Crossroads (20 page)

“Ugh, I’ve got nothing to drink,” Hailey says, slamming another cupboard in the kitchen.  “Let’s go out!”  She walks past me and grabs her bag from the couch.  “What?  You got somewhere better to be?  C’mon just a quick drink or two. 
Please?
”

“Okay,” I say
, taking a step in her direction.  “One quick drink.”

So it turns out Hailey is upset because she didn’t do so well on her latest test at
uni.  She is studying to be a nurse so she needs top marks.  I know she works hard, so I can understand her disappointment.  But in actual fact I’m relieved a bad score is all she was crying about.  When she first called me in tears, I had trouble making out her words.  I thought somebody had died or something.  By the time I got here she had calmed somewhat.  Even so, she has barely let me get a word out in the ten minutes that I’ve been here, too busy ranting about her stupid professor instead.

“Where to?”
I ask once I start the car.

“Ooh let’s go to The Junction.”

“Okay, The Junction it is.”

“Sorry for dumping on you
, Nick.  I just needed to vent, you know?  And my class mates are all stuck up bitches and my other friends just don’t get it.  Thanks for coming over, I appreciate it.”

“Are you kidding?  I owe you big time, you’ve listened to me vent plenty.”

“True.  I am a good friend, aren’t I?” she says with a smirk and I can’t help but laugh.  “But ugh, I tell ya, if I could, I’d love to punch professor dipshit in his hoozie whatsits!  He is such a dick-turd!”

And so the ranting continues.  I am pissing myself laughing the whole way to the pub.
  We order a couple of bourbon and cokes and take a seat at one of the tables, where Hailey continues the one-sided conversation.  While I do listen to her, I find that Em is always in the back of my mind.  I’m wondering when it will be a good time to tell Hailey it’s time to go.  I’m being selfish but I don’t really care.  I want Em at my side.  Yep I’ve become one of
those
guys, the ones, like Dan, who are distracted by a girl.  One of those love-struck idiots that I never thought I would become.

When Hailey excuses herself to use the bathroom, I take the opportunity to check the
time on my phone and I see I have a text message from Em thanking me for the flowers. The message was sent about an hour ago, I guess she’s been home for a while already.  I’m a bit annoyed I wasn’t there to witness her reaction when she saw the flowers. When I bought them I expected to be there to give them to her.  I send her a message and she replies straight away.

Nick:  Glad you liked the flowers

Em:  They’re gorgeous!

Nick:  Like you

Em:  Smooth talker

Nick: 
No just stating a fact.  So what’s for dinner?

Em:  You tell me

Nick:  Want to meet me at the pub?  We’re at The Junction

Em:  Okay
c u soon

I watch Hailey walking back to our table.  She plonks herself down across from me and takes a huge gulp of her drink.

“Mmm, so, where were we?”  Before I get a chance to say anything her phone rings.  She picks it up and looks at the screen.  Her eyes light up.  “I have to get this, sorry.”  She answers her phone and leaves the table.  She spends the next ten minutes pacing the other end of the bar as she talks animatedly to whoever it is on the other end.  When she’s done she comes back over to me with a goofy smile on her face.

“Who was that?”

“That was a guy from uni.  His name’s Ryan.  He asked for my phone number the other day but I didn’t think he’d actually call.”  She takes a sip of her drink and then smiles.  “He asked me out.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see,” she shrugs.  “So anyway, enough about me, what about you?  You seem a little distracted.  What’s been happening?” she asks.

“Well now that you ask, I do have some…” 
I plan on saying more but my concentration fixates in another direction when the door opens and Em walks in.  Then it’s like Hailey is not even there, she speaks, but I don’t hear a word she is saying.  All I can focus on is Em, who is smiling and walking our way.  I stand to greet her with a kiss.

I don’t know why, but I feel nervous entering the bar.  I spot Nick straight away, or rather he spots me and I feel his eyes drawing me in.  I notice the dark-haired girl he’s sitting with is talking but it appears he isn’t listening to her and I feel a great sense of satisfaction, as bad as that sounds.  My nervousness disappears with Nick’s eyes on me, I again feel confident and sexy.  I feel great.  He steps towards me and gives me a quick kiss.

“Em, I’d like you to meet Hailey.”  He slips his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side.  “Hailey this is Em.”

Hailey looks up at me from her seat.  “So this is her?”  She eyes me with disgust.  “You put him through hell, you know that?”

“Uh…”  I feel Nick tense beside me.

“With all your games.”

“My games?”

“Hailey-” Nick begins.

“No, she needs to know.”  Hailey stands and gets in my face.  “Do you have any idea
what-”

“Stop!
  Back off.”  Nick puts his hand out in front of Hailey.  “There were a series of miscommunications.  We’re all good now.  It wasn’t her fault.”

“Of course it was her fault!”

“Hailey, please,” Nick pleads.

We all look back and forth between each other.  I’m more than a little stunned by the confrontation.  An uncomfortable silence
follows.

“Maybe I should go,” I say, edging away from Nick.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he says gruffly, pulling me tighter against his side.  His hand holds my hip so tightly it’s almost painful.  He glares at Hailey.

“Are you sure Nick?” she leans forward and practically whispers to him.

“Yep, I’ve never been more sure of anything,” Nick smiles his sexy smile, Hailey visibly relaxes and I feel my heart fill with such love in that moment I worry it may burst.  She looks at Nick and me and our joined bodies for a moment before she next speaks.

“Sorry,” she turns towards me and extends her hand, “we got off on the wrong foot.  Let’s start over.  Hi
, I’m Hailey.”

I cautiously shake
it.  “Emma.”

“Nice to fi
nally meet you Emma.”  She smiles a genuine smile.  Nick pulls a chair out for me to sit in and I guardedly take it.  Hailey looks down at me and I’m not sure what to expect to come out of her mouth next.  “So can I buy you a drink?” is not it.

“No that’s okay, I can-”

“Let me buy you one, it’s the least I can do for being a total bitch.  What would you like?”

“Um, I’ll just have a Coke
thanks,” I reply.

“Bourbon and Coke it is,” she says and walks off to the bar.

Nick laughs and shakes his head, then pulls his chair closer to mine and puts his hand on my thigh.  He leans in for a kiss.

“Hi,” he says
, smiling against my lips.

“Hi.
” I give him another kiss. 

“Hi,” he repeats
, kissing me again.

“Hey.
” I pull back with a giggle.  He follows and kisses me once more, his hand gripping my thigh.  When he pulls back his blue eyes focus on mine.

“Sorry I wasn’t home with you,” he whispers
.  We lean into each other, our foreheads connecting and it makes my breath catch. 
Home with you…
 

“It’s okay.”
  I swallow.

“I really wanted to be, but Hailey just
needed someone to talk to, or
talk at
, I should say.  And I didn’t get a chance to tell her about us.  I’m sorry that she attacked you like that, she just hasn’t heard the full story yet.”

“Is she always so full on?”
I ask.

“Pretty much.
”  Nick leans back a little so that I can see his face more clearly. “If you get to know her, you two will get along great, I know it.  Maybe you could even chat sometimes, while I’m away.  You can both compare notes on how fabulous I am.”

I laugh at his comment but I do worry abo
ut him saying things like that.  He has made more than one comment about what will happen
while he’s away
these past few days.  He keeps talking as if he’s only going away for a week or two, nothing major, almost like he intends for us to stay together while he is gone.  Surely he doesn’t think that will work.  Long distance rarely works for anybody, let alone two people like us, who have only been together for such a short time.  I’m sure he will have a bevy of beautiful women the world over, wanting a piece of him.  I’m not naive enough to think he will be able to fight off temptation for months on end.  There’s no doubt in my mind, when he catches that flight out of the country, it will be the end for us.

“Well I
can’t hold a grudge against her when she was only being protective of you.  That I understand.”

“You do?”  He smiles and leans forward again to
gently capture my lips.

“
I do,” I reply when our lips part.

“You do what?” Hailey asks loudly, placing our drinks in front of us and taking a seat.

“Nothing,” Nick replies, his eyes flicking in her direction for only a moment before coming back to mine.

“Oh I get it
- you two are all lovey-dovey, whispering sweet nothings.  I guess I’m the third wheel now.”

“Well you’ll
have to get together with this Ryan fella and then you won’t be.”

“He’s a bit of alright, but
it probably won’t go anywhere, when does it ever?” she pouts.  “He might be okay for a bit of fun though.”  She laughs and I instantly forget the crap from earlier and smile at her.  I like this girl, she reminds me of April.

Actually putting a face to the name, and seeing her interact with Nick I let go of all my insecurities, it’s obvious that
Hailey and Nick aren’t anything more than friends.  And if I couldn’t see that, then the way Nick cannot keep his hands off me would have been enough to convince me.  Nick wants to be with me.

He’s mine.

For the time being at least.

I smile at Em when she pushes her plate in my direction.  Somehow, silently, she knew that I would finish off her dinner for her, I love that she knows me so well.  I tuck into her leftovers as the conversation continues between Em and Hailey.  Things couldn’t have gone better tonight.  I am so glad these girls are getting along, the rough start seemingly forgotten.

“So what do you reckon Nick?” Hailey asks and I realise I haven’t been paying attention
to their conversation.

“Hmm?”

“This Saturday night?  A bon voyage?  At Em’s?”

“You’re okay with this?” I ask Em.  I was really looking forward to having the weekend to ourselves, just the two of us.  By the look on
Em’s face when she shrugs, I’m thinking maybe she was too.  “Why don’t we meet up at a pub or something instead?” I ask turning back to Hailey.

“
Suit yourself,” she replies, then polishes off the rest of her drink.  “You wanna come back here, dinner and drinks?”

“Em?”
I ask knocking her under the table with my knee and giving her a wink.

“Sure, that sounds fine,” she replies, nudging me back
with a smile.

“I’ll give Dan a call to
see if he and Jo can come.  I’d love for you to meet them.  Maybe you could invite Kat and Luke?”

“I’m sure they’d
like that,” she says, grinning.

“This will be good
.”  Hailey smiles at the two of us as she finishes the last of her dinner and stands.  “We can’t have you leaving without a proper send off.  I’m just heading off to the ladies.  Then we can go, yeah?  I’ve got an early class tomorrow.”

“Sure thing,” I say and watch her leave the table.

“I see what you did there,” Em whispers, leaning against me when I put my knife and fork down on the now empty plate.

“What’s that?”

“Change of venue so we can nick off whenever we’re ready.”  She smiles at me, her mouth inches from mine and her hand resting on my thigh.

“
Mmm I like the sound of that, we’ll nick off home where you’ll
get Nick off
.”

She giggles for only a millisecond before I stop her by attaching my lips to hers.  Running my hand through her hair and holding onto the sid
e of her face, my tongue searching her mouth.  Em’s hand squeezes my thigh and she moans.  Our lips remain connected as I slide my hands down to her hips, lifting her from her chair and onto my lap.   The passion I feel for this girl makes me forget where we are and it’s not until Hailey clears her throat that I remember.  I didn’t even hear her come back to the table.

Em and I both turn to Hailey,
Em’s cheeks are flushed, as expected, and I can’t help but chuckle when she ducks her head in embarrassment.

“So yeah, I’ll
be needing that ride home now,” Hailey says, grinning at us.

We walk out to the parking lot with my arm over
Em’s shoulder and hers around my waist, our hips bumping together as we go.  She reaches up and plays with my fingers against her upper arm.  The warm summer night air hits us, along with a slight breeze bringing Em’s perfume into my nostrils.  I breathe in, inhaling her.

“I love summer.”  I lean down to whisper in
Em’s ear as we walk, “Especially when my hot Aussie girlfriend wears her bikini.”

“Really?
  Well I may just put it on when I get home then,” Em whispers back as we reach her car, causing my cock to jump to attention.

“Yes.  Please do that,” I say, giving her a slap on the arse.  She yelps and
belts me on the chest.  I lean in to kiss her.  “See you soon.”  I take a step back but still hold her hand, her eyes connecting to mine briefly before focusing on Hailey who is standing behind me.

“It was so good to meet you Hailey,” Em says.

“You too Em!  I’ll see you Saturday.”  Hailey smiles and then walks over to my car which is parked two spots away.

I turn back to Em and give her another kiss, pressing her up against her car.
  My hands roam her glorious body but after a moment she pushes me back.

“I’ll see you at home,
” she says.

“
Home
.  I like the sound of that.”  I lean back in for another quick kiss then step back so she can get in the car.  Closing the door behind her and giving her a wave, I reluctantly step away.  I don’t get far before I’m turning back and tapping on her window.  She winds the window down with a smile.

“What?”

“I forgot this,” I say, leaning in to capture her lips once more.  With one hand on the car and the other tangled in Em’s hair, I kiss her passionately, my hard cock pressing desperately against the door, trying to get to its destination.

“You know
, the sooner you drive me home, the sooner you two can continue to suck face in the privacy of your own home!”  Hailey snorts from beside my car.

I remove my mouth from
Em’s and rest my forehead against hers.  I’m breathing hard and trying to calm down.  Em giggles and that doesn’t help. 
She’s so sexy when she does that
.

“I want you to put
your bikini on and wait for me in bed.  Okay?”

She gasps before answering
with a soft, “Yes.”

I move back to take in the sight of her, flushed and aroused, before giving her one last kiss.  Straightening, I give the side of the door a thump and she starts
the car.

“I’
ll see you at home,” I croak out weakly.

I watch her pull out of the car park before I fish the keys from my pocket and head over to Hailey.  She’s grinning at me and I realise that I am probably grinning at her twice as hard.

“What?” I laugh over the top of the car roof at her, opening the door.

“Oh nothing,” she replies
, ducking down to hop in.

I start the car and Hailey immediately turns down the
Gotye track that is playing.  I back out of the car park all the while feeling Hailey’s eyes on me.

“Come on, out with it.”

“Well, I’m just surprised Nick.  I mean, I knew you were really into some chick named Em, but I didn’t think you would turn into this person.”

My eyes go wide and I glance in her direction, her comment
and her disgusted tone taking me by surprise.

“I mean, you’ve lost your sexy edge for me now.”  She laughs and I sigh with relief, I actually thought she was disappointed in me
, not making fun.  “You’ve turned into this sappy, love-struck, one-half-of-a-couple person.  It’s sickening.”

“It’s love,
” I state, unashamed.

“Ugh
, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.”

“Shut up!”

We both laugh and Hailey turns the music back up.  While Gotye sings about having eyes wide open, I think about Em.  Me leaving is not the end for us.  It can’t be.  I don’t have any idea how long I will travel but I know I won’t be able to leave her for too long.  My eyes are open to that now.  Somehow in the back of my mind I think I always knew I’d be coming home to Em, even before I had her.

I pull the car up in front of Hailey’s flat and she turns to me with a smile.

“All joking aside, you
are
in love with her aren’t you?”

“
I am,” I say confidently and proudly, without hesitation.

“Then I’m really happy for you both.”

Hailey leans over and gives me a peck on the cheek and a grin before exiting the car.