“My mother’s gone,” I corrected him. “William is not my parent.”
Dan sighed, and finally I looked over at him. His hair was well combed, and he’d put on jeans and a T-shirt with a stupid phrase on it.
“You don’t want to talk to me?” he asked. “I want you back, Noah. I didn’t come here from another country just for a vacation. I came here to get you to forgive me.”
“I can’t forgive you, Dan. You cheated on me, and not just once. I’ve got photos, I don’t know who sent them, but I’d assume it’s one of your little girlfriends. They never liked you and me going out, and I guess they don’t like you going out with my best friend, either.”
Before Dan could respond, Nick came in with no shirt on, wearing pajama pants that hung low on his hips. His hair was scruffy, his feet bare…and he made my heart start pounding. Dan looked over at the young man who had immediately entranced me.
Nick stopped in the doorway and analyzed the situation. I bit my lip. What would he do now?
“Hi, we haven’t been introduced,” Nick said, stretching out his hand. Dan reacted a second late. I could see the veins in my stepbrother’s arm tense as he squeezed Dan’s hand. Dan visibly tried as hard as possible to pretend it didn’t hurt while I stood there fidgeting. “I’m Nicholas.”
“Dan,” my ex said.
The next thing that happened must have shaken him to the core: Nick walked over and bent down to kiss me lovingly on the lips.
“Morning, Precious,” he said, eyes glimmering in a way I couldn’t quite decipher. Then he poured himself a coffee and walked out into the yard.
Wow, Nick. Thanks for putting me on the spot.
“What’s this all about, Noah?” Dan asked, seething.
I shrugged, trying to ignore him.
“It means that I’ve moved on,” I said, sitting down and taking a sip of my juice.
“You didn’t even need two weeks to find that meathead to replace me?”
“You didn’t even need twenty-four hours.”
Dan walked over and grabbed the back of my chair.
“I know what you’re doing. I get it. You’re trying to give me a taste of my own medicine. But that doesn’t change anything, Noah. You and I have a relationship.”
“Had. We had a relationship,” I said, getting up and raising my voice.
“What else do I have to do for you to forgive me?”
I laughed. “What else? What the hell have you done? Let my mom buy you a plane ticket? My God, you’re pathetic.”
I walked out the door into the yard. Nick was lying on a deck chair. I sat down beside him. He took off his sunglasses and looked at me impassively.
“Can I break his face now?” he asked.
“I don’t think we’ve fooled anyone,” I replied.
“I called you Precious. For me, Freckles, that’s tantamount to asking for your hand in marriage.” He slid a lock of hair back behind my ear. “Your ex is looking out the window, by the way.”
“What should I do then?”
“Just do whatever I tell you,” he said, bending over to whisper in my ear. “Like now—touch me.”
What?
“Come on, do it.”
I reached up and did as he asked. His skin was warm, almost feverish beneath my cold hands. He tensed up as my fingers followed the lines of his abs, and he buried his face in my neck, nibbling softly.
“Now you lean in and do exactly what I’m doing now.” My hand had already reached the soft hair around his belly button, but he had grabbed me, stopping me from going farther.
“You mean I should kiss your neck?”
“That’s right, Freckles.”
I put my hand on the nape of his neck and planted my lips in the hollow between his shoulder and collarbone. He reached under my shirt and stroked my back. I bit his ear, tugging softly at the lobe. I was enjoying this too much for it to just be playacting.
The next thing I knew, Nick was pulling on my ponytail, and when my head jerked back, he pressed his lips into mine. I arched my back until our bellies touched, desperate for contact, and when his tongue pushed into my mouth, I thought I would melt on the spot.
He held my head firmly, immobilizing me while his tongue moved tirelessly in circles around mine. I needed to touch him again—not because he’d ordered me to, not to make Dan jealous; I just needed it, the same way I needed oxygen to breathe. I felt Nick’s arms, his hard pecs, and when he pulled me on top of him in the deck chair, his erection pressed into my stomach.
Nick opened his eyes. His pupils were dilated. A savagery filled his blue eyes that seemed to hint at danger.
“Is he still watching?” I asked with labored breathing.
Nick smiled.
“Who said he was watching?”
I looked over at the kitchen window. There was no one there.
“You said he was looking out the window!”
“Did I?” he replied in a mock-naive tone.
I stood up, pissed.
“That’s enough!” I shouted.
“Not for me it isn’t, Precious.”
“You can stop faking, Nicholas. No one’s here to see us.”
“Who said I was faking?”
That surprised me, threw me off-kilter.
Fuck. What was I getting into?
* * *
I didn’t know what to do. The house was big, but I couldn’t just forget Dan and Nicholas were there. I needed to escape, kill time until work started, so I put on a pair of shorts, a tank top, and my Nikes and walked out in the hall, ready for a run on the beach.
Just then, the guest bedroom door opened, and Dan came to join me. I ignored him, heading for the stairs.
“Dammit, Noah, just wait,” he said as he reached me on the landing.
“What do you want, Dan?” I asked, exasperated.
“If you’re not even going to talk to me, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you showed up here and put me in this awkward position,” I said, turning around and walking the rest of the way downstairs. He followed me, obviously.
“So what should I do then?”
“Honestly? You should leave.”
“I guess I thought after nine months together, we could at least try to fix things,” he said.
Was he really trying to pretend I’d hurt him? Him?
“I’m not that kind of girl, Dan. And I don’t want to be.”
“What kind of girl?”
“The kind of girl who lets her boyfriend cheat on her and then just because he says ‘I’m sorry’ a couple of times decides to act like nothing ever happened. I thought you knew me well enough to realize that, but I guess I was wrong.”
“What the hell did you think would happen?” he screamed. “That things would just go on like before? You fucking left!”
My lip started trembling. I knew I’d left. I didn’t need him to shout and remind me of it.
“Right, I left. So the question is, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I didn’t want things to turn out this way. You hooking up with the first dude who came along just to hurt me. But I see you’ve done that. I can take the hint.”
I laughed scornfully.
“Is it really so hard for you to believe that I’m actually with Nick because I want to be with him?”
Dan’s expression was condescending.
“Come on, Noah. I’m not an idiot. That whole act you’re putting on, the kiss in the kitchen—you don’t think I know what you’re up to?”
I felt myself blushing, and that only made me angrier.
“You want to know what I’m up to?” I said, stepping toward him. “All the stuff you and I never did—that’s what I’m up to with him.”
I knew I was on shaky ground. Dan was very jealous, and I was sure the only reason he’d come here was to make sure I was still eating out of his hand. He couldn’t stand the thought that I’d turned the page that quickly; it was a blow to his fragile masculine ego.
By his expression, I could tell I’d hit him where it hurt.
He must have wanted to strike back, but before he could, Nick appeared in the entryway, walked over, and stood between us.
“How about you fuck off?” he asked Dan icily.
“You sleeping with my girlfriend?” Dan asked, squaring off. His muscles were tense, and the vein in his neck twitched.