by Toni Aleo
I want to laugh because I know Amelia has already decided Aviva is never driving her kids. I, too, have been removed from that list. I’m pretty sure the only reason I’m feeding them is because she didn’t want to wait around for them to eat. She’s a busy lady, and since her nights are dedicated to the gym, she’ll settle for me feeding them.
“It was an accident. She didn’t seem to be having a good day.”
Amelia laughs. “Aviva never has a good day. I’m pretty sure the universe is out to get her, which I really don’t understand. She’s absolutely lovely. Great big sister and super business-savvy.”
“And really hot.” My comment makes her groan.
“Nico, no. You’re too much for her.”
“How so? I’m hot. She’s hot.”
I annoy Amelia, and I find it funny. “She has absolutely no time for you—at all. Like, not even kinda. She is always busy, always trying to make ends meet. And I can tell you right now, she doesn’t do handouts. So if, for some crazy reason, she gives you the time of day, don’t buy her shit.”
I slack a bit, and Carter chases the nipple of the bottle. I hold it better for him. “I’m a little confused. What girl doesn’t like gifts?”
“Aviva Pearce.”
“She has a really hot name.”
Amelia rolls her eyes. “It’s unusual, for sure. But really, Nico, I don’t think this is something you should pursue. With the season starting and Shelli breaking your heart—”
“Whoa. Shelli didn’t break my heart,” I say sternly.
“Nico.”
“Amelia,” I say back. “Don’t get me wrong. I liked her a lot—”
“I heard you say repeatedly you could love her more than Aiden does.”
I meet her gaze in the mirror. “I could have if she had given me the chance.”
“You obsessed over her for months.”
“It wasn’t obsession. I wanted to know everything so when I got the second chance, I wouldn’t fuck it up,” I say simply as Hannah finishes off her bottle. “Chance never came. I moved on.”
She shakes her head. “Aviva isn’t the kind of girl you sleep with and move on. She doesn’t have the time for a fling…or hell, maybe she does. I don’t know. I just know she is special. I know Callie, her sister, is talented and so damn kind. That’s all Aviva’s doing, and I don’t want anything hurting that family. They’ve been through a lot.”
“Like what?” I find myself asking.
Amelia’s shoulders fall a bit as she turns onto the road where the car rental office is. “It’s in no way my story to tell, but just know someone like Aviva should be worshiped—not played with. So, get your intentions in check before you bother her.”
I blink. “Why do you always think the worst of me?”
She doesn’t even laugh. “I don’t try to, and I honestly don’t think you’re a bad guy, Nico. You and Chandler are best friends, and Chandler is perfection in my eyes, so I know you aren’t evil. I think you make decisions and do things to hide what is really going on inside you. I don’t know what that is, or even if Chandler does, but I feel your outlandish ways won’t be perceived well when it comes to Aviva. She has too much going on, and she has too much to lose.”
“So, you’re saying I’m too weird for her?” I ask, my own insecurity about the word making it hard to breathe.
She shrugs. “I don’t think you’re weird, Nico. I feel you’re self-absorbed and only care about yourself. Someone like Aviva can’t stroke your ego like Shelli did. She doesn’t even have time to stroke her own.”
I nod slowly. I’ve heard this self-absorbed shit a time or two. I don’t feel I’m that way. Do I like to get off? Fuck yeah. Do I love women who fawn over me? Every day of the week. Do I like hearing good things said about me? Yes, especially when I have a tendency to put myself down. I like feeling good, and I won’t apologize for that or even think I’m self-absorbed. I’m not. Amelia doesn’t know me. She knows the Nico I allow her to know.
“I don’t know, Nico. It’s odd because I say that, but then I see how you are with the twins. Or Chandler and his parents. You’re a good dude—I know this—but I feel like you’d hurt Aviva.”
I scrunch up my face as I remove the bottle from Carter’s mouth as Amelia comes to a stop. I wipe the kids’ mouths and then hand her the bottles. “I’ll make sure to bring you something to eat tonight as a thanks.”
I won’t look at her as I pull my legs back from the console, and I know she notices.
“I upset you.”
I scoff. “Nope. Too self-absorbed to be upset,” I say as I get out. “Bye, babies. Be good.”
“Nico, I’m sorry. I’m emotional—”
I shut the door on her and head inside to get my rental car. I love Amelia. I do. I also know she’s going through a lot of hormones right now and has absolutely no filter. I can appreciate that since mine has been missing from birth. Amelia is wrong; I wouldn’t hurt anyone. And I may not know Aviva from Adam, but I know I wouldn’t hurt her. She may have told me to fuck off in three different ways today, but my intentions were never to get in her pants and leave. I wanted to take her to lunch to make her feel better. I wanted to make her smile since her day was so awful. I hadn’t even thought of getting in her pants at all. Would I like to? Yes, because leggings were invented to be peeled off someone with thighs like hers. But it was more than that for me. I saw a girl having a hard day, and I wanted to make it better.
Yeah, Amelia is wrong. I know she is.
On my goal sheet that is currently only in my head right now, right under make Aviva believe me, is prove Amelia wrong.
And I will.
The parking lot of Willz Sub Shop is packed. It could be the overflow from the gymnastics parking lot, but it seems the shop is busy as all get-out. I park my rented Ford truck between GymMasters and the shop before getting out. Amelia has tried apologizing a billion times since earlier, but what she doesn’t know is I thrive on being doubted. She thinks I’m self-absorbed? Fine. I’ll prove I’m not by bringing her dinner every night, and I’ll get to see Aviva. Two goals, one puck. Let’s go. I want to bang on my chest, not for the manly exhibition but more to try to beat the anxiety out of me. Not sure. But before I can explore that, the door to Willz flies open, and a pint-sized girl yells back inside.
“You’re ridiculous! We could get this done in five, and now it’s gonna take you twenty!”
“Your job is not this place, Calliope! Your job is school! Get to work!”
Well, I know for a fact that the voice yelling back is Aviva.
The girl slams the door shut and sits at the table by the entrance, opening her book as she lets out a huff. She looks up at me, and wow, she’s the spitting image of her sister. Only difference is she’s miniature. “Take a picture, bruh. It’ll last longer. Though, I am only sixteen and it could be considered child porn or something like that, and I’ll turn your ass in.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. “You must be Aviva’s little sister.”
She raises her brows. “Who are you?”
“The guy she hit today.”
She nods. “Ah, yeah. Hot guy with the red sports car.”
I grin. “She said I was hot?”
“She did, and I hope that embarrasses her.” She lets out another huff before opening her notebook. “She’s impossible. We have a rush, and I can help. But no, I gotta work on stupid angles.”
I peek inside the shop, and yeah, it’s packed. I want to help Aviva, even though she looks like she can do this with her hands tied behind her back. “I think she’s got this.”
“Of course she does. Aviva has everything,” she mumbles as she presses her fingers to her temple. “Meanwhile, I have no clue how to do this.”
I look down at the book, and then I find myself sitting down. “I love this stuff. Angles are my jam.”
She gives me a weird look. “Angles are your jam?”
“Yeah. Did you know in a triangle, the largest angle is opposit
e the longest side, and the smallest angle is opposite the shortest side?”
She blinks. “I think my teacher may have said that.”
“And then in an isosceles triangle, where two sides are equal, the angles opposite the equal sides are equal. In an equilateral triangle, where all sides are equal, the angles are all 60 degrees. That shit is so cool. It’s like when I’m blocking a puck. The angle I turn—or throw out my leg or glove—makes it so the puck can be caught because of that angle. It’s actually really interesting,” I say quickly, turning her book so I can see it. “And then here, a 180-degree angle. You do that in a leap, right?” She looks from me to the book. Then she nods. “And you know how that feels and looks?”
“Yes!”
I can see the pieces clicking and the excitement building. She’s figuring this out. I wish everyone had the teacher I had. She made sure to put real life into my studies so I could understand. Reason number two million why my mom is the best.
“So, when you get this problem and it equals this,” I say as I draw out the problem and then the answer. “You know what the answer looks like ’cause you’re in this position. Right?”
The biggest, brightest grin covers her little face. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Anytime. I love math. I was able to connect to it. Really understand it. It was fun for me.”
“Well, I hate it, but maybe I can convince you to stick around and help me out. I have free subs.”
I laugh as I nod. “How about a date with your sister? Do you have that?”
The hysterical laugh that comes out of this little person is a bit troubling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone laugh so hard. “Aviva? Aviva doesn’t date. Free subs. I have subs, not a date.”
“She doesn’t date? Everyone dates.”
Callie lets out a long breath. “Not my sister.”
“Maybe I can change that?”
Her eyes light up, making her look like a little doll. “Please let me watch.”
“The date?” I ask, confused, and she laughs.
“No, you asking, ’cause I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome.”
The girl is not giving me any confidence here. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I’m telling you, man. Take the free sub,” she urges, and I smile. “But can you help me with these three problems to make sure I do it right before you go for the sub and the epic turndown my sister is gonna provide you with?”
I flash her a grin. “Wow, you doubt me so easily. I’m known to be a smooth talker.”
“And Aviva is known to make grown men cry. Ask our landlord.”
We share a look that tells me I’m walking into a lion’s den and I should run the other way. Problem is, I need a sub for my best friend’s girl who doubts me, and I need Aviva to smile. Hopefully she’ll go on a date with me.
All that involves me going into Willz.
I want to go in.
I will go in, and maybe, just maybe, the lioness won’t bite my head off.
Chapter Six
Aviva
When the bell over the door rings, my eyes cut to the entrance to see how much I need to speed up. Big party, fuel to the fire. One person, I can keep my speed. Two people, a little faster. But none of that matters when he walks in. Nico Merryweather. Super-hot dude with a real nice ride. Who also asked me out for no damn reason at all. I’ve been going over and over it in my head to try to figure out his motive, but I can’t come up with anything. It’s obvious he’s got money. And he also can have any girl he looks at, but he wanted to take me to lunch? After I hit him? Makes no sense whatsoever. But now he’s here.
What. In. The. #7?
Highway to Ham.
A little sub shop humor.
I cut the sub for Mr. Tuna—that’s not his name, but he legit gets a tuna with bacon every day. What can I say? I know how to add mayo to a can of tuna, and people eat it up. I am still a little worried about buying mayo from the gas station next to where I hit Nico, but I’ll know soon enough what Mr. Tuna thinks. All that doesn’t matter, though, because it’s hard to pay attention with Nico taking up the whole doorway. I mean, the whole damn thing. He has to bend over to enter my shop, and seeing him…it rattles me. Thankfully, I don’t cut myself as I quickly check Mr. Tuna out. As I start on the next customer, I notice Nico doesn’t get in line. Instead, he lowers his gigantic self to the table by the door, and he distracts me.
I’m somehow able to make the #2, It’s Gonna Be Beef, but I can’t stop glancing back at him. When I first saw him earlier, I thought he was handsome, but I didn’t realize he is completely gorgeous. He’s got a boyish look to his face. Thick cheeks, but a sharp line to his jaw. His eyes are a dark brown, and the color somehow seems to make his eyes look bigger. Or maybe it’s his lashes. He has this wild blondish-brown hair that isn’t long but is not short either. Surfer-style, almost. His nose is wide, and Grilled Cheese Jesus, he has the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen. That smirk he’s wearing is dangerous, and of course, I almost cut myself when he flashes it my way.
He must have noticed that I noticed him.
Damn it.
When the door opens once more, Callie appears, and I almost cry out in relief. She comes around the counter quickly, throwing her books down as I ask, “You’re done?”
“Yup,” she says as she starts to check people out. “Your admirer is a math genius.”
That does make me cut my finger. “Son of a beef sandwich,” I groan as I turn to the sink to wash my hand. Behind me, Callie puts on a pair of gloves and gets to work as I clean my wound. Of course, it’s hard to put on a damn Band-Aid when I’m shaking everywhere. First, I didn’t suspect Nico would be a math genius. Second, I didn’t anticipate the whole admirer thing. Surely Callie is messing with me. After wrapping my finger with tape and a fresh pair of gloves, I jump back in line. Soon we get through our dinner rush.
When the bell rings over the door with the exit of the last customer, I glance over at Callie. “Don’t mess with me like that when I’m making subs.”
Callie just grins, and her gaze moves past me. I follow it to find Nico looking down at me. I come to his shoulder, but still, he towers over me. Even with a cooler of sub fixings between us, I feel him all over. He takes up the whole room. When he licks his lips, every single fiber of my being is set on fire. Man. Two minutes. That’s all I would need with him. Shit, probably one minute, given my hiatus.
“You changed your hair.”
Oh, that deep voice. It’s raspy and oh so sexy. I blink, and I notice he’s looking at my head. I move my bangs out of my eyes. “I brushed it.”
“You didn’t have bangs earlier.”
I refuse to be impressed he noticed. “They were pinned back, and I didn’t want customers asking me what happened, so I covered the cut.”
“By the way, thanks for not being an asshole to my sister,” Callie says then, and I set her with a look. But Nico, Greek god-looking dude, he flashes her the sweetest grin.
“Don’t you have something to do? Cut something, Callie.”
Callie’s eyes are teasing as she grabs the bin of almost empty tomatoes. I look back to Nico, resting my foot on my calf as I lean into the counter. “What brings you in? Didn’t get the info you need earlier?”
“I got the info, but I wanted more.”
I furrow my brow. “More?”
“Yeah, a sub for me and my friend. She picked me up from the wreck, so I owe her.”
Her must be his girlfriend. Lucky bitch. Not that I have time for that. Nowhere in this shittastic life of mine is there time for a dude. Dudes need attention. They’re like cute little puppies. Gotta feed them, pet them, and love on them. I hardly have time to love myself. Someone else? Please. But man, what it would be like to be loved on by this fantastic beast of a man. “Two subs coming up, on the house.”
“No way. I’ll pay.”
I wave him off as I grab two pieces of French bread. “What can I get you?”
�
��What’s your favorite?”
I look back at our menu. My mom and Callie painted it when we opened the place. I refuse to change it. If I have special subs, I usually put them on the board. “The I Need a Hero is the best sub here. It has this amazing sauce that is fantastic.”
“Can I get two of those and then a Carlton?”
I look at him in confusion. “I thought you were getting one for you and your girl?”
“My girl?”
“Yeah, the one who picked you up.”
“My best friend’s wife-to-be. Amelia.”
I swallow around the lump of embarrassment in my throat. “Oh, my bad.” Then I blink and ignore the heat that creeps up my neck. “Still two Heroes?”
He nods. “Yeah, one for me and you.”
I hold the two pieces of French bread in my hand as I stare at him. He leans into the glass guard that protects my fixings. His eyes are dark, like two sweet pieces of chocolate, and the way the side of his mouth turns up is downright wrong. “While I do need subs, I’d really like to sit down and get to know you.”
“Get to know me?”
“Only you.”
He’s messing with me. I cock my head. “What’s your game here?”
“Game?”
“Yes, this is the second time you’ve asked me out in one day, and mind you, I still look like vulture food—”
“I think you’re magnificent.”
I put down the bread and start to wipe off my arms.
He brings in his brows. “What are you doing?”
“Wiping off the spray from the game you’re spitting. I mean, holy hell, dude. You don’t even know me.”
“I don’t have to know you to think you’re beautiful.” His voice drops an octave. Within seconds, heat runs up into my belly and ignites. “There is no game here. I just want to get to know you.”
I blink. “Okay, skipper—”
“Skipper?”
I shrug. “Everything else isn’t appropriate to say in front of my sister.”
I hold up my hand as Callie snickers. “That hasn’t stopped you before.”