Page 51 of Big Nick Energy

“Just thinking about this weekend.”

She started to say something and then her face lit up. “There’s Tuck!”

I followed Paris’s finger. I saw her man standing in front of the SONs tent across the quad and I smiled. She was so happy. I’d met him at the party, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him that much because I was busy with Nick.

“Let’s go!” I said excitedly, walking beside her. “Oh!” I pulled out my phone, remembering what I wanted to show her. “Nick said he wouldn’t change a thing about his time with me.”

“Aww,” she squealed. “What did you say back?”

“I’m texting him now. I got caught in that conversation with Michelle, but I’m texting back now.”

Asha James: You were the highlight of my weekend. I’m glad you made your flight, but I have to admit, the picnic would be better if you were here with me.

Nick Williams: I didn’t care nothing about no damn picnic until you said you were going. Now I’m on this flight wishing I was there.

Asha James: You got me out here smiling.

Nick Williams: Good. You kept a smile on my face.

Nick Williams: If this weekend showed me anything, it’s that everything is better with you.

Asha James: And you kept a smile on mine. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Even if it was just the high of homecoming, it was real for me.

My phone vibrated immediately, and I stopped a few feet away from the tent.

“Hi,” I answered.

“We’re about to take off,” Nick said in a low tone. “But it wasn’t just homecoming weekend, it was real.” He paused. “You felt that shit, right?”

I got butterflies. “I felt it.”

“Good. I’ll call you when I land.”

We said our goodbyes and disconnected the call.

Slipping my phone in my back pocket, I flashed a smile at my best friend and her man.

“Hey!” I greeted Tuck as I skipped over to them.

Paris reintroduced us. “Tuck, you remember my best friend Asha, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He nodded, extending his hand to me. “Nick’s girl.”

I damn near giggled as I shook his hand. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Epilogue

One Week After Homecoming

Ithought homecoming weekend was a good one, but my weekend in Austin with Nick surpassed that. From the moment he picked me up from the airport on Friday with flowers, he kept a smile on my face. We went to dinner at his favorite restaurant and then he made me his dessert. On Saturday, he showed me around the city, and we did the touristy thing. That night, we went to dinner followed by dancing. It was an epic night and the way he put it on me when we got back to his place was the icing on an already delicious cake. So, it was no wonder my legs were tired and my body was sore when I woke up late Sunday morning.

“After the way you spoiled me, I’m not ready to go home yet,” I told him as I stretched out in the middle of his bed.

“You don’thaveto go anywhere,” Nick countered, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him.

With my back to his front, I giggled. “If I didn’t have to be at work in the morning, I would take you up on that offer.”

He kissed my shoulder. “I’ve enjoyed you being here.”

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