Nadine didn't even have time to gather her wits before they were pointing at her. Julien squinted in her direction, and smiled. Her heart started racing instantly. He said something else to Christina and her friend, gave them high-fives, and squeezed out of the crowd sideways, headed in the direction of Nadine. He was wearing that easy smile she loved when he approached her, and she hoped against hope that she'd be able to muster up some conversation skills.
"Did you enjoy the fights?" he asked. He closed the distance between them so quickly and his deep voice had taken her off guard again, which caused, Nadine to have a little trouble regulating her breathing.
To her own shame, she sounded breathless as she replied. "Yeah, of course. We loved it."
Julien stuck his hand out to Lindsay. "I'm Julien," he said.
"Lindsay," she said. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh yeah? All good, I hope."
"Of course," she said.
Julien reached out and gave a little punch to Nadine's shoulder. "You hanging around Baton Rouge?"
Nadine looked at Lindsay who shrugged as if to say, "I tried to tell you we should get a hotel room." Nadine wasn't about to voice her biggest concern about the ring girl because she knew that no matter how she brought it up, it would seem desperate and insecure.
"Come on," Julien said. "We're all going out after this, and I sort of already had my heart set on you going." He reached out and touched her arm in a pleading gesture, and Nadine couldn't help but smile at the contact.
"We didn't really plan for that," she said. She threw her hands up helplessly. "No clothes or toothbrush or anything."
Julien looked at her like he understood. "You think you could just hang out for a little bit before you head back?"
Nadine looked at Lindsay since she was the one doing all the driving. Lindsay smiled and nodded.
"Good." Julien gave Nadine a sincere smile like he was really glad she was there. "Come back over here with me so we can figure out where everybody's going."
The three of them started walking back to the spot where the gym people had congregated. Some of them had already dispersed, but most of them were still standing around talking.
"Where's the party?" Julien asked.
"Everybody's just going to Maggie's," one of the guys said.
Nadine had heard the emcee announce about a hundred times that the "official after party" was taking place at Maggie's, so she wasn't surprised at the news.
Julien looked at Nadine and Lindsay. "Do you want to follow one of us or do you think you can find the place?"
"We're parked in the same garage, and I'm walking them to their car," John David said, coming up to stand beside them. "If they decide to go out for a little bit, I'll probably just come too."
Julien gave John David an appraising glance that had an edge of warning to it before looking back at Nadine. "I'm not driving," Julien said. "I can ride with you over there if you need me to."
"That's all right," Nadine said. "Go ahead and finish what you're doing, and we'll meet you over there."
"You sure?" he asked.
She assured him they'd make it fine, and started their journey to the parking garage, only stopping to hug and congratulate Christian on the way out.
John David had his friend Chad from the mall with him. Apparently, he'd been talking to some other friends, because she didn’t even notice him until they were leaving. The guys were parked one level lower than Lindsay and Nadine, so the girls got in John David's truck and he gave them a ride from level three to level four.
Nadine told the boys to go on ahead of them since she was having second thoughts about going to Maggie's. John David agreed to leave, but only after they promised not to spend too much time in the parking garage, which was, by that point, nearly deserted.
"What's up with you?" Lindsay asked after the guys drove off. "First you don't want to go, then you do, then you don't again. And why do you get so freaked out around that guy with the mohawk?"
"I don't get freaked out."
Lindsay laughed. "Oh my God, Nadine. You shoulda seen your face."
"Stop, please tell me you're just joking."
"Okay, I'm joking, you played it off. But I can tell you like him."
"You can? How?"
Lindsay shrugged. "I just can."
Nadine paused for a few seconds, considering that. "Where are we going?" she asked.
"Maggie's, duh."
"I hate for you to have to dri—"
"We'll just go for a little bit. I'll have one drink. It's no big deal. I'll be fine."
Nadine Googled the name of the bar and set her GPS to give directions. The girls took an intentional wrong turn so they wouldn't be the first ones to make it to Maggie's. Nadine was watching the GPS on her phone and knew they were getting close. It had taken them about fifteen minutes to get there, and when they arrived, they used the mirrors on the visors to check their hair and makeup.
"All those guys are hot," Lindsay said. "But I guess that has a little something to do with the fact that they could kill people with their bare hands."
"You like tough guys now?" Nadine asked. She was teasing because she knew Lindsay liked to hang out with artist types.
"I don’t distinguish," Lindsay said. "I just call it like I see it, and there were about ten hot guys standing around with all the people from your gym. I wouldn't mind running into one or two of them in here." Lindsay gestured at the building.
Nadine looked thoughtfully at Lindsay from over the center console. "The one with the mohawk—he's mine, you know."
Lindsay didn't even pretend not to know who Nadine was talking about. She looked at her, smiling sweetly. "I know."
"This is one of those times when I wish I was a smoker," Nadine said, out of nowhere.
"You do?" Lindsay asked, almost shocked.
"Yeah. I smoked for a little while when I was in lycee back in France. It's times like this when I wish I still did. You know, to calm the nerves and maybe give me something to do with my hands."
"Are you nervous? That's so cute! That means you really like him. I can't believe you used to smoke. I can't imagine you doing that."
"Why not?" Nadine asked, almost a little protective of smokers everywhere.
Lindsay laughed. "I don't know, I guess I just never thought about you doing that."
"I don’t. Not anymore at least. I was just thinking if I did, I'd want one right now."
Lindsay put the car in park, stopped the engine, and began digging in her purse. She pulled a pack of candy cigarettes out of her purse, opened the little box, and handed one to Nadine. Nadine had no idea what it was until Lindsay put one in her mouth and faked like she was taking a drag off of it.
Nadine laughed and mimicked her friend. "Where in the world did you get these?" she asked. She opened the mirror on the visor to check herself out.
"My older sister always gets me weird candy for my birthday. I had candy necklaces and pop rocks too, but I ate those already."
"I thought your birthday was in July or something."
"It is."
"You've had these in your purse since then?"
Lindsay looked at Nadine like she thought she was worried about the expiration date. "They're just sugar. They probably don't go bad for like two years."
Nadine giggled. "I don't care about that. I just think it's so funny that you happen to have one of these in your purse when I wanted a smoke."
"Ask and ye shall receive," Lindsay said.
Nadine chewed the last bits of the sugary piece of candy as the two girls walked down the sidewalk in front of the bar. The windows were mirror tinted, and she couldn't see what was going on in the bar until she pulled the door open. She knew it must be packed in there because of the state of affairs in the parking lot, and she'd been right. Nadine was somewhat relieved at the number of people that were already there. She was extremely nervous, and for some reason, found comfort in the idea of blending into the crowd. She was scann
ing the faces a mile a minute looking for one face in particular. It only took her a few seconds to spot him.
The place was full, and Julien was with a big group that looked like they took up at least two or three tables. They were in the middle of the room, and Nadine felt a little too shy to just walk right up to him.
"Let's go to the bar," she said.
"I see your friends right there," Lindsay said, pointing.
Nadine grabbed her hand and pulled it down as if lightning might strike it if she kept it out there. "I know. I saw them. I just wanted to go the bar for a minute first."
Lindsay agreed without saying anything even though she knew Nadine was just stalling because she was too embarrassed to walk over there. They found a spot where they could stand at the bar, and Lindsay took out the box of candy cigarettes. "You need to relax, girlfriend," she said, handing Nadine one. Nadine smiled and took it out of Lindsay's hand. She put it to her mouth and pretended to take a pull and then went through the motions to complete the drag, complete with removing it from her mouth with two fingers and blowing fake smoke into the air.
"There's no smoking in here, ma'am." An extremely intimidating voice said.
"Oh, no, it's just a piece of candy," Nadine said, before she could register who'd said it. She turned around to see the very tall, dark, almost menacing form of Julien Breaux. She had absentmindedly put the candy cigarette back into her mouth as she turned around to see whoever was talking to her, and it hung from her lips loosely and at an odd angle as she all but ogled at him.
Chapter 15
"Ooh, I love these things," Julien said, not even paying attention to the fact that Nadine was speechless in his mere presence. "Can I have a bite?" he asked.
She would have totally said yes, but he didn't even wait for her to answer. He ducked his head to hers and put his mouth around the end of the candy that was hanging out of her mouth. It was like the scene from Lady and the Tramp, but it only lasted half-a-second. He ducked down, put his mouth around the candy, and bit it off. Then he came up with it in his mouth as if taking food out of other people's mouths was something he did every day.
Nadine slapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, that was mine."
He smiled an arrogant smile that looked really good on him.
"You know you liked it," he said.
She did like it. She just looked at him, not even bothering to deny it.
"What are you girls up to?" he said.
"Getting a drink," both girls said at the exact same time. Then they proceeded to look at each other and laugh in unison.
"Whatcha drinking?" Julien asked. He smiled and gestured toward the bartender, who was standing at the girls' back, waiting for their order.
"Long Island Iced Tea," Lindsay said without hesitation. The bartender looked at Nadine who ordered a glass of ice water before turning back to Julien. She still couldn't believe he came up to them so quickly.
"Why didn't you get a drink?" Lindsay asked. She nudged Nadine to get her attention since it seemed all she could do was stare at Julien.
"I'll share yours and we can get another one if we think we're okay to drive."
"I'll be fine," Lindsay said. "We'll just hang out long enough for it to wear off. I'll have a few glasses of water after I drink it. Seriously, I'll be good to drive, I promise. You should get something to drink. It'll help you relax." Lindsay gave Nadine an exaggerated wink that totally embarrassed her in front of Julien. Nadine knew she was blushing, but could do absolutely nothing to stop it.
"You ladies can drink if you want to," he said. "I'm done for the night and I'm fine to drive your car if you need me to."
"We're not staying in Baton Rouge," Nadine said.
Julien shrugged. "I don't mind getting back home tonight," he said. "I was planning on staying, but that's mostly just because my ride's spending the night. My car's at the gym, so you'd have to let me follow you home once we got there."
"No, that's too much," Nadine said. "I don’t want you to have to—"
"I want to," he said. He reached out and pulled her in to his embrace. She sort of stumbled over the foot or two of space that had been separating them, and ended up standing close enough to him that their bodies made brief, little contacts. Nadine was sort of standing with her back to his chest and she looked up at him through adoring eyes.
Lindsay's eyes widened as she watched the scene between Nadine and Julien. She'd never seen Nadine acting like a big bundle of nerves, and smiled as she watched the two of them flirt. She turned to the bartender as he sat the drinks down. "Another one of these, please," she said, pointing to the Long Island Iced Tea.
He nodded and took off again. When he came back, he set the second drink down along with a ticket that had the total of almost fifteen dollars for the two drinks. Nadine and Lindsay both had their debit cards out, ready to duel to the death when the bartender came back to get the payment.
Julien took a twenty-dollar bill out of his money clip and threw it down next to the ticket. "Come on, let's go back over here." He didn't give them time to protest, he picked Nadine's drink up off the bar, and drug her by the arm toward the tables where all the gym people were. There looked to be at least a dozen or so people, and Nadine recognized most of them, even if she didn't know their names.
Julien led them to a table that was full of young guys. John David and his friend were there along with several guys Nadine knew were fighters.
"Did you get lost?" John David asked. He was referring to the amount of time it took them to get to the bar after he walked them to their car. His familiar question made Julien just jealous enough to put his hand around Nadine's waist.
She felt a hot rush of anticipation at his touch, but didn't even acknowledge he was doing it. "We had to get gas for the trip home," Nadine said, looking at John David as she tried to ignore the hand on her back that was causing all the chaos in her central nervous system.
All of a sudden, Carlos came up behind Julien. He hung on his shoulder, breathing like he'd been running. "Dude, I need a huge favor from you."
"What?" Julien asked.
"You know that girl Raven you were with last time?"
Julien felt Nadine stiffen at the question, but he just nodded at Carlos.
"Dude, she's asking about you, and I'm thinking if we tell her you're otherwise engaged," he cleared his throat and looked at Nadine, "I'm thinking I have a shot. Especially with that win tonight."
"That's all you," Julien said.
Carlos smiled and took off in the direction of Raven without another word. Lindsay was already sitting at the table, sipping on her tea and talking to the guys.
"I feel like I should be jealous," Nadine said.
Julien smiled. "Are you?"
She shrugged. "Maybe."
"My bad if she tries to fight you."
Nadine cracked up. "Oh, your bad?"
"Yeah." Julien looked in the direction Carlos had taken off, and pretended to get scared that the girl was coming to fight her. "She's pretty scrappy."
"Scrappy?" Nadine asked. "What's that even mean?" She shot a panicked look in Raven's direction, and Julien laughed.
"I'm just messing with you. I don't see anybody. I don't even know if she's even here."
"Carlos just bet me twenty dollars that he could get some brain in the bathroom by the end of the night," the fighter named Mike said as he returned to his seat.
Another fighter Nadine didn't recognize chimed in. "He's trippin' if he thinks he's getting that from that girl Raven. She's a tease."
"What's brain?" Nadine asked. She'd meant to ask it quietly enough for only Julien to hear, but the table got quiet as soon as she said it, and it came out louder than she hoped.
She heard a snicker or two before Chad chimed in. "It's a blow job," he said.
There was a moment of silence then Lindsay, of all people, spoke up, "Yeah, I never understood where that came from anyway."
Nadine looked at her like she couldn't believe Lind
say even knew what it was, and Lindsay smirked back at her.
"It's because it goes so deep it touches her brain," said the same guy who was hoping to win twenty dollars out of the deal.
"No it's not," Chad said. "It's slang for getting head. Instead of saying getting head, you call it brain. Get it?"
"Please," the guy looked at Lindsay. "It's because it touches the brain. He put his hands out front and thrust forward for effect. "You wanna find out?"
"Taylor!" about three guys, including Julien yelled at the same time.
"I'm sorry," Julien said to Lindsay before giving Taylor an impassive glare.
"No worries," Lindsay said. "I asked for it when I chimed in at a table full of boys."
Someone (John David, probably) skillfully changed the subject to something besides blowjobs, and everyone at the table spent the next hour having somewhat more appropriate conversations in groups of twos and threes. If the dreaded Raven was indeed there, Nadine didn't see her. She was really relieved, even though she was pretty sure she could take her in a fight if she had to.
"Whatchu smiling at?" Julien asked.
"I was just thinking about my kickboxing skills. I was wondering if I could take that girl Raven."
Julien laughed. "You could definitely take her. You don't have to fight over me, though," he said. "You can just have me."
Nadine looked up at him. She was a little lit from the drink she'd just finished, and was feeling reckless enough to play along.
"You kissed me in your Jeep at the gym and then we ignored it and didn't talk after that."
"That's not my fault," Julien said. "I thought you were supposed to text me."
"No way. You were supposed to text me," she said. "It's the guy's job."
"It is?"
She nodded.
He bent to whisper in her ear, and the combination of his deep voice and his hot breath on her ear made a jolt of electricity shoot through her body.
"I think I need to try again," Julien whispered.
The feel of it was so good she didn't even hear him. "Huh?" she asked.
Julien's Book Page 11
