Page 88 of I Need You Tonight
Chapter 33
Nicole
“Explain again why I’m doing this?” I asked Heidi as I inspected my makeup in the mirror. Next to me, Heidi was applying a coat of red lipstick.
“Because Simon’s a nice guy, fits your criteria perfectly, and is good-looking. And because you’ve been moping around your house for the past week.”
“I haven’t been moping. I’ve been busy finalizing the plans for the grand reopening. And I’ve been working on my new line of glass etchings.” Technically, I’d been staring at a blank piece of paper for the past week, but it was the thought that counted.
Heidi’s face brightened. “Can I see them?”
“The final plans for the reopening?” Which hadn’t changed since the last time I’d shown them to her.
“No, the designs for the new line.”
Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.“They’re…they’re not quite ready for you to see just yet.” I applied my pink lip gloss in the mirror—any excuse to avoid looking at her. I didn’t want to see if she believed me or not. I just longed for our double date to be over so I could return home to my much anticipated evening of ice cream and any movie on Netflix that didn’t haveDie Hardin the title or any hint of romance in it.
“The guys should be here in a minute,” I said, attempting to distract her. The guys were Simon and Heidi’s boyfriend, Chris. Simon played on the same touch football team as Chris, which was how they knew each other.
I quickly escaped the bathroom before she could challenge me about the designs. She knew me well enough to know I was stretching the truth when I said I’d been working on them.
Luckily for me, the doorbell rang as my foot hit the final stair. I opened the door, which was a lot easier thanks to Mason’s having fixed it when he was staying here. My heart slumped at the reminder of him. After a week of trying not to think about him every second of every day, I’d sent him a picture of Bernie. The pieces of my heart, which I had sloppily taped back together, broke apart again at hisI miss Berniereply. He didn’t miss me. He only missed the dog.
Not that I could blame him after the way I’d turned my back on him.
I plastered a smile on my face and greeted Chris and the guy who I assumed was Simon. He was tall, muscular, and ruggedly good-looking, with short light brown hair. According to Heidi, he didn’t have any tattoos.
The thought of that didn’t make me think about Mason’s tattoos. Nor was I thinking about how I used to trace my fingers over them after making love to him, as if absorbing their individual messages into my heart.
Heidi bounced downstairs and flung herself at Chris. Fortunately, she gave him only a quick kiss, nothing that would make Simon and me feel awkward—as if going on a blind date wasn’t awkward enough.
Instead of the romantic comedy Heidi wanted to see, we went to see some big-budget, action-hero-type movie. Since not a single kiss was exchanged on the big screen the entire time, I had to give the movie a thumbs-up. It was the perfect date movie to see when dealing with a broken heart.
Afterward we drove to Heidi’s favorite restaurant for pizza. Heidi kept giving me the so-what-do-you-think look, which left me struggling to not roll my eyes. Simon was a great guy—if you were into gamers.
As he was explaining the ins and outs of one of his favorite games, my phone rang. I glanced at the number. Nolan? A bad feeling slithered down my back. “I need to answer this,” I said as I accepted the call, hands trembling. “Hi, Nolan. What’s up?”
In the background, I could hear what sounded like “Code blue, room eighteen” and the quiet murmurs of people talking.
He cleared his throat. “I wanted to tell you before you heard it from the media. Mason’s in the hospital.”
“Oh God. What happened?”
“I’m not sure exactly.” The heavy mix of emotions choking Nolan’s voice told me that whatever had happened to Mason was far more serious than him needing stitches or having a broken bone. I came within an inch of begging Nolan not to tell me. I didn’t think my heart could take it. “Jared and I returned to the bus and found him unconscious….From the looks of it, he might have OD’d.”
My blood turned cold at his words. “OD’d?” I asked, voice shaky. I could feel everyone at the table watching me while I stared at the white tablecloth as though it was a life preserver, the one thing keeping me afloat. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know,” Nolan said. “They’re working on him, but we haven’t heard anything. He was barely alive when we found him.”
My hand flew to my mouth, and I only just contained the sob threatening to erupt. I didn’t know what to do. I just knew I couldn’t sit in the restaurant on a date while the man I loved was clinging to life.
Without a word to Heidi or our dates, I stood up and headed for the main entrance. I didn’t want them or anyone else in the restaurant to be part of the conversation. “What happened? I had no idea he was using drugs,” I said as I exited through the door.
Nolan mumbled what could have been “shit.” “How much did he tell you about his past?”
I leaned back against the brick wall. I had a feeling I would need it to help keep me upright. “Apparently not as much as he should have. I only knew that his family disowned him because of something he’d done, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.” But given my history with a father who had been a gambling addict, it didn’t take much to guess what he had done to destroy their trust in him. I just wondered how much money he had cost them. “I’m guessing it had to do with his gambling addiction.”
“It did. He paid them back with interest, but they wanted nothing to do with him. From what he told us, he struggled with depression several years before that and tried to commit suicide. It was only because your brother became worried about him when he wasn’t answering his phone that Mason didn’t die.”
