“Yes.” He pulled a strand of her hair and stuck out his tongue.
Ari smacked his hand away and laughed at his stupid behavior. “Why do you care so much?”
“I don’t know. I want you to be happy. And to get laid. And I needed to know if that has a chance of happening tonight, because I can’t decide how tacky it would be to invite myself to Veronica’s house.”
“So really, this is all about you.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow. “Pretty much.”
Nick came back from the bar and handed Ari her glass. He turned to Oliver and smiled wide. “Hey man, what’s going on?”
“Not much, just checking with my girl to see if she needed a walk home.” Oliver tilted his head in her direction and smiled sweetly. Ari narrowed her eyes in response but all that got her was a bigger grin. Way to throw me under the bus, Oliver. She’d deal with him later.
“I can walk myself, Oliver.”
“Like heck you can,” he said with a wink. “An armed robbery and a car vandalism in one week?” Oliver looked at Nick.
“I can walk you,” Nick said.
Oliver pointed a finger at him. “Make sure she gets inside and sets the alarm before you go.”
“I’m happy to walk you back,” Nick offered, looking between the two of them. “If you want?”
“That sounds nice, thank you,” Ari agreed, a little embarrassed. “I think Oliver has other plans anyway.”
“You got that right,” he said, smiling at the two of them. He clapped Nick on the back and said, “Thanks man, I owe you one,” before darting back to Veronica.
“Who’s the girl?” Nick asked, watching him settle back in at the table.
“Some chick he’s messing around with from work. It’s either true love or a pure disaster. Either way I want a front-row seat. “
“To watching our friends fall in love,” Nick held out his beer for a mock toast. “Or crashing disastrously.”
Ari held out her glass and clinked it to his and laughed. “I’ll drink to that.”
***
Nick held her hand on the way home. It was a sly move, one he’d probably perfected years before. While they walked down the cracked and broken sidewalks, he’d slid his hand down hers and wove their fingers together. Calm and casual. Between the lunch and dinners and The Garage, things seemed to be progressing. Ari decided to just accept it even though easily moving into a relationship wasn’t something she was familiar with. Normally, her emotions bounced all over the place and she fought over a million questions … too fast? Too slow? Is he the one? Is this for fun? But none of those questions filled her mind at that point as they walked slowly to her house.
“Which house?” Nick asked as they climbed the hilly street.
“The green one, on the left. With the star pendant light.”
“Oh, I see it. Do you rent?”
Ari shook her head. “I bought it. Oliver rents from me.”
“Homeowner at age 26. Impressive. Living the American dream, huh?”
They reached her driveway and she led Nick to the front porch. “I guess. I came into some money and it seemed like the right decision.”
The money came from her parents’ estate. Money she’d rather not have but she decided to be responsible with it, make the choices they would have wanted her to make.
“I think you have good instincts.”
And there it was, the moment things went from calm and cool, to nerve-wracking and exciting. Nick, in his leather jacket and perfectly fitting jeans, leaned against her door but never let go of her hand. She felt a little woozy from the alcohol but not enough to lose her head. He tugged her closer and bent down to give her a kiss. One she happily returned.
Nick shifted away from the door and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. They kissed this way, engrossed in one another, until a car drove by thumping a loud bass beat.
Ari broke away, laughing at the distraction and rolled her eyes. “Welcome to the hood,” she said, touching her fingers to her lips.
“Gives it personality,” Nick said. He pushed her hair back over her ear, trailing his fingers along her neck.
“Nice way to put it.”
Ari took the break in kissing to suggest, “Do you want to come in?”
Nick tilted his head and said, “Um … well, can we talk about this?”
“What, this?”
“Me and you.”
Ari looked around, wondering where things were going. Was the kiss that bad? Because it didn’t feel bad to her. It felt pretty awesome. “Uh, sure.”
“You’re amazing. And I really like you. And kissing you? I’ve been wanting to do that for weeks.” Ari blushed and fought back a smile. So the kiss wasn’t bad. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out and when you texted tonight—I was pretty damn excited.”
“Darn,” Ari corrected out of habit. “Sorry.”