"Ha! Take that, Mario!" Kristin said to Nick.
"No fair! You blew me up!" Nick pouted.
Kristin laughed as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Aww, poor Nicky got beat by a girl."
Nick smiled. "So, what's the reward?"
Kristin drew closely to Nick. "What reward?"
"The reward you said that no matter who won, we'd both be happy."
"Did I say that?" she said innocently.
"Yes."
Kristin sat on Nick's lap. "You want your reward?"
Nick nodded with a smirk “Of course.”
Kristin got even closer. "Guess what?" she whispered in his ear.
"What?" Nick asked with a grin.
"I lied," she said with a laugh.
"Oh, that‘s just not fair,” he whined.
Kristin smiled. "I know."
"You know what?”
“What?” she said while giggling.
“I'll show you," Nick said as he began to tickle her sides. Kristin giggled. "Uh oh, someone's ticklish." Nick attacked her and pinned her to the ground. He tickled her until she cried.
"Okay, stop!" Kristin said in between laughs.
Nick let her up and she caught her breath. She gave Nick an evil eye and attacked him, causing him to fall to the floor. Kristin looked Nick deeply in the eyes. Slowly their lips moved toward each other. She paused then Nick put his hand on her cheek and kissed her lightly on the lips. Kristin ran her fingers through Nick's blonde hair. After a few minutes, Nick finally pulled away. Kristin shyly got off Nick and sat back down on the floor.
"Sorry," she said softly.
Nick caressed her face. "What are you sorry for?"
"I shouldn't have kissed you."
"Can I let you in on a secret?"
"Sure."
Nick stared into Kristin's big brown eyes. "You can kiss me anytime, anywhere."
Kristin smiled as Nick kissed her gently on the lips. He slowly moved to her neck and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. Kristin linked her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Nick caressed her cheek and stared into her eyes.
"What time is it?" Kristin asked.
Nick looked at his watch. "Almost midnight."
"I better get back to my apartment. I have class in a few hours. I need my sleep."
Nick pouted a little then got off the floor. “Okay.“
He took Kristin's hand and they went out to his car. Neither one of them spoke a word on the way to the apartment. They just held each other's hand in silence. When they arrived at the apartment, Nick looked at Kristin and smiled.
"I'm glad you came over tonight."
"I am too. I really had fun."
Nick kissed her gently on the lips. "You're coming to the concert tomorrow night, aren't you?"
Kristin smiled. "Of course I am. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Good," he said softly. Nick got out of the car and walked Kristin up to her door. "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Okay," Kristin said and wrapped her arms around him.
Nick kissed her on the lips once more. "Good night," he said softly.
"Good night," Kristin said, then went inside.
Kristin quietly shut the door and went into the living room. She found Rachel laying on the couch fast asleep with Brian's jacket wrapped around her. Kristin smiled and gently shook Rachel awake.
"Rachel, wake up," Kristin whispered.
"Mmmm, Brian let me sleep," Rachel mumbled and rolled over.
Kristin covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "Rach, get up!" she said a little bit louder.
Rachel sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Brian. . ." she said while rubbing her eyes. Rachel pulled her hands away from her eyes and looked around, noticing Brian was gone. "Oh. . .hi, Kristin," she said in a yawn.
Kristin laughed. "Good morning, sleepy head. Why did you think I was Brian?"
"He was here earlier. I must have fallen asleep. I guess I bored him to death. What time it is anyway?"
Kristin looked at her watch. "It's almost one. We better get to bed or we'll be falling asleep in class."
Rachel just stared off into space and nodded. Kristin noticed her eyes were swollen as if she had been crying.
"Rach, are you okay? You look like you've been crying."
"I'm. . .fine," Rachel said avoiding Kristin's eyes.
"Rachel, don't lie to me. You know I hate that."
"I don't want to talk about it right now," Rachel said as she got up and walked toward her room, still wearing Brian's jacket.
"Alright, but I'm going to keep bugging you until you do," Kristin said as she followed her.
"Fine with me," Rachel commented as she changed into her pajamas and putting Brian's jacket back on.
Kristin let out a snicker. "Are you going to sleep in that jacket?"
Rachel grinned as she climbed into bed. "It smells good."
"Weird girl," Kristin said as she walked to her own room. "Good night."
"Good night. . .and I'm not weird!" she shouted.
"Whatever you say," Kristin yelled back as she crawled into bed."
She was snuggled under her blankets, slowly drifting off to sleep when she heard her phone ring. Puzzled of who would be calling at that hour, she answered the phone.
"Hello?" she said in a sleepy voice.
"Hey," said the sound of Nick's voice.
Kristin beamed a smile. "What you doing calling me?"
"I just wanted to hear your voice again one last time before I went to sleep."
"Really?"
"Yes," he said with a yawn. "Are you in bed?"
"I am," she replied.
"What are you wearing?"
"What?" Kristin said, nearly sitting up.
Nick laughed. "I'm just joking with you. I really just called to say good night."
"I thought we already established that when you dropped me off."
"We did..."
"So...why are you really calling, Nick?"
"I just wanted to know when I would see you again. Aside from the concert, I mean."
Kristin felt her face grow red. She stifled her giggle in her pillow and regained composure. "I don't know. We'll talk about it tomorrow."
"Oh, I can't get an answer now?" he joked.
"I have class in the morning," she replied with a grin. "Good night, Nick."
"Sweet dreams, " he replied then hung up.
Kristin hung up the phone and chuckled to herself. She settled herself back into bed, pulling the blankets close. She smiled to herself and fell asleep with a smile still on her face.
