“Well hell has frozen over after all. Nicholas Patera has left the city for a small country town. However will he survive such a primitive place?”
“Shut the hell up Connor. I’m perfectly capable of surviving in the country. I just prefer the city. And this isn’t exactly no man’s land. It’s just…small.” The two men start laughing.
“Come on Nina.” Connor turns toward me and I walk back to his side and he puts an arm around me. “I’m sure you’ve met my girlfriend.” He says and Nick nods.
“She is exactly as you described her Connor.” Nick says cryptically and I look at Connor trying to decode that statement along with the looks passing between the two men. “Well done man, I’m happy for you. Now, let’s get a drink or is this not a party?” Nick asks raising his eyebrows.
“Tequila!” I holler and the men laugh.
“Keeps you on your toes huh?” Nick says to Connor as we make our way to the bar.
“You have no idea.” Connor mutters, but kisses my hair.
We have a few shots and listen to Connor and Nick tell stories. Lola and Drake cuddle up on the other side of the bar from us and I like seeing them together like that. They look so happy. At one point I think I see some very heated looks between Nick and Toni, but I’m happily buzzed and Toni has been making it pretty obvious that Nick bothers the shit out of her.
Nick has taken up role as bartender and is actually incredibly talented, just like Connor said. He flips the bottles and recites little facts about the liquor as he pours and the women at the party are looking at him like he’s on the drink menu. The men seem to just be impressed and interested in all the information he offers but Toni just glares at him seemingly unimpressed, barely speaking the entire party except to wish Connor a happy birthday.
Around one o’clock, everyone has had plenty to drink most of the party has paired off. Connor and I and the rest of the couples have started to retreat into our own little worlds. It’s obvious that the sexual tension in the room is reaching dangerous levels so we decide kick everyone out and head home. Most of guests call a cab, but Toni has only taken one shot in the last several hours and obviously can’t wait to get out of here, so she offers to give us a ride home. Drake and Lo are going back to her place so we drop them off first and head to our place next where Nick is staying with Connor and me for the weekend. When we pull up the driveway, Connor and I step out together, but Nick stays seated in the front seat of Toni’s car. Connor gives his friend a look I can’t read and Nick shrugs it off.
“Be up in minute man. Just saying thanks for picking me up is all.” Connor and I look to Toni who has her arms crossed and just stares out the window.
It was dark outside with only the moon to help us see and Connor and I are wrapped around each other as we make our way to the porch. When we get to the stairs, I notice Samson barking in the back yard. We get up the steps and the porch light comes on revealing a figure sitting in the swing outside the door. Connor shoves me behind him and tenses.
“Who the hell are you?” He growls in a threatening voice and I hear a car door slam from the driveway and Toni speed off as Nick comes rushing to the porch and up the stairs.
The silhouette of a tall slender woman with long blonde hair steps into the porch light and I hear Nick curse. I feel Connor’s muscles tighten even more beneath my hands. I peak at his face and see that his eyes have gone dark again.
“Nadiya? What are you doing here?” Connor demands calmly making my body tense as well and my eyes narrow on the woman who I hate on spot.
“Connor? You’re not happy see me? We always spend your birthday together.” She steps forward and smiles seductively at Connor and I grit my teeth to keep from hissing like a cat. Wow, are those claws I feel. This feeling is ten times worse than any other I’ve had when women set their eyes on Connor. I know that it’s ridiculous to hate his ex this much, everyone has exes, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to scratch the bitch’s eyes out. “Nicky let it slip that you were having a party so I flew out here to see you.” She says demurely. Yup, I hate her. As if she heard my thoughts she zeroes in on me. “I didn’t realize you had a girl with you. Nicky why don’t you give her a ride home for Connor. We need some alone time to catch up.” She says suggestively. Over my dead body Barbie! “I’m sure she won’t mind having to spend some time with you tonight instead of Connor.” Oh HELL no! That’s it…
“Nadiya is it?” I step in front of Connor before either he or Nick could steal my opportunity to tell this bitch off. “I really don’t know why you’re here since you were not invited to the party that I threw for my boyfriend, but maybe that’s just how girls do things in New York. However, you’re not in New York anymore and insinuating that I’m nothing more than a whore while standing in front of my house, coming on to my man, is good way to get your ass kicked in this state.” Barbie’s face turns into a scowl and I can hear Nick’s choked laughter behind me. “So if you could kindly, get the fuck off my property, Connor and I have plans this evening that do not involve his crazy ex.” I add because I’m on a roll and if feels too damn good to stop.
Nadiya looks at Connor and back at me. “This, is your girlfriend?”
“Yes Nadiya. Nina is my girlfriend.” Connor says as his hand pulls me back and guides me to his side again.
At Connor’s admission, Nadiya looks like she ate something sour. “You can’t seriously let her speak to me this way.” She states folding her arms across her chest and popping her hip.
“I don’t let Nina do anything. And if you hadn’t started spouting off at her before you knew who she was, Nina wouldn’t have had to retaliate. Besides, she is right. This is her house and you weren’t invited.”
“What do you mean? This is your father’s house. And I already explained that I just wanted to come and see you. Nick didn’t mention any girlfriend, so how was I supposed to know I wouldn’t be welcome.”
“My father sold this house to Nina and I, we live here together. And you wouldn’t have been welcome because we are not together anymore, not because of Nina.” Connor clarifies. I take that as an end of discussion and push past Nadiya, unlock the door to step inside. When Connor doesn’t immediately follow, I walk back to the door and hear him in a heated argument with Nadiya.
“Connor please I just want to talk.” Nadiya says stepping closer to Connor and my fists ball up.
“Well that’s not going to happen now that you’ve pissed off Nina. You didn’t really think she was some girl I picked up and we both know it. You just didn’t think she would stand up to you.” Connor says sounding proud of me. I make a mental note to reward him for that later and wait for Nadiya to respond.
She puts her hand on his arm and I see red at the sight. “Connor, forget the girl, I came here to tell you…” She doesn’t get to finish, because I walk over and rip her sleazy hand from my boyfriend. “What the, fuck?” The bitch shouts while rubbing her wrist. Sissy.
“It is also rude to touch what doesn’t belong to you.” I say politely and then make my voice slightly harder. “Keep your paws off my boyfriend Barbie. I am not afraid of breaking a nail…or a few fingers.” She does the ridiculous dramatic intake of breath thing and puts her hand to her chest. Oh puhlease. “Nick, please take this broad somewhere for the night, before she faints on my porch.” I say, gesturing dismissively at Barbie. I refuse to even acknowledge her by her own name at this point. Connor grabs my hand and we walk into the house together, leaving Nick to clean up his little mess. After all, it is his fault she crashed the party. I march us into the bedroom and I think Connor can read my mood this time, because he meets my kiss halfway.
I push him against the wall and rip his shirt from his body. I’m juiced up from the altercation and feel the need to mark my territory. I’m frantically kissing and roaming my hands all over his skin anywhere I can, when Connor slows me with a hand on my shoulder and pulls his lips from mine.
“You have nothing to prove Princess. She got the m
essage. And you were extremely sexy while doing it.” Connor bends down to look into my eyes with a small smile.
I snort at him. “She wouldn’t have taken the hint if I had carved it into her perfect Barbie doll face.” The thought of her blond bombshell perfection makes my blood cool a little and my self-consciousness rear its stupid head. “Is that really the type of girls you’re usually attracted to?” I whisper and watch his eyes narrow to slits.
“Jesus. You’re a fucking lioness with Nadiya and ten seconds later you lose all that confidence?" He curses and shakes his head. “Don’t let her mess with that Nina. I’m not attracted to a type of girls. I’m attracted to a girl. Singular.” He says softly and puts both hands on the sides of my face rubbing circles on my temples with his thumbs. “You’re all I see Princess.” Such sweet words coming from such a strong man in his deep voice absolutely melts my heart. He grabs my hand and puts it to the front of his jeans. “Do you need more proof?” He shoots me the sexy smirk and it erases all of my unease. His eyebrows rise and I tighten my hand and caress his length.
“You do make a rather firm point there.” I giggle at my joke and dip my hand into the waist band of his jeans. He groans out a short laugh and takes my mouth in a hungry kiss as he pushes from the door to walk me backwards to the bed with his lips latched onto mine.
Our pace is desperate even though we’re alone and have all night. I unhook his belt and he tears it from the loops. He reaches behind me to pull my zipper down in one swift move and my bra is gone in the next second. Connor must decide that my underwear is too much of a hassle because he grabs one side with both hands and rips the fabric in half sending it fluttering to the bed. His jeans and boxers are now the only things separating us and they disappear just as swiftly. Our mouths battle together as he moves between my legs and slides into me slower than I want him to. I try to force him in faster, but he refuses to budge.
“You know I love you Nina.” Connor grits out on an exhale still frozen inside me.
“Yes.” I agree, desperate to get him to move as my body demands more.
“Tell me.” He demands and pulls back to thrust inside once, giving me a taste of the friction I’m dying for.
“You love me! You love me and I love you! Please Connor!” Sapphire eyes sear me, soft lips kiss me and our bodies slam together as he really starts to move. The rest of night is spent making me believe my words.
A few hours later, I sip my cider while looking into the blazing fire, thinking about the beautiful man asleep in our room and the last few hours. I try to untangle my thoughts from my feelings but everything is so muddled that I don’t even know what I’m looking for. Even though Connor’s love making had totally reassured me that I’m the one he wants, I can’t shake the ugly feelings that Nadiya showing up have stirred in me. I trust Connor and I honestly don’t see what he ever saw in that woman, but there was something about her. She seemed too desperate to get to Connor for a woman who doesn’t want to be in a relationship. I keep going over and over the scene that took place on our front porch and nothing stands out that can explain why I am so uneasy. Obviously coming face to face with an ex is never easy but I shouldn’t be this mixed up over it.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I look over and see Nick padding through the room in his bare feet and sweats. He sits in the other chair in front of the fireplace and looks into the flames dancing across from us.
“No. I have a lot on my mind.” I say to him but look back at the fireplace.
“You know when he was with her. He never looked at her.” Nick says still looking into the fire. I turn to him and raise a disbelieving brow. He ignores my expression and continues. “He would see her when she walked into the room and when she was talking to him he would be facing her, but he never really looked at her.” He turns to me and his expression is so pensive that it makes me hang on his every word. “When he’s with you, he is always looking at you. The way your mouth moves when you speak, the way you walk across the room and when he speaks to you, he looks into your eyes.”
I glance up at the picture of Connor and I on our first date that sits above the fireplace. When I first saw it I was more shocked at my expression than Connor’s, but looking at it now all I see is Connor. His eyes are staring directly at me and there is a fierceness to it that belies the softness of his expression. “Nadiya never once made him look at her like that.” I turn and find that Nick is staring at the framed photo as well and there is a small smile on his lips.
I now know why Connor described Nick as being deep. He watches everything with a kind of intensity that misses nothing. “I love him.” I say, because it’s what I’m feeling at the moment. Nick’s smile widens and his eyes lower back down to the fire.
“I know.” He says simply. “You look at him too.”
We sit like that in silence for a while. Just as I’m starting to think I might be able to sleep, Nick speaks again. “I took her to a motel and she said she would leave on a flight first thing this morning.” I nod at him and stand, ready to put this all behind me. “She told me to tell Connor something first though.” I pause, rooted where I am, bracing myself for Nadiya’s declaration of love for my boyfriend. “She said to tell him that if he cares about you, if he cares about himself, then he needs to retract his statement about Maxwell Holden.” My heart rate kicks up and I slump back down in the chair and close my eyes. “She knew to come here because of me. She was supposed to get in touch with him to convince him. I told her he was here. And now, because of me, Max knows he’s here for sure too.” I open my eyes to see Nick still staring into the fire but his fists and teeth are clenched. “I sold out my best friend.” His words are strained and he drops his head into his hands.
“You didn’t know, brother.” Nick and I both twist to see Connor standing behind us. “You couldn’t have known Max would contact her. She’s never even been on his radar.” He walks up and put his hands on my shoulders and looks into the fire just as Nick and I had been. As if it held all the answers to our problems. All it did was swirl and flicker behind the glass, raging in its own little world and leaving us to stew in ours. We would just have to wait as the Universe’s plan played out.
On New Year’s Eve, we decide to get dressed up and hit the town. I curl my hair in large messy spirals and throw on a silver dress that’s like a second skin and only comes down far enough to cover everything important. I know it will blow Connor socks off. I keep thinking about all the New Years that I’d spent with Lo. I love my best friend, but I can’t help but prefer the thought of kissing Connor at midnight over watching the ball drop on TV. When I step out of the bathroom, Connor turns to me and his smile fades.
“Please tell me that’s the dress that goes under the real dress.”
I look down at myself and glare back at him. “No this is the dress that you definitely won’t be taking off of me unless you get over it.”
“Nina, it’s hard enough to control myself when other guys look at you, but in that thing I’ll end up putting some poor bastard in the hospital. Really Princess it’s not fair. I can’t exactly blame them for looking, because of the dress, but it won’t stop me from beating the shit out of them either.”
“Connor this is the dress I’m wearing. If anything it’s just leveling the playing field since you get checked out by anything with a pulse.”
He sighs. “Fine. You look delicious. I’m just a jackass.”
I kiss him and ruffle his hair. “Oh baby. I knew that already.”
We step out into the main room and Nick is sitting on the couch waiting for us. There was no way we could convince him to go back to New York now. “Wow Nina, that’s one hot dress girl.” Nick says standing to join us by the door.
I look over and Connor is glaring at his best friend. I giggle at him and pat his chest. “Thanks Nick. Let’s get going boys.” When we get in the car I notice that Nick is texting furiously on his phone. “Is everything okay?” I ask turning to the backseat to look at him.
> Nick puts his phone away and grins cockily at me. “Yea, just trying to talk this stubborn woman into meeting us at the bar tonight.” He looks towards Connor and nods at me. “Don’t worry about me Nina. There are plenty more where she came from.” I turn around and grab Connor’s hand and link our fingers together, knowing that he’s lying.
The bar is in full swing when we get there. The space is packed and everyone is drinking and dancing. Connor orders us drinks and we make our way over to Lo and Drake. They look cozy enough and I actually think they make a really good couple, so I’m not sure what Lo’s malfunction is. Connor, Drake and Nick chat it up a bit while Lo and I play the “Remember when” game, reliving all of our previous pathetic New Years together. Lo seems to share my opinion on kissing a hot stud muffin over cheap champagne and pj’s. My straw sucks air when my drink is all gone and Connor dutifully grabs my glass and makes his way to the bar.
“Wow. That boy has it real bad.” Drake chuckles.
“Nope.” I say shaking my head. “He has it real good.” I wink at Drake and he laughs harder. I notice Lo’s eyes glaze over a little bit and it reminds me of my first reaction to Connor’s laugh. I am so going to grill her later. I glance over at in Nick’s direction and he's still staring at his phone. I see him make several slow clicks against the screen and then slip it in his pocket.
He catches me looking and just smiles at me. “You have your own love life to worry about babe. Don’t stress over my nonexistent one. It’s not worth it.” He says and then stands and walks towards the dance floor. I see him put his hand on the back of a busty blond, who reminds me of Nadiya and I shake my head. Barbie The Sequel turns and smiles at him and after exchanging a few words they make their way to the dance floor.
A couple minutes go by and Connor still hasn’t showed, so I walk over to the bar. I find him sitting on one of the stools and a stunning, leggy brunette, in a skin tight purple dress is draping herself all over him. I watch as Connor gently removes her hand from his bicep and shake his head.
Sapphire Universe (The Universe Series) Page 17
