Out of My Element (Philadelphia Series)

by Plendl, Taryn

  Chapter 8

  Nick

  “So, what’s the deal with Chelsea, Nick? She’s fucking hot, man.” Adam dried his hair with his towel and waited for me to answer.

  Adam was a fun guy, and I liked hanging out with him, but I didn’t think he was right for Chelsea. She deserved a guy who was devoted one hundred percent to her, not someone who just wanted her because she was a hot piece of ass.

  “Are you sleeping with her?” Adam waggled his eyebrows.

  “She is my friend, just like I said before,” I warned.

  “So, you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out then?” Adam asked.

  Yes, you asshole, I would! “Uh, no. I don’t have a say over who she dates.” I pulled on my shoes. I just wanted to get out of there before I did something I would regret. I didn’t like talking about Chelsea with these guys, any more than I liked the thought of one of them going out with her. It wasn’t that I wanted her for myself; I just didn’t want to see her get hurt.

  “I’ll see you guys. Great game!” I grabbed my things and headed for the parking lot.

  The evening was a bit brisk. I zipped up my jacket and rounded the corner. Chelsea was leaning against her car smiling at me, and I couldn’t help but grin back at her as I approached. I hadn’t seen her when the game first started, so I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it or not, but as excited as I was about scoring the final goal, when I realized she had come after all, I was ecstatic! It was incredible to have someone cheering loudly for me.

  We pulled into a small pizza place and parked. “Pizza?”

  “Is that okay?” she questioned.

  “Well, I just figured after my impressive win, you would want to take me out for a five-star meal,” I joked.

  She laughed. “Come on, Superstar, I’ll even buy you a beer, too.” She climbed out of the car, and I followed.

  I watched Chelsea as she sunk her teeth into another piece of pizza. She was quickly becoming a special friend to me, although I didn’t recall ever having a female friend before. Most women took any attention I gave them as a come on. Well, who was I kidding? It almost was always a come on, but I had never really taken an interest in just being around a woman without sleeping with them before. Chelsea was different. She was special—too good for me.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and read the incoming text. “Hmm.” I frowned.

  “What’s up?” Chelsea asked around her bite.

  “You know my friend Adam that you met earlier?” She nodded. “Well, he wants your number.” I watched her reaction, trying to gauge her level of interest.

  She shrugged. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I asked. Well shit. I didn’t want her to go out with him. He was almost as much of a man-whore as me.

  “Yeah, okay.” She took a drink of her beer and watched me as I replied to Adam and slipped my phone back into my pocket.

  “I’m not sure why Adam even wants your number,” I tried to sound nonchalant as I picked up my piece of pizza.

  “Why would you say that? Is there something wrong with thinking someone might be interested in me, Nick?” Her voice betrayed her, but I could tell that I had hurt her feelings.

  The truth was that there wasn’t anything wrong with her, which was, in itself, the problem. She was beautiful, nice and fun to be around. Any man would be a fool to not want her. That was exactly why I didn’t want her to go out with Adam.

  “No, it’s just … well, it’s just that … I’m pretty sure he’s gay,” I lied.

  “Really?” She quirked her eyebrows at me, trying not to laugh as she picked at the crust of her pizza.

  “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but I’m pretty sure I caught him checking me out in the locker room.” I smiled and shrugged.

  She wasn’t buying it. “Wow, Nick, could you blame him? I mean, look at you! You’re just such a hot piece of man candy,” she gushed. “I mean, you’re so hot that if I baked cookies on you, I’m pretty sure they’d burn.” She bit her bottom lip, trying to control her laughter.

  “Sarcasm is truly an unattractive quality.” I chuckled, shaking my head.

  “Let me ask you something.” I put my pizza back on the plate. “Why is it when a woman has a close male friend people automatically think she's sleeping with him, but when she has a close female friend no one suspects a damn thing?” I asked seriously. “Just to clarify, you aren’t sleeping with any of your girlfriends are you? Because that would actually be hot.” I waggled my eyebrows as she giggled.

  “Does someone think we are sleeping together?” She tipped her head to the side.

  “It was one of the first things Adam asked me. As if it isn’t possible for me to have a female friend,” I scoffed.

  “Well, rest assured that I’m not sleeping with anyone, male or female, friend or not.” She winked at me and took another drink of her beer.

  “That might change if you go out with Adam. I’ve seen his moves; he’s almost as gifted as me,” I mused. “You know he’s going to want to sleep with you.” The thought made me want to punch something.

  “I thought you said he was gay.” She grinned.

  I shrugged. “Probably just bi.”

  “Well, I’ve managed to make it twenty-three years without sleeping with anyone, so I’m sure it would take more than just a nice date with Adam to change that,” she said and then almost immediately realized what she had shared.

  “Whoa, wait. Do you mean to tell me that you’re a … um … that you are still a …” I stammered.

  “Shit, Nick. I didn’t mean to share that with you. Let’s forget I even said anything.” Her face was flushed with embarrassment.

  Holy fuck! If I remembered correctly, she had said yes to come home with me the night of the wedding, before I had completely made an ass of myself. What did she think was going to happen when she got to my house? Christ! Had she seriously planned on sleeping with me?

  My heart rate was out of control. What the hell was I supposed to say? I really didn’t want to screw this up. “Hey.” I covered her hand with mine. “Chelsea, please don’t be embarrassed. I want you to feel like you can trust me and tell me anything, okay?”

  “Thank you, Nick. I don’t know why I even blurted that out. Sometimes I just feel so comfortable with you that I say things before remembering that we haven’t exactly known each other for that long.” Her eyes were watching me closely.

  “I understand completely.” I grinned. Everything was always so effortless with her.

  “Do you?” She smiled back at me.

  “Yeah. I’ve never had a friend like you before. I mean, I have Trevor and Tom, but I can honestly say that I have never had a female friend before. I like it; I like you.”

  “Me too. Hey, just a suggestion, but if you don’t want to give people the wrong impression about us, you might want to let go of my hand.” She giggled.

  Holy hell! I didn’t even realize I was still holding her hand. I pulled my hand back quickly and sat up straight. “Sorry,” I said. It had actually felt nice to hold her hand. Too nice. It seemed to fit perfectly in my hand. I was becoming a total girl.

  “When is your next game?” Chelsea crumbled up her napkin and set it next to her plate before grabbing her beer and sitting back, obviously ready for a change of topic.

  ***

  As Chelsea drove me home, I couldn’t help but think about her earlier confession, clearly given by accident. How does someone like Chelsea make it through her whole life without having sex? How is that even possible? It’s not like she wasn’t attractive. Well I could tell you one thing; I was going to make damn sure my soccer buddies didn’t take advantage of her.

  “Do you want to come up?” Chelsea pulled up to the curb outside of my building.

  “I don’t think so. I’m tired, and I … we have to be up early,” she stressed.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me. Six miles, right?” I groaned. “Chelsea, do you know CPR?”

  “Yes, why?�
�

  “I just wanted to make sure you could save me if I collapsed from your brutal workouts.” I chuckled. “Are you sure you know how to do it? We could practice mouth to mouth. Just to be safe, of course.”

  “Goodnight Nick.” She laughed as I got out of the car.

  I leaned in before closing the door. “Goodnight Chelsea, and thanks for hanging out with me. Hey, if you change your mind, I’m in apartment # 630.” I grinned.

  “See you in the morning.” She smiled a gentle smile that I felt right in my chest. I almost wanted to wrap her in my arms and just hold her. Damn, I seriously needed to get laid.

  Chapter 9

  Chelsea

  He’s going to kill me, not the other way around, I thought as I pulled away from his place. I was finding it harder to not cross those platonic lines with him. Shit, I can’t believe that I went and blurted out that I was still a virgin. I was such an idiot.

  Nick had not reacted how I would’ve expected him to. I could totally see him giving me a hard time about that little morsel of information, but instead he had been so kind. My stomach fluttered as I thought about the way he hugged me after the game. And how he had held my hand at dinner as if it was so natural, before I opened my big mouth and basically told him to let it go.

  I loved being with Nick, sometimes too much. Although the kiss that initially brought us together was earth shattering, what we had built since that night was so much better. He was my friend, and I had found that as an adult, it was sometimes hard to find true friends—people you could truly count on to listen or make you laugh—to basically accept you for who you are. That is what I had with Nick in just the short time we’d known each other.

  ***

  It took me several minutes to register what I was seeing after I turned the corner. The flashing lights were everywhere. Two fire trucks lined the street right in front of my building. Three ambulances were parked and appeared to be giving attention to several people.

  I heard the knock on my window. “Ma’am, you’re going to have to turn around.” A tall policeman pointed back the way I’d come, as I rolled down the window.

  “No, wait! That’s my building. What the hell happened?” I couldn’t wrap my head around the entire scene.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. If you want to park in that parking lot across the street, we are going to need to get some information from you.”

  I parked the car and walked, almost in a daze, to where the policeman had told me to report. The entire left side of my building was smoldering with occasional flames that seemed to lick out of the windows. I glanced to the right side of the building, where my own apartment was located, and even though I couldn’t see it from the street, it appeared to be untouched at this point. The chaos was distracting. People ran all around, trying to help or find out about their own apartments.

  “Do you live here, ma’am?” A petite woman with a clipboard smiled softly at me.

  “Um yes, Chelsea Anderson, apartment number 3-1-9. Can you please tell me what happened?” I continued to watch the firemen running in and out of the building, and I prayed that everyone had been able to get out.

  “From what we know, one of the apartments on the second floor caught on fire. Fortunately, the occupants were able to get out and call for help before things had gotten too out of control.” I nodded, and she continued, “We are setting up a temporary shelter at the elementary school down the street for the residents to go to tonight.”

  “Can I get some things from my apartment tonight?” I had a feeling that was not going to be possible, but I thought I’d ask.

  “I’m sorry, you won’t have access to your apartment until the fire is contained and the building is inspected. It may be a few days. Do you have somewhere to go tonight, or are you planning on using the shelter?” she asked as she flipped the pages on her clipboard.

  “I guess I will try to get a hotel room,” I spoke more to myself than her.

  “I hope that’s possible. There is the convention happening for the Academy of Natural Sciences for the next four days. It seems like there aren’t any rooms to be found in this area right now. We have someone working on it, though. Would you like to be put on the waiting list?” Could this night get any worse? “Yes, please,” I sighed. I knew this woman was just trying to help, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with her. I gave her my cell number and decided to try one last stop before settling on the shelter.

  I walked back to my car and pulled out my phone. I started to dial Nick, but decided to just head over to his apartment instead. I didn’t want to try to answer any questions over the phone. I would just knock on his door, apologize for waking him up, and ask if I could crash on his couch.

  The events of the night were seriously beginning to take a toll on me as I pulled into the parking garage across from his building. I crossed the street and walked through the lobby, admiring how beautiful it was. Hell, if this is what the lobby looked like, the apartments must be phenomenal—much different than mine. My building was much older, and in serious need of updates. I almost chuckled out loud at the thought. I guess it would be getting updates now.

  The elevator ride was quick, with no stops, due to the late hour. I couldn’t believe it was just after one in the morning. I was definitely not going running in the morning. The doors swung open and I could almost feel the relief, knowing that I would be able to lie down soon. Thank God Nick had told me the number of his apartment earlier tonight when I dropped him off.

  I turned down the hallway and walked in the direction of apartment number six-thirty. The hall was empty except for a gorgeous blonde woman who looked like she had forgotten to wear her pants; her dress was that short. Good grief! Slutty much? Great, now I was getting cranky.

  I kept walking in the direction of Nick’s apartment when the door suddenly swung open in front of the woman. “Nicky!” she squealed and bounced up and down, as a pair of strong arms pulled her into the apartment and closed the door.

  I stood there, stunned, for a minute, before I walked a bit farther, just to make sure, but the number on the door confirmed it. Nick had company, and I would not be the one to interrupt him. I walked back to the elevator and pressed the button. I let my head fall back against the wall as the elevator took me back down, willing myself not to cry. “Well Chelsea, it looks like you are heading back to the elementary school for the night,” I groaned. I was so exhausted that the thought of calling anyone else just didn’t make sense. It was so late anyhow. I would just head back to the school, get a few hours of sleep and then decide what to do in the morning. Times like this, I truly wished I had family in the area.

  My family was still back in Colorado, where I had grown up. I had gone to Penn State, mostly because I had it in my mind that it would be cool, and I needed to get away from my parents, who were dead set on sheltering me for the rest of my life. I had spent one semester at Penn State before transferring to the Community College of Philadelphia. I just wasn’t cut out for a big school. I had gotten my degree in business and was hired with the advertising agency after an internship. I actually enjoyed my job very much, and I loved Philly.

  ***

  At some point I must have finally dozed off on my small floor mat in the sterile, cold gymnasium. I had a much greater respect for those who had been displaced in disasters and had to stay in shelters night after night.

  Before I settled in last night, I called and left a message at work, letting them know I wouldn’t be in due to a personal emergency. I would call Ava later and fill her in. I hated to leave a message with details on the Human Resources line. I didn’t want anyone to panic. My phone had been on the verge of dying, so I left it plugged in to charge in the car before heading into the school.

  I folded up my blanket and headed for the restroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, thankful that I always carried an extra toothbrush in my purse. I groaned when I saw my reflection. I had dark circles under my eyes and my hair was all over the place. Nic
e Chelsea, try not to scare any small children.

  As I exited the bathroom, there was a small table with bottles of water and juice, as well as bagels and doughnuts. I grabbed a bottle of water and a cinnamon bagel and sat down. It was ridiculous that I lived in the same building with all of these people, but I had only actually met a handful of them. I watched as families huddled together, and my heart broke for those with little children, who were scared and didn’t understand why they couldn’t go home.

  At least I only had myself to worry about. I watched a woman struggle to get her two toddlers to settle down with a bagel while she tried to change her baby’s diaper. The two little boys kept trying to run off, and I could tell she was struggling. I couldn’t just sit here and feel sorry for myself, so I walked over and sat next to the woman. “Hi, my name is Chelsea, apartment three-nineteen. Would you like me to read a story to the little ones while you tend to the baby?” She looked so relieved.

  “Thank you! I am Alicia and this is Eric and Mason, and this is Abby,” she said and pointed at the baby. “My husband is in New York on business until tonight, and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, so if you are serious about reading the boys a story, I would be so grateful.” She smiled.

  “I would love to.” I grabbed the book that was sitting by her and showed it to the boys as they settled in next to me.

  After reading the same book three times, the boys were sprawled out on the mats, sound asleep. “I can’t thank you enough, Chelsea,” Alicia whispered so she didn’t wake them. I squeezed her hand as I stood up. “My pleasure.”

  I was just about to the doors when I felt a hand grab my arm. “What in the hell is wrong with you, Chelsea?” My heart almost jumped out of my chest as I turned and looked up into the eyes of a very pissed off Nick.

  Chapter 10