Nick seems weirdly pissed off about something over the next few days. He’s short with me, and his tone is always clipped—I don’t get it.
Since the night Nick was drunk, he doesn’t even allude to the idea of us. In fact, he reinforces my position as the nanny over and over, saying things like how much Bria loves me, how she’d be devastated if I left, how he’s thinking of taking a mini-vacation in March, and he needs to know if I’ll be around. He’s acting like I’m going to up and leave at any moment, and I don’t know why.
He mentioned Bria having abandonment issues at one point a few weeks ago, but I’m beginning to think that Nick does too.
I try really hard not to stare at him when we all lie on the beach, and on our second-to-last night, the tension becomes almost unbearable. After we all eat at the hotel restaurant, Bria goes to sleep, and I go out to the beach and walk around.
Tomorrow is our last day and night, and I don’t want to think about it. I love it here already.
My dad reached out to a school in South Korea even though I asked him not to, and I was horrified to receive an acceptance email our third day here. I quickly and gracefully turned it down. Although it would be a cool opportunity, my heart is stuck in Seattle.
My heart is stuck on Nick. It feels good to finally admit it.
Just as I’m about to come in, Nick closes the patio door quietly and walks towards me. I can’t stop staring at the stars, but I pull my eyes away, and now I can’t stop staring at him.
I watch him as he watches me, and our eyes lock on each other. He’s wearing his bathing suit bottoms, a white T-shirt, and he’s barefoot. His hair is messy from his morning ocean swim—a daily ritual, I’ve come to observe.
Nick walks over to me and stands next to me as I look up at the stars. They’re magnificent here.
“I’m sorry, Evi.”
I stand still, watching him as he looks me up and down. His face is scrunched up in thought.
“For what?” I ask stupidly, even though I know what he’s apologizing for.
“Truth or dare?” he asks, and I smile.
“So that’s how we’re going to do this?” He nods, giving me a very small smile in return. “Okay, dare,” I say, challenging him. His eyebrows raise an inch. He was not expecting dare.
“I dare you to tell me the absolute truth on the next question that I ask you.”
“Nick, that’s stupid,” I say. “When you play Truth or Dare, you have to dare the other person to do something, like flash someone or kiss someone.”
His eyebrows raise even more. Uh-oh.
“Can I ask you to do both?” he says jokingly.
I swat his arm. “I’m serious.”
His eyes grow dark, and he nods to the door.
“I dare you to stay.”
What?
He’s watching me intently, and I have to try and keep myself upright, because my legs have been rendered useless.
“What do you mean?”
“I would understand if this is not enough for you, Evi. I would understand if you wanted to leave and see the world. I don’t want you to go anywhere, but I would understand. Okay?”
I cross my arms and face him.
“What are you talking about?”
“What I’m trying to say is… if you want to go to South Korea, I would understand.”
I take a couple steps backwards. “What?” His eyes are downcast, and he puts his hands in his pockets sheepishly. “How do you know about South Korea?”
“So, you’re going?” he accuses, and all of a sudden, the air changes. The heat I felt for him turns to anger, and I glare at him.
“No, I’m not going. My father thought he was doing me a favor by applying for me, and I turned the position down immediately. I’ll ask you again. How did you know about South Korea?”
He starts to chew on his knuckle and he leans away from me.
“Umm… I saw one of your emails. I’m sorry. My computer was dead, and it just popped up.”
I watch him as he shifts uncomfortably. I’m not mad. I’m amused at how shameful he looks, but not mad.