Page 11 of Win Some Love Some
I stepped forward and touched her hand, but she moved so fast I barely got a sense of it before she shoved me off the landing. “Get,” she shoved me. “The fuck,” she shoved me again. “Away.”
The front door opened and Roy and Vanessa stood there, looking startled and pissed.
“What’s going on?” Vanessa asked and Nora dive bombed past her into the house.
“Nick is an asshole and I don’t want to see him,” Nora cried. Roy and Vanessa shared a quick look and Vanessa stepped inside, closing the front door behind her.
Leaving me alone with Roy.
Shit.
“Nothing happened,” I said. Which, as I thought about it, was not the smartest thing to say.
“What could have happened?” Roy said, stepping down off the stoop onto the walkway with his hands in his pockets like he was oh so casual. I couldn’t help but take a step back.
Roy was a friend. A mentor. A father figure. But he would fuck me up in a heartbeat when it came to Nora.
“She came to my house. Upset. I was worried she might get in an accident, so I just made sure she got home safely,” I said, making my voice as firm as I could. I was a grown ass adult and I’d done nothing wrong. Except listen as the wordvirginitycame out of Nora’s mouth. And thenfuck a dozen men. Oh my God, Roy was going to kill me.
“What was she upset about?” Roy asked. He clapped his hand on my shoulder and there was something about that, something familiar. The same clap on my shoulder I’d been getting from this guy since I was a kid.
I rubbed my hand over my face and the truth came out of me. Not the virginity stuff, no, I’d take that to my grave. But the rest of it.
“She has it in her head,” I whispered, “that she loves me. Like, for real. And that I love her. And I do.” I looked at Roy only to find him nodding sympathetically. “You know I love her, but not… not like that. I swear Roy. I would never…”
“I know, Nick. I know. Vanessa’s been saying it for years, that this crush she has on you has gotten out of control.”
I sagged with relief. He understood. He wasn’t going to kill me.
“And that she was only going to get hurt,” Roy said.
“I swear I tried not to hurt her. I let her down as easy as I could, but I was so fucking…”
“Blindsided?” Roy said with a laugh. “The whole town has watched that girl follow you around with hearts in her eyes since she was a baby and you’re the only one who never caught on.”
“I’ve never thought of her like that. Not once.”
Again, Roy clapped me on the back. “I know. You’re a good man. Her teenage heart has taken a beating, something we all go through I think. But she’s going off to college and she’ll be all right.”
I was scared that she was going off to college burning with rage at me and that she’d make bad decisions. Roy nodded like he could read my mind.
“She’s upset, but Nora’s got a good head on her shoulders. She always has.”
“Can I talk to her, do you think?” I hated her being mad at me.
Once, when I was fifteen and she was four, I was babysitting her and I took her to the beach. Vanessa told me I had to be really careful putting sunscreen on her, so I did, but I never put it on myself. I ended up with a terrible burn on my back. It bubbled up and peeled. I was sick to my stomach and my skin felt tight for weeks.
This feeling was like that feeling, but inside my body.
“No. She’s upset. Let Vanessa calm her down. She’ll call you before she leaves for school.”
I wasn’t so confident, but I wasn’t going to argue with Roy. I was just so grateful he understood the situation.
He gave me another clap on the back and I got back in my truck. Looking at the house before driving away.
Call me, I thought. Please Nora, let’s get over this.
But she didn’t.
