I felt like she needed me to protect her from the world, and I wanted to, after just one kiss. I can’t even imagine how I would feel after knowing her for more than one day. But then all too soon it ended. Her hands suddenly moved from my back, coming between our bodies to break us apart.
“Oh my God.” Her hand went up to cover her mouth as she stared back at me with wide eyes. Reality started to set back in, and she shook her head repeatedly like she was trying to erase what just happened. “I can’t believe I just did that,” she whispered, avoiding my eyes.
“Ally, it was just a kiss,” I stated simply, even though it had really been so much more than that. I could tell she was freaking out for whatever reason, and I was trying to diffuse the situation.
“Just a kiss?” She touched her lips one more time and reached for the doorknob. “Listen, Nick, you seem like a really nice guy, but...” She paused as she searched through her purse with shaky hands. I couldn’t believe I was getting the nice guy speech from this girl that I had just met hours before. Maybe I needed to start acting like a jackass. Is that really what girls were into?
She let out a deep breath when she pulled out a single key. “I’m really a mess right now, Nick. And I just can’t handle something like this, not even as friends.” She waved her hands at me before turning her back and sliding the key in. “I’m sorry, Nick. Goodbye.” She didn’t turn back before slipping inside and shutting the door gently in my face. I was shocked as I stood there staring at the door, waiting for it to open back up, but it never did. I was confused by the whole situation, and honestly, a little hurt.
And then I started to get just a little annoyed.
Pissed that it seemed like every girl thought they could just walk all over me. Kara had done it for so long that I got used to it, but I wasn’t going to let it happen again. Yeah, I had just met Ally, but I felt like we had some sort of connection. Apparently, she thought differently, so that was her loss.
I didn’t need to fall for some girl anyway. I needed to get my shit together, live life a little, and focus on me.
Chapter 7
Ally
“So, you seem to be doing alright, honey. Are you sure that you don’t want me to come down and visit, though? We could make a little girls’ trip out of it. Or you could always come home for a while. I even made up your old room, just in case.”
I tapped at the computer one more time before shutting it down and focusing on my mom. I had been talking to her daily for the past three weeks since Leah had ousted me. She seemed to think that I needed to be checked on constantly. I loved my mom and all, but it was getting to be a little much.
“Mom, really I’m good, and you know Dad wouldn’t be able to survive without you if you came down here. Remy and I have been able to catch up a bit, and I think I’m going to stay down here for a while. I think I just need a change of scenery.”
I heard a loud sigh before she cleared her throat. “Well, if that’s what you think is best then I think I’ll trust your judgment.” That made me pause for a second. My judgment really hadn’t been the best, apparently. Should I just go home? Go back to living with my parents again and all was right with the world?
No, Ally, you’re a big girl. The world isn’t easy, and I’m going to have to get used to that. I needed to figure things out on my own.
“Okay, Mom, well, I actually have a job interview that I need to head out for, or I’m going to be late. I’ll call you later.”
She answered back with a simple, “Oh.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice at the mention of a job.
Getting a job meant some kind of permanence, and I know she was still holding out for me to move back home. But I couldn’t just keep wasting my days away. I could only clean Remy’s apartment so many times, and since she worked third shift, meals together were kind of out of the question, so there went that.
On Remy’s nights off, we normally ended up going somewhere quiet for drinks, but I had tried to avoid the whole bar scene since Clammy’s. Just one night out, and everything had been flipped upside down when I met Nick. I hadn’t seen him again. I was afraid at first that he would try to contact me, and then I was hurt that he didn’t. I kept waiting for him to just show up on the doorstep, but he never did.
I don’t know what I expected or even wanted him to do, but the fact that he didn’t do anything kind of crushed me. I felt this connection with him from the second we started talking. It certainly didn’t help that he was sexy as hell, though not my typical type. That was probably a good thing since we had seen where my taste had gotten me so far.