Chapter 158
Veronica hurried into the house, letting out a breath, rubbing at her eyes. The drive home had been uncomfortable at best. Neither knew what to say to each other, it seemed that a shield had gone up around each of them Turning she looked over at Nick who shut the door and turned to look at her, giving her a small smile.
Swallowing hard, she fumbled with trying to get her shoes off. She felt Nick walk by her and over to the answering machine. Suddenly a female voice filled the room.
“Hey Nick, it’s Julie. Look, Laureen and I were wondering if we could come by and hang out with you and Veronica for a bit? Actually, Brent wants to come too, kinda have a mini party thing. So yeah, give me a call and let me know, Laureen is with me so you don’t have to make separate calls. Talk to ya soon!”
Nick really didn’t want anyone to come over, he just wanted to spend time with Veronica. He looked over at Veronica who was staring at the answering machine as if it were her lifeline.
“So uh, what do you think? Would mind if…”
“Not at all! I think it’d be fun!” Veronica answered quickly.
Nick blinked then frowned, she sure was quick to accept. It hurt that she didn’t seem to want to be alone with him. He wasn’t sure what she was afraid of.
“Veronica…are we ok?”
Her eyes widened, “What do you mean?”
“I mean you seem bound and determined to not be alone with me. Is everything ok? Have I done something wrong?”
She took a step back and then another, “No! Of course not!”
Nick raised an eyebrow, grabbing the phone, he kept his gaze on her as he called Julie and then Brent to confirm plans. Setting the phone down, he started over to her and smiled slightly when he saw her eyes widen again. Reaching out, he pulled her into his arms and against his body.
“Veeerrrrroooonnnnicaaaaa…what’s wrrroooooong?”
She chuckled suddenly, “Nothing.”
“Yes there iiiiiiiissssssssss!”
“Nick stop, there is not,” she giggled.
“Are you afraid I’m gonna ravish you?” He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows and was rewarded to see her blush.
“No I’m not, nothing’s…”
“Cause it can be arranged ya know. I can just call them back and tell them not to come and we can spend the rest of the day together alone,” he whispered, leaning in, nibbling on her neck. Nick hoped desperately she would agree, it was what he really wanted to do.
“Nick…”
“Mmmm, ya know Valentines night was great, I can’t stop thinking about it, about how you felt. I wanna feel you again Veronica,” he murmured, running his hands over her body slowly
Her eyes drifted shut as she brought her hands up, gripping at his biceps.
“You want me too, I can feel it baby, I can feel your body trembling. God I wanna be inside you so bad Veronica, moving against you, holding you tightly, please baby…”
She let out a soft whimper, gently pushing him again, breathing hard. “Th-they’ll be here soon.”
“You can’t hide from me forever Veronica,” he said softly, giving her a sad smile. Leaning in, he kissed her gently, and then deeper. Quickly the kiss turned fierce and passionate, his hands bunching up in her shirt.
Veronica forced herself to pull away, trying desperately to catch her breath. “I’m gonna go get changed.”
Nick dropped his arms and stepped aside, watching as she hurried past him and up the stairs. Nick watched until she was out of view, a slow smile spreading over his lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Veronica watched as Nick, Laureen, Julie and Brent all laughed over the story Nick had been telling. She tried desperately to focus on the conversation, but she hadn’t been able to stop replaying the kiss over and over in her mind. She hadn’t wanted to stop, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Why was he doing this? Why was he teasing her that way when he knew they weren’t going to be together, when he was interested in someone else.
Still she couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to have his lips pressed against hers, to feel his arms around her. She did want him, she wanted him probably as bad as he said he wanted her. Veronica didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to stop wanting him.
“Hey, are you ok?”
Veronica looked to see that Laureen and Julie were now sitting on either side of her on the couch watching her with concerned expressions.
She bit her lip, trying to decide what to do. She needed to talk to someone and she knew Lynne wouldn’t understand. Taking a breath, she decided she had to take the chance.
“Do you think…I could talk to you guys?”
Julie smiled, “Sure, what’s up?”
“Umm…maybe we could go outside or something.”
Laureen blinked, “Uh oh, this doesn’t sound good.”
“I just need to get away.”
“Whoa ok, say no more,” Julie said, standing. “Brent, tell Nick we’ll…”
“Tell Nick what?” Nick said as he made his way back into the room, handing Brent another beer.
“That us girls are gonna go off on our own and catch up while we leave you two to drink yourselves into a stupor,” Julie sighed, rolling her eyes.
“Hey, we haven’t done that in what? At least a month right Nick,” Brent announced.
“A month at least,” Nick confirmed.
Laureen shook her head, “You guys are so bad.”
Julie led them out the backdoor and out onto the deck. They all sat and Laureen opened the large umbrella.
“So Veronica, what’s going on?” Laureen asked.
“Not much. Just been hanging out ya know?”
“Mmm, whatcha guys do today?” Julie asked, taking a sip of her drink.
“Nick had this last minute TV interview today, so he took me to that,” Veronica said.
“Oh yeah I saw that today,” Laureen smiled.
“Yeah, I managed to catch most of it, I didn’t get to see it right from the beginning,” Julie announced.
Veronica nodded.
Julie narrowed her eyes, “Did something happen between you two?”
“Not really, I mean it can’t anyway, he’s kinda seeing someone.”
“He is?” Laureen frowned.
“Yeah you heard him today, said he was kind of seeing someone and…yeah,” Veronica said softly.
Julie looked confused, “You mean it’s not you?”
Veronica looked over at her, “Me?”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too actually, I thought the girl he was talking about was you. You’re the only girl he’s really talked about these last few months,” Laureen agreed.
The thought never occurred to her because it wasn’t even an option. It was interesting to her that Laureen and Julie would think he meant her. She shook her head, “No, it’s not me.”
Julie and Laureen looked at each other before looking over at Veronica again.
“Veronica, are you sure?” Julie asked.
She nodded, “Yeah, it’s not me.”
“Aww Veronica…” Laureen frowned again.
“No no, it’s ok. We’re just friends, it’s just…it feels wrong now, being here knowing there’s someone out there that he’s…and that they’re…”
“C’mon Veronica, it doesn’t mean anything. He said it wasn’t official, you still have a chance to…” Julie started.
“Whoa whoa wait a minute, I don’t want a chance to do anything.”
Julie stared at her, “You don’t?”
“No, I just don’t know if I should stay. I mean…he’s been like…he’s acting like he’s not with anyone and he’s like…being affectionate with me and I don’t understand. I’m…afraid to be in the same room with him because I can’t seem to control myself around him,” she stated, blushing profusely.
“Wait a minute, you don’t want the chance? Are you telling us that you have no romantic feelings towards him? That you don’t want to be with him?” Laureen questioned.
Veronica stared at the two for a moment before looking down, “It doesn’t matter if I do or not, it’s not going to happen.”
“Says who?” Julie demanded.
“I’m not stupid Julie, it would never work. I just don’t want to lose him as a friend, he’s important to me.”
Laureen shook her head, “I’m still wondering why it wouldn’t work.”
“Uhh come on ladies, look at me and then look at him. One of you two are better suited to date him than I am. I’m not his type.”
“Just was is his type by the way?” Julie asked.
“Ya know, thin, pretty…just…everything I’m not,” Veronica shrugged.
“Veronica…” Julie started.
“But that’s neither here nor there. My problem is, do I stay for the rest of the trip and be uncomfortable and still happy, or do I leave and do the right thing and be miserable?”
“Neither. I think you should stay and be comfortable and happy and not worry about anything. Until he’s actually dating this chick whoever she is, he’s fair game and besides, if she’s gonna be the kinda girl who doesn’t want him having friends who are girls, then he shouldn’t be with her anyway, you’re WAY cooler. If Nick was any kind of smart guy, he’d see that. If not, then it’s his loss,” Laureen stated firmly.
Veronica sighed heavily, looking up when Julie leaned in, resting her hand on top of hers.
“Veronica look. If this is true and if he going to be possibly seeing some other girl, then take this chance to do everything you’ve ever wanted. It’s not official, so screw it. Be around him, tease him, flirt with him, kiss him, hell do whatever and maybe he’ll realize what he has in front of him,” Julie said softly. “You’re here to see him, you don’t have to cut this trip short because of some other girl. He wanted you to come and if you being here was going to be an issue, I’m sure he would’ve said something. But here you are, he wants you here and by the looks of it, he likes having you here, that’s all that matters.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So yeah, that’s where I am right now,” Nick finished.
“So why haven’t you told her?” Brent asked, taking another pull off his beer.
Nick sighed, “I dunno, I’m…I just can’t.”
“Fuck that, you’re scared man, I can see it in your eyes. You’re scared she’s gonna turn you down.”
Nick looked up at him sadly.
“You’ve never been like this before, why’s she so different?”
He shrugged, “I love her Brent, I’m so crazy nuts about her I can’t stand it. I don’t want her to turn me down and she’s got this idea that I only want thin, famous girls and it’s like…I don’t know what to do. It’s impossible to be around her and not…touch her or kiss her and…and…I don’t know what to do.”
Brent sighed, “You have to tell her Nick. Just take the chance and tell her. If she leaves here without ever knowing and she ends up dating someone else, you’re never going to forgive yourself and you know it. Don’t let this one get away.”
Nick looked out the window and saw Veronica sitting on the deck talking to Laureen and Julie and sighed. He wanted her to be his.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I really enjoyed writing this chapter, one part in particular. All I'll say is it's right after Nick gets off the phone. I've always wanted to write something like that, I love the way authors can give their male leads this air of...mystery, and almost preditory actions mixed this huge amount of sexual tension and have things happen without things actually happening if that makes sense.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I hope you'll let me know what you think!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I hope you'll let me know what you think!
