Nick was miserable. Three days after the blow up, he was regretting his hasty attitude. Maybe there was more to the story.
But it was a little late now, right?
It irked Nick to no end that Yazzy might at that very second be back with Levine. Sure, the guy was good-looking if you liked that type. Fit. Rebel bad-boy.
What was it about Yazzy that attracted guys that didn't usually go after, as she put it, 'her type'?
Nick knew that answer. She was spunky, smart, funny, passionate, and for the most part, confident. The more Nick thought about the fight, the more he realized there was a vulnerable layer there behind the confidence, but he had been too pissed to care.
She was a whole package.
He stared at his reflection in the hotel bathroom mirror, glad that he would be moving into the beach house the next morning. It would be relatively empty, but Nick was used to starting fresh. He brushed his teeth hard, finally leaning down to land the spearmint-scented spit smack center in the sink. His mom always used to bitch about him spraying back up onto the mirror. He hadn't cared until he had grown up and cleaned his own mirrors. Even though he had house cleaning now, he still remembered what a pain in the ass cleaning hard white dots off glass was.
Once done brushing, he wiped his face and headed towards the door.
He had a lunch date and for once he didn't have any excuse to be late.
"Hey, Boose."
"Hey, babe."
Lauren hugged him tightly. She smiled as she sat back down. Nick took the chair across from her.
"How've you been the last couple weeks?" Nick asked. "Look good."
"Great! I've been hitting the gym like crazy and I'm going to a WWE training camp." The excitement radiated from her. "Thanks for getting me in the door. I owe you so much."
He smiled. "No you don't. I just want to be first row for that first time you step in the ring.
"You got it."
The waitress arrived and they put in their drink orders. Once she left there was a long pause.
"So, I found a new place. Can I pick up the boys in about a week?"
"Sure. I'm going to be leaving town in about a week, so that'll work out."
"Camp already?"
She shook her head. "Matt and I --"
"Wait, Matt?"
The waitress arrived at that very minute. Lauren waited until she was completely finished.
"Matt Hardy."
"You're dating Matt Hardy?!"
"Well, not dating," she said. "Yet."
"Boose, you can do better."
"He's a great guy. Besides, who are you to judge? When we met you were struggling to get your life back on track."
Nick knew he might be slow, but he was also coming into this fresh from another mishandled argument. "True." He gave her a lopsided smile. "It just seems fast."
Lauren laughed. "I think you move faster."
Nick was relieved to not hear any hurt or accusation in her voice, but at the same time he frowned. "I'm totally single."
"Really? What happened?
Nick hesitated. It seemed weird to talk to her about another woman.
"If it helps," she said gently. "You did the right thing. I love you, but we haven't been in love for at least a year."
"I know," Nick sighed. The waitress came back, but they both waved her on. Nick looked her in her eyes and the words spilled out.
"Yazzy didn't tell me she slept with Adam Levine when she managed Maroon 5. He called and left her this arrogant message and I kinda - well -"
"You got pissed and told her you were leaving?"
Nicky's eyes widened. "Yeah, how'd you know?"
She laughed. "Nick, you did the same thing with me. Do you know how many times you slammed the door, went God knows where, then came back a couple days later?"
"Shit, I really got to stop doing that."
"Talking isn't your strong point."
"Blame my family for that."
Lauren reached over and took his hand.
"They might be the cause, but you're the solution."
It was something she had always told him. He smiled.
"Do you think there's something between you two that would be worth working this out?"
"I've only known her a month," Nick rationalized. "But..."
"Yeah. I do."
He gave her his biggest puppy dog eyes.
"Help."
Yazzy stared at the phone. She knew she had to make the call. She flexed her fingers and took a deep breath. She had played this game for two days.
Enough was enough. She grabbed her phone, checked her cell for reference and dialed.
Nick was halfway to Yazzy's when the phone rang. He knew by the ringtone, who it was. "Nick, you little shit! Nick, you little shit! Nick--"
"Hey Kev."
"What did you do?"
This was never a good way to start a phone call. "I didn't do anything!"
"Yazzy just quit."
Nick almost crashed into the car in front of him. Instead, he swerved, ending up merging into a turn late he didn't want to be in.
"She quit?"
"Yes and it's your fault!"
Nick sighed. "Damnit. I know."
"Good because I just took an educated guess."
Nick frowned. He knew he should pull over, but he didn't. "She didn't tell you?"
"No, but you're coming over and telling me all about it."
"But--"
"No buts. I'll be waiting."
Kevin hung up and Nick sighed.
He had a big decision to make.
Yazzy or Kevin?
