Kiss Kiss

by Various Authors

  She’d had a rough day the day before. She spilled a cup of Ike’s fruit punch and the red liquid spreading across the pale tile of her kitchen floor reduced her to a sobbing heap. She’d called her shrink, and once he’d talked her down, he gave her homework. She was supposed to examine her relationship with Ryan.

  For years she’d felt like she and Ryan were the real deal, and that their romance was the norm for young love. People were drawn to him—he’d been brilliant, handsome, and dedicated to serving his fellow man. This irresistible combination was potent and she’d easily become addicted to him. They were a classic example of the adage “opposites attract.” His self-confidence bordered on narcissism. Looking back, what she’d thought was passion and found romantic, in hindsight appeared to be possessive and controlling. He’d never been physically abusive to her, but he’d managed to twist her into a tangled mess, nonetheless. Looking back on their relationship, she recognized that he was a master manipulator.

  She supposed it was no surprise that she’d gone to such extremes to curry his favor; sleeping with him before she was ready, missing out on a legendary concert she wanted to see to dutifully attend his baseball tournament. Nicole’s father had left when she was small, and the men who came into her mother’s life shuffled out soon after they had arrived.

  Daddy issues. I’m such a cliché.

  Nicole’s mother had encouraged her relationship with Ryan from the beginning. She deemed him “quite a catch”. When Nicole and Ryan fought, her mother would encourage Nicole to reach out to him and push her to admit fault and apologize. Insightful even as a teen, she’d questioned her mom’s position. Nicole knew early on that her mother’s relationships were totally dysfunctional.

  Having had enough of her pity party, she settled in to her computer room. She dug into her newfound jobs. All week long she’d been contacting people who had expressed interest in her work at the clubhouse. So far she had accepted four small decorating gigs—three were single room redesigns, and the fourth was a whole house. These projects were a perfect place to start; her time with Ike was too precious for any bigger time commitment or a more rigid schedule. In addition to these restrictions, she didn’t have any sub-contractors to do any elaborate remodeling projects, but having met Lauren’s husband Jack and seeing his fine craftsmanship in their home, she planned to remedy that soon.

  After spending an hour looking through photos of the first job site and playing with paint samples and material swatches, Nicole came to a startling conclusion. Her computer room wouldn’t suit her for long; she needed more space. 30 minutes later, she was going insane from the lack of natural light in the tiny office. She packed up her laptop and the photos and headed to CoffeeSmith’s for a change of scenery.

  She pulled up her hood, put on her gloves and headed back out into the overcast day. The leaves were falling and the wind whipped against her as she made the short trip to Lauren’s shop. Autumn had finally arrived, and it seemed they would pay for being so spoiled.

  She entered CoffeeSmith’s and saw that the lunch crowd had come and gone. Two straggler tourists were sitting halfway back, enjoying the river view. Lauren and Jules seemed to be in the process of lunch rush clean up.

  “Hey you! We need to talk. I want some gossip…” Lauren whispered the last part.

  “I don’t know anything interesting, I’m afraid.” Nicole took the cup she offered, amazed that Lauren had already memorized her favorite drink.

  “What is up with Jason? He was here yesterday asking if I had seen you since the fish fry.”

  “I have no idea why he’d ask about me.”

  “Good. I am rooting for you and Aaron. The sooner Joy stops coming into town, the happier I’ll be.”

  “Sorry to disappoint. Nothing going on there either.” Lauren didn’t come out and call her a liar, but it was written all over her face.

  “Seriously? Why not?”

  Nicole had no idea what to say, so she simply shrugged.

  “Hey. Do you think Jack would be interested in partnering up for some remodels? I have zero connections in the area, and he obviously knows his way around a hammer.”

  “I’ll ask.” Lauren shrugged and a strange expression crossed her face.

  “Do you care if I claim your front table? I need the light.”

  “Stay as long as you want. Just know that I am coming over to bug you about Shilah and Avery when I’m done cleaning up. We’re still on for this weekend, right? Do you have a costume?”

  “I have something in mind.” Nicole nodded. “You?”

  “Oh yeah. Mine is badass.”

  Nicole curled up in the overstuffed chair with her swatches and sipped her coffee. She briefly thought about Avery and how she hadn’t heard from her, but pushed it from her mind. Avery had opened a can of worms, and she would have to live with the consequences.

  Thirty minutes later, she had her paint colors selected for all three jobs. She had just saved the ideas in a document and started working on the floor plans when she heard Lauren calling out to someone who had come in the side door.

  “Special delivery!” Aaron’s voice was distinct. Nicole’s eyes flew wide and all she could think about was how she looked a wreck with her sloppy ponytail, glasses and lack of makeup. Regardless of her appearance, she had no interest in seeing him. She quickly glanced to the side and noticed he had headed directly into the kitchen. She scooped her swatches into her messenger bag, but before she could stand, she heard Lauren and Aaron’s voices growing louder. She held her flooring catalogue up in front of her face, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.

  “Hey Nicole!” Lauren’s voice rang out. Nic wanted to die and/or strangle Lauren. She slowly lowered her magazine, as if she’d been deeply engrossed.

  “Huh?” As she turned in their direction, she saw Aaron whip his head around in her direction. He looked startled at her unexpected presence and seemed as reluctant to see her as she was to see him.

  “Look who’s here. Small world.” Lauren looked excited, as if she were about to witness something monumental.

  “Oh, hey.” Nicole looked briefly at him and then placed her closed laptop into her bag.

  “Hi.” She heard him reply and glanced his way as she continued to pack up. He walked in her direction. She felt her heart pounding a betraying rhythm and was furious with herself for letting him affect her that way after he’d rejected her.

  As he sat down on the matching chair across from her, Nicole closed her magazine and tossed it on the table. She peeked to her right to see Lauren suddenly very concerned with cleaning the counter closest to them. She looked back to Aaron, who was leaning forward in his chair looking her directly in the eye.

  “Listen, Nicki. I think we need to talk.”

  “Please don’t call me that.” Ryan had hated the nickname and hearing it now made her nauseous. Aaron look stunned, and she felt bad, quickly changing her approach.

  “We’re cool. No worries.” She shrugged and put her magazine into her bag. She could feel her cheeks growing hot, but fought to keep a straight face. Knowing that Lauren was spying on them was not half as embarrassing as having to hear his version of “it’s not you, it’s me.”

  She zipped the bag and her eyes shifted back to him again. Other than a slight tilt of his head, he hadn’t moved. Not knowing what else to do or say, she pushed up her glasses and waited.

  “Fine,” he said suddenly, sitting back. “But I believe you promised me a tour of your place.”

  “You’ve seen it,” she whispered as she blushed harder. His dimples appeared and he raised an eyebrow.

  “Only the kitchen and the lights were out.” Fortunately, he also seemed aware Lauren was hovering and his voice was barely audible. Nicole continued to pack her paraphernalia, but she shivered involuntarily at the memory of him hard against her.

  “How about now?” He continued in response to her silence.

  “All right,” she replied after another small pause. She felt Lauren’s
eyes on them as he picked up her laptop bag and headed to the front door. Nicole quickly followed and Aaron held the door for her.

  “See ya!” Lauren called in a singsong tone after them. Nicole cringed.

  Neither of them spoke as they walked down Main Street. A couple of trucks honked and waved to them, and Nicole shook her head. She’d forgotten how friendly everyone was with each other here and wondered how quickly word would spread that Aaron had been spotted entering her house. This thought weighed heavily on her as she led him up the front steps from Main, past her fire pit, and onto the porch. As she unlocked the door, he laughed.

  “I guess it’s probably safe for us to talk now. Unless you think she’s bugged your place.”

  “Just before you showed up, she said she was ‘rooting for us.’ I think this situation has already spiraled out of control,” Nicole replied as they crossed the threshold.

  His expression was hard to read, but his attention shifted to her décor.

  “Wow. I can’t believe how different this looks.”

  “You’ve been here before?”

  “Yeah. A buddy of mine used to rent the place a couple of years ago.” It was his turn to tour her home and she didn’t accompany him upstairs to the bedrooms. She hadn’t made her bed, and she tried not to let it embarrass her. She racked her brain, as she tried to remember if she’d left her bra and panties on the floor. Nervously wiping off the kitchen counters, she heard him coming down the stairs behind her. She heard a thump and realized as he muttered a swear word that he’d hit his head on the low ceiling of the stairs. She smirked as she grabbed two sodas from the fridge.

  “I guess you did learn something at that design school.”

  “Gee, thanks,” she replied, and turned to find him standing dangerously close to her. She handed him a soda and led him into the living room. When she took a seat on the couch, she was relieved that he took a seat across the room on her loveseat.

  “About Saturday night. I owe you an apology. Or at least an explanation.” He looked uncomfortable, but met her eyes. She shook her head adamantly.

  “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I, of all people, know how it feels to be cheated on.” She noticed his face contort in surprise.

  “So … you knew?”

  “I may have made some poor choices, but I’m not an idiot, Aaron.”

  He looked out the window, staring intently at nothing. “And you stayed with him…”

  “Okay, so I am an idiot, but I don’t want to be that girl.” He looked at her pensively and shook his head. Nicole thought he looked exasperated, as if she were speaking another language.

  “Joy’s not the issue here. It’s Ryan.”

  She was stunned, but quickly recovered.

  “Funny, I don’t see him here.” Nicole’s felt anger building within her.

  “He was like my brother, Nic. Just because we weren’t speaking for the last year of his life doesn’t erase all the years before that. You chose him, and it took me a lot of time to make peace with that. Then I caught him…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I can’t believe you knew.”

  Nicole hadn’t expected this conversation and fought to form a sentence. Aaron had never before said out loud that he wanted her.

  “And now here you are, and for the first time since we’ve met, Ryan isn’t my competition. And you know what? I find myself conflicted.”

  “Bros before hos … even beyond the grave.” Nicole was usually not a snarky person, but her conversation with Avery had opened a lot of sore wounds.

  “Nicki…” Aaron sounded like he was about to try to appeal to her sense of reason.

  “You don’t have to say anything else.” Nicole folded her arms across her chest and looked out her floor-to-ceiling window at Main Street. Regret overwhelmed her. Why the hell had she moved back? Having to live in the same town with him and have her childhood mistakes thrown in her face was going to be torturous.

  “It took me a long time to get over you. And when I fought with Ryan, I lost my best friend. Then you sent me that email telling me you couldn’t talk to me anymore.”

  Nicole frowned and felt the puzzled expression she wore. “What email?”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes at her question, and a look of understanding crossed his face as he shook his head. “That asshole. He thought of everything.”

  Nicole felt her stomach drop, as she remembered Ryan teasing her about her inability to remember her passwords, calling her an airhead. It was suddenly clear why he’d changed their phone numbers after his fight with Aaron. Nicole felt nauseated.

  Aaron stood and put his hands in his pockets.

  “After he died, all I could think about was how the last time I saw him, I kicked his ass. I was depressed for a long time. I came home and threw myself into building a business. I was just starting to get my head together and live a little when you came back.”

  They sat in silence for a while and Nicole imagined being in Aaron’s shoes. The power that Ryan still wielded over people amazed her. His presence so intense, he may as well have been sitting in the room with them.

  Aaron came across the room to her. As he paused beside her, she felt detached as she looked up at him.

  “I’m glad you’re back. I want to be friends again. But you and me?” He shook his head and looked away. “I can’t put myself through it again.”

  Having nothing to say in response, she nodded. As she watched him walk out her front door, Nicole was crestfallen.

  Aaron took a very long swig from his thermos of coffee and exhaled, seeing his breath. It looked like Mother Nature had finally decided to come out of her corner swinging to give them all a sound thrashing. Wondering what he’d gotten himself into, he watched Shilah adjusting his longbow, as Ron and Jack distributed deer scent quietly below their tree stands. It was the butt crack of dawn and he wondered why the hell he wasn’t in bed under a pile of quilts.

  Aaron shook his head as Ron put his jacket back on, covering his tattoos. He’d been bitching that the last time he hunted he’d spilled deer scent on his clothes. Stinky or not, it was freezing outside and nobody was getting Aaron’s coat unless they pried it from his cold, dead carcass. Ron looked around intently as if he were Pan, the Lord of the Woods. Though Aaron had to admit Ron was a great hunter, he couldn’t help but smirk. This guy took himself way too seriously.

  Ron closed his eyes and stood silent for a while, as if he could sense the deer. Meanwhile, Jack had returned to the other tree stand and was watching Ron as if he was his platoon leader and Jack was waiting for a signal. To his right, Shilah just looked bored. Aaron found himself biting the inside of his lip to keep from laughing as Ron took out a pair of antlers and shook them. If any deer observed them, they were probably pissing themselves laughing.

  “So, are you going to this Halloween thing at O’Connell’s?” Shilah whispered.

  “I kinda have to. Sean O’Connell is a buddy of mine, and he hosts karaoke. If I don’t go, he’ll have to do most of the singing and he’ll hunt my ass down. What about you?”

  Shilah nodded.

  “So what’s the deal with Jason and Avery?”

  A wry smile spread across Aaron’s face at the candid way Shilah approached everything.

  “So now I know why you invited me. Do you want me to pass her a note, maybe a mixed tape?”

  Shilah smirked and held up an arrow as if it were a knife in a slasher movie. “Don’t make me scalp you.”

  “What do you want to know, lover boy?”

  “Anything would be helpful.”

  Jack shushed them, and Aaron wiped the smile away and saluted him sarcastically.

  “Lauren babbled something about a girls’ night this morning when I picked up Jack. Avery will be there. Pretty ballsy, aren’t you, working for Gates and sniffing around Jason’s ex?”

  “That’s priceless coming from you. I wasn’t the one that made him spit blood the other night.”

  Aaron smirked appreciatively, th
ough confused since he’d merely shoved Jason. Shilah was one funny guy.

  “I warned Jack not to invite him,” Shilah continued as he tied back his long hair and scanned the nearby woods.

  “Good thing. I probably would have shot him,” Aaron murmured and Ron whipped his head around to glare at them. Aaron nodded in understanding and clamped his lips shut, and mimed locking his mouth up and throwing away the key.

  “He probably wouldn’t have come anyway. He doesn’t strike me as the outdoorsy type,” Shilah whispered with a cocked eyebrow. He didn’t seem to be in the mood to be out here in the boonies any more than Aaron did. They both chugged more coffee in unison.

  “So you were telling me about Avery and Jason…”

  “They hooked up after college. I don’t understand it. Avery’s always been a smart girl. I don’t know, maybe he has a magic cock.”

  Shilah, who’d just taken a sip of coffee, spat it out on a nearby tree. Jack shushed them loudly and looked like he wanted to shoot them both.

  “I am so going home after this and going back to bed,” Aaron muttered.

  “Speaking of bed, have you made up with Joy yet? She looked homicidal when you took off and left her ass the other night.”

  When Aaron had left his house the morning after the fry, Joy’s car was still in his garage. Figuring she was still sleeping, he’d told himself if she still wasn’t back from Lauren and Jack’s when he returned, he’d go collect her. When he returned to the cottage, her car was gone and her key to his place was on the kitchen table. The drawer she had claimed for herself was empty and all the girly products she had all over his bathroom were gone as well. He figured she would call him when she cooled off. It had now been a full week without a phone call.

  “Nope. I guess she’s really pissed this time.”

  “She seems a little intense.”

  “Bro, you don’t even know the half of it. All I had in my house was a TV, a couch, and a bed. A month ago, I came home and she’d gone to Rooms To Go or something. We’ve been going out for four months and now she’s following me around with a string quartet playing the Wedding March.”