Page 73 of Taming Nikki

Diego snorted. “Yeah, well, so did she. She was working.”

I flinched. I hadn’t actually been planning on telling Leo that. He was stressed out enough without worrying about me getting involved. We all sat around a large circular table, with Diego on my left and Leo on my right.

While the guys discussed food, Leo leaned in close with a frown. “Working on your birthday?”

I shrugged. “Something came up. I didn’t leave the dugout, just like you asked. It’s fine.”

I kind of hoped he’d leave it at that. A small part of me worried he’d be one of those macho douchebags that would be really offended at a woman rescuing their ass. I didn’t want to deal with that kind of drama. Men with bruised egos were a huge turn off.

Luckily, the waitress showed up and started getting drink orders, so Leo was distracted. She gushed over the fact that it was my 21st birthday, even though I’ve been drinking for a while, so I wasn’t that excited for it. Papa allowed one small glass of wine since I was a preteen and I moved to better stuff when I turned 18. While she was taking Mikey’s order, Leo put a small brown bag on the table.

“I got you something on the way here.”

I frowned. “You already got me something, which I’m still pissed about, by the way.”

Leo gave me a bored look. “Just open it.”

I sighed, grabbing the bag. “You really didn’t have to, I mean it. I– Oh my god, is that what I think it is?”

Leo laughed at my expression. He had spent the entire afternoon being grilled by the police, but he still stopped by the best gourmet bakery in the city to grab me a cupcake. It was absolutely massive, with pink and yellow frosting and fresh strawberries on top dusted with what looked like gold.

“It’s strawberry cheesecake. I didn’t know your favorite flavor, so I went with what was most popular.”

I melted a little. Paying for my tattoo bothered me. It was expensive, and he didn’t really even know me. This was actually really thoughtful, especially after the awful day he had. I bumped him with my shoulder, trying to hide my smile because it was obnoxiously big and I felt a little embarrassed for the first time since I was a teenager.

“Thank you.” I glanced up at him, trying not to look overly sentimental. “Really, I appreciate it. You didn’t have to do that.”

His eyebrows went up, like he was surprised I could actually accept something politely. It did a lot in dialing back my emotions and I made a face.

“Shut up.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks, so I focused on my menu. I saw Diego out of the corner of my eye. He had a huge, shit-eating grin on his face. He’s lucky he’s one of the few people on the planet I’m not violent with because I wanted to stab him with a fork.

“Nice job, Vitale. Pretty sure she’s blushing.”

I shot Diego a look, trying to whack him with my menu. He just laughed and covered his head with his hands. “Hey, don’t get all bent out of shape at me because you’re getting all gooey over a cupcake.”

“Diego!” I growled.

Diego’s girlfriend came in just in time to rescue me. She appeared behind him with a frown on her face.

“Honey, you aren’t teasing your sister on her birthday, are you?”

Diego’s eyes went wide, and he shot me a pleading look. That shit wasn’t going to save him, though. I turned toward Emma with a pout.

“Yes, he is! He’s awful! And on my birthday too…” I was really milking it, and Diego looked horrified. Watching him backpedal and plead to Emma really put a cherry on top of the evening. She gave him a dirty look before handing me a familiar brown bag.

“Sorry your brother is ruining your night. Here, I picked this up… Hey, you already got one! That’s funny.”

She handed me another cupcake, and I burst out laughing. Amongst the people I care about, my sweet tooth was well known, so it didn’t surprise me, but two giant cupcakes would take me forever to finish. Not that I wasn’t up to the challenge.

Emma grinned at me before her eyes landed on Leo. She frowned for a second before recognition crossed over her face. “Hey, I know you!” I stiffened, glancing back at Leo, but he was frowning, too. “You were at the bakery, a few spots ahead of me.” She turned back to me. “He almost got into a fight with the person behind him because he took too long picking a cupcake for his girlfriend. It was adorable!”

I whipped around, my eyes wide as I grinned at him. He actually looked embarrassed, a scowl crossing his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Emma was oblivious to his discomfort, beaming at him. “Oh, come on, it’s cute! I had no idea he was your boyfriend, Nikki, or I would’ve helped him. He looked so flustered.”

My eyes were watering, I was working so hard to suppress my laughter. Leo was actually blushing at this point, and it made my earlier embarrassment seem like a walk in the park. Dante had his own massive grin and Mikey actually pulled out his phone to snap a picture. Leo tried to lunge across the table at him, so I had to shove him back down and sit in his lap to keep him from killing Mikey.

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