Nix chuckled as he moved off the bed stripping the condom away. “Maybe?”
Louise fell over to her side, not ready or able to do anything more than that. “I think you killed me.”
Nix tied the rubber off before walking to the bathroom to throw it away. She could hear running water in the small room before he reappeared with a washrag in his hand.
“C’mon, sweetheart. Open up and let me clean you so that we can get some sleep.” Stroking her leg, Nix waited patiently for her to give him access to the area he had just become more than acquainted with.
Gently wiping away the extra moisture coating her pussy and inner thighs, Nix showed his gorgeous dimple again when she moaned at the contact.
“I’m pretty sure you don’t have it in you for us to go again, sweetheart. Just relax and let me take care of you.”
Within a few moments, Nix had her cleaned and tucked into bed with her back to his front. Lacing their fingers together, he nuzzled his face into her hair.
When his breath tickled her ear, Louise let out a happy sigh. “Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary,” he replied, his lips skimming the top of her head. “Now get some sleep so I don’t feel bad about waking you up in the morning to go again.”
She settled into her pillow, content to drift off, when his words registered. “Wait, what?”
Nix laughed softly and gave her a squeeze, “Go to sleep,”
Smiling like an idiot, Louise clutched their linked hands between her breasts happier than she had been in a long while. “Maybe I’ll be the one waking you up.”
“I can’t wait, sweetheart. I can’t wait.”
Chapter 16
“Tell us everything,” Winter demanded as the girls sat down for dinner at Lou’s favorite local brewery.
“Yes! Give us aaall the dirty details,” Jazz prodded loudly, causing a group of blue-haired little old ladies to cast angry looks their way.
“Dear Lord, can you tone it down a bit?” Louise gave the other table an apologetic glance. “Is this seriously how we’re going to spend the girls’ night?”
“What do you mean?” Winter looked offended. “Are you suggesting that we waste a perfectly good night out, without the men—”
“And Junior,” Jazz interrupted.
Winter nodded. “And Junior, and not talk about how you and Nix are attached at the hip lately?”
Louise tried to keep the smile off her face, but lately she had been smiling more often than not. Flagging down the waiter, she ordered a Cyclist, her favorite citrus-beer concoction. While her friends ordered their own drinks, she thought about what she wanted to share with them. Part of her wanted to scream from the rooftops how happy she was with Nix, but the other part didn’t want to jinx what they had going.
Knowing that she couldn’t stall for long, Louise pretended to study the menu for a few moments.
“C’mon, Lou, you know you get the fish and chips every single time. Stop wasting our precious dick-free moments and spill the beans.”
Louise almost spit out the beer she was sipping. “Are you trying to kill me?” She asked with a choking cough.
“Not before you tell us everything we need to know,” Jazz said in a very poor Russian accent, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Alright, alright.” Louise gave in. “I’m not going to go into details, but I will answer some questions.”
“Goodie!” Jazz practically danced in her chair.
“First…a toast,” Louise announced, holding up her beer and waiting for the women to join her. “To friends!”
“To friends!” They clinked their glasses together.
“Now, no more stalling. You and Nix have been barely away from each other for the last four weeks. In fact, I personally heard him turn down an invite to some strip clubs the other night, and he used you as an excuse.”
Lou frowned. “What strip clubs?”
Winter waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry about that. Some of the single guys go in a group once a month or so. The important part of the story is what Nix said when he was asked to go. Do you want to know what he said? He said, ‘no thanks, I got my woman at home,’” Winter mimicked in a deep voice. “If it hadn’t been so caveman, it would have been sweet.”
“Awww, that’s still sweet in my opinion, but I like it when Leo goes all ‘me man, you woman’ on me.” Jazz thumped her chest as though she were Tarzan, causing them all to giggle.
“So, we’ve been dating for four weeks or so.” Louise shrugged. “Actually, it was more like we had one date, and he basically never left.”
“What does that even mean?” Winter asked, signaling for another beer.
“Exactly what it sounds like, actually. We had that one date—”
“You mean the date that ended in Nix fishing for googly eyes in Junior’s nose?” Jazz teased, causing Winter to shoot her a look filled with fire.
“It. Was. An. Accident,” Winter ground out, her jaw clenched. “Plus, he sneezed them out before she even got home, so it doesn’t count.”
“Uh huh, sure it doesn’t,” Jazz said sarcastically.
“Yeah, that date,” Louise teased with a laugh. “Anyway, we had that one date, and he kind of never left. I mean, he left but came back and acted like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. It threw me off to be honest with you.”
“Why?” Jazz asked between sips.
“I don’t know,” Lou confessed and leaned toward her friends. “I guess that this type of stuff has never been so easy for me. I mean, Nix is just there, and it feels right. Ya know?”
“I know what you mean.” Winter nodded, a far off look in her eyes.
“Ditto,” Jazz agreed.
“The only problem is that we haven’t really talked about what we’re actually doing,” Louise complained. “I mean, Junior is always around, and that doesn’t give me the chance to say ‘hey Nix, are we going steady or is this just fun?’”
“I’m sure he’s hinted at something long term, hasn’t he?” Jazz asked.
“A little…maybe? I mean, he’s said that this is different, but I don’t know what to think. He was kind of a manwhore before we met, and I’m not sure if his version of long term is the same as my version. Ya know?” Louise rambled incoherently, not even making sense to herself.
“C’mon now, this is Nix we’re talking about here,” Winter said. “He’s more of an action man than the heart-to-heart type. Don’t you think? Did he tell you how this was ‘different?’ What do you guys talk about when Junior isn’t around?”
Louise felt her face turn bright red. “Uhhhh.”
It must have been the look on her face and the almost perfect Bob’s Burgers Tina Belcher impression because none of them could stop the fit of laughter that took over their table. It wasn’t long before Louise was wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes as their food arrived.
“So, we’ve established that you and Nix don’t do a whole lot of talking,” Winter announced loudly, causing the grandma gang next to them to shush her. “Meh. Ignore them. What else?”
“Well, he’s basically wiggled his way into my life without me realizing it,” Louise explained. “I mean, one day he showed up to change my oil, and the next thing I know he’s cleaned the garage, fixed the backdoor, and I’m pretty sure he plans to stain the deck this weekend.”
“So, is he your boyfriend or your handyman?” Jazz asked with a hiccup.
“I don’t know,” Louise exclaimed.
“Calm down, weirdo.” Winter patted her back. “Nix is a tough nut to crack. I’ll tell you right now, though, that I’ve never heard of him having someone steady. I love the man like family, but he was a screw and leave them type. He never took out the same woman more than once and never spent time with them for anything other than a booty call.”
“Well gee, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Louise rolled her eyes.
Winter made a face. “I meant that his normal MO used to be hooking up w
ith the pole bunnies around the station, and from what I hear, they’re pretty pissed off now that he isn’t making the rounds.”
“Yuck.” Louise grimaced at the thought of Nix “making the rounds” before they met.
“All I’m saying is that he’s not the guy he used to be,” Winter said as she emphasized her words by pointing her fork at Louise. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“I think it’s sweet,” Jazz offered with a somewhat sloppy smile. The beer she’d been chugging had obviously hit her. “You two are adorable together.”
“Very,” Winter agreed, giving Louise a look of amusement when Jazz was overcome with hiccups. “Before I forget, Will wanted to know if you guys wanted to go to the lake next weekend.”
“Can I let you know? I’m supposed to be helping out with my mom’s garage sale, but she hasn’t returned my calls lately, so I probably won’t be doing that anymore.”
“What’s going on with your family now? Is it because of Maggie? I heard she threw a little bit of a fit at the station last week when she discovered you and Nix are dating,” Jazz said between hiccups.
“Wait…what?” Louise dropped her fork on her plate with a clatter.
“Oh, shit. You don’t know?” Jazz looked to Winter for help.
“What happened?” Louise asked timidly, covering her face with her hands. She was not looking forward to hearing the story.
Winter scooted her beer toward Louise as if she would need the alcohol for what was about to be said. “From what I heard from Will—and let me tell you I had to basically pull teeth to get him to talk—the normal group of pole bunnies showed up at the station with cookies and a cake for one of the guys’ birthday. All of our guys were on shift, so they all gathered around to sing when Maggie decided she would latch on to Nix. According to Will, Nix couldn’t get away from her fast enough and told her that he was taken. When her little skanky friend said something back, Leo jumped in and informed Maggie if she were a better sister she would know that Louise and Nix were together.”
Louise moved her plate calmly out of the way before dropping her head to the table. “Oh God.”
“It gets better.”
“I don’t see how,” Louise said although her words were muffled against her arms and the table.
“Maggie said something insulting about you, and Nix almost lost his damn mind.”
Louise looked up quickly. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. “What did she say?”
Winter played with her napkin and avoided eye contact. “Nothing.”
“Winter,” Louise gritted out.
“She said that she didn’t know Nix was a chubby chaser,” Jazz said, the liquor loosening her lips.
All three women were silent for a moment, while Winter and Jazz watched Louise’s face closely.
“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed are you right now?” Winter asked after she cleared her throat.
“What did Nix say?” Louise asked calmly. The thought of Nix’s attraction to her being questioned made her all sorts of uncomfortable.
“When?” Jazz burped.
“When Maggie said that, what did he say?” Louise repeated.
Winter took a sip of her beer before answering, “Something along the lines of how he loves your body, and it wouldn’t matter what you looked like anyway.”
“That’s so sweet,” Jazz mumbled into her glass. “No offense Lou, but your sister is a bitch.”
Louise nodded slowly. “She didn’t use to be. In fact, we used to be pretty close.”
“What happened?” Her friends parroted simultaneously.
“I don’t know,” Louise answered honestly. “Most of my family has been acting like a bag of dicks lately, if I’m going to be honest about it.”
“How is Junior’s dad doing?” Winter probed.
“He’s doing really well,” Louise answered and signaled for another beer. “He sent a couple cards to Junior, and even though my brother’s handwriting looks like a chicken ran across the paper with ink on its feet, what he wrote is sweet.”
“That’s good, right?” Jazz piped in.
“We have another two weeks before he checks out and everything goes back to normal,” Louise added.
“Well, at least as normal as our lives can get, right?” Winter held up her glass for Jazz to bump against.
“What do you mean?” Louise looked between the two, unsure of what they were talking about.
“Oh, just the normal dating-a-firefighter complaints. Late nights, scary calls, trying to get the smoke smell out of clothes—you know the normal stuff.”
Louise nodded even though she wasn’t sure if she understood exactly why she was commiserating. She had been so busy with Junior lately that she just thought whenever Nix went to work that he was…just working. She had never really thought about how dangerous his job was.
“I can see I’ve worried you.” Winter grimaced and held up her hands. “I promise that wasn’t my intention. In fact, I’m glad we now have another woman to talk to and gab with. It makes it all easier to deal with.”
“Yeah, and Leo said once the firebug is caught then their calls should go down quite a bit. Most of the guys are on edge now because they aren’t sure what they’re walking into when a call comes in,” Jazz blurted out.
“Will said the same thing. Right now, they are all on pins and needles waiting for the shoe to drop. I’m sure once they get back to answering normal calls, they will relax.”
“Firebug?” Louise repeated. “What the fuck are y’all babbling about?”
“Ummm, Nix didn’t tell you?” Winter asked, a look of panic on her face.
“We’ve already discussed that there hasn’t been a whole lot of talking,” Louise snapped. Her newfound worry was putting her on edge. “Wait, I saw a snippet on the news yesterday talking about a couple of the fires downtown. Were they arson?”
“That’s what the fire inspector determined. In fact, four of the fires have been linked and are now criminal investigations.”
Jazz fiddled with her knife on the table. “Leo said the guys are being overly careful now. They’ve even been going over safety drills to make sure they are on their game.”
Louise felt as if the wind had been taken out of her sails. “Damn, I never even thought about that part of his job.”
“Girl, I’m not going to lie.” Winter paused, her face becoming serious. “Loving our men is a tough job, but it’s totally worth it. Sure, there are sleepless nights, but I can’t imagine Will doing anything else.”
“Same with Leo,” Jazz offered. “And, Nix too for that matter. He’s been at the station longer than both of our guys, and he loves the job.”
“I know that,” Louise agreed. “I guess, once Junior is back home with Aaron, this is probably a discussion Nix and I will need to have.”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t talked to you about it already,” Jazz said, which was exactly what Louise had been thinking.
Why hadn’t he talked about work at all? She wasn’t an idiot. She knew the dangers of being a firefighter. She was just surprised that he hadn’t made any mention of the recent arson calls.
As Jazz and Winter started arguing about what to order for dessert, Louise couldn’t help but think back on their discussion. Nix seemed to love his job, but when they were together, he didn’t really talk about work. He always asked her how things were going at the studio, and he dropped by often, yet he didn’t really share details about his own day. Every time she had asked about his work, he somehow managed to steer the conversation back around. Not that he was being secretive, but more like he didn’t want to worry her, which would have been sweet if it didn’t piss her off so much. The more she thought about it, the more it annoyed her. The last thing Louise wanted was a one-way relationship where he was a part of her life, yet she wasn’t in his.
Chapter 17
“Did you grab Junior’s pajamas from the dryer?” Louise yelled down the hallway, double-checking
the duffle bag. Even though it was Monday, all three of them were home. She’d taken the day off work, Junior was home from school, and even Nix was hanging out at the house. All of them waiting for one special moment. The moment when Aaron came to collect his son after finishing his eight-week stint in rehab.
“I pulled them out already,” Nix relayed, carrying Junior over his shoulder, causing the little boy to giggle like crazy.
“Aunt LouLou!” Junior yelled to get her attention as if he didn’t already have it with the ruckus he was making. “Look at me fly!”
Nix lifted Junior over his head while Junior held his arms and legs straight out as if he were a superhero. Louise took a moment to admire the heavy muscles in Nix’s arms while he effortlessly suspended the sixty-pound boy up without a wince.
“Watch out. He ate two hot dogs for breakfast,” Louise teased and laughed at how quickly Nix lowered him to the floor.
“For breakfast?” he asked with questioning glances at both her and her nephew.
“Aunt LouLou said since it was my last morning here I got to pick my own breakfast, and I wanted hot dogs,” Junior defended, straightening the cape he was wearing over his T-shirt.
“I had to make your last day the best, didn’t I?” she teased, tucking a renegade toy into the side pocket of his bag.
“I’m going to miss staying here, LouLou,” Junior said quietly as she zipped up his bag.
Louise smiled at Junior and kneeled to his level. “I’m going to miss you too, buddy.”
“I’m sure your dad is excited to see you again though,” Nix added gruffly, ruffling his hair.
“I can’t wait!” Junior yelled zooming out of the room, moving from one thing to another like any normal four-year-old.
“That didn’t last long,” Louise said dryly.
“That’s good though.” Nix pulled her in for a hug, kissing the top of her head.
“I know I’m just going to miss the little booger.” Louise snuggled into the hard chest in front of her. Sniffing the scent of her own fabric softener, which still lingered from when she did their laundry earlier.
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