"Yeah, you look so pretty." Vanessa said, a little too cheery, as if she was trying to hide something.
"Thanks, I think." Jenna said, getting more and more annoyed by the minute. Thankfully the doorbell rang again. "Why don't you two go sit in the living room and I'll get the door. It must be Nicholas, so we'll be right in."
Nathan and Vanessa walked into the living room and made themselves comfortable on the couch while Jenna went to answer the door. As she pulled it open, her breath caught in her throat when she saw Nicholas. He was wearing a red button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearm a little, with nice black pants. His hair was gelled to perfection, and his brown goatee was trimmed short. He looked nothing short of…hot! "Wow!" was all Jenna managed to get out of her mouth.
Nicholas stood at the door not able to move. He saw Jenna and was taken aback by how great she looked. "Yeah, I could say the same for you. Aren't you the same girl I went out with last weekend? The one that keeps hiding my little Jenna away?" He asked when he finally got his mouth working again and stopped drooling.
"Glad to see that someone likes the way I look tonight. I think our dates are over before they even started." Jenna laughed.
"What do you mean?" Nichols asked.
"Well, I think that out little Nathan and Vanessa have hit it off. I came down earlier and the two could barely pry their eyes off each other to look at me when I came in." Jenna laughed.
"Cool, maybe we should go with this. It might just work out better for both of us if they take a liking to each other." Nicholas said, as if he was calculating a plan in his head. "Let's just run with this. If they end up liking each other, then good for them, and better for us. We can't make it obvious that we know though, or that we're trying to get them together."
"Sounds good to me. Nathan kind of scares me anyways." Jenna laughed and led Nicholas to the living room where Vanessa and Nathan were already waiting. "Hey guys, are you ready to head out?" Jenna asked the two people sitting rather close together on the couch.
"Yeah, let's go." Vanessa jumped up off the couch as if she was a 15-year old caught making out with her boyfriend by her parents. "Oh how cute, you two match." Vanessa said, pointing out that Nicholas and Jenna were both wearing black and red.
Jenna rolled her eyes. "So do you and Nathan. Weird, huh?" She said flippantly. "Oh, hey, did you remember to give the babysitter money to get the kids some pizza for dinner?" Jenna asked Nicholas.
"Yeah, I remembered. Do you take me for a moron?" Nicholas joked. "But that reminds me, I have to stop at home quick before we take off."
"You forgot, didn't you?" Jenna laughed.
"Yup. Thanks for reminding me." He laughed as they walked out the door.
Nathan and Vanessa looked at each other and rolled their eyes, they didn't enjoy the joking between Jenna and Nicholas as much as Nick and Jenna did. They also didn't really like the tight bond that they shared. It didn't help that neither one of them had kids themselves. They just didn't understand what it was like to be single parents.
After Nicholas brought the babysitter the money and Nick and Jenna said goodbye to their kids, they all piled into Nicholas's SUV and headed to the restaurant. Vanessa had made reservations at a nice Chinese restaurant. Conversation over dinner was strained between the two dates, but Jenna and Nicholas never seemed to run out of things to talk to each other about, and Vanessa and Nathan were enjoying their conversations too.
After the meal, the waitress brought over four fortune cookies and placed them in the center of the table. Nathan reached for the first one, without hesitation. Everyone looked at him with annoyance, but he didn't notice. He was too busy opening his cookie to get his fortune.
"Ladies first." Nicholas said looking at the girls and the last three fortune cookies. Vanessa picked one then Jenna got hers. Nicholas took the final cookie and opened it.
"What? I don't get it!" Nathan exclaimed. "It says 'A liar is not believed even though he tells the truth.' What kind of damn fortune is that? This sucks. I got ripped off, I want a real fortune!"
"What are you going to do, cry and hold your breath until you turn blue? Man, even Emma acts older than you are right now." Nicholas told him and laughed.
"Ha-ha. What does everyone else's say?" Nathan asked.
"Mine says 'Sometimes you must spark a crisis to get results.' I think I can do that." Vanessa said, then winked at Nathan and gave him a playful little smirk. The wink and smirk didn't go unnoticed by anyone at the table.
"My fortune says, 'Answer what your heart prompts you'. Hmm, interesting!" Jenna said. "What about you Nicholas? What does your say?" She asked. Nicholas slid his fortune across the table to show it to Jenna. "It says 'The challenge you are facing is just what you need.' Wow. Ok." Jenna caught Nicholas's eyes and saw him blush.
Neither Vanessa nor Nathan had heard what Nicholas's fortune said, they were both engulfed in another conversation about their jobs and their lives. They seemed to be hitting it off well, much to the enjoyment of Jenna and Nicholas.
Shortly after, they paid the bill and headed out to a club. Once inside, Nicholas led them all to a table, then went up to get everyone drinks. Jenna followed him to help carry the order back to the table.
"Please don't let me drink so much this time." Jenna begged him.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of you tomorrow if you do. Besides, it's not like we have to go to the arcade again." He laughed.
"So, you think that they're going to hook up?" Jenna asked about Nathan and Vanessa.
"I'd be willing to bet. Are you ok with that?"
"Yeah, I'm ok with it for the fact that I don't really like Nathan and I know you don't like Nessa, it's just the fact of how they're doing it that bothers me. I mean, we are supposed to be on dates with them and it doesn't seem like either one cares about that fact. The least they could do would be to ask if we minded or something." Jenna said.
"Yeah, they are playing it pretty dirty, huh?" Nicholas said. "Well, let's get back to the lovebirds."
They carried the drinks over to the table where Nathan and Vanessa were getting closer by the minute. When they looked up to see that Jenna and Nicholas had come back, Nathan stood. "Hey Jenna, how about a dance?"
Jenna looked at Nicholas, a little confused. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if to say he had no idea what was going on. "Sure." She told Nathan.
As they were walking away, Vanessa grabbed Nicholas. "How about we dance too?" She smiled with her lips, but it just didn't reach her eyes.
Nicholas stood up and linked his arm with hers. "Let's go."
Though they all started out dancing a fast song, the music quickly turned to a slow song. Nathan pulled Jenna into his grasp and pressed his body tightly to hers. Jenna cringed slightly, trying not to show her feelings to Nathan. His hands were making trails up and down her back as he kept nuzzling his face in her hair. Jenna looked over to Nicholas to see if she could get some help from him, but Vanessa was keeping him pretty occupied.
Vanessa had her arms wrapped tightly around Nicholas's neck and was whispering in his ear. He had his eyes shut tightly and his hands were barely touching her waist. He seemed as if he was just as annoyed by the situation as Jenna was. That thought gave Jenna some enjoyment, since it wasn't often that a guy wasn't in bliss being in Vanessa's arms. To make it even better, it was Nicholas that didn't enjoy being hugged so tight to her.
Jenna gave up on looking for Nicholas to save her, and tried to get out of this by herself. She backed up from Nathan a little and looked up to his face. She was going to tell him that she wanted to go sit back down, but he misinterpreted her movement. Nathan thought she was looking up to kiss him, so he leaned down and brought his lips to hers. Before Jenna knew what was happening, he had shoved his tongue into her mouth. Jenna was disgusted and pushed him away with all her might.
"What the fuck were you doing?" Jenna yelled. Nicholas had seen the whole thing and came running over.
"
Oh, don't play innocent. We're on a date. What else do you expect? Besides, I saw you kissing Nicholas last week during your date with him, so I figured why not." Nathan said, annoyed.
"Nathan, why are you being such an asshole? You have been all over Vanessa all night, and now you expect for Jenna to just kiss you and have everything be ok? Not to mention that the kiss between Jenna and I last week was a mistake. We both had too much to drink, and we weren't even on a date, we just went out as friends." Nicholas yelled. "Why don't you go sit down with Vanessa. We'll talk about this later."
Nathan grabbed Vanessa's hand and led her back to the table. Nick grabbed Jenna and hugged her. "I'm sorry that my friend is such an ass. I don't know why he's acting like this tonight. Are you ok?" He asked, whispering into her ear.
Jenna fought against the chills that were running up her back when she felt his breath on her ear. "Yeah, I'm fine. He just really took me by surprise. I figured that with the way he was acting towards Nessa all night that he didn't want anything to do with me. I had my guard down and he took advantage of that."
"Come on, we need to go figure all this shit out. Why don't you take Vanessa into the bathroom and ask what's going on between them and I'll talk to Nathan, ok?" Nick asked, leading her towards the table. Jenna nodded.
Back at the table, Jenna said, "Nessa, I need to use the ladies room, will you come with?"
"Sure." Vanessa said and followed Jenna down the hall towards the bathroom.
Once inside, it was a lot quieter. They sat on the couch that was in the 'waiting room' of the restroom. "So, you want to tell me what's going on tonight? You beg me forever to fix you up with Nicholas, then when I do, you ignore him all night and fawn all over my date."
"Well, it's not like either one of you care. Besides, Nathan is more my type, and it just seemed like we had this instant connection between us." Vanessa told her.
"What do you mean it's not like we care?" Jenna asked.
"Oh come on. It's so obvious that you and Nicholas are into each other. You have all these inside jokes, and the way you two look at each other, it's like there is no one else in the room. No other woman can compete with that." Vanessa whined.
"I don't know what you're seeing Ness. Yeah, we have inside jokes because he's one of my best friends. You and I have inside jokes too. That all comes along with being friends." Jenna told her.
"And what about that kiss last week that you conveniently forgot to tell me about?" She asked.
"I didn't tell you about it because Nicholas and I talked about it and agreed that it was a mistake and it only happened because we had too much to drink. It wasn't a big deal. We both agreed to be friends and nothing more. It happened and it's over. Nothing more." Jenna said.
"So the kiss didn't mean anything?" Vanessa asked.
"No." Jenna answered a little too quickly. She hoped that Vanessa couldn't tell that she was lying. The kiss had been wonderful. She had thought about it all week and could still feel his lips against hers. It was nothing like the kiss that Nathan had just given her. When Nathan kissed her, she felt nothing but revulsion. There was no tingling feeling, no breathless feeling, no heart-stopping moment. But it was all there in the brief kiss she shared with Nicholas.
"Well, no matter how much you say it didn't mean anything, I know it did, so I'm backing off. Besides, I think I do like Nathan. Does that bother you?" Vanessa asked.
"Bother me? No, not at all. I'm actually relieved. The thing that bothers me is that you didn't tell me at the beginning of the date. I think the way you both handled it was rude to me and Nicholas, but I think both of us are happy that you two like each other." Jenna told her. "So, how about we go out there and you take Nathan off my hands and keep him away from me for the rest of the night?"
"I think I can do that." Vanessa said. "No hard feelings?" She asked.
"No hard feelings Nessa." Jenna said and hugged her friend.
Meanwhile, out in the club, Nathan and Nicholas were talking. "Dude, why the hell did you kiss Jenna?" Nick asked his friend.
"I thought she wanted me to. She looked up a me, and I just thought I was giving her what she wanted." Nathan told him.
"Dumbass, has she given you any clues at all tonight that she liked you or that she wanted you to kiss her?"
"No, but who wouldn't want a kiss from me?" Nathan bragged.
"Well, obviously Jenna!" Nicholas laughed. "Seriously though, you and Vanessa have been flirting all night. Why don't you just go for her and leave Jenna alone?"
"Ah, so you can have Jenna to yourself? I knew you wanted her." Nathan laughed.
"No, it's not like that. I mean, yeah it drove me crazy to see you kiss her, but not for the reason you're thinking. She's my friend and I don't want to see her get hurt." Nicholas said. 'Yeah right, liar! It drove you crazy because you wanted to be the one kissing her again. You were jealous beyond belief!' Nicholas thought.
"Well, whatever you want to think. Don't worry, I'll leave her alone. I think me and Vanessa could have a lot of fun anyways." Nathan said, with a mischievous grin on his face. "And here she comes now."
The girls walked back over to the table and Nathan stood up to greet them. He reached his hand out to Jenna for her to shake it and said, "I'm sorry Jenna. Can we forget about this and be friends?"
Jenna took his hand and shook it. "Sure, that'll work."
"Good. Now Miss Vanessa, would you do me the honors of dancing with me?" Nathan asked.
"I thought you'd never ask." She said with a smile.
Nathan and Vanessa headed off to the dance floor and left Jenna and Nicholas alone at the table. "Why does there always have to be so much damn drama in my life? Can't things ever go smoothly?" Jenna cried.
Nicholas laughed. "Ah, but then think of how boring life would be!"
"So, Vanessa said that her and Nathan thought there was something going on between us, but I straightened her out and told her we were just friends."
"Yeah, I had to do the same with Nathan. I think we might have disappointed them a little when we told them that." Nicholas chuckled.
"Well, how about we go out there and give them a show to keep them guessing?" Jenna asked.
"You're a little devil in disguise when you get drinking, aren't you?" Nicholas asked. He stood up and grabbed her hand. "Take it easy on me though. I don't know if I can handle your wicked ways." He laughed.
Jenna gave him an evil smirk as he led her to the dance floor. They chose a spot not too far from Nathan and Vanessa and started dancing. As the music played on, the more provocative their dancing became. As Nicholas was dancing behind Jenna, he wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered into her ear, "Have I ever told you that you're a really, really good dancer?"
Jenna turned in his arms and put her arms around his neck, grinding into him. "Just think what else I'm good at." She whispered back into his ear seductively. Nicholas felt a shiver run from the tip of his toes to the very top of his head.
"You better be careful or else I won't be able to control myself." He growled into her ear.
"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing after all." Jenna moaned, then looked into his eyes.
"How much have you had to drink tonight?" He asked quickly.
"Not as much as last week, why?" Jenna answered.
"I was just wondering whether we were going to blame our next kiss on the alcohol or not." He said and then brought his lips down to hers, quickly before she had time to object.
Jenna wasn't objecting, not in the least. Actually, she was enjoying herself immensely. Her body felt as if it was floating, and she felt like there were fireworks going off all around her. The kiss was so gentle and passionate. Jenna made the move to deepen the kiss and felt Nicholas moan in her mouth. They were both so taken by the moment, neither one realized they had an audience of two whistling at them.
When Jenna finally broke the kiss, she looked over to see Nathan and Vanessa watching them and clapping. Both her and Nicholas felt their fa
ces turning red as they blushed, though neither one had much blood left in their heads.
"You ready to get out of here?" Nicholas asked Jenna.
"More than you know." Jenna said.
Nathan and Vanessa followed behind them and they all piled into Nicholas's SUV to head back to Nick and Jenna's. Nathan and Vanessa sat in the back, holding hands and kissing the whole time. Once back at Jenna's, Vanessa gave Nathan directions to her house where they had planned to continue their date.
When they left, Nicholas walked Jenna over to her front door, holding her hand. Before Jenna could get her keys out, Nicholas had pulled her in for another kiss. He backed her up against the door as he kissed her with everything he had in him. Jenna was thankful to be between the door and Nicholas so that she didn't fall down. Nick's kisses were making her legs so weak.
After the fabulous kiss, Nicholas told her that they were going to have to talk the next day to figure out what was going on between them. "I think we both need to figure some things out tonight, so maybe it's better if we talk tomorrow." He suggested.
"That's fine. I don't think I can even form coherent sentences right now anyways." Jenna said with a smile.
Nicholas laughed. "Ok, good night. I'll call you in the morning before I send Colby home, ok?"
"Sounds good." Jenna told him, then kissed him one more time.
"Mmm, if you keep kissing me like that then I won't ever be able to leave." Nicholas moaned.
"Sorry. I won't do it again. Good night."
"Good night." Nicholas whispered and gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning and walking away, towards his house.
Jenna opened her door and walked into her foyer. She shut the door and backed into it, smiling. 'What a night!' She thought to herself, wondering how she was ever going to sleep after those kisses that Nicholas had given her. 'Tomorrow can't come soon enough!'
Mending the Soul Page 5