Page 19 of One More Time
‘Why?’
‘Because Nicky Broome will be there.’
‘Holy. Shit,’ Kim exclaimed.
‘Quiet. Listen, are you okay here or—’
‘I was going to stay over with Mike anyway.’
‘Okay. You sure?’
‘Totally,’ Kim replied. ‘I’m good. I’ll be back tomorrow by ten. I have a shift at noon. So, be decent and not fucking on the coffee table when I get there.’
‘I’ll try.’ Lucy laughed.
‘Is he okay to drive?’ Kim asked, concerned.
‘Yeah. Sober.’
Lucy turned to go, but Kim stopped her with a hand. ‘Wait.’
Kim reached into the pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out a book of blotting paper. She ripped off a sheet and tapped it on Lucy’s nose.
‘Do you have condoms?’ Kim inquired with a motherly tone.
‘Of course,’ Lucy replied.
‘Did you remember to take your birth control this morning?’
Lucy joked, ‘Yes, Mom.’
Kim reached into her pocket again and came up with a tube of Lip Smacker, dabbed it on Lucy’s lips.
Kim capped the lip gloss dramatically, then swept Lucy’s bangs out of her eyes with her long French-tipped pinky nail. ‘Remember,’ Kim said earnestly, locking those shocking amber eyes on Lucy. ‘He’s just a boy.’
‘I know,’ Lucy lied.
CHAPTER EIGHT
NICKY
1990-Whatever
Nicky pulled the Jeep up over the curb and right into the front yard of the Football House so that the passenger door was even with the stairs from the deck. He knew for a fact that Chris and Mike did it all the time, and he liked the idea of surprising Lucy Rollins. Truth was, he likedallthe ideas of Lucy Rollins. Had for a while. In middle school when she knew all the answers in science class. In sophomore year when she got three studs put in her left earlobe. And, God, those fucking hair buns. He’d had full-fledged fantasies about tugging down those hair buns.
He couldn’t believe his luck, running into her. He’d never had the guts to approach her before. Mostly, women came onto him. It sounded like a stupid-ass problem. Not a problem at all, except it made him extra nervous when he had to do the picking up. He’d thought Lucy wasn’tinterested. She’d never even looked at him except when he faked needing a pencil in class or something, just to make her. But school was over. There’d be no more accidental run-ins with Lucy Rollins. She’d be off to college in a few months, and he’d be off to … wherever the fuck he ended up going off to.
Lucy walked out from around the side of the house and shook her head with a laugh when she spotted him in the Jeep. Perfect reaction. Perfect smile.
‘Need a ride?’ he teased.
‘Yeah,’ she said, opening the passenger door.
Thank fuck he’d remembered to put the doors and the lid back on the Jeep before he left Dover. Sometimes girls got weird about maybe plunging to their deaths on the pavement.
Once Lucy was buckled in tight, Nicky punched the tape deck to start it up and took off toward Rehoboth.
‘Where we headed?’ Nicky asked.
