“Told you it’d be awesome.”
Yeah, he had. “It’s like a hidden world.” The tunneled hall dead-ended in an ocean of swaying lights.
“Very cool, right? I play poker with Gary. He works construction here and told me about these bad boys over the summer. No one really knows they’re here yet.”
“Why did he let us in? He could lose his job, right?”
Cash walked her in front of him, his arms wrapping under hers and locking around her stomach. “We’re buddies.”
“That’s not a why. He just let—”
“I told him I had to figure out this dating thing on the quick, and it was your birthday. Tonight could’ve gone better, and I don’t like to fail. And shit, sweet girl, other than you, this was the prettiest thing I could think of. Seemed like I might redeem myself.”
Her jaw dropped. “No way you told him all that.”
He laughed, turning them toward a giant fish that floated by. “Sounded good though, right?”
“This is pretty romantic, Cash.”
He shifted. “I know zip about romance.”
“What do you know?”
“What do I know…?” He hummed. “I know I’m glad I’m with you. There aren’t any redos in life. There’s nothing that will bring me to this moment again. It’s your birthday. It’s a Friday. I don’t know, why even pretend to need an excuse? All I need is you.”
She shook her head, and he loosened his grip around her to brush some hair back behind her ears.
“Does that make sense?”
She blinked. “I…”
He laughed. “Glad we cleared that up.”
Minutes ticked by. “You like me that much?”
“Not even going to answer that.”
Sighing, she leaned against his chest. “You’ve redeemed yourself on super-secret date night.”
They walked through the tunnel until it ended in the igloo of lights. Hundreds, maybe thousands of fish as bright as nature might allow swam in every direction.
He kissed her. Nicola ran her hands up his neck and into his hair, fingers threading, tugging. She liked how confident she was becoming in his arms.
Two long strides of him half-carrying, half-kissing her, he had her on a bench, letting his lips linger. “All I had to do was say I want you after a B & E. No idea how I’m going to top this one.”
She laughed.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
She toyed with the sleeve of his t-shirt. “Unreal. Just…perfect.”
“Not about me, sweet girl. The fish.”
She laughed again and burrowed close. “You’re awful.”
“You like me,” he said.
“I do.”
Cash’s eyes narrowed, and he cleared his throat. “Happy birthday. May all your dreams come true.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nicola woke up to Brandy and Hannah staring down at her. Their looks said there was gossip to be shared. But as Nicola rubbed her eyes, she realized she was the gossip. Fun…
“Wake up, and spit it out. Now.” Brandy’s hands were on her hips. “Start talking.”
Still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Nicola knew exactly what Brandy was talking about and decided the best course of action was to play stupid. “Nothing to talk about.”
Hannah smiled. “I saw Cash dropping you off last night.”
Great. Thanks, Hannah. How long had she stayed in his truck kissing him good night? “So you told Brandy what? You saw Cash dropping me off? Big deal.” She pulled the blankets over her head. “Go away.”
“You’re going to explain what happened with Jacob then? Or what the hell happened between you and Cash in the bathroom?” Brandy asked.
Both girls dropped onto the bed. Hannah patted her blanket-covered head. “Seriously, if something is going on there, you have to tell us. Come out and fess up.”
Nicola pulled the covers down a little bit. “Say I have a thing for him.”
Brandy rolled her eyes. “Then I’d say, no shit.”
“I’m being serious. Say I did. And I thought he did too. Then…”
Hannah asked, “Then what?”
Brandy beamed. “Then you tell us every single stinkin’ detail. That’s what.”
“No. I mean. You think Roman’s going to flip out?”
Brandy cackled. “Well, yeah. He’s halfway to psycho on regular Joes. You doing his best friend? Guy’s going to go off the deep end. It’s Cash, no less.”
Nic pulled the cover back over her head. “No one’s doing anyone.” That was a lie. A big one.
Brandy pulled it back down. “You haven’t slept with him?”
Nic’s stomach flipped, and her perma-smile reappeared. “No way.”
“Oh my God.” Brandy covered her wide open mouth. “You—”
“No freakin’ way.” Hannah nudged Brandy. “Right, Nic? I mean… Right? You would’ve told us.”
“Right.” Lying to her best friends was so wrong. “I can’t get him out of my head.”
Hannah squealed. “Have you kissed him?”
Nic shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Holy shit.” Brandy smacked the bed. “Roman’s going to kill Cash. Bang, bang, he’s dead.”
“Maybe not…” She cringed.
“Cash is totally a player, Nic. You know that.”
“Brandy’s right, but…” Hannah sliced Brandy a look. “Since you guys are friends and all, it won’t be like that. Right?”
Brandy smirked right back. “You don’t seriously think Cash will—”
Hannah smacked her leg. “Brandy!”
Nicola pulled the covers back up. “He wouldn’t hurt me.”
“So what are you going to do about it? You can’t let him walk around starting fights with guys when no one knows you two are… whatever you two are.”
“We’re nothing.”
“I don’t believe that.” Brandy shook her head. “Cash is all… And you’re all—”
“I kissed him!” Saying it out loud felt awesome.
“Shut up!” Brandy bounced. “Just, holy freakin’ shit.”
“I knew it.” Hannah squealed again. “And… Come on, girl! Details?”
“In the pool.”
Brandy’s jaw dropped. “You had sex with him in our pool?”
“No! Oh my God. I said kissed.”
“You also said Cash, so I figured—”
“He’s not like that.”
Brandy rolled her eyes. “He’s so like that.”
“Maybe not with her, bitch.”
“Thank you, Hannah.”
Another eye roll from Brandy. “So you haven’t slept with him?”
Nicola bit her lip.
“Holy fucking shit.” Brandy smacked the bed with each word. “I cannot believe you didn’t tell us.”
“I haven’t told anyone. Not until we tell Roman. Not that I’d say I was sleeping with Cash. Dating might be a better word. Ugh, I don’t know.”
“So this is like a thing. Like a real… thing?” Hannah asked.
“I think so.” Nic’s cheeks flamed, and she pulled the covers tighter. “I’m afraid if I say it out loud, I’ll jinx it. Like it’ll just, poof, disappear. I don’t want him going anywhere.”
“I just can’t believe it.” Brandy drew out the words. “Spit out the details. Now.”
“No way.” Nicola shook her head.
“Summary description then,” Brandy countered. The girl would make a good lawyer or something one day. She could badger her way to the truth.
Nicola pinched her eyes, then peeled the covers down and gave a two-minute recap from faking her stomachache to his thumb smoothing over her knuckles, her cheek, her chin, then the dinner that turned into a camp out, and sex under the stars, and up against the truck, then sneaking into the aquarium, and the nickname that he’d started using for her. She felt herself smiling through the whole story. She looked up, rolling her bottom lip into her mouth. “So…”
&nb
sp; Both Hannah and Brandy sat perfectly still on her bed. Perfectly quiet. Their mouths hung perfectly open.
“You guys, say something.” Her nerves would get the best of her if they didn’t say something. Anything.
Brandy shut her mouth, then Hannah closed hers. Brandy spoke first. “I got nothing.”
“Sweet girl?” Hannah asked.
She nodded. “Cute, right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Brandy? You, silent, is kinda freaking me out.”
“Like I said, I got nothing.” Brandy sighed. “I think I may’ve just fallen in love with Cash Garrison for you even though I don’t trust him. At all.”
No need to volunteer for that. Nic was far past love. “You don’t have to. I’m already there.”
***
Tonight Nicola’s folks were throwing her a birthday cookout. Hannah and Brandy had piled into her car, and the hour drive to her hometown passed quickly. Her mind raced, and she tried to answer all of Brandy and Hannah’s questions, but really, she didn’t say much. The time on the road let them gush and gossip, and that was good enough, even without every scandalous detail.
She pulled into the driveway and sighed at her safe haven. Everything had remained the same over the years, and it was comforting. The door was partially open, meaning Roman and Cash were already there. Somewhere. Playing ball with her dad maybe? Doing whatever they usually did.
Mom stepped out, phone pressed to her ear, waving hello. Brandy and Hannah hopped out of her car, making their way inside. She took her time. Her mom could read her, and after an hour plus of talking about Cash non-stop, she needed to put her game face on. Telling Roman was one thing, but telling Mom? Mom would tell Dad, and not that Dad overreacted to the male species like Roman did, but he did know that Cash was a bit wild. And as far as she was concerned, she didn’t want her dad thinking about her dating anyone, much less the unattainable bachelor that everyone thought they knew so well.
Nicola wandered inside, threw her purse by the couch, and made her way into the kitchen. Mom still chatted on the phone to someone, and her roomies were outside with Roman, Cash, and Dad. She would absolutely, positively kill Brandy if she accidentally let slip any Cash-Nic-hookup details.
Hearing the click of the cordless phone onto the receiver, she turned around. “Hey. Was that Cash’s mom?”
“Yes.”
“Are they coming over for dinner?”
“Not today. We’re going outlet shopping this week.”
“Fun.” Nicola rummaged through the fruit bowl. Her mom and Cash’s mom had always been close. Maybe that was how their three musketeers routine had started. She wondered what his mom would think of her with Cash. “Fun.”
“You just said that.”
Nicola blinked. “Oh, sorry.”
She opened the fridge, grabbed a half gallon of OJ and two glasses. “Something on your mind?”
“Work stuff.”
“Work has you stargazing into a bowl of apples?”
Nicola shrugged. “I met a guy.”
Mom smiled sweetly. “A guy, huh? Anyone I know?”
“There are like a thousand guys at school.”
Now was Mom’s turn to shrug. “You never know. Small world. So?”
“So… not much to say about him, I guess.” She probably expected more because that’d been Nic’s track record. They’d shared everything. Well, Nicola had shared just about everything except for anything having to do with Cash. “But anyway, I think he likes me.”
Another sweet, all-knowing, motherly smile. “Of course he does.”
Nicola needed to change subjects. “But really, that’s not my problem.”
“Then what is?”
“My boss is awful. My job sucks big time. And I swear to God, they aren’t what they seem.”
“Jobs stink in general, angel.”
“It more than stinks to high heaven. It’s like something’s up.”
“Sharpening your PI skills, are you?”
“I’m serious, Mom. They’re sketch.”
She crossed her arms. “Why?”
“Because their numbers and their products don’t make sense.”
“How long have you worked there now?”
Nicola shrugged. “Couple of weeks.”
“So learn what you can, and move on.” She walked to the sink and washed vegetables.
“That’s a very motherly thing to say.”
Mom laughed. “What do you want me to say? Hack into their mainframe? Sneak into their offices? Search high and low for damning evidence?”
That might have been her sort-of-already-started plan. “Maybe.”
Still laughing, she shook her head. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Do your job. Get your credit. Be done with it, and chalk it up to a learning experience.”
Nicola took a long drink of her juice. “Whatever.”
“Go tell your dad that he needs to stop playing ball and to flip those steaks. That grill’s starting to smoke.”
“’Kay.”
“And have Cash come talk to me.”
Nic’s jaw gaped for a moment. “Why?”
“His mom’s surprise party is coming up.” She tilted her head slightly. “Was there something else I needed to chat with him about?”
Nicola’s eyebrows were arched, and her eyes were wide, both reactions that she needed to tone down ASAP. “Nope. Just wondering.”
The unforgettable sound of Mom’s laughter followed her out the door. Awesome.
***
The weather was cool enough that they didn’t eat outside. Everyone piled into the dining room. Roman carried the steaks, Cash grabbed a huge platter of corn, and Dad gave Nicola a big hug just because.
Hannah and Brandy walked in with her mom, and everyone started a game of musical chairs. Hannah sat first. Cash sat down. Roman sat down. Brandy scowled. Hannah popped up, sitting next to Brandy. Both of them giggled like they were in third grade and made a big show that Nicola should sit next to Cash. Cash figured out what was going on and leaned back in his chair, amused. Roman had no idea and asked Brandy why she was making so much noise.
Finally, everyone was seated. Food was served. The guys drank their beers. Nicola’s mom brought in a pitcher of lemonade.
“How’s the semester going?” Dad offered up to any takers.
A clatter of comments and complaints about school rushed, but Nicola sat back.
“You’re awfully quiet, Nicky.” Her dad knew her too well. “How was your birthday?”
Brandy coughed on her corn. Nicola glared at her, regretting her decision to share the sex-against-the-truck story. “Fine.”
“Fine?” Cash laughed. “She was the belle of the ball.”
Roman shook his head. “TKX threw her a party. Other than Jacob, it was a good time.”
“Jacob?” Mom looked at her.
She shook her head. “Football player friend.”
Dad smiled. “Isn’t the quarterback named Jacob? Same guy?”
“Yup.” She took a bite of steak.
Cash’s brows furrowed. So did Roman’s.
Mom smiled. “Is that who—”
“No, Mom.” Would this meal ever end?
“Is that who, what?” Cash leaned forward.
Roman shook his head. “Jacob’s a dick.”
“Mouth,” Mom said. “Save it for the backyard, not my dinner table.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Then her brother shoveled in more steak, turning to Dad to talk sports.
Cash smiled at her, and Nicola felt like the entire room could read her mind and knew what had been happening. Brandy laughed, and Hannah hushed her. So maybe at least two people had mind-reading abilities. But they didn’t know the half of it. No way could anyone feel as far gone for a guy as she was over Cash.
“Star gazing still?” her mom whispered as she walked by with an empty lemonade pitcher in hand.
Busted.
Brandy and Hannah dissolved into a gossipy, giggly fit.
Nic would kill them later. Roman and Dad were in a hot debate about something that’d been on the news, and Cash winked at her before joining in their discussion.
When her mom came back to the table offering lemonade refills, Nicola knew she knew. She had to, and Mom would tell Dad. Maybe. She was a daddy’s girl. So maybe mom would keep it to herself and let Nic share when the time was right. Until then, she’d finish her birthday dinner. There had to be cake for dessert, and as long as she kept eating, kept her mouth full, there were no conversations she had to have about football players, star gazing, or falling in love with her best friend.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
School had kicked Cash’s ass all week long. He’d barely seen Nic since dinner at her folks’. She was swamped at work, and he was on a mission to nail a statistics exam. Finally, Friday had rolled around again, and he was ready to blow off some steam. But the trouble with going to a smaller school was that there were only so many places to go, and when trying to avoid someone, it became impossible. He’d been avoiding Mira and Jaycee all week, but now Mira had him on lock.
Cash, more or less, had been glued to the back of his pickup, leaning against the tailgate and talking to Roman and a cute girl named Liz who’d been hanging on Roman’s arm all night long. Liz didn’t get along with Jaycee, so Cash used her like insect repellent. Not his best move, considering Roman was five minutes out from ditching this bonfire throw down, and he hadn’t seen Nic yet—
Well, crap.
Mira and Jaycee had decided it was time to say hello.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Brandy’s car rolling over the grass and parking. Talk about timing. He took a long pull off his beer, avoiding eye contact with the tag team coming his way, and watched to see if Nic had ridden out with her roomies.
“Cash. Roman.” Jaycee stood close enough to Roman to make her point. “Liz.”
Roman shook his head. “Play nice, Jaycee.”
She turned and pouted glossed lips. “What fun would that be?”
Mira laughed. Liz rolled her eyes and clung tighter to Roman.
“Where have you been, Cash?” Mira took a step closer.
“Senior year’s kicking my butt.” A lie, but whatever. “I’ve been around.”
Roman looked sideways at him. “Yeah, where have you been? I thought he’d been with you, girls.”
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