Page 3 of Big Nick Energy

“That’s really pretty,” a deep somewhat familiar voice sounded behind me. “It would look great on you.” I grimaced.Great.This was the last thing I needed, some guy trying to pick me up at the mall. Though, it honestly never really happened when I was on my own. Usually, it was when Libby was with me because Libby was gorgeous. Even with black oversized glasses that took over too much of her face, anyone could see she was stunning. I turned with every intention of giving the guy a piece of my mind, when I couldn’t believe who it was.

“Mr. Marsh,” I gasped. He was the last person I could have thought would be standing there, talking to me.

“Nick,” he corrected. His soft light brown eyes felt warm and kind.

“Nick. I mean, umm, hi,” I stuttered, wincing inwardly at myself. “Are you shopping here?” I asked, kind of confused why he would be in a women’s clothing store at the mall.

Mr. Nicholas Marsh was not only the most handsome, sexiest man I had ever laid eyes on, and that included hot guys in movies, but he was also my douchebag of an ex-boyfriend’s dad.

“No.” His lips quirked up in what I could only describe as an almost shy smile. “I was walking around. I had something to return and saw you.”

“Oh!” My eyes widened. The last time we talked was kind of embarrassing. I’d not only broken up with his jerky son, but I had slapped him, too. If that hadn’t been awkward enough, he had taken it on himself to take me home.

“Umm, how are you?” I asked, trying to calm my heart rate. I still remembered what it felt like to sit inside his SUV, his scent wrapped around me, filling my lungs, making me wish I were oldenough and somehow attractive enough and smart enough to know how to seduce not just a man like Mr. Marsh, but the man himself. At graduation, I had found myself trying to find him in the stands, and I could have sworn that for the slightest moment, our eyes had actually connected and he had smiled at me.

“I’m fine,” he answered politely. “You?”

“Good.” I smiled.

“Good, I’m glad. After the last time I saw you––“ My eyes widened, and then I laughed. I couldn’t help it.

“Oh! You mean because of Noah?” I asked, and he nodded. He looked slightly perplexed as he stared at me, like he didn’t know what to make of me. He wouldn’t be the only person to look at me like that. I was what my mom called a true Gemini and a wild card.

“I’m fine.” I shrugged. “We were not that serious.” I opened and quickly shut my mouth because he knew just how not serious it had been since Noah had called me a frigid bitch in front of him when we broke up.

He probably thought I was a prude. Usually, I didn’t care what anyone thought about me, but for some reason, I didn’t want Nick Marsh to think that about me. Heat started to move down my neck at the thought.

If he only knew how far off that was.

I didn’t sleep with Noah because I’d known it was a mistake to go out with him the moment I said I’d be his girlfriend. Noah was a known player. I might not have a lot of experience, but I knew what I liked thanks to all the romance novels I secretly read.

“I’m glad.” He stepped closer, standing right next to me. I tried to ignore the way I felt around him. How hyperaware I was of his body standing so close to mine. “It would look really nice on you.” His voice sounded low and smooth, like velvet. I swallowed hard.

“God, no!” I spoke without thinking and winced before I glanced up at him. “I couldn’t pull it off,” I blurted.

“Excuse me? What do you mean?” His brows bunched up. “You would look gorg––“

“It’s yellow!” I blurted out like a total nerd. “I look… I don’t look good in yellow,” I started to ramble and couldn’t get myself to stop.

“I doubt there is a color that wouldn’t look good on you,” he complimented, and I had to remind myself he was just being nice. He was probably embarrassed about his douchey son’s behavior and was just being kind.

“I don’t know about that. I was looking at it for my best friend.”

“Your best friend?”

“Yeah, umm…” I pressed my lips together, and when our eyes locked, something inside of me relaxed. “My best friend is the best. She––“

“Was the valedictorian at the graduation, right?” My head tilted, slightly surprised he would remember that.

“How did––“

“Noah mentioned it.”

“Right.” I pressed my lips together. As excited as I was that he was there and around me, I wasn’t nervous. I oddly felt safe. Secure. “She fell in love with this dress,” I shared. “We came here to look for graduation dresses. She wanted something special because, well, she was valedictorian, but it was too much. She couldn’t swing it, and I didn’t have it either.” I’d hated the disappointment in her eyes when she realized she couldn’t afford it. I’d tried to help, but with all the expenses of senior year, it wasn’t possible. “Anyhow, I came to see if it was on sale so I could surprise her with it before she left to college.” I figured a guy at school would see her and fall fast and hard. I knew she had crushed on my brother when we were younger, but Crankwas Crank and had never seen her as anything more than my best friend.

“Hmm…” he rumbled. “If you were going to pick a dress for yourself, which one would it be?”

“Me?” I grinned and started to shake my head. “I’m not much for dresses.” His shoulder lightly bumped mine, leaving a slight tinge of heat behind.

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