“You’re only saying that now, because she’s driving you away and you’re letting her.”
Nick shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe…” He sighed and turned to face Jake. “Time will tell.”
“Nick?” Jake removed his fedora and ran his hand over his fuzzy head, before placing the hat back on top of his head. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long, but that’s your own damn fault.” He paused and watched as the corner of Nick’s lips threatened to curl upwards. “Thank you for always having my back.”
Nick smiled at him. “I’ll always have your back. It’ll be my honor.”
Jake wiggled his eyebrows. “I wish I was into the guy’s man, you’re a catch!”
Nick burst out laughing and rubbed his hands over his face, masking his laughter. Jake swung his arm around Nick’s shoulders.
“Let’s get back to Luke, before he gets jealous that I stole his best friend from him.” Jake grinned, jokingly and started towards the backyard with Nick.
Sam scraped the bottom of the mixing bowl, that, Leah had used to whip up fresh whipped cream, with her finger. She sucked the sweetness from her fingers, and sighed heavenly. When she opened her eyes, both Leah and Cara were watching her amused.
“What? It’s good.” She said innocently, scraping the bowl for more. Cara grabbed the empty bowl from Sam and handed it to Leah. “Hey!”
“What’s going on?”
“Why would anything be going on?” Sam pouted as she licked the bottom lip, hoping to find some leftover whipped cream.
Cara raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask her if she was serious. “Well, for starters, Miss I’m Always watching What I Eat, is licking a bowl of whipped cream.”
Sam grimaced. “My god, you’re turning into Jake, with the nickname thing.” She rolled her eyes and looked across the kitchen out through the sliders and watched Jake try to arm wrestle Nick as Luke sweated by the grill. Cara’s eyes followed Sam and she smiled knowingly.
“Does someone want to fill me in?” Leah asked as she looked back and forth between the girls and the guys.
“Nick drama.” Cara said as she looked at Sam.
“It’s only made out to be dramatic because he thinks he can get away with everything.” She said as she stared daggers at Nick as he flexed his muscles, apparently he won the match against Jake. He had amazing arms, she’d give him that, and even allowed herself to swoon a little over them.
“So what did Mr. Invincible, do this time?” Cara asked and then bit her lip catching herself as the nickname culprit.
“After dinner at my parent’s house, you know the night he became my chaperone for tomorrow’s little excursion? Anyway, he showed up at my apartment that night.” Cara’s eyes narrowed as Sam stood up and glanced back out the window. Nick’s eyes found hers and the words slipped out before she could worry if he was able to read her lips.
“He kissed me like nobody’s ever kissed me.” She murmured and broke eye contact with him, turning her back to him and facing the girls, who were gaping at her.
“And what happened?” Leah asked anxiously.
“Tell me you slept with him, I’ll die!” Cara exclaimed.
Sam shrugged her shoulders. “He turned around and left.” She blew out a breath. “It’s going to take every ounce of self-control I can muster up, not to kill him this weekend.”
“You can’t even ignore him.” Leah said as she stole a quick glance at him. ‘He’s so big and broody.” Then she flexed her shoulders and tried to imitate how Nick walked. Sam raised her hand to her mouth to cover her giggle as Cara was flat out laughed at Leah’s Nick impersonation.
“That’s pretty good.” Cara said, giving Leah a pat on the back for her efforts. She turned and looked at Sam. “I wish I had words of encouragement, but I’ve got nothing. Nada. Zilch. Completely, tapped out.” She cocked her head to the side and gave Sam a sympathetic look. “If worse comes to worse, I will help you bury the body.”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just walk in on that.” Luke said as he stood in the doorway, staring around his kitchen, taking in the women that were planning someone’s demise.
Leah wrapped her arms around his waist. “That’s probably a good idea, baby.” She looked over at Sam and Cara who were chuckling as they each grabbed a bowl to bring outside.
Luke eyed them suspiciously. “Dinner is ready.” He said reluctantly, still wondering what in fact he walked in on.
Chapter Seven