by Kant, Komal
Chapter Ten
Sky
Dinner with Nick again. What the hell was I thinking?
I definitely could’ve made more of an effort to talk my way out of it. It wasn’t as though someone had held a gun to my head and forced me to do it.
Now we were sitting in his BMW driving out of the Ruggarson property, and I couldn’t even begin to comprehend how this night was going to turn out.
Glancing at Nick out of the corner of my eye, I committed his profile to memory. This guy was so sexy that it was actually a little disorientating that he was taking me out to dinner. The fact that he had pretty much volunteered should be playing on my mind, but because Mrs. Potts had instigated it, I wasn’t sure if it really counted as him asking me out.
Not that it mattered. He was so on and off that it was difficult to gauge what he was really like. I definitely wanted someone more stable than that.
As though sensing my gaze on him, Nick turned his head to shoot me a quick look. As soon as his blue eyes found mine, a strange feeling shot through me like ice and flame were waging a war inside of me.
“I wasn’t sure what you were in the mood for,” he said, turning his attention back onto the road again, “so I picked this five-star Brazilian grill that serves a variety of things.”
It wasn’t lost on me that he’d said “five-star” as though it was supposed to impress me. Well, color me unimpressed.
“BK,” I said.
His eyes found mine again; they were scrunched up in confusion like he’d never heard those two initials in his life. “What?”
“I want Burger King,” I elaborated, keeping my expression steady
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked, and then gestured at himself with a hand. “I’m wearing a $1000 suit right now.”
“So? We can go through drive-thru.” I tried not to burst into a fit of laughter as I looked over his well-fitted shirt and tailored pants. “A cheeseburger would totally hit the spot right now.”
He just continued to gaze at me like I’d lost my mind. I bet this was the last thing posh, arrogant Nick Ruggarson had been expecting to hear. Good. I wanted him to be out of his comfort zone.
“Sky, we’re in a damn BMW,” he said as though this was supposed to change my mind. After a long minute of staring each other down, when he could tell I wasn’t going to budge on this, he shrugged. “Fine, there’s one close by.”
Amazed that he hadn’t put up too much of a fight, I sat in silent victory as he drove two blocks and turned into Burger King.
“Hi, what can I get you tonight?” a young girl asked in a bored voice when we pulled into the drive-thru.
“Uh.” Nick turned to me, his brows raised in question. “Cheeseburger, right?”
“Make that a double,” I said with a grin. “And I’d like onion rings and a Dr. Pepper with that.”
“Sure,” he said, turning back to the speaker and repeating my order to the girl.
“Will that be all?” the girl asked.
“Uh, yeah.”
I quickly leaned across the seat as far as my seatbelt would allow, and said loudly, “And a Whopper meal, too.”
As the girl recited the order back to us and told us the total, Nick looked at me like I was an alien. “You’re really going to eat that much food by yourself?”
“No, silly, the Whopper is for you,” I explained as we drove up to the next window.
“I don’t normally eat that crap.” He made a face like a child would make when offered green vegetables.
“That’s the point,” I explained. “Sometimes you just gotta try something different.”
“I thought you wanted to be a chef or something. Doesn’t that mean you’d want to sample fine cuisine?” he questioned.
When he pulled up at the next window, the girl’s eyes grew at the sight of the BMW, but probably also at Nick. The girl straightened up, pushing her shoulders back as she brushed her hair out of her face.
“Um, that’s gonna be $13.29,” she said, stumbling over her words a little. It seemed even she wasn’t immune to Nick’s good looks.
“You can’t be a great chef if you don’t try different kinds of food,” I said as he gave his card to the girl. This was probably the cheapest meal he’d ever had in his entire life.
“Have a good night!” The girl sounded perky as she handed Nick our drinks and bag of food, which was amazing considering she’d originally sounded like she’d been watching paint dry.
“I guess that makes sense.” Nick barely noticed the girl. His full attention was on me, which was kind of nice. I wasn’t sure why it mattered to me if his attention was on me. Things like that shouldn’t matter.
“Besides, I figured you needed to let your hair down, Mr. Fancy Pants.” An involuntary snort-laugh escaped me as my gaze dropped to his tailored pants.
“Are you making fun of the way I dress?” he demanded, placing the BK bag on my lap and the drinks in the cup holders in the car. “That’s discrimination.”
“Didn’t you criticize the way I was dressed the first time we met, Coffee Shop Jerk?” I shot back.
“Coffee Shop Jerk?” he wondered out loud, pulling out of the drive-thru. I wasn’t sure where we were exactly, but having someone to hang out with was kind of nice, I had to admit. “Yeah, I guess I was kind of a jerk, huh?”
“Kind of is an understatement.” Grabbing an onion ring out of the bag and taking a bite out of it, I smiled to myself as Nick continued to drive down the dark streets.
As he drove, we both ate. Nick was steering with one hand and taking bites out of his Whopper that he was holding with the other. When his eyes fell to his drink, I reached over to pick it up and held it to his mouth so he could take a few sips from it.
“Thanks,” he said, his eyes dipping to my lips quickly before snapping back onto the road.
“You’re welcome,” I said, feeling myself blush.
I was amazed that Nick and I were actually getting along. This was truly a first for us. Last night his friends had been with us so he’d had to act cordial towards me, but now it was just the two of us and we seemed to be enjoying each other’s company.
“I want to show you something,” he suddenly said. “I think you’ll appreciate it.”
“Okay,” I said, my curiosity piqued.
Where could he possibly want to take me? Somewhere fancy no doubt.
Nick
A few years ago, something had happened to me. Something that had ripped through my life like a maelstrom, destroying everything in its wake.
I had gained something, but I’d lost something too.
I’d let that loss consume me. I’d let it take me to a dark place; to where the water was so deep that I’d lost sight of the shore. I’d let myself drown and no one had been able to save me.
Some nights I’d come to a place, a place where everything was silent. I’d sit there for hours, letting the world pass me by. After a while, that place made me feel like I was catching my breath after the maelstrom.
That was where I had taken Sky.
“Nick,” she breathed, clutching my arm, “this place is beautiful.”
Beautiful. That was one word to describe it.
The hill we were standing on allowed the perfect view of the town nestled in the valley below. The thousands of lights lit across town were like unmoving fireflies lighting up the bleak darkness.
But the view wasn’t the only thing this place had to offer.
I guided Sky to the front of the car and hopped onto the hood. Following my movements, she did the same.
“Lie back,” I told her, gesturing to the hood behind us.
Sky shot me a skeptical look. “Are you already making a move on the first date? I’m not that easy.”
When I didn’t immediately say anything, her expression wavered a little.
“This is the second date. I can make any move I want.” Shooting her an easy smile, I lay back on the hood, hoping she would do the same.
/> She did.
As her eyes lifted upwards, her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. “Nick, this is amazing.”
With that smile still on my face, I stared straight up into the sky, seeing what she was seeing. The sky was a navy blanket, quilted with winking stars, and stretching limitless above us. This was where I found my peace and I’d never shared it with anyone before.
I wasn’t sure what had made me bring Sky out here tonight. Maybe I just wanted her to see that there was more to me than just the Coffee Shop Jerk. Maybe I wanted her to see the other side of me—the side that I had almost given up on.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” she whispered, breaking the silence.
I turned my head to look at her out of the corner of my eye, and my breath caught in my throat.
Her eyes were shining as they took everything in. Her mouth was slightly parted. Her dark hair was a little messy, a little untamed. She was carefree; she didn’t care what she looked like. She wasn’t pausing to fix her make up or adjust her dress like the girls I was used to did.
She was just here, existing. Being. Living in the moment.
The sky above me was beautiful and magical, but it paled in comparison to the Sky beside me.
Sky
It was strange—I never thought for a second that I’d find peace and comfort with this man.
Being with Nick was like unwrapping a present—once you peeled away a delicate layer, you uncovered another side to him. Tonight I felt like I’d discovered more to him than I had in the last couple week.
This was a side to him I liked. Right now he seemed like his real self, the person he was trying to hide away for some reason.
I felt like I was close to seeing his true side. I felt like in his own way he was trying to tell me something. It was like a whisper in my ear, too faint to make out the exact words, but enough to make me wonder.
Out of nowhere, the peace was disrupted with a ringing sound.
“Shit,” Nick swore, pulling out his phone.
The bright light from the flashing screen irritated my eyes as the phone continued to ring. Nick wasn’t answering it, though. He just lay there and stared at it.
“Are you going to answer that?” I prompted.
The phone stopped ringing, but then immediately started up again.
“Yeah, hold on.” He sounded annoyed as he jumped off the hood and answered the call. “Yeah?”
Just before he walked away, I heard the high pitched tone of a girl.
“No, I’m not home right now,” Nick was saying. “Don’t come over yet.”
Was this one of Nick’s booty calls? Were they supposed to meet up after Nick and I got done? The very thought disgusted me, but really, why was I even surprised? This was Nick’s modus operandi—he hooked up with different girls. He wasn’t exactly monogamous.
Feeling stupid for even thinking differently about him, I climbed off the hood and stood by the side of the car, watching him in fuming silence.
“No, I’m not blowing you off.” He was snapping at the girl on the other end. “I don’t have time for this.”
I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for his nice guy routine. I bet he brought every girl out here in an effort to seduce them. Did he think I was one of his easy conquests? Hell no. He should know me better by now.
Nick turned back toward me, his face pinched with anger. “Why did you get up?”
“I’m ready to leave,” I said, my tone curt.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, studying me with a frown.
Seriously, he didn’t know what was wrong? Was this guy oblivious to the girl who had just called him wanting to come over? I hadn’t heard the entire conversation, but I could put two and two together. It equaled sex with a slutty girl.
“Do you really need me to answer that? Just take me home.” I walked around to the passenger side door and got in. I didn’t have anything else to say to him.
A few seconds later, Nick climbed into the car, starting the ignition. “Why’d you have to go and mess everything up?”
“Are you kidding me right now?” I gaped at him as he reversed and guided the car back onto the road. “You’re blaming me when you’re the one who just got a booty call?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw, and I knew I’d hit close to the truth. At least he didn’t bother denying it.
“So you’re jealous?” he finally said out of nowhere.
“What?” I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to throw that accusation at me. “I’m not jealous!”
“Yeah, you are.” His calm tone of voice only made me madder.
Our good night had jumped out of the third story window. Nick could also jump out of the third story window for all I cared.
“Trust me, I have nothing to be jealous about.” I tried to imitate his cool tone. I didn’t want to be the crazy one yelling while he remained calm and collected. “I’m annoyed because you take me out, we actually get along for once which is a freaking miracle, and yet you still have something planned with a girl after this.”
He was driving a little faster than I would’ve liked, but he hadn’t quite reached psycho speed. Yet.
From the way his eyes were narrowed and his jaw was tensed, I could tell I was making him angry. Well, let him get angry. I didn’t care. I never held back my true feelings.
“Why does it concern you who I have plans with? My life, or what I do with it, is none of your business.”
I had to admit that hurt a little. I knew his life wasn’t my business. Heck, we weren’t even really friends. I didn’t know what we were. We were stuck in this limbo with blurred lines.
“You’re right. You can do whatever you want with your life.” I took a deep breath and exhaled. “But don’t freaking take me out to dinner, have a good conversation with me, and then take me to your secret spot where you probably take all the girls. Don’t pull that crap with me and treat me like every other girl you’re trying to bang. I was actually starting to think you were a decent person, but I don’t know anymore.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel as he drove up his street. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know enough,” I fired back.
Nick pulled up in front of the mansion. “Get out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, we’re playing this game again? Go right ahead!”
Without saying anything, I climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. He didn’t even wait a second before taking off. No doubt he was going to go pick up the girl who’d called him.
I hated this back and forth. We’d done the exact same thing last night that it was starting to feel less like déjà vu and more like Groundhog Day. It didn’t seem to matter to Nick how hard I tried to get to know him or how civil I was. He was so caught up in his lifestyle that he didn’t give a damn about anyone else’s feelings.
Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was selfish and obnoxious and only cared about who was next on his list to bang.
So many thoughts were rushing through my mind, and I knew I would have another long night of lying in bed staring up at the ceiling. I needed something to relax and help myself sleep. Maybe a hot bath would help.
I went up to my room and immediately entered the bathroom so I could get the bath started. In the bathroom cabinet, I found a bottle of jasmine-scented bubble bath and poured it into the tub, watching as bubbles began to fill it up. For added measure, I poured in some more bubble bath. The bubblier, the better.
Stripping off my clothes, I piled my hair on top of my head and secured it with an elastic band before turning off the taps and easing myself into the tub.
The hot water against my skin felt amazing, and I closed my eyes as I tried to calm myself down after the disastrous night with Nick.
I guess it hadn’t been completely disastrous. We had been getting along pretty well up until his booty call had phoned him. I was starting to see a side of Nick that I actually liked, but it had shattered very quick
ly.
It was like Nick was trying to fight between two versions of himself. First, there was the persona he always tried to portray to everyone—cool, slick, indifferent, untouchable. But there was another side to him; the side that was deeper, more intense. That was the Nick I was starting to see more of and the one I liked.
I couldn’t understand why he was hiding that part of himself away. That was the part everyone else needed to see. That was the Nick I could see myself being friends with.
I soaked in the bath tub until the water became tepid and my skin turned gross and prune-like. I wanted to stay in longer but I was also looking forward to falling into my soft bed.
After drying myself off and getting changed for bed, I climbed under the snuggly blanket, smelling distinctly of jasmine.
Eventually, I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting away. I was in that stage of sleep where you were in limbo between reality and dream world, when there was a loud banging on my door.
I jolted awake. What the hell?
The knocking was loud and persistent, so I jumped out of bed and approached the door, already knowing who I would find on the other side.
When I pulled the door open, Nick was standing outside again. His eyes were glazed, which was how I knew he was extremely drunk. Seriously, if he was here to antagonize me then I was about to give him a piece of my mind.
“Nick, it’s midnight,” I began. “I don’t know what you want, but-”
“Shhh!” He silenced me by pressing his finger against my lips.
He was so rude.
I pushed his finger away from me, and was about to chew his ass out, but he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. We were bathed in darkness again and now I could barely make him out.
My heart was pounding hard as he stepped toward me.
His hand touched the skin of my bare arm, and I shivered at his gentleness. Without saying a word, he took a hold of my hand and led me back to my bed.
Whoa. What was going on here? I was not going to have sex with him. I’d never given him that kind of impression.
“Nick, I’m not-” I started, but he didn’t let me finish.
