When Angels Fall (Fallen Angels) (10 page)

“Then why? You’re not fooling anyone. I stood here and listened to the whole thing. The only one you think you’re fooling is yourself. You like her. More than friends,” Kevin pressed, putting it out there.

“I hate to say he’s right, but, little Bro? He is. And if you don’t stop fighting with yourself about it, you may lose her to him,” Mark nodded.

They were wrong. She was just his friend and he was looking out for her. “I’m not going there. I am not going through this again.” Nick got up from the table and headed upstairs to think.

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Friday night came, and with it was Nick lying on his bed, staring at the wall and wondering how she was. He hadn’t talk to her for the rest of the week and it was killing him.

Kevin and Mark came in and sat on his bed.

“So, instead of lying here and feeling sorry for yourself, we’re taking you out,” Mark suggested.

“Where?” Nick didn’t really want to leave in case she called him.

“Who cares where? We‘re doing ‘bro time’. Well, without Max, but with us like we used to do in Michigan,” Kevin explained, trying to get him moving.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Nick asked them. “I mean, she gets really quiet around him.” It was all he could think about. He’d seen the way Chloe was with him and it scared him to think what could go wrong.

“Yeah, I noticed that. She isn’t like that with you, though. She’s always laughing and smiling,” Kevin mused, waiting for him to take the bait.

“Exactly my point,” Nick agreed. “Why would she even say yes to him if he makes her miserable? I mean, she is a totally different person when she’s with me.” He was relieved that they were starting to understand why he was so upset.

“Yeah, that makes perfect sense. She should really be with you right now,” Mark stated, seeming to play along.

They had him now, and he didn’t even realize it. “I know, right? Wait. Come on you guys, stop doing that. She’s just a friend. I like her, but not like that.”

Mark and Kevin looked at each other and smiled their victorious expressions obvious.

Nick had just admitted his true feelings for her.

A short while later, they sat in the restaurant, talking about old times when Nick saw her.

Chloe was sitting at a table near the window, playing with her straw and faking a smile. She looked so pretty; her hair was lose and a little curly. She wore a red baby doll shirt and a light-blue denim skirt. She kept playing with her earring and pretending to listen to what Josh was saying.

“Earth to Nicholas, did you hear what I just said?” Mark asked him as he waved his hand in front of his face.

“Order whatever you want on the pizza,” he answered. He was in a daze, wondering what she was thinking about as Josh talked.

“So, you’re paying for tonight, right? The movie, too?” Kevin teased.

“Yeah, whatever,” Nick agreed.

Suddenly, Chloe got up and went over to the juke box.

“Kev, let me out,” he asked, wanting to get over to her before she went back to him.

“Whoa, Nick, she’s here with him. Not a good idea,” Mark pleaded.

“I’m not going to mess up their date,” Nick said and pushed him out. He could feel his palms sweating as he walked up to her. He had to make this right. “So, I’m a really big jerk for saying what I said the other day. I just have a problem with my mock wife, who is expecting our mock baby, having an affair with the captain of the football team,” he joked as he stood next to Chloe, hoping that would make her want to talk to him again.

“It’s all good. I mean, I can see your point. With the baby on the way, I should really be home knitting booties or something,” she replied and laughed.

She smelled so good. The way she had shifted just a little sent her perfume up to his senses. “How’s the date going?”

“It’s going. I—I really missed talking to you this week. And I hate to admit it, but you’re right. This was a mistake. Unfortunately, it’s happening, so I can’t get out of it now.”

“I could call you and say a pipe broke at our mock house and you need to come home,” he suggested. Really, all he wanted to do was to take her out of this place, go somewhere and talk.

“Oh, yeah, I would need to come home to that. We can’t have the baby’s room flooding. Not after all the money we put out on it,” she agreed.

“For the record, I missed talking to you, too. Go finish your date, then call me tomorrow, and let me know how it went,” he said and touched her hand.

“Really?”

“No, not really, but yeah. Have a good time,” he said and went back to his table.

Kevin had been watching the whole thing. “This is killing you, isn’t it?” he asked, putting his arm around his shoulder.

“Yeah, but she’s happy. Let’s just go to the movies,” Nick said and went to the car.

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The dark theater was not really where she wanted to be with Josh, but this was what he’d wanted. All she could think about was seeing Nick at the restaurant. She was glad they’d talked. She had missed him. He’d been the one bright spot on this date. He’d smelled so good tonight, better than Josh, who smelled like he bathed in the aftershave he wore. And Nick had looked so cute in the blue flannel shirt and dark-blue jeans he was wearing.

“I hate chick flicks, but for you, I’ll sit through it.” His husky voice brought her back to the bitter reality of who she‘d been on a date with.

Josh reached over and took her hand.

“Great,” she said and wished she could pull her hand away. His hands were sweaty and chapped from working out. She pushed the thoughts of Josh, which repulsed her, out of her mind. She wanted to let Nick closer to her, but with the way her life had been and was, he would never really understand. She knew that once he found out the whole story, he would be like the rest and not want anything to do with her.

 
She only wished Josh got that hint. As the movie played out, Josh put his arm around her, and instead of feeling secure, his arm felt like a huge heavy tree limb and she felt trapped.

Then, he leaned over and kissed her ear.

“Josh, stop,” She jumped, hoping he would think she was interested in the movie. But it only seemed to put him off a little.

Once they were done at the movies, Chloe hoped that this miserable date was at its end. She’d not spoken much, but that didn’t seem to bother Josh. It gave him more time to talk about himself. When he pulled up at the park, she wanted to groan.

“What are we doing here?” she asked softly, trying to sound tired but knowing he wouldn’t care.

The way he looked her over, and then grinned was a little frightening. “I thought we could go for a walk and talk.”

She just nodded, got out of the car, and followed him. He took her hand and led her into the woods along the running trail. There was a damp chill in the air, and Chloe had wished she’d worn a jacket or something.

 
Josh stopped at one of the picnic tables and sat down.

On so many levels, she felt this was wrong. She shouldn’t have come with him here, but there was no going back now.

He looked at her and smiled, then patted the spot on the table next to him. This was the way he was going to talk to her.

Chloe sat down.

 
Josh got up and played with her hand. He started talking about them, as a couple. How things were going to be and what he had expected of her. But while he was rambling on, she started to think about Nick.

So many times on this date, she thought about him. He was easy to talk to, and she really enjoyed his company. He was always trying to make her laugh and seemed to only want for her to stand up for herself to her friends and not let them push her into things. Like this situation, here she was sitting on a picnic table in the middle of the cold, damp night, listening to this obnoxious football jock talk about how she was to act now that they were a supposed couple.

She didn’t want to be a couple with him. She didn’t even like him. The truth was that she was starting to like Nick, which was strange for her because she was always afraid to get close to people. She was still afraid to get any closer to Nick; if he let her down, she didn’t think she could handle it.

“Chloe, did you hear what I said to you?” Josh spoke a little louder.

She looked at him and saw he was annoyed at her. “I’m sorry, Josh, I didn’t hear you. It’s getting kinda cold. I think I want to go home now.” She wondered if he would offer her his jacket. Nick would have.
Why did she keep comparing him to Nick?

“We’re not done talking and I will take you home when I’m ready. Wow, that really made your eyes spark. Did I make you mad?” He laughed.

She started to bite at her bottom lip.
Had he actually told her when he was ready?
She heard Nick’s voice telling her to just tell her friends she didn’t like him. “Listen, Josh, you’re really nice, but I really don’t like you. I’m sorry, but you want someone who is going to follow your every command and live off every word you speak. That’s not me. I really have tried to be nice, but I have to be honest and tell you the truth.” She couldn’t believe she’d just said that. She actually said no to him and let him down easy. Inside her head, she was smiling at the way she handled him. Suddenly, she was relived.

She didn’t remember how she ended up on the ground or feeling the impact of his smack. Her cheek hurt so bad it felt like it was burning, and she was looking up at him as he towered over her, his face bright red with anger. “You stupid little prude bitch. I will teach you to talk to me like that. You should feel honored someone like me would want an emotional mess like you. You think that Nick kid wants you? He thinks you’re fucked up, like the rest of us do!” Josh was yelling at her.

Chloe tried to cower away from him and somehow, she got up to run, but he caught her fast. She fought him, but he fought back harder. She felt the buttons on her shirt being torn open and knew what was coming. She tried kicking him but she missed as he pinned her down. “Please, Josh, no. Don’t do this. Please, no!” Her scream filled the night air.

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Nick climbed into the backseat of Mark’s car and couldn’t stop laughing. Kevin was holding his phone and getting ready to send out the mass text.

Mark was not so happy. “God help you if you send that, Kevin. You do have to sleep sometime,” he warned him.

“But, Mark, you just were so stupid. You come out of the bathroom acting all cool and the paper was hanging out your pants like some kind of monkey tail.” Nick could hardly say it.

Kevin started hitting the dashboard at that. “Nick, his new name is Monkey Boy!”

 
Mark pulled out of the parking spot so fast then slammed on the breaks, sending them both flying. After a few minutes, he too, was laughing. It took them about fifteen minutes to calm down, and then Mark looked at them both. “It’s too early to go home. What do you want to do?”

“Hey, let’s go bowling. Losers have to do the winner’s chores tomorrow,” Kevin suggested, knowing he was going to get out of his.

“Sounds like a deal. What do you think, Nicky?” Mark gave him a challenging glance.

“Oh, it is so on! Let’s do this!” Nick agreed and sat back in the seat. He had to admit, it was good to be out with them. It’d been a long time since they had a bro night and this one had been a nice diversion from his preoccupation of Chloe and her date. His phone vibrated and he looked down at it.