrated. His forehead was creased and his face was turning red. He was clenching and unclenching his fists. “Fine. I’ll go out with her. Just for the reason of getting you 4 off of my back. I’m going, but I won’t be happy about it.” With that, Nick pushed past Brian and left the room in a huff.

It was early morning a week later. Nick was sleeping until he was rudely woken by the phone. He reached for the phone. “What?” He growled.

“Did you forget that you are meeting Erica this morning?” AJ’s voice rang through the phone.

Damn you AJ. Now I actually have to go. “How could I. You wouldn’t let me forget.”

“Well, get your ass moving and get to that damn Café.”

“Yes father.” Nick said sarcastically, then he hung up on AJ and made his way out of bed. He took a quick shower. He dressed in khaki pants and a light blue polo that brought out his eyes and he was on his way.

Now, he was sitting in a café waiting for Erica. He rationalized being in the café thinking that he’d sit here and meet this girl. Then he would kill AJ, since AJ was the one who set him up on this blind date. Once AJ was properly disposed of, he would then kill the other guys, since they practically forced him to go on this blind date.

He sat at the table just waiting for Erica to show up. He didn’t want to order before she arrived. He didn’t want to come across as rude. He may not want to be there, but while he was, he might as well act with manners. He kept looking around the café and trying to keep himself occupied. He felt really silly just sitting there so he ordered his coffee.

As his coffee arrived, the bell above the door rang, signaling someone entering the café. He looked up and saw a beautiful girl with red hair enter the cafe. She was tall, but he could tell from this distance that the girl was several inches shorter than him. He decided that if this was the girl he was supposed to meet, then this experience wouldn’t be so bad. Besides the fact that he just sounded shallow, he knew that this girl couldn’t be the one he was sent here to meet.

He went back to stirring his coffee. Soon a shadow fell over his table. He looked up and saw the girl who had just entered the cafe. He stood up clumsily. She extended her hand to him. "Hi, I’m Erica."

“Nick.”

“Pleased to meet you Nick.”

“You too.” Nick walked around the table and pulled her chair out for her.

She smiled at him. “Thank you Nick.” He returned the smile and went back to his chair. An awkward silence fell over the couple. They didn’t know what to talk about.

Then the waiter arrived. “What would you like miss?”

“Tea and a blueberry muffin please.”

The waiter noted her order on his little pad. “Anything else for you sir?”

“Just a bagel.”


Then as quickly as he came, he was gone. And the silence was back. “So...” She tried to start a conversation but was quickly silenced when she had no clue what to say next.

“How do you know AJ? You don’t seem like the type he’d hang out with.” Nick clamped his mouth shut when he realized what he said. “I mean...”

She giggled. “It's ok Nick. And you're absolutely right. If his mother and my mother weren’t friends when they were younger, AJ and I would have almost nothing in common.”

Nick nodded. Silence loomed over them once again. This time the silence was broken by their food, and her tea arriving. They quietly started to eat their breakfast. Nick sat there thinking. Then he got this confused look on his face that Erica didn't miss. She gave him a questioning look. Then he spoke, “How did you know that I was the guy you were meeting.”

“AJ never shut up about you and the other boys. You fit his description. Not to mention, anyone not living under a rock would be able to know it was you.”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, I guess that was kind of an obvious question.”

She giggled again. Nick was quickly beginning to love her giggle. Then she went back to casually nibbling on her muffin. “I have always loved hearing AJ's stories about you guys. They were always a riot.”

Nick smiled and took the last bite of the top half of his bagel. “If you are so close to AJ, how come I never met you before? Didn’t you ever come out on the road to see him?”

“I went on the road a few times. And when I was there it was never for a long period of time.”

“How could I have not met you when on the road? We should have run into each other. On the road, there are only so many places to go.”

“Well, the first few times I came on the road, you were too preoccupied with Mandy. AJ tried to introduce us, but Mandy would always come along and pull you away. You never even glanced in my direction. We actually met the last time I came on the road with you five.”

“I'm sorry. I don’t remember that.” Nick looked down embarrassed that he couldn't remember her.

“It's ok Nick. I wasn’t expecting you to remember me.”

“You weren’t?”

“No silly. The week I was there, you were horribly sick. You only left your hotel room when you had to get on the bus for travel time. The other guys wouldn’t let you do any sort of work. That included interviews, meet and greets, concerts and any other appearance you 5 were supposed to make. I was the one taking care of you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Now why are you apologizing?”

He chuckled. “Because I know I’m a pain in the ass when I’m sick.”

“You weren’t that bad. You were asleep most of the time. The only time you were awake was when I was force feeding you chicken soup and toast.”

Their breakfast was now long gone, but they were still sitting in the cafe. They had no more uncomfortable silences. They were talking and laughing like old friends.

The waiter showed up once more and interrupted their conversation. "Would you like your check, or would you like dessert?"

They looked at each other. Nick could tell that Erica was not ready for their breakfast date to end and Erica could tell the same about Nick, so they ordered dessert. Nick refilled his coffee, and Erica refilled her tea.

Once the waiter was out of hearing range, they went back to their conversation. Since neither one could remember what they were talking about when they were interrupted, they just started a whole new conversation.

Their dessert arrived and they continued to talk amiably while eating the last of their breakfast. Once their dessert was gone, the waiter was back almost immediately. This time he had the check and he placed it on the table.

Nick reached for the check, but Erica grabbed it first. “This one’s on me Nick.” Nick tried to argue, but she wouldn’t hear any of it.
She paid their bill and they exited the cafe together. When they reached their cars, they exchanged phone numbers.

“I’ll call you.”

Erica smiled. “I’ll be waiting.” She went to get in her car, and then she turned back around. “Nick.”

“Yeah?”

“We should do this again sometime.”

Nick agreed whole-heartedly and got in his car. He sat in his driver’s seat and watched Erica pull out of the parking lot. He started his engine and left, thinking, that he’d spare his friends’ lives because he really did enjoy himself.

He drove all the way home daydreaming about his breakfast with Erica. Nick sighed contently when he pulled into his driveway. He couldn’t remember ever having that much fun on a blind date.

He unlocked his door and entered his house. His ears were assaulted by the incessant beeping of his machine. He had 20 messages and they were all from AJ and in every one AJ asked the same thing. “You aren’t home yet. So you must be having fun. Didn’t I tell you that you would like Erica?”

He listened to all 20 messages shaking his head in amusement. He finally decided to put AJ out of his misery and called him. AJ picked up on the first ring.

“It’s about time you got home Nickolas. So how was it?”

“It was nice.”

“What? Just nice? Come on Nick. I want details.”

“What’s there to tell? We went to a café and had breakfast.”

“Ok, my real question is. Are you ever going to see her again?”

“I sure hope so.” Nick smiled into the phone.

He hung up the phone and was genuinely happy with his morning. He was sincerely hoping that him and Erica could meet up again real soon. He even found himself hoping that this would turn into something much more. That thought shocked him. He couldn’t believe he was so attracted to her after one date. He thought he had wanted to be alone. Now he realized how wrong he was. Damn. He hated when the guys were right.


~*~

Erica was curled up on her couch with a book and blanket. Her phone startled her and she dropped her book. She smiled when she realized she was hoping it was Nick. She answered her phone.

“Hey girl.”

“Hi.”

AJ could hear the disappointment in her voice. “I’m going to take that disappointment as you either don’t want to talk to me. Or you were hoping it was someone else.”

She laughed. “I was kind of hoping it was Nick.”

“Oh really. So I guess that your breakfast date went well.”

“I think it went better then well. We were a little awkward at the beginning, but once we got talking, we were laughing, and talking like we have known each other for years.”

“I knew it.”

“Stop being so smug AJ.”

“I have the right. I talked to Nick before. He said he hopes he sees you again. Feelings mutual?”

“I would like to see him again.”

“So there’s something there huh?”

“I think so.”

“I knew things were working out. And to think that Nick didn’t want to go out with you.”

Her smile faded. “He didn’t want to go?”

“Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I have to go AJ. I think I need to talk to Nick.”

“I’m sorry I let that slip. I hope I haven’t ruined everything.”

“That will depend on what Nick says. Talk to you soon. Bye.” She hung up the phone. She searched through her purse until she found his number. She held the café napkin in her hand as she dialed.


~*~

Nick was lounging around his room, playing his guitar. He thought he heard the phone ring, but he wasn’t certain he heard it over the sound of his guitar. He stopped playing and the phone rang again. He placed his guitar on the bed next to him and got up to get the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi Nick. It’s Erica.”

Nick smiled. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to call so soon.”

“I need to talk to you.” Nick’s smile faded. That didn’t sound good. “Ok. About what?”

“Not over the phone. Meet me outside the café we met at this morning.”

Nick looked down at his attire. “I just got out of the shower and I’m not wearing anything that’s suitable to go out in public. Why don’t you come here?”

She thought about it for a minute and realized that this conversation wasn’t one that should take place in public. “Ok Nick.” He gave her the directions to his house.

About twenty minutes later she pulled up in front of his house. She took a breath and made her way to the front door. She rang the bell and waited for Nick to answer.

A couple minutes later, she heard rustling behind the door and then Nick was in front of her. She took in his appearance. He was wearing a ratty old tank top, basketball shorts and he was barefoot. She was noticed that even dressed in something to lounge around the house, he still looked good.

“Hi Erica. Come in.” He led her to the couch in his living room. “Do you want anything to drink?” He asked as she sat down.

“No thanks.”

“Ok. Nick sat down across from her. He smiled at her. “So what’s up?”

“AJ told me something before that I found a little disturbing.”

“What did he tell you?”

“That you didn’t want to go on our date this morning.” Nick looked away. “So it’s true?”

He returned his gaze to her. “Can I explain, or do you not want to hear it.”

“I came here to get your side of the story.”

Nick was silent for a few minutes. Erica wasn’t sure if he really didn’t want to talk or if he was just trying to think of how to word it. He took a deep breath. “I have a bad history with women. Every long term relationship I’ve had has ended badly. My most recent one was 6 months ago. I caught her cheating on me. I lived with AJ for 6 months while I was trying to find this place. He was always trying to get me to go out with him. I never went out with him. About a week ago, I had told him that I was giving up on women and I wasn’t going to date anymore. An hour later, he had you already agreed to a date with me. I admit I only agreed to it so I could get all 4 of them off my back. Even this morning, I still didn’t want to go. I purposely didn’t set my alarm clock. I was intending on standing you up. Then AJ called and I knew I wouldn’t get away with it. When I was waiting for you at the café, I was thinking of ways to kill all four of them without getting caught.” He paused. “I had fun this morning. I may not have wanted to go originally, but once we got into it, I was glad I went. I want to try to turn this into much more than a friendship.” He stopped talking and looked down at his hands. He just bared his soul to her and now the ball was in her court.

She stood up and sat next to him and hugged him. “Nick. Look at me.” Nick looked up. I understand that the reason was circumstantial and had nothing to do with me. I won’t hold it against you. I’m going to go.” She stood up and started to leave. He was following her. “Call me?”

“You can count on it.” Nick held the door open. Before he let her leave, he leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss. “Talk to you soon Erica.”

“Bye Nick.” The door closed behind her. She raised her hand to her lips, which were still tingling from the kiss. She smiled and started her car and went home and began to anxiously wait for Nick’s phone call.

Nick woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. He looked at the clock beside his bed and was shocked to find out that it was only 5:23AM. He rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. When he couldn’t fall back to sleep he decided that today would be a great day to go out on his boat. He climbed out of bed and took a shower.

When he stepped out, he stopped in mid track. Why the hell did I just shower? I never shower when I go on my boat alone. Nick got dressed and gathered his things to get ready. As soon as he was ready, he started to head out to his car. He stopped with the feeling that he was forgetting something. He looked around and looked through his stuff. Everything seemed in place, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of forgetting something.

He stuck his hand in his pocket as he thought about what he was forgetting. His fingers wrapped around a napkin that he had shoved in his pocket. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and looked at the napkin. It had Erica’s phone number on it. Without thinking, he picked up his phone and dialed.

Nick listened to the ring for a few minutes and became almost certain that she wasn’t going to answer. Finally, he heard a groggy voice say “Hello?”

“Hi, Erica?”

“Yeah. Who is this?”

“It’s Nick. Did I wake you up?”

She looked at her clock. “Nick? It’s barely 7 in the morning.”

“Sorry. I’ve been up since 5:30. I forgot it was so early.”

“Why were you up so early?”

“I don’t know. I woke up and then never went back to sleep. I decided to go on my boat today.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.”

“Would you like to come with me?” He had no idea where that came from.

“Are you serious?”

Nick thought about it and realized he was serious. “Yeah. Do you want to come?”

“When are you leaving?”

“Well I was leaving now, but if you want to come, I’ll wait for you.”

Erica thought about it for a few minutes. “Sure why not. I’ll be at your place in like an hour.”

“Great. I can’t wait.”

Nick loaded up his car and looked at his watch. Only five minutes passed. He went back into his house and made up a picnic basket for the two of them. He looked at his watch again; another five minutes. He ended up on his couch to keep him occupied with the television while he waited for Erica to show up.

He jumped when the doorbell rang. In his excitement to get to the door he tripped over the area rug in his living room.

Outside, Erica heard the crash and wondered what had happened. Moments later, Nick flung the door open. “Hi.”

“Hey Nick. What was that crash?”

Nick looked away embarrassed. “I, um, tripped over my rug.”

Erica smiled trying to hold back her laugh. She failed and burst out laughing. “I’m sorry Nick. I just couldn’t help it.”

“Yeah yeah, laugh at the accident prone one.” He looked over her denim shorts and her blue bathing suit tankini top. “You look really good.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself. Shall we go?”

“Yes we shall.”

They spent the car ride in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Erica kept looking over at Nick in attempts to strike up a conversation. She became speechless when she noticed that Nick kept sneaking glances at her. She blushed and looked away.

Soon Nick parked his car and stepped out. He ran to the other side of his car and opened the door for her. Then he went around to his trunk and carried everything to his boat. Erica kept trying to help him but he kept refusing. She giggled as he readjusted the stuff he was carrying after nearly dropping it for the fifth time since they got out of the car.

When they finally reached the dock where his boat was, he gently loaded the boat. Erica never let her eyes move from Nick. She admired his body when she was sure he wasn’t looking. Erica jumped when she heard his voice. “Ok, everything’s loaded up. Let’s go.” Nick helped her onto the boat and untied it from the dock. He jumped onto the boat.

After taking Erica on a short tour of the boat, Nick steered the boat away from its dock into the wide open water. He glanced down at Erica every few minutes. The morning sun was warm. Erica set out a blanket and removed her shorts. Lying on her back, she rolled up the front of her tank top exposing her flat stomach. Nick had to consciously move his eyes away from Erica and pay attention to the water in front of him.

Erica had chosen her spot on the deck strategically. From where she was, she could see Nick at a perfect angle. Erica gazed at Nick once more. Nick turned his head and their eyes locked. He smiled and she blushed. She stood up and walked over to him. “It’s so beautiful out here. No wonder you always come out here.”

Nick looked at her with a smile on his face. “It is a pretty site. Although, the company is a hell of a lot better than usual. ”

She leaned her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. “Do you come out here often?”

“As much as possible. My schedule doesn’t allow me to do this as often as I would like.”

“Do you usually take someone with you when you come out here?”

“No. I usually come out here alone. It relaxes me. I don’t have to be Nick Carter, Backstreet Boy. I can just be myself.”

“Then why…”

“Why did I invite you?”

“Yeah.”

“I really don’t know. I had planned on coming out here alone. Then I called you and the next thing I knew I was asking you to come with me.”

“So you really didn’t want me to come?”

“It’s not that. Once I asked you to come I realized that I really didn’t want to spend the day alone.”

“So what is the plan for today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, are we going to drop anchor with nothing surrounding us but open water?”

“No. I own an island out here.”

“Really.”

“Yep. I stumbled across it on one of my trips out here. I thought it was so peaceful that I purchased it and built a house on it. I go out here when I want to be alone.”

“And you’re sharing it with me?”

“I can’t think of anyone better to share it with.”

“But you barely know me.”

“That’ll change.”

“Thank you.”

Nick gave her a blank look. “For what?”

“Picking me to share this with.”

Later that morning, Nick came up behind Erica. She felt him behind her but when she turned around, she jumped. “Damn Nick. You need a bell.”

Nick chuckled. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“If you’re down here, who’s steering?”

“We’re drifting right now.”

“Is that dangerous?”

“Not at all.”

Erica starred down at the water below her. “I want to go swimming.”

Nick laughed. “As you wish. Let me just go anchor her so that she doesn’t drift away while were swimming.”

Erica laughed. “Yeah that would be bad.” As Nick walked off to anchor his boat, Erica starred after him. He returned moments later with towels. He placed them over the rail and lowered a rope ladder down the side of the boat.

“After you.”

“Oh no. What if the water is cold? You go first.”

Nick chuckled. “I don’t think so. You’re the one who wanted to go swimming.”

“But you could be a gentleman and warn me if the water is cold.”

“Or you could test the waters yourself.”

“Fine.” She turned toward the water. “Big baby.” Erica climbed down the ladder and slowly eased her way into the water. When she was under water, Nick dove off the deck and landed in the water behind her. Erica surfaced and faced the boat to get Nick in. She looked confused when she didn’t see him there. The next thing she knew she was getting splashed from behind. She turned around quickly. “Hey. That wasn’t very nice.”

“Who said anything about playing nice?”

“Oh, you.” She dove at Nick. He moved and she missed him. She turned toward him and splashed him. Nick went under and swam until he was behind her. He surfaced and splashed her and then went back under. She turned around to splash him, to once again be splashed from behind by Nick. She turned around to find that he had already gone under water. She went under and opened her eyes, the salt stinging. She saw Nick and grabbed him and pulled him to the surface. Once they surfaced, she splashed him in his face.

“Ok, ok. Truce?” Nick held out his hand to her. She grabbed it and he pulled her closer. He wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned in slowly as if he was about to kiss her. Then he picked her up and threw her. She surfaced with her hair in her face. She saw Nick and smiled coyly at him. She went under and grabbed his ankle, pulling him under and held him there. He was trying to get away from her. She smiled because she thought that he wanted to get her back. She held him until she couldn’t hold her breath anymore then released him, and headed toward the surface. When she surfaced she expected Nick to attack back. Nick surfaced a couple seconds after her, gasping for air and coughing.

She swam to him when she was noticing that he was struggling slightly to keep his head above water. “Oh my god. Are you ok?” She grabbed his arm to assist him.

“Next time…*cough*…warn me…*cough, cough* before…*cough*…you pull me…*cough, cough* like that.”

“I’m so sorry. Let’s get you back to the boat.”

No matter how strong a swimmer you are, if you get water in your lungs you need assistance to get out of the water. It was for that reason that he let Erica support him as he swam back to the boat. In the past, it was Nick who stayed in the water and held the ladder steady, while his female companion climbed out. This time it was Erica who stayed in the water. She couldn’t shake her feeling of guilt and it was for that reason that she was planning on doing anything to make up for nearly drowning him. Once Nick was safely on the boat, she climbed out.

Erica climbed over the rail and immediately went to Nick, who was kneeling, and holding onto the rail. When she reached him, she realized that he was coughing up water, and his breathing was still labored. The more she saw him struggling, the guiltier she felt.

She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Nick’s shoulders. He stood up on shaky legs. “You should sit down.”

He smiled slightly at her. “I’m ok.”

“You’re coughing and you can barely breathe.”

She grabbed his hand and led him below deck to his below deck cabin. “Erica, I’m fine.” His voice was a little raspy from coughing. He noticed her shiver. “You’re cold.”

She stopped and looked at Nick. “I just nearly drowned you. Shut up and let me pamper you.”

“I don’t need pampering. Just a few minutes to regain my breath.” As his coughing slowed down, his voice began to sound more like his own.

Once they were below deck, she pushed him to the cot. She opened the cabinets until she found him a change of clothes for him. She placed it next to him on his bed. “Change your clothes. You’ll be warmer.” Nick gave her an amused look. “What? I’m serious.”

“I didn’t fall into ice water. I’m not freezing.” He chuckled and then coughed.

“Will you just change your clothes already?”

“Nope.”

“And why not?”

“I’m not changing in front of you.”

She laughed. “Nick, the bathroom is right there.”

“Have you ever changed in that bathroom?”

“Uh, no.”

“Well let me fill you in on something. That room is big enough to maneuver enough to do your business. But changing your clothes in there is like asking for your body to be completely covered in bruises.

“Ok. I’ll turn around.”

“Nope. If you want me to change, you go on deck.”

She sighed. “Oh fine. But you’re staying down here, you are changing and then doing nothing until I say so.” She obliged and went on deck.

She gave him fifteen minutes to change just to make sure she didn’t walk in on him. After the fifteen minutes were up, she went back below deck and saw him setting up the table with the stuff he packed up for their picnic. “Hey, what did I tell you?”

He chuckled. “Will you relax already? I’m fine.”

“Why are you fighting pampering?”

“Because I don’t need it?”

“Yes you do. Now, on the bed.”

“Will it shut you up if I do as you say?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. To keep the peace between us, I will.” He sat down on the bed and leaned back on his elbows. She prepared the food he brought for the picnic. Once everything was set up, she brought the food to his bed. They ate around friendly banter and flirting. When the food was gone, she stood up and cleaned up their meal.

When she stood up, Nick lied back on the bed. He closed his eyes. The clinging of his plates and the ocean below him was soothing. Erica turned around to say something to him when she saw his eyes closed. “Are you ok?”

He opened his eyes and smiled at her mother hen tendency. “I’m fine. I woke up earlier than I normally do, and then being out in the sun all morning and swimming…”

“Then almost drowning.” She interrupted.

“No, I wasn’t going to say that. I’m just tired.”

“Well, why don’t you take a nap?”

“I didn’t invite you out here to watch me sleep.”

“I’ll be right back.” She returned moments later holding a book. “Sit up.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Are you advertising for Nike?”

“Don’t be such a smart ass and do as you’re told.”

He laughed and sat up. She sat on the bed. Ok, lie back down.” For once he did as he was told without a comment. He rested his head in her lap. She was pushing his hair back as they talked quietly. Soon she heard his breathing even out and she knew that he was asleep. She leaned down and kissed his forehead and then picked up her book to keep herself occupied while he slept.

Nick woke up in a daze. At first he didn’t recognize his surroundings. His eyes focused and he realized that he was on his boat. He sat up and spotted Erica at the small table. “Hi.”

“Well, hello there sleepy. Did you have a nice nap?”

“I think so. How long was I out?”

“About 100 pages.”

“100 pages is a measurement of time now?”

“I don’t have a watch so you’ll have to do with 100 pages.”

“Ok.” He stood up and stretched and headed toward the small bathroom. He returned moments later and sat across from her at the table.

“So what’s the plan for the rest of the day?”

“As soon as I’m completely awake, I’m going to head to my island house.”

“What will we do there?”

“I don’t have anything planned. All I know is that we are going to have a nice romantic dinner of frozen pizza.”

She laughed. “Frozen pizza. Sounds delightful.”

“Of course it is.” He smiled and stood up. “You can stay down here if you want, but I’m going to start making our way to the island.”

“Stay down here? Are you nuts?”

“I don’t know. Am I?”

“It’s the middle of the day. I may as well be up there tanning.”

“If that’s the case, why were you down here when I was sleeping? You lost 100 pages worth of tanning.”

“Because I felt weird being up there when you were down here.”

“I wouldn’t have cared or known for that matter.”

She smiled. “That is absolutely true.” She followed him out of the below deck cabin. He went to the controls as she went to her blanket to lay out again. She placed her sunglasses on and lied down on her back. She glanced over at Nick and decided that lying out wasn’t what she wanted to do right now. She stood up and made her way over to Nick.

“I thought you were going to sunbathe.”

“I was. But then realized that I didn’t want to. So I decided to keep you company.”

“Do you want to steer?”

“Do I want to what? Uh, no. We’d crash.”

He chuckled. “No we won’t. I’ll be right behind you. Come here.”

She cautiously approached him. He stepped back and put her hands in the right positions. He placed his hands over hers and guided her to steer the boat. “Oh my god.” She smiled excitedly. She looked out at the water ahead of her and started to see land. “Hey, what’s that?”

“That’s my island.”

“Oh wow.”

He let her steer for a few more minutes. “The water is getting shallower. Let me take over to navigate her correctly.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

He steered the boat to the dock that he built. He stopped the engine and jumped of the boat. He tied it and then went back to help Erica off. “Here we are. My little island.”

“It’s so beautiful. You said that you have a house out here somewhere.”

“I do. But you can’t see it from the water. I built it surrounded by trees so that other boaters wouldn’t be able to see me.” He smiled down at her and grabbed her hand and led her through trees. Soon they were approaching a clearing in the trees and she could see the house.

“You’re really surrounded.”

“Yep. I wanted it that way.”

“You could do anything you wanted out here and no one would know.”

“That’s why I love it.”

“Come on. I’ll give you a tour.” He unlocked the front door. The floor was a light hard wood and the first thing you see from the door is the beautiful winding staircase. He showed her the kitchen and then led her through the living room, which included the most current, up to date electronic equipment. He had a theatre size screen, a CD player and a DVD player. Surrounding the entertainment system was a collection of music and CD’s. He walked her past the laundry room. Before they headed up the stairs, he pointed out where the bathroom was.

She was in awe as he led her up the winding staircase. He showed her the bathroom. He stopped at one room but didn’t open it. This is my built in studio. The door is locked and the key is in my bedroom, which is why I’m not showing it to you.” He chuckled and turned toward the next room. He opened the door and inside there was an assortment of exercise machines and weights.

“Wow, your own private gym?”

“I find that I’m more motivated to work out when I don’t have to leave the house to do so.” He smiled and then led her to the last room. “This is my room.”

“Your house is so beautiful.”

“Thanks. That means a lot to me. I designed it. Well, not completely, I knew where I wanted what, but I had an actual architect draw up the blue prints. I draw comic books, not house plans.”

She laughed. “Well it’s gorgeous.”

“There’s one thing left to show you. Follow me.” He grabbed her hand and took her back downstairs and to the back door. The back door was sliding glass that led out to a deck.

“Hey Nick. More trees.”

“Yeah, there are lots of those.” He smiled.

She went outside onto the deck and he followed her. She saw the pool. “A pool?”

“And a Jacuzzi.”

“Well the Jacuzzi I can under stand, but what do you need a pool for when you have the ocean within walking distance?”

“Skinny dipping.” He said with a completely serious face.

“Wait, you go skinny dipping when you are here alone?”

He burst out laughing hysterically. “Sorry. I was only kidding. I’ve always been alone when I was here and it would be a little weird to skinny dip alone. The right company and I’d consider it.” He paused. “The real reason I have it is if I feel like doing laps or if for some reason I don’t feel like swimming in the ocean.”

“Well that makes sense.”

“Yeah it does. Are you ready for that frozen pizza?”

“Yeah, I’m starving.”

“Great, me too.” He went back into the kitchen and headed to his freezer. “Pepperoni or Cheese.”

“Cheese.”

“My kind of girl.” He opened the freezer and grabbed the pizza. He went to the cabinet and got a sheet. Once the pizza was out of its package he preheated the oven and placed it in. “It’ll probably take 15 to 20 minutes to cook.”

“Well that gives me plenty of time to get out of my bathing suit.”

“If you want, you can take a shower upstairs. There should be shampoo and stuff up there.”

“Are you trying to say I smell?” She turned to him, giving him a playful glare.

“Uh, no, I…I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that if you wanted to um, freshen, um, get the salt water out of your hair you could.”

She smiled at Nick. “Relax Nick. I was only playing.”

He sighed in relief knowing that he hadn’t offended her. “It’s no secret that I’m bad with words. It doesn’t take much for me to accidentally offend someone.” She smiled and headed upstairs toward the bathroom.

She entered the bathroom and then went back to the top of the stairs. “Nick, where are the towels?”

“In the closet right next to the bathroom.”

“Thanks.”

20 minutes later, she came back downstairs. She entered the kitchen as Nick was taking the pizza out of the oven. The smell of pizza hit her nostrils, and her mouth started watering. “Great timing.”

“I’ll say. I knew I was hungry but the smell of pizza made me realize that I’m a lot hungrier than I thought.”

“I was thinking the same thing. So I say, let’s eat.”

“Good idea.” He placed the pizza on the table and they started eating, making small talk throughout the whole meal.

Soon the pizza and the clean up were done. “So. Now what?”

“It’s almost sunset.”

“I’m not following.”

“Well then follow me to the shore and you’ll see a fantastic site.” They went outside. He grabbed her hand and started running through the trees. Once the trees cleared leading to the sand, Erica tripped and pulled Nick down with her. Their momentum caused them to roll through the sand. When they finally stopped, Nick was on top of her and they were laughing hysterically. Their eyes locked and the laughter soon subsided. Time seemed to slow down as he leaned down toward her. He captured her lips softly in a revealing kiss. Moments later, the kiss ended. Nick looked away embarrassed. He started to climb off of her. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to her and kissed him.

They broke apart and faced the open water. Nick sat on the sand with his legs open and Erica sat in between his legs. He held her close to him as she leaned back on his chest. Soon the sun started to set causing a wonderful show of pinks, purples, blues and even a speck of green. “Thank you Nick, for sharing this with me. Today has been wonderful. I couldn’t dream of a better day.”

“Today was good. Although, I can think of something to make it even better.”

“And that is?”

He turned her around and kissed her gently. He pulled away slightly. His face was still hovering close to hers and she could feel his breath when he talked. “If you were my girl.” He kissed her again.

“You’re right. That does make today even better.”

“You don’t think that I’m rushing things. I mean we did only meet yesterday. And I did tell you that I wasn’t ready.”

“If you meet the right girl, all that can change in an instant. So yes. I would love to be your girl.”

Nick smiled. “Really.”

“Really. Now shut up and kiss me.”

“No need to tell me twice.” He kissed her again. Nick pulled away and looked out to sea and stood up. Once he was at the water’s edge he put his feet in the ocean, feeling the angry pulses in the water. He noticed black clouds approaching in the distance. “You don’t have to be anywhere tomorrow, do you?”

“No, why?”

“Because there’s an approaching storm. I don’t want to risk going out so we’re going to have to stay here.”

“That’s fine.”

He turned to her. “Let’s get back to the house before the storm hits. If my instinct is right, then this storm is going to be bad.”

“How often is your instinct right?”

“Almost always.”

They started back to the house as the rain started to fall. As the rain fell harder they started running. They entered the house and the air condition hit their chilled bodies to make them shiver. “Nick, these were my only dry clothes.”

“I’ll give you something to wear and we’ll put your clothes in the dryer so you can wear them home tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

He gave her dry clothes to change into and then went into the kitchen to make 2 cups of hot cocoa. She came down moments later dressed in his clothes. He turned to her and smiled at the site in front of him. His clothes engulfed her. “Cute.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you think so. Where’s the laundry room again.”

“Here, I’ll take them.” He took her clothes down the hall into the laundry room. He set up the dryer and returned to the kitchen. He grabbed the two cups of hot cocoa and took them to the living room. “Pick a movie.”

She went over to his collection and browsed until she found one she liked. She was surprised to find that he had her favorite movie, “Titanic.”

She gave the movie to Nick to put in the player. She was afraid she’d break something if she put it in. “Titanic huh?”

“Yep. It’s my favorite movie. I was shocked that you have it.”

“AJ gave it to me as a joke.”

“A joke?”

“Yeah. When this movie came out, I kept getting confused for Leonardo DiCaprio. I had long forgotten about that and then he saw the DVD and that is how I got that movie.”

“Yep, that’s AJ for you.”

Nick put the movie in and settled on the couch with Erica. They started off sitting on the couch and Nick had his arm around her shoulders. As the long movie ran its course, Nick changed his position so he was lying on the couch. When Nick moved, she moved so that she was lying in the same direction as he was. He put his arm around her.

As the Titanic was about to hit the ice burg, the power went out.

“What? What happened?” Erica questioned.

“The power went out. Maybe that’s a good thing, because I’m getting tired. I think we should head to bed and hope that the power is back on tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’m tired too. Today has been very eventful, but in a good way.”

“That’s for sure. Uh, Erica,”

“Yes Nick.”

“You can take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“What?”

“Well, I only have one bed, and I’m letting you sleep on it. I’ll be on the floor.”

“You have that HUGE bed upstairs and you’re telling me you’re going to sleep on the floor.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Nick, we’re both adults. I think we can sleep on the same bed.”

“Are you sure? I mean I don’t want you to get the idea that I’m trying to take advantage over you.”

“I trust you Nick. AJ wouldn’t have set us up if you were a bad guy. Come on, let’s go to bed.” He grabbed her hand and they walked together to Nick’s room.
They crawled into his bed. He held her in his arms as they fell asleep thinking about the eventful, yet satisfying day.

Nick opened his eyes and smiled. At some point in the middle of the night, the sleeping couple migrated toward each other and ended up in each other’s arms. He was content and he didn’t want to get up but his bladder had other ideas. He maneuvered his way out of Erica’s arms and headed toward the bathroom. He reached for the light switch and turned the light on. He looked at the switch in confusion when nothing happened. As he became more awake, he remembered the storm and how it knocked out the power the night before.

Nick shed himself of his clothes, automatically dropping them on the floor. Then he remembered his sleeping companion and he quickly picked them up and placed them in the hamper. He turned the water on and tested the water before stepping in. He washed his body and hair and then got out. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He opened the door and headed to his dresser. He had his back to the bed as he rummaged through his draws.

Erica woke up and sat up in the bed. She spotted Nick by the dresser wearing nothing but the towel wrapped around his waist. She giggled, which caused Nick to turn around quickly in shock. The towel around his waist loosened and he wasn’t quick enough to grab it before it fell to the floor. Nick looked down at the towel on the floor in a state of mortified shock. He was frozen in his spot. Erica gasped in surprise. Her eyes were wide open and starring at the towel on the floor before trailing her gaze up his legs until her gaze landed on his impressive package.

Nick snapped out of his shocked trance. He was about to pick up the towel when he realized where she was looking. He smirked “Like what you see baby?”

“I, uh…” She blushed and looked down, biting on her lower lip.

“Oh, you know you want me.” He chuckled before he turned around and grabbed a pair of boxers. He slid them on and made his way back to the bed. He sat really close to her on the bed, still smirking. She refused to look him in the eye and her cheeks were getting redder by the second. Noticing her embarrassment wasn’t going away. He backed away from her slightly. “Erica, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“You were naked.” She said in a high pitch squeal.

He laughed slightly and shook his head. “Tell me. What is there to be embarrassed about? It’s not like you’ve never seen a naked man before.”

“I’ve never seen a naked man before. Well, that is, until your towel hit the ground.”

“What? Are you serious?”

She nodded with her face still flushed from embarrassment. Not so much anymore from seeing Nick naked, but from what she was about to admit. “I’m a virgin.” Nick’s eyes widened in shock. He got off the bed. “Where are you going?”

He gave her a small smile. “To get dressed. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” He grabbed his clean clothes and headed back into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and then hit his head purposely on the door. “You idiot.” He scolded himself. Once he was dressed, he exited the bathroom again. Their eyes met briefly before Nick broke eye contact and silently went downstairs.

Erica got out of bed and got dressed. She went downstairs and made her way into the kitchen, where she found Nick sitting at the kitchen table, leaning his head on his clasped hands. She entered the kitchen and approached him cautiously. “Nick?” His silence scared her. “Are you mad at me?”

He straightened his arms keeping his hands clasped. “No, I’m not.”

She could hear the venom in his voice. “You’re acting like you’re mad.”

He sighed deeply. “I am mad. Just not at you.”

“If you’re not mad at me, then who else is there to be mad at? We are the only two here.” She knew she sounded ditzy because he could very well be mad at himself, but she just couldn’t think of any reason why he would be.

He stood up quickly, knocking over the chair he was sitting on. “I acted like such a jerk, or jackass, or better yet a chauvinistic pig up there.” He headed over to the wall furthest from her. He couldn’t stand himself right now and he didn’t understand how she could stand to be near him.

She approached him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off. She tried to get his attention only to be met with resistance from him. She approached him once more to try and break his mood. She was about to grab his left hand when she saw him punch the wall with his right hand with enough force to cause the windows to rattle. Erica jumped back shocked and scared. She wasn’t sure if she was scared of him or if she just didn’t expect him to punch a wall.

Nick pulled his hand back from the new hole in the wall. He was starring down at his now bloody hand. He knew he should feel pain, but he didn’t. Erica gasped when she saw his hand. She expected a few cuts but not the excessive amount of blood. She grabbed his non injured hand and led him to the nearest bathroom. He complied wordlessly.

She reached the bathroom and turned on the faucet and made him put his hand under the water. Once most of the blood was rinsed off, she put the seat cover on the toilet down and pushed him to sit on the toilet while she cleaned his hand. He just starred at his hand while she cleaned it.

Erica examined his expression as she cleaned out the cuts. His expression never changed, not even a wince when something stung or hurt. “Does it hurt?” She asked him.

“Of course it hurts.”

“You don’t look like you’re in pain.”

“You get used to it after awhile.”

She went back to silently cleaning off his hand. “I don’t think it’s broken. I think it’s just badly bruised.”

“No. It’s broken.”

She gave him a weird look. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I broke this hand a couple years ago.”

“How did you break it then?”

“Same way. Punched a wall.”

“If you knew punching a wall would break your hand, why would you do it again?”

“I don’t know. It was kind of an uncontrollable urge.”

She found an ace bandage and wrapped his hand loosely. “If you think that’s broken, you should get it wrapped properly.”

“I will. When we get back to the mainland.”

She gently moved his hand out of the way and sat on his lap. She kissed him. He pulled back. “Nick?”

“How can you still stand to kiss me after how I acted upstairs?”

“I think you’re beating yourself up enough. I don’t need to do anything but make you feel better.”

“I wouldn’t have acted like that if I had known.”

“I know Nick. But you didn’t know. There was no way you could have.”

“But I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Nick, I’m not mad at you. There’s no reason for you to be mad at yourself.”

“I just feel like such an asshole.”

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He tried to pull back but she held his head in place until he gave in and returned the kiss. Once he started to return the kiss, she deepened it. Then she released him and pulled back. She caressed his cheek. He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. “Feel better?” He opened his eyes and nodded. “Good. Now come on. I’ll make breakfast and then after breakfast we’ll leave so you can get that hand of yours looked at.” He agreed and they left the bathroom. He pulled her back to him and kissed her. They pulled away breathless. “Wow, what was that for?”

“I felt like it.” He looked into her eyes and smiled at her.

“There’s that gorgeous smile.”

He chuckled as his cheeks turned pink. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Come on. What do you want for breakfast?”

They went back to the kitchen and made breakfast. Erica watched Nick struggle to eat with his right hand. She knew he was in more pain than he was letting on when he switched his fork to his left hand. They finished breakfast and Nick went to help clean up. Erica quickly grabbed the plate from him. “Erica. I’m not crippled. I can help.”

“Just relax Nick. While I’m here to help you, I will.”

While she was cleaning up from breakfast, he made a phone call to get some to fix the hole. Once they were finished with the respective tasks, they headed back to the boat. Soon they found themselves pulling up at Nick’s house. Erica helped him unload his car and gave him one more kiss before heading to her car and back to her apartment. Nick got back in his car and drove to the emergency room for his hand.

Erica pulled up to her apartment complex and was shocked to find the roof gone. She was immediately glad that her and Nick didn’t come back last night. She approached her landlord and got permission to go up to her apartment and get as much stuff as possible. She cautiously made her way up stairs. She didn’t live on the top floor but her ceiling was obviously hit with a lot of water damage. Some rooms had parts of the ceiling missing. The kitchen was flooded. She went to her room. Her windows were blown out and there was glass all over the room. Her trinkets were knocked over, but none of them were broken. She packed her trinkets and headed to the closet. In her haste to pack quickly she nearly forgot about her dog. As she neared the closet, she heard a small whimper. She opened her closet and found the dog piled under her clothes that piled on her when they fell off the hanger. She packed her clothes and took her things down to her car. She went up to her apartment one more time and grabbed her dog.

She put the dog in the backseat and sat behind the wheel contemplating where to go. She could go to AJ. He was her best friend and would accept her with out a doubt. Knowing that he could be a bit over bearing, she contemplated Nick. They’ve known each other a short time, but a lot has happened. They were comfortable together. And in light of Nick’s new injury, she felt he might need a little help. She pulled into his driveway and noticed his car wasn’t there. She grabbed the dog and sat on his porch waiting for him to come home.

A couple hours later, she saw his car pull up. She stood up as he got out of the car. He saw her on his step and approached her. He gave her a small kiss before asking what she was doing there. She explained what happened to the apartment and how she needed a place to stay. He petted her dog, which elicited a small park from the young dog. “You can stay here. I have no problem with that.”

“Good. That’s what I was hoping you’d say. I just have one request.”

“Ok, what’s that?”

“I’m not ready for a repeat of this morning, so would you mind if I had my own room.”

“Not at all. Just remember if you ever want to cuddle, my room is only down the hall.”

“Thank you for understanding.” She went to her car to get her bags. Nick helped her carry them and put his free arm around her as he led her into his house and up to the guest room, which would be her new room.

1 Month Later
Erica’s Point of View

I opened my eyes feeling refreshed. Rolling onto my side, I caught a glimpse at the clock on the night stand. The time read 7:45. I jumped out of bed. I had fifteen minutes to get to work. I quickly dressed and ran out of the house. I sighed in relief when I realized that I wasn’t blocked in. At least something was going right for me. I got in my car and went to start it. The engine sputtered but never turned over. I kept trying but nothing happened. The time on my watch now read 7:55. There was no doubt that I was going to be late but the sooner I get there the better. I jumped out of the car and ran into the house.

I knew Nick was still sleeping but this was an emergency. I ran into his room and put the light on. He stirred and opened his eyes. He squinted his eyes against the light until his eyes adjusted. He then rolled over to see the clock. “Erica, what are you still doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be at work like five minutes ago?”

“Yeah, but I’m having a rough morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, my car won’t start.”

He seemed to know what was coming next and didn’t let me finish my question. “The keys are on the key hook in the kitchen.”

“Thanks Nick.” I quickly ran over to him and kissed him. “I’ll see you later. Go back to sleep.” I shut his light and watched him roll over and go back to sleep. I ran back downstairs and out to Nick’s car.

Once out of the driveway I glanced at his clock. I was almost 20 minutes late already. I figured that now that I was finally on the road things would be go better. I humored that thought for about 5 minutes. I turned onto the main road that would take me to my office. I checked my rearview mirror, and saw that a cop was on my tail. I went to pull over to let him pass, but I noticed as I was pulling over that his lights were on. I started panicking as he pulled up behind me. I started looking through Nick’s car in hopes that I could find his registration.

I jumped when the officer knocked on my window. I rolled it down. “Do you know why I pulled you over?” I shook my head. “You were going about 20 miles over the speed limit. Can I see your license and registration?” I went through my wallet until I found my license and I handed it to him. I went back to searching his car for his registration, but I couldn’t find it. I looked up at him with a look of panic on my face. “Registration?”

“I can’t find it. This isn’t my car…”

He interrupted me and wouldn’t even let me finish my statement. “Miss, please step out of the car.”

“Officer, please, let me explain.”

“Out of the car.” I stepped out of the car and he frisked me. I couldn’t help it and I started crying. I went to reach for my cell phone. “Hands where I can see them.” I stopped reaching for my phone.

“I wanted to get my phone so I could call my boyfriend.”

He ignored me as he went about searching the car. “You can make a phone call when you get to the station.”

“The station?”

“Yes. You’re under arrest for car theft.”

“Car theft? I didn’t steal this car. Can I please call my boyfriend?”

“Quiet. You are driving a car without registration, which leads to the fact that you stole the car.”

I stayed quiet and let him put me in the back seat of his squad car. He made a phone call to get a tow truck to tow Nick’s car. The only sound in the car was the sound of my crying. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

Soon we arrived at the police station and I was booked. As I was locked up, I pinched myself. This couldn’t be real. I had to be dreaming.

Meanwhile, the arresting cop was sitting at his desk running a database check on the license plate. After a couple minutes he found that the car was registered to a Nickolas Carter. After a couple more minutes of searching he found a phone number and dialed and waited for someone to pick up.

“Hello?” a groggy voice answered.

“Is this Nickolas Carter?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“My name is Officer Garcia.”

“Is there a problem Officer?”

“Your car has been found.”

“My car? What do you mean my car was found?”

“I found the thief who stole your car.”

“My car wasn’t stolen.”

“Mr. Carter, there’s no need to get excited. I found your car so even if you haven’t noticed it stolen doesn’t mean it wasn’t. Check your driveway.”

“Officer, my car wasn’t stolen. I leant it to my girlfriend this morning so she could get to work. Her car wouldn’t start.”

“Your girlfriend? Her name wouldn’t be Erica O’Dell would it?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with my girlfriend? Did something happen?”

“I pulled her over for speeding and she couldn’t produce a registration.”

“I keep my registration hidden. Where’s Erica?”

“She’s been arrested.”

“Arrested? Speeding isn’t a reason to arrest someone.” Nick was getting frustrated. He ended the phone call and got up and got dressed. He got into his other car and went to the police station.

He walked in the door and went up to the first person he saw. “I’m looking for Officer Garcia.” He was given directions to Officer Garcia’s office was and knocked on the closed door.

Officer Garcia opened the door. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Nickolas Carter. I think we need to discuss how you treated my girlfriend.”

“How was I supposed to know she was your girlfriend? She didn’t have your registration.”

“Then I get the impression that you didn’t listen to her when she was trying to tell you that the car belonged to me or let call me when she wanted to.”

“How do you know she tried to do that?”

“Because, I know my girlfriend. I’m not here to get her out of her speeding ticket, but I am her to get you to drop the charges of stealing a car.”

I looked up when I heard the distinctive jingle of keys. I held my breath as the officer came to my cell and unlocked the bars. I stood up and went to follow the officer out of the cells area when I spotted Nick. I ran to him and threw my arms around him. Once I was in his arms I just started crying. He led me out of the police station. He waited with me for his car to show up. “I’m sorry Nick.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I understand.” His car was brought around front. “Are you going to come home or go to work?”

“I don’t think I can handle work right now. I’m coming home. I’ll call my boss from there.”

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, I pulled into Nick’s driveway to see him sitting on his front porch. I got out of his car and ran to him. I immediately fell into his arms. I felt so safe there; like nothing bad could ever happen to me. After the morning that I just had, I needed to feel the comfort of being in the arms of my boyfriend.

Once I had called out of work, my day just kept getting better. Nick spoiled me as much as he could with his hand still in a brace from when he punched a wall. He made me lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Granted it wasn’t very substantial, but it was still cute that he tried. Then for dinner he ordered me a pizza, just the way I like it, with extra cheese. In between those meals, I spent the time curled up in Nick’s arms as we watched many romantic comedy movies. He didn’t complain once about all the chick flicks I was making him watch. I think that’s what made me realize that I was falling in love with him. Am I moving too quickly? We’ve only been together for like a month and have only known each other a few days more than that.

I set Nick’s alarm. I decided that I wasn’t ready to leave his arms yet. He had no complaints about me wanting to spend the night in his room. Nick lied down with me and pulled me into his arms. I almost blurted out that I loved him. I stopped myself because I wasn’t sure if Nick was ready to hear that. I feel into a contented sleep in Nick’s arms.

At 6:00 the next morning the alarm went off. I tried to get to the alarm before it woke Nick up but he was holding me too tight. I navigated my way out of his arms to shut the alarm off.

“Morning beautiful.”

I heard his voice and jumped. “I’m sorry Nick. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“It’s ok. I’ll get up with you today.”

I smiled as he got out of bed and started leaving the room. “Nick.” He stopped and turned to face me. I ran up to him, threw my arms around his shoulders and kissed him passionately. I went into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for work. I had no clue where Nick went.

I got out of the shower and peaked around the door before leaving the bathroom. I was always afraid that Nick would walk by while I was in a towel. I may have seen Nick naked but I wasn’t ready for him to see me naked. Seeing that the coast is clear, I ran out of the bathroom and into my room. I quickly dressed and did my hair and then went into the kitchen in just enough time to witness Nick placing my favorite breakfast on the table. My mouth watered at the scent of chocolate chip waffles. “Nick, what is this?”

“Breakfast.”

“I see this, but why?”

“Because you deserve it.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“So don’t say anything. Just sit down and enjoy it.”

“Why did you do this?”

“I told you. You deserve it. Not to mention I wanted you to have a better morning than you did yesterday.”

“You’re so sweet Nick.”

He looked at me and smiled. “Enjoy your breakfast sweetie.”

I came to the table and noticed that there was only a serving of one. “Nick, aren’t you eating?”

“Nah, it’s too early for food.” I gave him a funny look then felt for a fever. He laughed. “I don’t have a fever. I’ve never been a big breakfast eater.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing. These are so good.” I said as I put a bite of waffle in my mouth.

After I finished my breakfast, I got up to clean the table. Nick stood up too. “I’ll do this.”

“But Nick, you cooked.”

“So. You have someplace to be. I don’t.”

I relented and let him clean while I finished getting ready for work. I gathered everything I would need and went back downstairs. I found Nick lying on the couch channel surfing. I leaned down and kissed him before leaving to go to work.

I’m a social worker, and although I love it, I didn’t want to do it today. I had such a great day with Nick yesterday that going back to work was a big mood killer. I shrugged off the feeling as I walked into the office.

I sat down at my desk which was right next to my friend and co worker Kim. Kim leaned over her desk to mine. “Hey girl, where were you yesterday?”

“I had the morning from hell.” I then went on to explain my morning.

“Oh my. Erica that’s horrible. You’re in a good mood today though. I think I’d still be reeling from yesterday if I were you.”

“Oh, normally I would be. But I have the best boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

“Yeah. We’ve been together for a month. He’s great.”

“So you got laid huh.”

I reached across the desk and smacked her on the arm. “Get your mind out of the freaking gutter.”

“What? I figured if you were in such a great mood today then he must have fucked you last night.”

“No. We’re not at that point in our relationship yet. And even if we were, it wouldn’t be fucking and I wouldn’t be telling you.”

“Then why is he so great if he didn’t fuck your problems away.”

“You are horrible. But if you must know. He cuddled with me for the rest of the day, and didn’t complain about the torrent of chick flicks I made him watch with me. And he woke up with me this morning and he made me my all time favorite breakfast.”

“Gag me.” I smacked her again. “You’re violent today.” With that we went to work. There was plenty of time for teasing each other after work and on lunch break.

Speaking of lunch break. I had a nice surprise right before lunch. Kim punched me arm. No that wasn’t the nice surprise. “Oh my god. Blonde hottie just entered.” Kim practically squealed. I looked up at the door and smiled. I heard Kim say, “I wouldn’t mind spending some quality time in his bed.” I then turned around and smacked her. “Hey what was that for? I saw him first.”

“Actually, you didn’t. I saw him first, he’s my boyfriend. Hands off.” I looked up when Nick was standing in front of me. “Hey Nick, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I was no where near the area and decided to see if you wanted to do something for lunch.”

I smiled at him as my stomach growled. “That sounds great. Let me just gather my stuff.” I stood up from my desk and went to get what I would need. I came back to see Kim hitting on Nick. I had to laugh at his expression. Poor guy looked terrified. I walked up to him and kissed him. “Let’s go.”

Nick’s Point of View

I was watching Erica’s hips sway back and forth as she walked away from her desk. I wasn’t paying attention to the girl sitting at the desk next to Erica’s.

I saw a hand waving in front of my face and I snapped out of my daze. It was Erica’s friend. “Hey sexy.” She said coyly to me.

“Uh, hi.”

She stepped in front of me. I didn’t know how to react. She stepped closer and I stepped back. The more I stepped back the more she stepped toward me. I needed to get away from this girl. Finally I backed up into a wall. She smirked at me when she realized that I had no where else to go. She stepped as close to me as she could possibly get. “You have no where to go sexy.” I looked up in the direction that Erica left in and willed her to come back out and save me. I finally saw Erica and smiled. “There’s that sexy smile.” I felt her touch slide down my body.

Erica got closer to us and I gave her a pleading look. She kissed me. “Let’s go.”

Finally Kim backed off. I put my arm around Erica and we walked outside. “Took ya long enough.”

“Sorry, but she was only playing. You didn’t have to look so terrified.”

“She grabbed my crotch.” I said in a loud whisper.

She smiled at me. “Oh come on Nick, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

I felt like she was patronizing me, so I just let the subject drop. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my mind to drop it which caused me to stay quiet. We ate lunch in silence and soon our lunch was over and it was completely horrible. I wanted it to be a nice surprise for her. Instead we just coexisted in the same area. She looked at her watch which signaled that I had to bring her back to her office. I gave her a small kiss and then left. I went home feeling moody.

I tried to get out of my foul mood, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t. I looked up at the clock and realized that Erica would be home soon. My mood had succeeded in giving me a massive headache. I didn’t want her to have to deal with my foul mood and headache, so I went up to my room. I closed the door behind me and walked over to my bed. I then decided to sleep away my foul mood. I stripped down to my boxers and left my clothes on the chair at my desk. I crawled into bed and closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

Erica walked into a silent house. She thought that was kind of weird, since there was always some kind of noise. She walked around the house. She didn’t see anything out of place but knew that something just wasn’t right. She went upstairs and intended on going straight to her room. She stopped before entering her room and changed her path. She found herself in front of a certain closed door. She tried the door to find it unlocked. She walked in and sat down on the bed.

She kissed my forehead and I woke up. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see her, but I couldn’t let her know that. “Hi.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you’re sleeping in the middle of the day. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“If you’re feeling alright, then why were you sleeping?”

“I had a bad headache. I was trying to sleep it off.” Ok, so I left out the part about my moodiness, but she doesn’t need to know that.”

“Do you feel better?”

“Not much. The headache still has a tight grip on me.” I noticed that it really did have a tight grip on me and it was quickly escalating to where it was before I fell asleep.

She leaned down and kissed me. “I’ll leave you to go back to sleep. Do you need any aspirin before I leave you alone?”

“No thanks.”

“Ok. Call me if you need me for anything.” I watched her leave the room.

I had wanted her to cuddle with me for a little while, but I wasn’t quick enough to stop her. So I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

A couple hours later, I woke up. The door opened and I saw Erica. “Hey, you’re awake. Feeling better?”

“A little, I guess.”

“Well, dinner is ready, so why don’t you come downstairs.”

“Ok.” I stood up to go get my clothes, when I got hit with a dizzy spell. I sat back on the bed. “I guess it didn’t subside as much as I thought.”

“Relax Nick. I’ll bring your dinner up to you.” I watched her leave feeling helpless. I didn’t feel this bad before, what happened. She returned with both of our dinners. “I thought I’d eat dinner with you.”

I smiled at her and we ate the meal in silence. When we were done she went downstairs to clean up. She came back and sat next to me on the bed. “Lie down.”

“What?”

“Lie down. I want to cuddle.”

She smiled and she did as she was told. “I yelled at Kim before.”

“Who is Kim?”

“The girl at the office who hit on you. Were you afraid that I was going to get mad at you for her hitting on you?”

“No. I was just uncomfortable. I don’t like when people fondle me without my permission.”

“Is that why you were upset at lunch today?”

I looked at her debating what to say. I figured the truth was the best. “I felt violated and then it felt like you were patronizing me for feeling that way. Like guys can’t get violated.”

She moved closer to me and hugged me. “I’m sorry, Nicky. I didn’t want to make you feel like that. I was only teasing you. Am I forgiven?”

“Nicky?”

She blushed. “Sorry. It just slipped. I won’t do it again.”

“It’s ok. I liked the way it sounded coming from you.”

“Good, because I was lying when I said that I wouldn’t do it again.”

The next day, I woke up before Erica. I still felt bad about what happened yesterday. It wasn’t her fault and I treated her badly. I’m surprised that she didn’t get mad at me and cause a fight between us. Although she didn’t seem mad, I need to make up for my actions. I quietly slipped out of bed and headed to the kitchen. I looked around the kitchen to see what I could make her for breakfast. I know she would love chocolate chip waffles but I already made her chocolate chip waffles and I’d like to do something differently every once in a while.

I was just placing the two omelets I made on the table when Erica walked into the kitchen.

“What’s this?”

“Breakfast.”

Erica laughed. I love her laugh. “I see that Nick, but why?”

“Because I love you and I felt like it.” Did I just say what I think I said? The look of shock on Erica’s face confirms that I did in fact say that out loud.

“What did you say?”

Maybe I can get out of my unexpected confession. “I felt like it.”

“No, before that.”

Should I say it? I mean it but I’m not ready for her to know it. “Um…” I looked into her eyes and saw something that isn’t usually there. Was it hope? Is it possible that she loves me too? “I love you?” That didn’t sound too confident

Erica laughed. I frowned. Why was she laughing at me? “Are you sure?”

“What?”

“It sounded more like a question than a statement.”

“Oh…um…”

Erica giggled. “Relax Nick.” She walked closer to me and hugged me. She whispered in my ear. “I love you too.” I let out the breath that I didn’t realize I was holding.

“Really?” I knew I shouldn’t have questioned it but I needed to know. Too many girls have said it to me but then didn’t mean it.

She smirked at me and pushed me somewhat forcefully into the wall. She kissed me passionately. I felt her tongue against my lips. I opened my mouth to allow her tongue access and I couldn’t help but moan. Then she pulled back as quickly as she kissed me. She smiled and went to the table.

I sat across from her. “Tease.”

“Who me?” She batted her eyelashes innocently at me. “You must have mistaken me for someone else.”

I laughed. “I’m not mistaken. You’re a tease.”

Erica smiled and I couldn’t help but smile at her. “I’ll let you think what you want.”

Breakfast was spent “arguing” over whether or not she was a tease. Erica stood up. “Well Nicky, breakfast was great but I need to get going if I’m ever going to make it to work on time.”

I stood up and kissed her. “I love you.”

She smiled. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Love you too. I’ll see you later.”

I watched the door close and sighed happily. I fell back onto the couch with a dreamy look on my face. I was in love and it was with a great girl. I had a feeling that this time, the feelings were mutual and I couldn’t be happier. I stood up and grabbed my car keys. We needed to celebrate tonight, which means that I have some shopping to do.