EIGHT

 

Nope. No kiss when Nick dropped me off.

There might have been, but my little brother was outside and ruined the entire moment. Seemed that was the theme tonight. Ugh. After a swift hug from Nick, I trudged into the house.

Mom and Kelly were in the family room, a bottle of wine with two half-drunk glasses on the coffee table. For a second it seemed like any other Friday night. Until I took in Kelly’s sweat pants, wrinkled shirt, messy, permed ponytail and tear-stained face.

“What’s going on?” I dropped my bag on the ground and rushed toward the couch, all thoughts of kissing Nick leaving my mind.

Mom rubbed Kelly’s back while she sobbed. “Craig broke up with her,” she whispered.

I didn’t know who Craig was, but he must’ve been pretty special to make Kelly cry like this. She never cried over boys. It was even on her list of life rules. Right below, “You can never have too many pairs of shoes…or pieces of jewelry…or glasses of wine.”

“So, she’ll be staying with us for a little while,” Mom added, and Kelly cried harder. A snot bubble emerged from her nose. I cringed. What had happened to my chic, poised Aunt?

“Why isn’t she staying at her apartment?” My aunt lived in a kick-ass apartment downtown.

Mom furrowed her brows. “What apartment? She was living at Craig’s house.” She threw me a harsh look, and I forced a nod.

My head swam. Since when did Aunt Kelly need to live with her boyfriend or crash on our couch? She worked for the largest search engine around. I froze. Oh. Right. Search engine. That wasn’t really possible in 1993, was it?

“I’m sorry, Aunt Kelly,” I said gently, patting her arm.

She grunted in response.

“How was the game?” Mom asked.

“Good,” I lied.

“Well, I’m sorry we missed it, but…” her head bobbed toward Kelly, and I nodded in understanding.

“It’s okay.”

The ringing of the phone pierced through the air.

“Can you grab that?” Mom asked.

“Sure.” Standing, I head into the kitchen. Snatching up the phone, I pressed it to my ears. “Hello.”

“What happened to you guys?” It was Brooke.

“Oh.” I tucked a hair behind my ear and stepped further into the kitchen. Behind me, Kelly sniffled and Mom offered encouraging words. I went as far as I could with the dumb cord tethering me to the wall. “Um...well, Nick and I decided to go somewhere else after the game.”

“Where?” She sounded legit pissed.

There was no way I could tell her the truth. What happened tonight was private. Nick trusted me enough to show me his past. I wouldn’t betray that. “Umm….we…” I swallowed hard, glancing out of the kitchen. Mom and Kelly were talking, not eavesdropping, thank god. “We wanted to go spend some alone time.”

“Ooh, you slut.”

“What?” I recoiled, my face flaming. “No. It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like?”

“Well, I don’t know…we --”

“Did he finally make his move or what?” she cut me off.

“Kinda, I guess.”

“What does that mean?”

“We almost kissed,” I said quietly, keeping an eye out for Mom and Kelly.

“Almost?”

“Yeah, but it sorta got interrupted.”

“Interrupted?” She said the word as if she was uncertain of its meaning. “So, then what did you do?”

“We talked.” I twirled the phone cord around my index finger. “It was actually really nice.”

Brooke laughed. “You’re something else, Remy. You know that?” I didn’t think she meant it as a compliment. After giggling for a few seconds, she added, “Well, then you should’ve come out with us. It would’ve been more exciting.”

I doubted it, but I said, “Yeah. Probably.”

“Next Friday night we’ll hang out,” she said. “And no bailing this time.”

“Deal.”

After hanging up, I made my way back into the family room. Kelly had stopped crying and was now sipping her wine. Mom was flipping through television channels.

“Who was it?” Mom’s head bobbed up when I entered.

“Brooke.”

“Weren’t you just with her?”

“Yeah,” I said. “But Nick gave me a ride home, and she was checking on me.”

“Well, that was nice of her.” Mom smiled. “Wanna watch TV with us?”

“No, thanks. I’m pretty beat.” After saying goodnight to Mom and Kelly, I headed to my room. Once inside, I made my way to the window and peered outside. It was quiet and dark at Nick’s house, but knowing he was over there caused a flutter in my chest. Closing my eyes, I conjured up the feel of his breath on my lips, his hands around my face.

When the phone rang, I leapt up, a small squeal escaping. Heart thudding in my chest, I hurried toward the phone on my nightstand. With shaky hands, I picked it up.

After offering a breathless hello, Nick’s smooth voice came on the line.

“Nick?” I was stunned, and a little creeped out. It’s like he knew I was thinking about him.

“Expecting someone else?” He laughed lightly.

“Um…I don’t know. I kind of thought it would be Brooke again.” Or my dad. He always called me after a performance. At least he had in 2018 when I sang. I guess maybe he didn’t in 1993 when I cheered.

“Yeah. She called here too.”

I paused. “She called you too? Why?”

“To give me crap for not meeting up with them,” he continued. “And she wanted to know what was more important than her party.  When I wouldn’t tell her, she said she’d get it out of you.”

My stomach knotted. “I didn’t tell her anything.”

“I know,” he said, but something still seemed off. He was different somehow.

“Then what’s up?”

“I guess I just feel bad about tonight. I know it didn’t turn out like you were expecting.”

My entire body went hot. It was like I was on fire. Did Brooke tell him I was disappointed about the kiss? Oh, god. Talk about embarrassing. This was almost as bad as the dumb snapchat of Ian with Melissa.

When I finally found my voice, I said, “What do you mean?”

“You were planning to hit up a party with your friends, and instead you ended up walking around my old neighborhood hearing stories about my childhood.” He let out a stilted, embarrassed laugh. “I’m usually a much better date.”

Date? Was that what it was? Had I been on a date with Nick Sinclair? I swallowed hard. “No, it was fun.”

“Don’t lie,” he said good-naturedly.

“I’m not,” I assured him. “I honestly had fun.”

“Really?”

“Really.” I lie back on my bed, pressing the phone to my ear and staring up at the ceiling.

“Me too,” he said.

My lips twitched at the corners. “I was um...glad that you...” Loud high-pitched beeping sounded in my ears. I bolted upright. “What the ---?”

“Remy?” It was Mom’s voice. On the phone. Seriously? Kill me now.

“Yeah, mom,” I spoked through gritted teeth.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were on the phone.” Nick laughed. Mom paused, but I didn’t hear a click. I could still hear her breathing. Why was she not hanging up? “Who’re you talking to?”

“Hi Mrs. Elliott.”

“Nick? Is that you?” Mom asked.

Was this really happening? Slumping back down on my bed, I groaned.

“Yep,” Nick responded. At least he was being a good sport about it.

“Okay, you two, don’t be long. I need to make a phone call.”

I wanted to know who she would be calling this late at night, but that would require keeping her on the line longer. I was already humiliated enough. More than anything, I wanted this to be over. This never would’ve happened with my cell phone. Oh, man, my cell. I missed it fiercely. “Okay.” Thank god I finally heard a click. Mom was gone. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” Nick laughed again. He did that a lot. I kind of loved it. Then again, I kind of loved everything about him. “I guess I should probably let you go.”

“Yeah.” I bit my lip.

“You’re sure you aren’t disappointed about tonight?”

“I’m sure. Why do you keep asking that?”

“I guess because I kinda am.”

My heart stopped. Did he wish we’d gone to the party? “I thought you said you had fun.”

“Oh, I did. Except for the part where we got interrupted.”

“Yeah, that sucked,” I said, startled by my own boldness.

“So, you lied. You were disappointed.”

“Maybe a little.”

“I guess we’ll have to go somewhere different next time,” he said. “Somewhere a little less crowded.”

I smiled, my insides dancing. Our kiss may not have happened tonight, but I knew he planned to try again. For now, that was enough.