Page 92 of Who's Saving You
I’ve got nothing left but sounds. No words that make sense; just sounds and our skin slapping, bouncing off the walls before he covers me completely with his front, biting my shoulder as we both come so hard I think I see stars. He’s panting, slowing his hips as he slides an arm under me, gripping my breasts, and falls to the side, rolling me into him.
“Jesus, what the hell was that?” I laugh as I try to catch my breath.
He lets out a breath. “Sugar rush.” We dissolve into laughter before letting the night fall completely silent around us. Our breathing is as one, and the only light is filtering in from the hallway.
“I believe you,” he all but whispers out several moments later
“You do?”
“Rhett called me a Warrior.”
I furrow my brows before turning over in his arms to see him. “You are a Warrior.”
“I am, but the way he said it. There’s only been one person who has referred to me as if it’s my calling.”
“Eva,” I say. He nods and closes his eyes. I smooth my fingers over his brows, around his hairline, and down to his lips. “We may not ever understand the why of it, Nik, but we’re going to get the truth.”
He doesn’t respond, and I pause, holding my breath before saying the following words. “I think you need to come clean with your friends.”
His body tightens, but then he lets out a small laugh. “This is perfect timing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not actually talking to them right now.”
I sit up, shocked. “What do you mean? What happened?”
“Well, we did our weekly FaceTime call. You know, the one where I usually poke around for injuries or who’s being benched. But that conversation veered left.”
“Was this the night we were in Arizona?” He nods, and I say, “I knew there was something more going on.”
“You were right. They both dropped a huge fucking bomb on me.”
I wait. He seems to be weighing his words, and I’m afraid this is just another part of the story that’s going to break him if he doesn’t come up for air from all of this soon.
“Let’s just say I found out why Soba went first pick, what Loving does on weekends, and why we didn’t get drafted together.”
“Well, this is good then. You’re all voicing your demons. I think you need to tell them the truth, for both yours and their good, and you need to let them in, let them help you. Because once I confront Rhett, this is going to explode, and they need to know what they're walking into.”
He studies me for a long while, and again, I’m afraid that I've overstepped. But when he gives a slight nod and an almost silent, “I know,” I know Nik Papas is on the road to saving.
38
Nik
I don’t want her to be right, but after last night, I know she is. Everything about the last few weeks has been brewing on the surface, and after Noelle put it together for me, it makes sense. All the weird feelings I’ve glossed over because I just trusted what my sister said are coming to the forefront.
I can bury it.
The cigarette smoke smell.
Lying about talking to Mom.
The call I walked in on in her office.
Rhett calling me Warrior.
But what doesn't make sense?
