Sapphire Universe (The Universe Series)

by Herrera, Devon

  After walking a safe distance from the house I click on Nick’s number and press send. “Go,” is the way he answers, completely throwing me off. I pull the phone from my head briefly and look at the screen then put it back to my ear.

  “Hello? Um, is this Nick?”

  “You don’t know who you called?” He asks sounding slightly annoyed.

  “Well I was trying to get a hold of my boyfriend’s friend Nick.” Now I sound annoyed, but I can’t help it. I don’t like being taken off guard.

  “Oh Jeez. Alright babe who’s your boyfriend?” He asks as though having other guys girlfriends call him is an everyday thing.

  “Connor Wright.”

  “Connor Wright?” He repeats back to me incredulously.

  “You don’t recognize the name of your best friend?” One small laugh is all that acknowledges my attempt at sarcasm, but he drops the attitude immediately.

  “Touché! What’s your name?”

  “Nina Ryan. I live with Connor in Wyoming. This is Nick right? You still haven’t told me.”

  “Yea this is Nick. So you’re the girl Connor’s been acting like a dufis over. Huh? Well, Nina Ryan. What can I do for you?” This is the strangest conversation I have ever had, but for some reason the fact that Connor would be friends with someone this…unique, makes perfect sense. He is dating me after all.

  “Well, Nick.” I repeat back to him and he laughs that single guffaw again. “I’m sure you already know that Connor's birthday is this Saturday and I’m throwing him a party. I know its short notice but I wanted to see if there was any way you would be able to make it out to Cheyenne for it.”

  “No shit. Connor’s letting you throw a party? You must be something special. Saturday?” It’s quiet for a couple of seconds before he speaks again. “Oh what the hell. I’m due for a vacation anyway. I can probably come up for the weekend. Where is it at?”

  “If you just email me your flight info, I can have someone come pick you up.” I’m so excited, but I don’t think Nick would appreciate my squealing in his ear so I suppress the urge. I’m waiting for his reply when I look over and see Samson frolicking in the snow, his whole head covered in white. The giggle bubbles over before I can suppress it and Nick curses softly on the other line.

  “No wonder he’s lost his mind.” He mutters and I don’t question it. Something tells me I wouldn’t get any answers out of him anyway. “Alright Nina. I’ll book my flight today and send you the info. Do you know who you’ll be sending to pick me up?” I think about that for a second, before deciding on the possible candidates.

  “Um, either my friend Lola or Connor’s cousin Toni.” Nick chokes on something on the other end and then recovers.

  “Don’t worry about it. I can give Toni a call. She and I go way back.” That makes sense. Of course Connor’s best friend would know his family. “Will Joseph be with her?” He asks.

  “Joseph? Is that her ex-husband? I don’t think so.” I’ve never really met the man, but Connor has made his feelings on the man pretty clear. The line is suddenly hissing with Nick’s intake of breath and another muffled curse.

  “Alright then. Thanks Nina. Take care of my boy will ya.” He says and with no goodbye or parting words, the line cuts out.

  I look over at Samson and put my phone back in my pocket. “That was the weirdest conversation of my life Samson. I have a feeling this party will be very interesting.” Samson is way more interested in the snow and random birds walking around picking at the ground than our conversation. We start walking a little further and Samson bounds over to the other side of the road and a little ways up the hill. I should probably call him back and put the leash on him, but the road is abandoned and it’s so open out here. I don’t have the heart to ruin his fun when I can’t see any real danger in it.

  I start to make my way further up the hill towards Samson a few minutes later so I can start leading him back home. I call for him a few times before I see him start to run towards me from the other side of the hill. He stops a few yards from me and starts to jump into the snow sneezing when it gets stuck in his nose and hopping around like a little puppy. I’m laughing so hard at his little game, that I don’t hear the car coming up the road. Just as the car crests the hill, I see it out of the corner of my eye and try to call Samson across the street. Samson starts to run just as the car approaches him. In slow motion the scene plays out before me as the brakes scream and Samson yelps. I just start running.

  “Samson!” I yell and rush over just as the car starts to break. I hear tires squealing and my heart is pounding. Please don’t hit him, please don’t hit him, please don’t hit him. The SUV swerves just in time and I bend down to wrap my arms around Samson’s neck to hug him tight to me and click the leash into place with shaky fingers.

  “Is he okay?’ I look up and see a burly man with a shaved head walking toward me from the vehicle that almost hit Sam. He stops and looks down at me through his aviators and bends to pat Samson on the head. The hair on Sam’s back bristles and a growl sounds out low and menacing in his throat. “Whoa easy there fella. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “He’s fine you didn’t hit him.” I start to get nervous and stand a few feet away from him. This is usually my reaction to being around strange men, proving how unique my instant attraction to Connor was.

  “Thank God. I was worried there for a minute. I’m Lucas.” He puts his hand out and I feel Sam’s fur brush against my legs as I look at it warily.

  “Nina.” I say, finally shaking his hand firmly. I’m no sissy after all. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “So Nina are you from around here?”

  I nod. “Born and raised. Are you new to town?”

  “Sort of. I’m here visiting an old friend. I was wondering where someone might go out for a few drinks around here.”

  “There is this country bar on Nationway. You can’t miss it. A lot of people go there on the weekends.”

  “Yourself included?” He turns his lips up in what I suppose was meant to be a seductive smile. Again, I feel nothing.

  “Yea my boyfriend and I have gone there a couple of times.” I say pointedly.

  “Damn. The cute ones are never single. My loss. Do you need a ride anywhere?” He offers politely.

  “No thanks, we’ll walk.” And if my boyfriend sees you drop me off, he’ll kick your beef cake ass.

  “Okay, have a nice day Nina.” He turns and struts back to the car. Samson tugs on the leash, pulling me away from the road and the dark SUV towards home

  When I get to the house, I open the door and stomp my feet on the mat to get the snow off of my boots and hang up my coat. I close the door behind me and Connor comes running out of the bedroom with his cell phone up to his ear. “Never mind Ma’am. I found her. Yes she just got home. Thank you. You too.” He pockets his phone and crushes me to him.

  “Connor what’s the matter?” I ask breathlessly against his chest.

  “Nina! You’ve been gone almost two hours. I was just on the phone with 911 and putting on my boots to go looking for you.”

  I look at the clock and my eyes widen. “Wow I had no idea. It all happened so fast. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “What do you mean? What happened so fast?”

  “Some guy in a SUV almost hit Sam. It was all my fault I didn’t have the leash on him, but he’s okay.”

  “God I was so worried this last half hour. I thought you’d slipped and hit your head or something.”

  “I’m not that clumsy Connor!” He just raises one eyebrow. “Okay maybe I am.”

  “Which is exactly why I was so worried. I don’t want to see you strapped to a gurney ever again. At least you’re wearing proper footwear this time.” He looks down at my boots and his phone starts playing “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon. I shake my head at him. Such a horn dog. Men!

  “Hello?.. Hey Lola… No she’s alive just came home… Yup… Anytime, just head over… Okay see you in a f
ew.” I raise my eyebrows at him in question. “Lola’s coming over.”

  “Yay!” I clap and jump into Connor’s arms and wrap my legs around his waist excited to see my best girlfriend.

  “You’re adorable.” Connor sweeps the hair off my face and kisses me. As usual one kiss is never enough and soon we’re rolling around on the floor with our mouths fused and our hands roaming. We must have been in that position for a while, because what feels like only a few minutes later, I hear a knock on the door and Lo’s voice.

  “Hello! Lovebirds! Lola is here!” I giggle at my friend and run to the door. I fling it open and smile widely.

  “What’s the password?”

  “Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious.” Lo deadpans back.

  “Very well, you may enter.” Lo pushes past me and clicks her tongue when she walks inside.

  “No broken bones? I was sure you slipped and hit your head.” I glare over at Connor and he’s grinning at my friend. “I’m actually surprised Con Man kept it together that well when you were gone so long. Lord knows I’ve been there before.”

  “I know, I know. I’m sorry I scared you guys. Samson almost got ran over.” Lola’s eyes widen and she bends down to pat Sam’s head.

  “Oh goodness boy are you alright?” She cuddles him for a minute and then stands up. “No wonder. I bet that was scary.” She says then catches me eying Connor as he stretches to get some glasses out of the cupboard in the kitchen “So, how’s the new house working out?” She asks with a knowing smirk.

  “It’s great! I think we are finally all settled in.”

  “And by settled in you mean screwing on every surface imaginable right?”

  “The kitchen table is next.” Connor doesn’t miss a beat when he walks into the room with two glasses of Moscato.

  “Where is your old man anyway? If he’s going to be doling out houses I want in.” Lo sips her wine and plops down into the couch.

  “He left for Hawaii yesterday. It was me and Nina’s Christmas present to him. He will be sitting on a beach sipping piña colada’s till March.”

  “Why don’t you have a brother or something?” Lola sighs dramatically and sweeps her hand around the room.

  I frown at her, wondering why she all of a sudden seems interested in having a relationship. “What happened to Drake?”

  Lo shrugs. “He’s a cowboy Nins. They don’t stick around and they don’t do girlfriends.”

  “You should write a Country song.” I laugh at her and Connor chuckles right along with me..

  “Yea it could go something like; I once had a friend named Nina. She stuck her nose in my love life so I beat the shit out of her.”

  “Hmmm, I think it needs some work.” I say still laughing and Lo rolls her eyes at me.

  “Whatever, enough about all this. Tell me what’s crackin in the land of In Love and Living Together?”

  What a loaded question. I know that it’s time I filled my best friend in on everything, but I’m a little worried about sharing Connor’s secrets. It’s not my story to tell after all. I look over Connor, silently asking his permission and he nods. Lo and I don’t keep secrets. We know everything about each other and Connor knows this. I move to the chair and sit before turning to my friend. Lo immediately perks up from her relaxed position. She has seen this look on my face before. “Nina? What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that.” I take a deep breath and glance back at Connor nervously. He comes to my side and rests his hands on my shoulder, lending his support. Lo narrows her eyes at him. “What the hell happened? I told you that if you did anything…”

  “Lo it’s not like that.” I cut her off. “Well, not exactly.” I edit and she relaxes a bit again.

  “Thank God you had me really worried there for a minute.” She looks back at Connor and nods. “Your family jewels are safe.” Connor’s hand flexes on my shoulder a little and it makes me smile. “Well out with it, the suspense is killing me.”

  I take a deep breath and prepare myself. We haven’t really talked about this since Connor first confessed everything to me. I know that telling Lola will make it feel more real and even though I’m not ready to give up my peace of mind, she deserves to know after everything we have been through together. I look my best friend in the whole world in the eye and just start talking. “You know how Connor worked for a Marketing firm in New York?” I start and Lo nods.

  “Yea he was the CEO’s Assistant right?”

  “Yes. Well, it turns out that Connor’s old boss is not only rich and powerful, he’s also a murderer.” The room is silent as Lo absorbs that last part. She narrows her eyes at Connor and then turns back to me before speaking quietly, but firmly.

  “Go on.”

  I inhale through my nose and meet her gaze straight on. “Connor found some incriminating evidence that proves his boss was involved in one of his client’s deaths. Blood on his clothes, a missing rug from Holden’s office and he watched the guy that was murdered walk into Holden’s office, but he never walked out.” Connor’s hand tightens on my shoulder and I glance up at him before finishing. “Connor reported this to the police and it turns out the victim’s body was found in an alley not far from Holden’s office from what was made to look like a mugging. The police also found out that plane tickets were bought with the victim’s credit card.”

  “The police confirmed that the tickets were purchased after time of death. Holden is trying to make it look like the guy was running from his debts before he was killed in the mugging.” Connor adds. “If it weren’t for my testimony he may have been questioned, but there is no doubt he would have never have been charged. When he found out I spoke to the police, he fled. They still haven’t found him and since he has so many connections, I had to go somewhere far away where he wouldn’t think to look for me.”

  I close my eyes and fight back the tears that threaten to take over at his words. I hate that he is in so much danger. How can I protect him from someone so beyond my means? I’ve make it through a lot of ugly things in one piece, but losing Connor? I’m not so sure I could survive that. I open my eyes and Lo is staring off into space and her features are frozen in indifference. This is Lola scared. I’m relieved that I don’t see any fear evident on her face, because that would have sent me over the edge. If this could make Lo show fear, then I don’t stand a chance.

  “Oh, so nothing too exciting then?” Lo says with no change in her expression whatsoever. I hear Connor mutter “women” and Lo and I giggle a little before her expression finally turns from joking to serious. “I swear Nina, you should write a freakin book. Your life has more drama than a Leonardo DiCaprio movie.”

  “It will all be okay Lo, Connor is pretty sure Holden doesn’t know he is here. Nothing is going to happen.” Lo knows me better than I know myself so I’m not surprised when the look she gives me says she doesn’t believe a word I say.

  “I take it back.” She says looking at Connor. “Take good care of her Con Man, or I will follow through with my promise.”

  Connor chokes on his wine grimacing and Lo and I just start laughing. Connor shakes his head and grabs the front of his pants protectively. “Women!”

  Back to Top

  CHAPTER 13

  “SHUT UP PEOPLE!” Nick yells out and everyone immediately obeys him, when my much smaller “Quiet please” didn’t do a thing to drop the volume in the room.

  “Thanks Nick.” I look over at Connor’s best friend and still can’t believe how wrong I was in how I pictured him. When he arrived with a very annoyed Toni a half hour ago, it took a minute to pick my jaw up off the floor. He isn’t Connor, but he is still ridiculously attractive. He’s bulkier than Connor and not as tall and has a darker olive complexion and golden brown eyes and light brown hair that's been cut into messy spikes. He’s just as blunt in person as he was on the phone and must have driven Toni nuts on the way to the bar I rented out, because she is seething.

  “When the fuck is he going to be here? My muscles are s
tarting to atrophy.” Nick grunts to me in a whisper.

  “He and Drake should show up any minute.” Lo and I had told Connor that we wanted a girls only night so Drake suggested taking him to the bar for drinks, so we could have the house to ourselves. All part of the plan, of course. Connor seemed a little hurt at first, but recovered quickly and agreed to the man date.

  “I just got a text from Drake. They are in the parking lot.” Lo whispers to me.

  “Okay quiet everyone they’re here.” I say one last time and the room silences. The lights are off and we were all gathered on the dance floor. Other than Lo, Nick, Toni and I, there were some people from work and a couple of Nina’s and Drake’s friends and I asked Toni to invite some people as well. I had gotten to know quite a few of them within the last hour or so and some of them were pretty cool. It’s obvious a couple of Toni’s girlfriends are jealous that I landed Connor, but I didn’t let that bother me. He is quite a catch after all.

  A couple of minutes later, we hear the front door open and Connor say “Are you sure this place is open?” from the doorway and when Drake switches on the light we all jump out and yell “SURPRISE!” Connor looks shocked for a second and then his eyes fall on me and his face splits into a huge grin. He only has eyes for me as he makes his way to the stage and takes me into his arms and spins me around in circle. His reaction makes all the stress from the last week worth it.

  “Girls night huh Princess?” He says grinning and gives me a barely appropriate kiss with our audience. “I love it baby. I love you.” He murmurs against my mouth. I barely get out my “I love you too” before Nick speaks, breaking up our private moment.

  “Damn Connor, think you can wait a few minutes before you need to get a room. I didn’t fly all the way out here to see you make a fool of yourself with your girl.” Connor freezes at his best friend’s voice and I smile widely.

  “Tonight.” That one word whispered in Connor’s deep voice makes me shiver with anticipation. “You’re mine later, so don’t drink too much.” Connor’s eyes promise me wicked things and with one last kiss he sets me on the floor to greet Nick.