by Lena Skye
The next morning, I rolled over in my huge bed and refused to get up. Ordering breakfast was going to be our only option because there was no way in hell that I was going to leave our suite before noon. We had to recover from the night before so that we could do it all over again. There is nothing like a vacation to show you just how short weekends really are. We would all be headed back to Atlanta tomorrow evening. I wasn’t ready; I wanted to play a whole lot more.
The sound of my phone endlessly buzzing pulled me out of my dazed state. I saw that it was Joshua and it made me smile.
“Good morning babe,” I said with all of the enthusiasm that I could muster at 10 in the morning.
“Hey,” he said warily.
‘Oh goodness, here we go,’ I thought to myself.
“How is everything going back in ATL? I know that this is a pretty busy weekend for you. I wish that you were here with me,” I said ignoring his tone.
“Yes, I wish that I was there with you too,” he said. “What happened to you calling me back last night?”
“The clubs and bars were so loud and we didn’t get back until about 4 and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“How is Ken doing?” he asked.
“He seems to be doing just fine,” I laughed.
“Oh really?” he said.
He got quiet on the line. He seemed to read a lot more into my statement than what I intended. I felt that familiar sense of annoyance begin to creep back in and I didn’t have the patience to try to placate his ego.
“What are you getting at?” I asked.
“Well I know that he and Amelia broke up at the airport. I found out yesterday and I thought that I would hear it from you but you kept it from me.”
“It wasn’t my place to tell you that he and his girlfriend broke up. He’s your best friend and so I figured that you would hear that news directly from the source.”
“Nicole,” he said in a pleading whisper, “Just take it easy on the drinking okay.”
“What?” I asked.
“You know how things can get when emotions are high and alcohol is involved. I would rather for us both to be safe than sorry. It would make me feel a lot better if you promised me that you aren’t going to drink tonight.”
“I’m really sorry that at this point in our relationship you don’t trust me. I didn’t even want to come here without you, remember? Now that I’m here I plan on having a good time with my friends. I’m sorry that you’re back in Atlanta and that you’re feeling insecure but there is nothing that I can do about that,” I said as I sat up in my bed.
“I don’t want to upset you, that wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to let you know how I felt and now you’re upset, that’s crazy,” his voice had an edge.
His attitude did nothing but add fuel to the fire for my own. I didn’t have it in me to be nice to him.
“You sure could have fooled me if that wasn’t your intention. Look I’ll see you when I get back Atlanta. I refuse to allow you to ruin this trip for me,” I said and then pressed the end button on my cell.
I grabbed one of the plush down pillows from the bed and screamed into it. That man had the ability to tap dance on all of my nerves and I didn’t know if I could take much more of it.
“Nikki?” Patrice said through my door.
“Come in,” I said.
“Girl are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. Not by a long shot, Joshua is getting on my damned nerves. He called me this morning talking all kinds of crazy.”
“We have to talk,” Patrice said, “But we can do it while we eat breakfast. I ordered all of us a spread fit for royalty and it’s in the dining area waiting to be eaten.”
“Great minds think alike,” I laughed, “Is Jasmine up?” I asked.
“The real question is ‘who is Jasmine under?’” Patrice laughed.
“What?”
“You didn’t see how close she and Cedric were getting last night? She snuck out of here at 4 this morning and she thinks I don’t know where she is.”
“I wonder if they’re going to keep this thing going when we get back to Atlanta,” I asked.
“Who knows? They could decide to keep it in Vegas and pretend like nothing ever happened.”
“I’m never going to let her pretend like it never happened because she would taunt me if I slept with a man that I claimed I hated. I knew their dislike for each other was just a mask for chemistry,” I laughed.
“Alright, let’s go,” Patrice said as she pulled the covers off me. “I want my coffee while it’s still hot.”
We sat down for breakfast and everything that I could think of was on the table. My stomach growled and my mouth watered. I couldn’t wait to tear into the breakfast before us. It had been too long since I’d eaten, and it was time for me to fuel my body.
“Okay, so what did you want to talk to me about?” I asked as I buttered a piece of toast.
“I know that you’ve been arguing with Josh this morning. Do you mind if I ask you what it was about? If that’s too invasive just let me know.”
“No, it’s not invasive. I was going to tell you anyway but he found out Ken and Amelia’s breakup. So he called me to accuse me of keeping it away from him and then asked me not to drink. I guess he thinks that I’m going to slip and fall on Ken’s dick if I drink,” I said with attitude.
She laughed, “Girl you have issues. I tried to write off his texts to me last night as him just tripping so I stayed quiet. It sucked to hear you screaming this morning and so I see that he’s still at it.”
“What do you mean?”
“He texted me last night and asked me to keep an eye on you,” she said.
“An eye on me? An eye on me for what? I swear that he’s starting to act like my damned father.”
She held up her hands in surrender, “Please don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just letting you know what happened. I told him to stop worrying so much and that nothing was going on.”
I was in Las Vegas to have fun and not to be stressed out. Joshua had gone so far as to text my friend to keep an eye on me. I felt that it was quite disrespectful; I’m not a child that someone has to keep an eye on. I’m an adult that makes sound decisions and I don’t need a chaperone to accompany me on vacation. What in the hell was he thinking? I wanted to call him to give him a piece of my mind but I didn’t feel like talking to him at all.
I sighed, “You’re right, I’m not going to direct my anger towards you. I’m just so frustrated,” I said as I sipped my mimosa.
“Yeah he is over the top, but I can see why he’s a little insecure,” she admitted.
“Are you serious? I’m not about to do anything with Kenneth. He and I are not going to get back together now that he’s single. We are friends and nothing more.”
“Yeah sure, but we all know he still loves you. A man like him does not take no for an answer and, you know what, he is very hard to say no to also...Just sayin is all” she said before sipping her own mimosa and browsing her iPhone looking at Instagram.
I worried that she was probably right.
#Chapter11
“I was so disappointed when you didn’t flip out on me.”
Kenneth
It was another lively night out with each other.
All of us were in attendance and we had quite a few rounds of shots. Jagermeister can be a real bitch.
It seemed that everyone was completely letting go and enjoying the experience. Jasmine and her latest squeeze couldn’t keep their hands off of each other and I found it quite amusing. Those two usually argued whenever they were in the same room and now they were inseparable. Jasmine gave me and Patrice the ‘Don’t you dare say anything’ look and we heeded her warning…for now anyway.
Patrice was on the dance floor with a cute guy and they’d danced for 3 entire songs, I doubted if I would see much of her tonight. I made my way to the bar to get my next drink and took a seat so that I could be alone with my thoughts for momen
t. My romantic life was a mess and I was no longer sure of what I wanted. I hoped that once I was around Joshua again, that all of my feelings towards him would come flooding back. But at that moment, the only thing that I felt about him was annoyance.
“Can I buy you a drink?” I heard a familiar voice say.
“Ken, haven’t you bought everyone enough this weekend? How about I buy you a drink?”
“I can deal with that, you still remember what I like?”
“Of course, a long island?”
“You got it.”
I ordered the both of us a long island and I took a long sip as he sat in the chair next to me. He leaned over and whispered into my ear.
“Would you mind stepping out onto the balcony so that we can talk away from all of this music?”
I looked at him and wondered what he had up his sleeve. But my boredom had gotten to me and I was ready to have a real conversation with someone. So I got up and he escorted me out to the balcony. We found a great spot by the railing overlooking the strip. The view was breathtaking from where we were and I stared at everything for a few moments.
“Beautiful huh?” he said, reading my mind.
“Yes this is beautiful,” I said as I took a deep breath. “This is what I needed in my life right about now. To be able to get away and leave Atlanta behind for bit. So thank you very much, this was such a selfless gift.”
“I’ll admit that it hasn’t been completely selfless,” he admitted.
“Oh really Kenny?” I asked.
“Whoa, you haven’t called me Kenny since we were together,” he laughed, “I missed that.”
I blushed because it was an honest slip, mainly due to the alcohol. He was right that I haven’t called him that in a long time. He said that I was the only woman besides his mother that was allowed to call him by that nickname.
“I know, I guess I was feeling a little nostalgic,” I said. The alcohol had lowered my inhibitions and I was beginning to say the things that were on my mind. I wasn’t sure if that was such a good thing.
As the waitress passed he whispered something to her and she walked away.
“What was that all about?”
“You’ll see,” he grabbed my long island from my hand and placed it on one of the lounge tables away from us.
“I was going to drink that.”
“I’m going to get us something better to drink,” and he escorted us to a red lounge couch.
“You better,” I fake scowled at him.
“Don’t worry angel face, I gotcha.”
I burst out laughing. He hadn't called me Angel Face since we were together.
“Wow, now who is taking it back? I haven’t heard that in a long time.”
“Well its how I’ve always thought about you even when we weren’t together. You have the face of an angel. You’ll always be my angel face.”
There I go blushing again. Before I could embarrass myself further the waitress came and brought us a bucket with champagne and two flutes.
“Wow, champagne. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Well, I wanted to pull out all of the stops for tonight and I didn’t want to tell you what’s on my mind and heart while we were drinking mere long islands.”
“What is it that you have to say?”
He got quiet and poured us both a glass of champagne. He completely downed his first glass and then poured himself another. He was nervous and I began to soften. It’s rare that he gets nervous and so what he had to say must have been pretty big. The last time he invited me out he told me that he was going to marry Amelia. So I was sure to keep my poker face on.
“I have a lot to say and so I’m going to need to get it all out without you saying anything.”
“Ummm okay, but you’re scaring me.”
“Don’t be afraid. Hopefully it won’t scare you away.”
“Okay so spill it.”
He closed his eyes and started, “I broke up with Amelia because I didn’t love her. I had no intention on marrying her and I only told you that to see what your reaction would be. I was so disappointed when you didn’t flip out on me.”
“What?”
He opened his eyes, “Please let me finish.” He grabbed my hand and continued, “I’ve always felt like you were the one for me Nikki. You’re my heart and I know we’re meant to be together. I have to admit that I chose this particular weekend because I knew that Joshua wouldn’t be able to come here. I wanted the opportunity to get to speak to you without him being around.” He paused. “I love you Nicole.”
I felt like all the air had been withdrew from my lungs. He wanted to be with me and this whole weekend had been orchestrated to get me alone. I felt flattered and flustered at the same time.
“Okay you can say something now,” he said.
“I-I-I don’t really know what to say. I’m speechless.”
“Getting this new contract helped bring my entire life into focus. I’ve been working so hard to get to this place and now that I’m here I realized that there was a hole in my life. I want to settle down now, start a family, and I want to do it with you, not Amelia or anyone else.” he said as he leaned in.
His lips brushed against mine and I responded by returning his kiss. He cradled my face in his hand as he deepened our kissed. All of the hunger and need that I’d been feeling for him was poured into that kiss. Then the reality of what I was doing hit me like a ton of bricks.
“No,” I said as I pulled away and put my fingers to my lips..
“You can't do this Kenneth!” I said, fighting hard to hold back tears.
We both paused, as it was clear Kenneth was trying to ask something important.
“Can I ask you a question Nicole?”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you love him? Honestly...”
“I’ve been trying to love him,” I said, “But, no, no, I don’t.”
“Do you love me?”
I hesitated, I didn't want to lose my poker face but I was sure he could see my eyes were already watering.
“You know I love you, I’ve loved you forever but…”
“No buts,” he said cutting me off. “I’m tired of waiting, I want to be with you. I know you want to be with me too. Let’s stop playing around and make it happen. I promise you, when we get back I will talk to Joshua about it. Sure, he will take it hard, but he will understand eventually. You and I are meant to be together and he’ll do the right thing by backing down. You belong to me Nikki, you’re my soul mate and I know you know that too.”
His words helped to put me at ease and I didn’t want to fight my feelings for him any further. He was the man that I was supposed to be with, that I was MEANT to be with. I wasn’t about to waste time thinking about it anymore. In my heart I had wanted this the whole time and I was ready to let it finally take the lead. The road that I was heading down with Joshua was going to make me unhappy and I knew it.
“Okay,” I whispered before I kissed him again. I didn’t want to ruin our mood by talking too much.
“Come back to my room with me,” he said grabbing my hand. I love it when he takes charge.
I rose to my feet as soon as he said it because it had been far too long since my body felt his.
We enjoyed the walk back to the hotel and kept our composure until we got to his room. When we walked into the suite I immediately kicked my heels off and he picked me up and carried me to his bedroom. He placed me gently on the bed and my energy started to match his. I was completely riled up with raw energy but it started to become a low simmer. It was very present but we were going to take our time and savor the moment.
He leaned in and kissed me as he gathered my dress up and pulled it over my head. My hands went to the buttons on his shirt and started unbuttoning from the top, placing kisses on his flesh as each bit of skin was bared. I missed his tight physique. I took care of his belt and pants and they dropped to the floor in a pool around him.
This is what I’d been wa
nting for over a year. The energy between us both was electric and my skin sang every time he kissed and touched my skin. His mouth went to my nipple and he slowly licked around it before taking it completely into his mouth. My breathing intensified when I realized what we were getting ready to do.
I’d spent countless nights and mornings wishing that he was with me. I watched him as he gave my breast his mouths full attention. He suckled on them as if they were giving him life. I ran my hands along his muscled back.
“Have you missed me as much as I’ve missed you,” he said as he looked into my eyes.