Chapter 9
Nick walked into the nightclub a half hour late and still in a daze about Brian letting him off for the ticket. Amanda looked angry, her arms crossed and tapping her shoe.
"Ohhhh someones in trouble..." Skye teased, waving her drumsticks at him. Nick smiled and laughed to play it off.
"Hi baby..." he said nervously.
"Nick....you're late again!" Amanda shouted in frustration.
"I have a very good explanation for why I'm late." he said, wincing as she yelled.
"This better be good, you're a half hour late! I thought we talked about this!!" Amanda snapped.
"I kind of got pulled over on the way here." Nick said sheepishly, grinning to show her the humor in the situation. Amanda looked less than amused with her fiancé.
"YOU WHAT??? What was it for this time?" she screamed, rubbing her forhead in frustration. Nick had a bad habit of getting pulled over for various things. Nick didn't meet her eyes, he looked at his feet and mumbled, his face red with embarrassment.
"NICK!!" Amanda said, stomping her foot.
"Okay....I got pulled over for speeding." Nick told her, still not meeting her face with his. He felt horrible, he had promised Amanda that he would be careful driving...he had a bad habit of texting in the car as well as speeding.
"How fast?"
"I was doing 80 in a 45." Nick whispered. He thought Amanda was going to explode, she got so angry she was shaking.
"Nick, do you realize they can take away your license for that?! You could get killed doing that speed, and your Ferarri would be totaled." Amanda yelled.
"Baby, nothing happened. I am not gonna get into an accident. Besides, it was Brian who pulled me over." Nick said calmly.
"So how bad of a ticket did you get?" she demanded. Amanda expected the worst, that Nick got in big trouble and had his license taken away.
"He let me go...no warning, no ticket." Nick said, still awe of the whole thing.
"He....he let you go? Is he crazy? Brian can get fired for letting you go like that!" Amanda exclaimed. She had caught on to Brian and AJ competing to be best man and it was going too far now.
"Nick, have you decided on who is your best man for the wedding?" Amanda asked, trying to calm herself down after the tirade. Nick began to tune his guitar, strumming and adjusting the knobs at the top of it.
"I was thinking about AJ....I mean...Brian was the best man when I married Tracy. He has helped so much with the kids....he helps Aaron with his homework and has been there for me through a lot of things....but like I said, I haven't decided yet." he replied thoughtfully.
"Well, let me know your decision because Kevin needs to know so we can arrange everything." Amanda suggested. Nick finished tuning the guitar and they began rehearsal. Later that day, Brian came by the house looking frustrated.
"Hey Bri." Amanda said, adjusting the baby hanging on her hip. Celine was being fussy and tugging gently on her hair.
"Celine...honey...mommy isn't a toy." Amanda sighed as she tugged the baby's hand from her long brown hair.
"Are you sure you're not Nick's toy?" Brian grinned.
"Brian! That isn't funny." Amanda said, pretending to be offended as she let him into the house and laughed, putting Celine into the playpen.
"She's getting big." Brian observed, watching her become fascinated with a toy in her playpen, a stuffed dog.
"Yeah she is. She is definitely a handful sometimes." Amanda said.
"Like her dad." Brian chuckled, sitting down on the couch.
"So Brian, you wanna tell me why you let Nick off for speeding?" Amanda asked, changing the subject.
"Oh...I wanted to talk to you about that actually. You see....I pull Nick over at least once a week for speeding and using his phone while behind the wheel."
"I told him about that. He has to be more careful..."
"Maybe you could help him see how dangerous this is, because I can't keep waiving tickets. I'm going to lose my job." Brian warned.
"Look, my idea was that if he doesn't watch what he is doing on the road, and gets pulled over one more time.....I'm becoming a nun."
"Wow! You're gonna take away his sexy time?" Brian laughed. Nick often referred to sex as "sexy time" after he saw the movie Borat.
"I think this will work. Don't worry, Brian. I will make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Amanda promised. Brian left and Nick came home soon after with Aaron. Later that night, they were laying in bed together cuddling. Nick kissed her neck, his lips moving down to her bare shoulder.
"Baby...." Amanda said suddenly, and he stopped, looking down at her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nick, I want you to promise me you will be more careful....you have had a lot of close calls lately. The horse accident scared me...I don't want to lose you." Amanda said, her voice breaking.
"Amanda, I'm not going anywhere." Nick whispered.
"Nick, I'm serious. You have almost died one too many times, your luck is gonna run out and I can't live without you. Please promise me." she pleaded. Nick was silent for a few moments before he kissed her gently on the cheek.
"If you're going to be late to rehearsal, just call me. No more speeding."
"I promise." he whispered. Nick kept to that promise for the next few weeks, following all the traffic rules and going the speed limit. It was like he made a full turnaround in his habits. Almost a month into his promise, Nick was on his way to rehearsal when he looked at the clock and realized he was going to be late.
"Hi, baby. What's up?" Amanda said, her voice coming over the speaker phone.
"I'm running late, I'm gonna be there after two." Nick said, stopping at the red light.
"Ok, I will see you soon." Amanda replied.
"Ditto. Love you." Nick told her before hanging up. It was then that he looked up and saw the car coming at him....
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hope you enjoy this update and don't hate me too much lol
