Chapter Twelve
KARLI
When Nick finally tore himself away from his fans, we walked from Treasure Island down the street about half a mile to Nick’s friend’s tattoo shop.
“Hey, Daniel!” Daniel was a tall, muscular Hispanic man covered with tattoos on every visible part of his body except his face. I wondered if he did his own. They were good.
“Nick!” The two men shook hands and spent a few minutes catching up before Nick said,
“Daniel Cervantes, this is my friend Karli. She’s a tattoo virgin.”
I shook my head at him and his friend laughed. “Nothing I love more than popping that cherry,” Daniel said. “You know what you want?” I took out the picture and handed it to him. He looked at it and nodded. “Cool, you guys got lucky; it’s slow tonight. Give me a minute to work this up.”
“Thank you.” Nick and I sat down and waited. I was a nervous wreck. He looked amused. I was on the verge of chickening out when my phone rang. It was Michaela.
“Hey, girl, I thought you—”
“Karli!” her voice was pressured, and she sounded like she had been crying.
“Michaela, what’s wrong?”
“Trent and I got in a big fight. He said I was flirting with this guy, Jay, but I wasn’t. Jay keeps putting is hands on me and I keep telling him to stop. He pushed me against the counter in the kitchen and kissed me, and Trent walked in. Even though I was pushing the asshole away when Trent came in, he didn’t believe me. Karli, he left me here. I’m alone in a frat house with eighteen drunk, horny college guys, and at least one of them thinks he has a right to touch me.”
“Oh my God! Text me the address. I’m on my way. Wait outside.”
“Hurry please. Maybe I should start walking.”
“No, Michaela, just wait outside. Remember the assaults on campus just last month? Do not go anywhere alone, okay?”
“Okay, but please hurry.”
“I will. I promise.” I ended the call, and Nick was already on his feet. “You heard?”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll drive.” I didn’t argue with him. I took the hand he held out to me and as we went out the door, he yelled, “Daniel, we have an emergency; we’ll get back to you!”
He was walking fast and practically dragging me along behind him. I struggled to keep up. As soon as we got to Treasure Island, he yelled out, “Mickey! I need the truck fast.”
It was only minutes later when Mickey was there with Nick’s huge truck. Nick pulled open the passenger door to help me in, and he was behind the wheel and we were pulling out on Las Vegas Boulevard in a matter of seconds. My phone dinged and I looked at it and said, “The house is right on Maryland Parkway across from the main buildings.”
“Okay.” Nick broke every speed law in the state getting us there, but somehow I didn’t feel nervous at all. I was anxious about Michaela and pissed at Trent. I wanted to kick his ass, and I might the next time I see him.
“It’s that big, yellow one,” I told him as we approached the house. There were cars everywhere. Nick drove up into the driveway behind two cars and then up onto the lawn where a bunch of guys were standing. They scattered. As soon as he stopped, I jumped out of the truck. I didn’t see Michaela anywhere.
I looked at the closest guy and said, “I’m looking for my friend Michaela Taylor. She’s blonde, about my height…”
The guy was checking me out. He didn’t look like he was even paying attention. Before I could react, Nick grabbed the guy by his shirt. His friends took a step back instead of trying to help him. Nick pulled the guy, who wasn’t small, off his feet.
“Where is Jay?”
“In the house,” the scared frat boy stammered. I wouldn’t doubt that as Nick tossed him onto the lawn, he peed his pants. I hurried into the house and Nick was right behind me. As soon as we walked in, I heard Michaela’s voice. She sounded scared and was saying,
“Stop it!”
Nick ran toward the sound, and I followed him. He pushed a door open and there was Michaela in only her bra with two guys playing keep-away with her blouse. The next few minutes, everything happened so quickly that I missed a lot of it.
Michaela cried out my name, and I pulled her into me. Meanwhile, Nick snatched the shirt out of midair and tossed it to me. Then he hit one of the guys square in the face with his big fist. The guy flew back and hit the wall. He might have been unconscious, but I didn’t care. The other guy tried to run. Nick caught him and used one hand to throw him against the wall.
He looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Take her out to the truck.”
I didn’t argue. I helped Michaela put on her shirt and as we were leaving the room, I heard Nick say, “We’re going to have a talk, boys.”
I smiled to myself. He’d never know how much I appreciated his help tonight. I only hoped he didn’t do anything to get himself into trouble.
Michaela was shaking all over, and I had to help her into the truck. The guys that had been out front had disappeared. I guessed they all decided they didn’t still want to be there when Nick came back out. By the time I helped Michaela buckle into the passenger side and climbed up into the driver’s side, Nick was coming out of the house. I scooted over to the middle and let him climb in.
His presence alone was comforting. I had my arm around Michaela as she sobbed quietly into me, but I couldn’t help but feel the thrilling sensations that touching Nick’s thigh to mine on the other side was sending through my body. “Will you just take us to my car? She can stay with me tonight.”
He nodded, but then he said, “How about I just take you to your house. I’ll go back and get Mickey to deliver the car to your house. She’s pretty upset.”
I didn’t even think about it. I touched his leg with my hand and I could almost feel the heat from his thigh on my palm. He actually groaned when I touched him. I moved my hand quickly but I said, “Thank you, Nick.”
He gave me a small smile and told me, “It’s what friends do.” I only wished that the feelings coursing through my veins at the moment felt more “friend-like.”
********
I walked into the gym the day after our “date” and Nick was the first person I saw. Maybe it was because I was looking for him. He was working on the speed ball and for a few minutes, I just stood near the office door and watched him. I didn’t realize Dad was in the office until I heard him say,
“Karli!”
“Oh, hey, Dad. I didn’t know you were in there.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I think your attention was elsewhere.”
“Don’t start, please, Daddy. I told you what he did for Michaela.”
“I’m glad he was there, but confused about why you were out with him when you’d just assured me the two of you weren’t dating.”
“We’re not dating. We’re just friends, and Michaela and I were both damned lucky he was there. I wish you’d give him a break.”
“I haven’t said a word to him.”
“That’s my point. Maybe you should at least thank him for protecting me.”
Dad got up from behind the desk and said, “I pulled up the billing sheets that need to go out. If you can just print them off and send them out for me, I would appreciate it.”
“Dad…”
“I’m going to thank him, okay? Then, I’m going to kick his ass into shape. He has a Halloween exhibition match at MGM on Sunday he needs to get ready for. Don’t distract him.”
I shook my head at him as he left the office. Men were so funny. I’ve seen my dad when he didn’t know I was looking ogle the card girls and the scantily-clad, adoring fans. But let one man show interest in his daughter and he declares war.
With a heavy sigh, I dropped my purse and sat down behind the desk. I worked until lunchtime, and by the time I left the office again, Nick was lying on his back on the weight bench, lifting three-hundred-plus pounds over his head while Dad spotted him. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt, and his body was covered in sweat.
My hormones went absolutely crazy. This man was killing me. There were at least six other guys working out in the big room, but as far as my eyes were concerned, there was only Nick. With a shaky breath, I walked over to where they were. I saw Nick look at me out of the corner of his eye and try to smile just as he let out a grunt and Dad took the weights out of his hand and sat them down in the bar. “I was going to run out and get some lunch; you guys want anything?”
Nick sat up and Dad tossed him a towel. I tried not to be obvious as I watched him rub the towel over his chiseled chest and abs. My mouth was practically watering. I was not sure when I turned into a gigantic pervert. “Yeah, will you get me one of the turkey sandwiches from the deli?” Dad asked. “You know how I like it.”
“Sure. Nick?”
Now I could see Dad looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I ignored him and kept my eyes on Nick’s face. He smiled again, this time all the way down to his dimples. “Yes, please. I’ll have the same as Charlie. Could you grab me a Red Bull, too?” He got up and reached for his bag.
“It’s okay; I got it. I’ll be back.” The fresh air cleared my head and by the time I got back, I was sure that I had Nick’s hot, sweaty body out of my system…but I was only half right. He’d showered by that time and now his body was only hot. He was wearing a crisp, white t-shirt and a clean pair of red basketball shorts. I handed him his lunch bag.
“Thank you. Are you sure you don’t want money?”
“I’m sure. You paid the other night. Besides, Michaela and I still owe you big time.”
He waved his palm at me. “You don’t owe me anything. Your dad said to tell you that Lenny called and he had to run out for a while. He’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Oh…okay. Lenny’s my uncle. Did he say what he needed?”
“No, sorry.”
“It’s okay. His health isn’t good, but I’m sure if it was anything important, Dad would have called me. I’m going to eat my lunch in the break room. Do you want to join me?”
“Sure.”
As we walked toward the break room, we passed Kevin and two of the other young guys Dad was training. They stopped what they were doing and watched us. I knew from experience that these guys gossiped more than any women alive. By the end of the day, rumors about Nick and me would be flying. I’d never tell Nick, or Dad, but I almost wished there would be at least a little bit of truth to whatever they were saying. He was killing me.