Page 55 of Falling for Nicole
I don’t really give a shit about what it is I’ve supposedly done, but I’m furious about the fact Nicole clearly doesn’t trust me. I know we haven’t exactly had the most conventional start to our relationship—if that’s what it is—but I thought I’d proved to her how I feel. Or at least some of how I feel, because I’m not yet ready to admit tomyselfquite what I feel, let alone anyone else.
There’s no way I can go to work after watching her drive away from me, so I pull the front door closed and head towards the beach. I need to move and burn off some of the pent-up energy buzzing around my system.
I know I should probably be chasing after her, pleading my innocence, but my irritation is overruling the need to do that. I thought we’d moved past our childhood feud and had embarked on something a little more meaningful, but it seems nothing’s changed in her eyes—I’venot changed. Can she not see that hurting her is the furthest thing from my mind?
I walk along the beach in the rain for the longest time, but I know I need to get back. She has no idea, but in order for her to have the weekend off, it means I’ve got to work her shifts. I told her I would sort it and get the others working overtime, but it was too late notice and none of them could help. Add that to BJ and Liam heading out of town on some kind of jolly, and I’m left here manning both the shop and the shack. I guess I should be grateful the weather forecast is abysmal for the entire weekend.
After showering once again and dragging on a dry set of clothes, I jump in the van and head to the shop. This place has always been my sanctuary. I love my house but there’s always someone else there. Here I can lock myself in the office and do what I need to do. But the second I walk through the door, for the first time ever, something feels off. The place isn’t as soothing to me as it usually is. I don’t need to put much thought into why I feel that way. The moment I step into the shack and don’t see red hair, it’s glaringly obvious.
I plod back to the office to get some work done before we get busy and I’m needed out the front. My head and heart duel over what I should do. My head wants to be a stubborn fucker and leave her to believe whatever she wants, to cause her pain, but my heart says other things. It wants me to chase her, to tell her she’s wrong, to beg for her to believe me. All the things I decided a long ago I didn’t want to do, and exactly why I’d never fall in love.
“Fucking Nicole and her magical fucking pussy,” I mutter to myself as I wait for the computer to load.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I’m surprised to see I haven’t had a call from Lilly. There’s no way she’s doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m tempted to ring her and find out for myself, but the fact she’s on a hen weekend puts me off. It’s not often she gets time to relax these days, and I really don’t want to be the one to ruin it.
It’s only a few hours later when the call I’ve been expecting all day lights up my phone. I don’t get a chance to say anything after putting it to my ear. “What the fuck have you done this time?”
“Good to know whose side you’re on.”
“I’m on the side of whoever hasn’t done anything wrong, and at the moment you’re looking like the guilty party, so suck it up.”
“And what is it exactly that I’ve done?”
“I’m not spelling it out for you. You know exactly what it is. I’m so disappointed in you right now, I can’t even explain. I thought you were better than that, Dec.”
“Better than what?”
“I’m not getting involved other than to tell you that you need to sort yourself out and decide what you want, because if it’s Nicole then you’ve got your work cut out. You’ve seriously hurt her this time, to the point that I’m not sure if she’ll forgive you.”
“Lilly, I haven’t—”
“Save it for Nicole. You’re my brother and I’ll love you no matter what, but you need to sort this out—and fast. The last thing I want is you running my best friend out of town because you can’t keep it in your pants.” With that said, she hangs up on me.
What the fuck is going on?
I try ringing Lilly back but every time it either goes to voicemail or is cut off immediately—which is better than Nicole’s, I guess, because that doesn’t even ring. Part of me wants to march down to the hotel and have it out with her, but Molly and Mum would kill me if I ruin this weekend for them.
In the end, I settle for just keeping my head down and getting as much work done as possible. It’s not like I can waste time surfing, seeing as I can hardly see the sea where it’s raining so much.
It feels strange getting in my own bed, but what feels even weirder is that I’m alone. It’s a surreal feeling because until Nicole, I never slept with anyone, but suddenly I miss it. I miss the feeling of her pressed up against me, the light tickle of her breath against my skin, the small smile she wears when she’s sleeping, and of course her red hair fanned over my chest.
Fucking hell, I’m in love with her.
Throwing the covers off, I jump out of bed. I may regret this decision, but that revelation is ruling my thoughts right now, not common sense.
The rain is still torrential, soaking me in the short distance between my van and the hotel. A quick call to Lucas on the way here means I know exactly where the girls are, so I continue past the awaiting woman at reception, though I don’t miss the shocked look on her face.
“Excuse me, Sir,” she calls out as I continue down the hallway to the private bar at the back of the building. She can call out as much as she likes, there’s no way she’s stopping me right now.
“Sir, you can’t…Sir, there’s a private party…” The panic in her voice is slightly amusing. I get the impression Lucas can be a bit of a dick of a boss, so she’s probably worried about her job.
“Sir,” she shouts once more just as I push the heavy doors open to reveal the room beyond. My eyes instantly land on the group of women sitting on the sofas in the centre of the room. All but one of them turn my way to see what the noise is about. The only one I want to see keeps her head down as all the other faces stare at me. Most are shocked, but then there’s Mum and Lilly, who wear knowing grins.
