Page 29 of Valentine's Daddy To Go
“Did you get a chance to look around at all?”
“No,” she shakes her head. “I fell asleep right after lunch and only woke up thirty minutes before dinner.”
“Were you tired?”
“Uh, yeah. I didn’t sleep well last night. I was out the second I lay down on the bed.”
“Why didn’t you sleep well?” She blushes deeply, looking down at her food and pushing it around.
“Oh, just nerves.” I can tell there’s more to the story, but clearly, she doesn’t want to tell me.
“Are you still tired?”
“No, that nap really woke me up. I’m rested. Thanks.” That’s good. I want to get things started tonight, and I need Nellie awake and alert for it.
She looks back up at me and smiles before going back to eating.
We both finish what’s on our plates, with some wine left in both of our glasses.
“Why don’t we take this downstairs? We can go play pool, if you like that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, we can do that,” she agrees. I pick up my glass, standing up, and Nellie does the same. I have her follow me downstairs to the basement, and I can sense her tensing up.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, it’s not a dungeon. I can promise you that,” I chuckle.
She blushes, her hands gripping the wine glass.
“Oh of course not. I didn’t think it was,” she murmurs. Then, I throw open the door, and she gasps at the sight before her.
“You like?” I ask. After all, I’ve outfitted the place to the nines, and it’s time to get the party started.
10
Nellie
“Oh my God,” I whisper to myself. The basement is amazing. I mean, I feel like calling it a basement somehow demeans it because it’s so much more. There’s a pool table, a foosball table, arcade games, flat screens on the walls, and a full bar fully stocked with liquor.
I walk around Nash and place my wine glass down on the bar counter. I wander around the rec center, getting a good look at everything that he’s put in here.
There’s just somuchof it, from expensive guitars propped up on stands to a few deer heads hanging on the walls.
“Where did you get all this stuff?” I turn and ask him. He takes a quick look around.
“From all over. I’d see things I wanted and then buy them.”
It sounds nice being wealthy. Just pointing and buying. Is that what Nash meant earlier about a life of luxury? I’m not sure if I could be comfortable enough to demand things like that.
I walk over to one of the arcade games and run my hands over the controls.
“Do you play?” Nash asks. I turn my head, and he’s a lot closer than I expected. He was by the stairs when I started exploring, but now he’s here, looming against my back. He’s huge and seems to block out all the light. My pulse immediately accelerates and I blush furiously.
I shake my head.
“No, but my brother is always playing games like these. At least when we were kids, he did. I’m not sure how much of a gamer he is anymore. I do know he would love these, though.” Nash scowls a bit, before his expression smooths. Clearly, he doesn’t like Brian, but I’m guessing he won’t say anything about it to me. “Do you play?” I ask.
He grins.
“I used to a lot more. I’ve gotten rusty over the years.”
