by Piper, M.
But I can’t lose this job just yet.
“I have to go,” I whisper, pulling away quickly and taking my money with me. I stop by the break room to grab my jacket to cover the parts of me I don’t want to show off in public, then head back to Nico at the bar. As much as I want to go out with him tonight, Ford’s at my house and he’s already ready to kill me. If I ditch him tonight for a guy, that’ll be the end of him coming to visit me I’m sure.
“Nico,” I say, walking up to him. God, why’s he have to smell so amazing again?
“Reagan,” he says, grinning at me. He bends down and presses his lips to mine, then curses under his breath. “I needed that. This week’s been…weird…to say the least,” he whispers.
“You could say that again,” I mutter.
I haven’t been able to get him off my mind, and that’s not normal for me. I’ve dated plenty of losers, been crushed by a few of them…but there’s something about Nico that’s so different from any of those boys.
Maybe that’s it. They were all just boys.
“You free tonight?” He smirks at me, his hand coming to rest on my elbow as I glance into those beautifully dark eyes.
“I’m not,” I whisper, hating myself for being such a good sister at this point in time. Nico sounds like way more fun than my pouting brother. My eyebrows pull together. “I’m sorry.”
“Can I see you soon?” He’s trying to hide the disappointment but it’s shining through and I feel horrible. Guilt. It’s a natural feeling for me.
“Hey, why don’t you come with me? It’s not anything huge, just movie night, but my brother’s in town and would kill me if I didn’t pay attention to him.” I grab his hand and pull him to leave.
“Already meeting the family?” He boasts, laughing as we head to the front door. “Are you sure about this? I can hang out with you another night.”
“No. No, it’s fine. It’ll be boring, though. I’m sure of it.” I ramble, heading for my car then pausing. “You want to follow me? You probably drove here right? Are you sure you want to do this? It was kind of presumptuous. I’m sorr—“
Nico stops me with his lips to mine, making me melt into him in the parking lot. His soft lips are sweet relief from a night full of anxiety and stress, and even the scruff of his facial hair is a welcome feeling. One I’d missed all week. One week since our weekend together and I feel like my world’s been tilted upside down. I spilled my guts to him last weekend. I’ve never done that before with anyone. Ever. Not even family. But there was something about him that made me feel comfortable enough to tell him everything I did without worrying he was going to judge me.
“I’d love to come back to your place and meet your brother, Reagan.” He says, pulling back and letting his hand snake to the back of my head. “I’d also love to do things to you that I’m certain your brother wouldn’t accept, so I’m going to need to see you again after tonight. Deal?”
“Deal,” I rasp, wondering how this guy’s gotten to me so easily.
I’ve been dumped more times than I can count. I’ve dumped a few of my own. I’ve run the gamut of hipsters, businessmen, nerds, and everything in between with no luck and I hate it, but I’m really trying to guard my heart from this man in front of me.
That’s a lie. But I should.
Nico follows me back to my place and on the way I call Ford.
“Glad to see you made it through another shift alive,” he grumbles and I roll my eyes.
“It’s not a bad place to work,” I say, not really believing my words anymore.
“Right,” he scoffs. “You on your way home? I’m waiting to start this movie. With popcorn.”
I grin awkwardly, happy he can’t see me, then cringe as I tell him about Nico.
“So, I have a friend with me,” I say slowly.
“A friend?”
“Yes. Friend. His name’s Nico and please be nice to him.”
The line falls silent and soon Ford’s laughter comes through the line.
“Reag. You realize you have the worst taste in names, right? What the fuck type of name is Nico?”
“He’s incredibly nice, and I think Italian. Or something. Anyway, he’s hot… I mean he’s here. With me. Behind me. He’s following me…home.” I groan and laugh when Ford’s boisterous laugh echoes throughout the speaker in my car.
“Fuck Reagan, calm down. Be cool. It’s fine. But I hope he likes Bad Moms, because I haven’t seen it and I need it in my life,” he says, laughing.
“Oh my God,” I groan, tossing on my blinker to pull into my neighborhood.
I don’t live in a terrible part of the city, but it’s definitely not the best. In the dark it’s a lot scarier than in the daytime, so when I park in front of my apartment after hanging up with Ford, I’m happy Nico’s right behind me.
“This is where you live?” he asks, standing up and looking around. He closes the door of his black Beamer and I shrug.
“It’s not terrible. Better in the sunlight.”
He walks towards me and takes me by my hips, pulling me towards him. His body tight against mine as his hand runs down my cheek and his eyes lock on mine. This man’s able to put a spell on me each time we touch, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. He leans in and breathes deep.
“You’ll be calling me every night on your way home from work and I’ll walk you in,” he says against my lips before kissing me. I pull back and furrow my brows. I definitely know how I feel about that.
“For your information, I’ve been coming home to this place for over a year now and nothing bad’s ever happened. I can take care of myself.” I start to walk away, trying not to get annoyed with him but that was an incredibly sexist thing to say. He must sense my tension because he rushes after me and grabs my hand, stopping me. I spin and glare at him.
“You’re not allowed to walk up here and assume I need saving, Nico. Got it?” I blurt, pissed.
“I’m not,” he says, grinning. “I worry. That’s all. I know you can take care of yourself, Reagan. Trust me.” He chuckles. “But fuck, you’re sexy when you’re mad.”
I roll my eyes and try not to grin at him.
“Let’s go. My brother knows you’re here so he’s probably waiting by the door with a knife or something.”
“Oh, so he’s crazy?”
“Nah,” I say, chuckling. “Just…protective. He’s not that bad, really. It’s my other brother, Lincoln, who you may need to worry about. In the future. You know. If you want a future…” I trail off and my eyes go wide. He stalls next to me and gives my hand a squeeze.
“Stop overthinking things, Reagan,” he whispers, then nods towards my apartment window. “I’m guessing that’s your place?”
I groan when I see Ford waiting by the window, blinds wide open, glaring at us.
“That’s my place. And that’s my crazy brother.” I take a deep breath and walk towards my door, opening it and stepping in. “Ford, come out of the window. We know you were watching us.”
“I was watching the trees, for your information.” He walks over and shoves his hand out to Nico. “I’m Ford. And while I may not be as good looking as you, I’m older, smarter, and stronger and I will murder you and make sure no one knows where to find your body if you hurt my sister.”
Nico’s eyes are wide as he nods, taking Ford’s hand in his.
“I’m Nico. And I’m happy you think I’m good looking.” Nico winks at Ford and Ford busts out a boisterous laugh, then brings him in for a bro-hug.
“But for real. I’ll kill you if you break her heart,” I hear Ford say to him in a low tone before pulling away.
“I can accept that.” Nico nods.
“Right,” I say, clasping my hands together and trying to chill my nerves. Ford’s never done that before. Ever. And he’s met some mega douchey guys I’ve dated before. “I’m gonna go get changed. I’ll be right back.” I nod to Ford, giving him a warning look to ‘be nice’ then run down the hall to strip from these work clothes and toss o
n something more comfortable. I worry about leaving Nico with Ford so soon, so I make quick work and am back out to the living room in no time and not surprisingly, the two of them are still standing there, awkward as ever. “So Nico’s never been here before. I’m going to give him the quick tour, Ford. You want to get the popcorn ready?”
Ford salutes me then marches away towards the kitchen and I relax a little.
“He’s serious, isn’t he?” Nico whispers, grinning down at me.
“Deadly. He’s never killed anyone before, but he’s got a right hook like no other.”
“I can believe it,” Nico laughs.
I walk him down the hallway, showing him the bathroom, the closet, then finally my bedroom at the end of the hall. I step in and show him the bathroom then shrug.
“So that’s it. Not a big place, but it’s home. It’s mine.” I grimace when I see the mess I left on my bathroom counter. Ever since I’ve moved here a tidy place has been low on the list of priorities.
“This is where the magic happens,” he says with a grin, glancing around the room and his eyes land on the bed.
“If by magic you mean sleep, then yes. Absolutely.” I grin and scream when he charges me and flings me to the bed.
“Your bed is lumpy,” he says, lying on top of me. I laugh and tickle his sides, trying to get him off me.
“I can’t breathe!” I laugh, soon turning it into a wrestling match on the bed but he’s got me pinned and is hovering over me, my arms immobile with his hands around my wrists pinning them to the bed. It’s hot as fuck, and I try to grind up against him because I could really go for one of his orgasms right now, but he shakes his head.
“Keep wiggling underneath me, Reagan. I dare you,” he growls, his eyes darkening.
I want to. I want him to take me right here…but the door’s open and my brother’s right down the hall from us.
“Popcorn’s ready!” Ford yells from down the hall. “I swear to God if you two are fucking I’m pouring this hot popcorn all over you!” I hear him walking down the hall and I’ve never seen Nico move so fast to get up.
“You wouldn’t dare put those crumbs in my bed,” I yell, laughing as Nico helps me up and we emerge from my room just as Ford’s a few feet away. He stops in his tracks and narrows his eyes at both of us.
“I would. Don’t test me. It’s time to watch these moms be bad and make me feel a little better about my parenting skills.”
He spins and heads back to the living room and I follow with Nico behind me. More than once I have to swat his hand away when he grabs for my ass and we tumble to the couch in laughter when he starts to tickle me.
“I’m going to vomit you two, knock that shit off,” Ford bitches, starting the movie.
“So you have kids?” Nico asks him, shifting on the couch to get comfortable.
“I have twins, yeah. They’ll be two this winter. A girl and a boy.”
“That’s awesome! Are they here with you?” He glances around and I smile at his genuine interest he’s taken in my family already.
“They’re at home with my wife this weekend. They went to Florida last week to visit my in-laws and I was supposed to come up here then, but Reag here can’t say no to her boss, apparently, and ended up getting a free vacation out of it so she had to cancel on me.” He kicks my foot from his chair and my eyes go wide.
Ford doesn’t know who Nico is. He doesn’t know we met last weekend. He doesn’t know anything about that part of my life, because he doesn’t need to.
And I pray that Nico doesn’t ruin that tonight.
Maybe bringing him before we really got to talk wasn’t a good idea.
“I’ve heard she’s the most dedicated worker bee they have at the club,” Nico says after noticing my stiff posture. Hopefully he can read me better than I thought.
Ford lets out a harsh laugh. “How about we don’t talk about her work right now,” he says in a warning tone while giving me the look that he’s not done with the topic but the conversation he wants to have is best suited when there’s no company around.
“What do you do, Ford?” Nico asks, casually moving onto the next subject without missing a beat.
“Well, I’m not sure what Reagan told you of us, but we’re kind of a big deal.” He says it with a cocky grin and I throw a couch pillow at him.
“He’s a cocky asshole, Nico, I’m sorry for him,” I say, making them both laugh.
“No but seriously, I’m kind of shocked Reagan hasn’t told you about us all yet. The three of us, Reagan, Lincoln, our older brother, and I own West House in Springfield, Illinois. The hottest historical site in the city. I run the banquet hall, my brother runs the museum, and dear old Reagan here used to own and run the boutique.”
I nod, accepting that it had to come out at some point. I don’t like to think about it, because when I think about it, it makes me sad. Because I do miss it. I miss it more than I ever thought I would.
“You own a business in Springfield, but you’re bartending in Chicago?” Nico glances at me and I nod, shrugging.
“I… Yep.” I say, leaning across to Ford to grab a handful of popcorn. “Thanks, asshole,” I whisper to Ford as I lean over his popcorn bowl.
He shrugs. “Just filling the poor guy in on a part of your life you apparently didn’t find important enough to tell him. It’s a pretty big part, Reag.”
“She told me about her family. She actually talks very fondly of you all. I know how much she loves you. She just conveniently left out the part about owning a business. That’s amazing, Reagan.” Nico’s smiling at me with so much pride for a moment I want to soak it in. No one’s ever looked at me like that before.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “But I haven’t been there in years. These two, Ford and Lincoln, keep it running for me. I tried signing it over to them but they refuse.”
“Hey, Mackenzie’s been having a blast running the store. No need to ruffle any papers the way it’s sitting.”
“Wait, hang on,” Nico blurts, cocking his head and pointing to me. “Reagan.” He points to Ford. “Ford.” And his eyes narrow like it finally clicked. “And Lincoln?”
“He’s the oldest, yes,” I say then roll my eyes at the cute, confused face Nico’s wearing. “Oh and yes, we’re all named after presidents.”
“Oh my God,” he says, laughing. “So…so you’re all a bunch of history nerds?”
Ford barks out a laugh.
“I like you, Nico. Way more than my sister. Please, don’t dump her. She needs someone like you.”
Reagan’s eyes are wide. Beautiful, but wide, and her mouth keeps flapping.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I say, trying to backpedal. “There’s nothing wrong with being a history nerd! I wish I knew more about our presidents!” I laugh when she hits me with a pillow and Ford can’t stop laughing from his chair.
“Oh hey, hey, it’s starting!” he yells, turning up the TV. Reagan huffs and I pull her to me. She’s trying to act like she’s mad, but about ten minutes into the movie she relaxes into me and gets comfortable.
Not going to lie, she shocked me when she asked if I wanted to meet her brother tonight. I mean, I’m happy she did, but it wasn’t expected. I spent all week worrying that I’d show up at the bar and she wouldn’t really be there. Or that she wouldn’t want to see me or wouldn’t remember me. What we had last weekend was way more than just a fun time, and when she saw me today I saw it in her face that she feels the same way.
The movie goes on and though I’m laughing at the appropriate parts, I guess you have to be a parent to really enjoy something like this. It’s funny, but nothing ridiculously funny. I’m more enjoying the way Reagan’s wrapped herself into this cute little ball at my side.
“I have to pee,” she says, standing and stretching. My eyes go to her legs immediately, and right as I’m telling my arm to reach out and grab her ass, I catch her brother glaring at me so I halt my movement, running my hand through my hair instead and tr
ying to act cool. Like I wasn’t about to grope his sister in front of him.
“I’ll pause it,” Ford says, eyeing me as she walks out the room.
We sit in awkward silence for a minute. One long, painful minute. He’s a good guy, but he’s intense. A little wacky, but intense.
“She tell you she’s moving back yet?” He tosses a piece of popcorn into his mouth and watches me.
“Um… No. She’s moving?” I don’t want to let on that this is really the second time ever we’ve hung out, mostly because I’m not sure what she’s told her brother and I know I’m feeling way too much for a girl I still need to get to know.
Last weekend I got to know her physically very well. But most things beyond that are still cloudy.
“Nah,” he says, laughing. “But we all want her back. This isn’t the city for her.”
I actually agree with him. The way her face was lighting up when he started talking about the West House and the store… I’ve never seen someone look so happy before.
“I’ve told her she’s homesick and needs to think about moving home.” I shrug. “I mean, I haven’t known her that long, but what I do know is that she’s stubborn headed. She’s not going to do something that goes against what she’s trying to prove just because someone else told her to.”
Ford nods. “But you’ll work on her? Maybe if we start pushing a little harder we can get her home.”
“I’ll do my best. But you can’t force her. Don’t let her living two hours away from you put a wrench in your relationship. You guys are the only family ya’ll have.”
He narrows his eyes at me and takes a bite of popcorn.
“So he’s pretty and he’s smart. Interesting,” Ford mumbles, making me chuckle.
“What’s interesting?” Reagan asks, walking back into the room.
“Nico, my friend.” Ford clears his throat, grinning. “Has Reagan ever told you about any of her past disasters in the dating world?”
“Ford, no,” she blurts, eyes flying to him. “No, Ford,” she warns again like he’s a dog, pointing her finger and all as Ford sits forward in his chair, a grin sweeping across his face.