Page 57 of Who's Playing You
I cleared my throat, finding my strength and honor, “About the house, about decorating and furnishing… That ‘we’ hadtime… I’m not comfortable being here without your other half of the ‘we’ present, Nicholas, I’m not a cheater. And I am especially not continuing on with the model session… I don’t care for any trouble or to cause any issues for people.”
His face released the tension it had been holding and a kind smile graced his beautiful mouth. He then simply replied with an, “Oh. I see.” He then twirled my same strand of hair around his finger as his right fingers dug deeper into my hip.
“I guess that was a slip of the tongue on my part…” he began.
“I’m not a cheater,” I quickly reiterated and cut him off.
He grinned before engulfing me in a big hug that took me by surprise as he chuckled into my neck. “Oh, I know Scottie. Your loyalty and honesty are two of the things I really like about you.”
“Umm, thank you?”
“You’re welcome, honey,” he replied simply. “Now come on, let me show you the rest,” he said as he released me from his hug and intertwined his fingers with mine and began tugging me out of the kitchen area. But my feet stood planted to the ground.
“Nicholas,” I said in exasperation.
He turned and looked at me with confusion again, “What is it, you don’t want to see the rest of the house?”
I breathed out a cleansing breath. “You can tell me it’s none of my business, and I might be totally off but…” I took another breath and hoped that I wasn’t about to embarrass myself. “You just said ‘we’, which indicates that you and someone else are living here, yet you have been…” I pinched the bridge of my nose. God, why was this so hard and embarrassing?
“Go on, say it,” he implored me on a faint whisper with a look in his eyes that almost undid me. “I’ve been what?”
“Very… affectionate and attentive towards me,” I finally said.
“Firstly, anyone who isn’t attentive to you and your needs is an idiot. But as for the ‘we’...” he let it hang in the air while he seemingly threw explanations around in his head.
“Please be straight with me,” I now implored him.
He stilled and looked at me and immediately responded, “Always. But alright. Straight it is. I like you.”
He said it as a statement and let it hang in the air. When I just gaped at him he continued, “A lot. And I hope you kind of like me too,” he said almost playfully and almost more like a question that he let linger. “There’s no one else here - living here or in my life in that capacity. And I suppose I got a little ahead of myself when I spoke earlier, because I was referring to…us, having time. I thought maybe your creativity and inspiration could help me out when it comes to figuring out the right pieces for the house,” he finished.
His thought process and explanation took me quite by surprise because not only did he confess to liking me, but he also wanted me to help him decorate his house?
What was I? A fucking interior designer now?
25
NICK SOBA
Igot way too excited. Way too comfortable. I almost blew this whole situation up.
I needed to calm myself down before I spilled everything to her and scared her away. Like,reallyscared her away and came off like some sort of obsessive psychopath.
I mean, I was obsessive. Obsessive over her. But in due time she’d learn more about that. Now wasn’t that time though. It was too soon. She’d run for the fucking hills.
“Nicholas, as flattering as that may be…” she got my attention back after my self-reprimand session. “You do realize I’m not some sort of interior designer or decorator, right?”
“Of course I know that Scottie. You’re an incredible artist,” I stated simply, which almost caught her off guard.
“Oh, well… thank you. I just… I’m sorry, I guess I’m just a bit confused,” she shared.
It was time for me to try to diffuse this situation so we could move on. We would revisit the furniture and decor at a later date, this little exercise just proved that she wasn’t quite where I was. “Sorry, Scottie. It was just a slip of the tongue - I guess I was just thinking, hoping, that you might have some suggestionsconsidering your artistic eye for the house and the vibe, that’s all.”
“Oh. Well, I’m flattered you think so highly of me in that regard, and not just for painting,” she said in a quieter voice.
“I consider you in the absolute highest regard. If that wasn’t already clear, I want to make it crystal right now. As for the decor, it was stupid… Let’s not worry about it for now, alright?”
“Oh, okay, sure. But you also said that you… er… that youlikeme?”
