Nicole couldn't think of it as a coincidence; she couldn't ignore it. Not when the same green station wagon she had seen earlier that day sat dormant by the curb.
She had no idea how long it had been parked out in front of the home where she volunteered to house sit. Aside from the family's beagle she was alone, and an eerie feeling made the hair stand up on the back of her neck when she imagined the intentions of the stranger behind the tinted windows of the strange vehicle.
Paranoia crept in as she sat by the front window under the cover of darkness staring out toward desolate street.
What did he want? Why was he parked out front?
Questions swirled in Nicole's mind and she felt frozen. The one that spooked her the most was: why? There were a limited number of answers as to why someone would follow a young woman and then park outside of the house where she resided. All of them were disturbing and left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Shit..." Nicole swallowed hard and felt compelled to sit by the window. A memory of the opening scene from Scream flashed through her mind and she tried her hardest to think rational.
She glanced over her shoulder toward the corner of the living room and eyed a wooden baseball bat. Without another thought Naomi hurried away from the window to retrieve it and then prepared to sit perched by the window for as long as the car lurked.
Since high school she had been babysitting or house sitting to make money. As a college graduate she hated how that fear of a stranger breaking in had not even remotely subsided. It was surely irrational and unlikely, she knew, though the thought still haunted her at twenty-three years old in the same way it did when she was sixteen.
Nicole closed her eyes for a moment in an attempt to curb her anxiety. She tried to thinking of a happy memory, counting down from ten and a few other methods she had Googled in the past.
A faint jingling sound made her eyes snap open and she abruptly rose to her feet. Nicole eyed the thin silver handle on the front door as it slowly rocked from side to side.
No... Nicole closed her eyes again for a brief moment and then reopened them. The handle continued to turn with a polite consistency as if not to disturb whoever was inside.
She raised the bat above her shoulder and took a step in the direction of the front door. Realistically Nicole didn't know what she would do if an intruder actually walked in.
It's locked, she reminded herself though the notion didn't make her feel any better. Someone was attempting to slip quietly into the house uninvited.
When a loud click sounded off she almost thought she was in the midst of a nightmare. Inch by inch the door creaked open and all she could do was wait.
Nicole felt the thud of her heartbeat in her ears and then the worst thing she could imagine happened.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Her body froze. A wave of panic reddened her face and left a paralyzing tightness in her chest just as the door eased open.
"Hello..." a deep, scratchy voice greeted.
Nicole stared straight ahead, her body still aching with fear as a man entered the home. He glanced over to where she stood like a statue gripping the bat with white knuckles and a smile spread over his face in Cheshire Cat-like fashion.
"Negan?" A warmth spread through her limbs and her body relaxed. Naomi's hands ached as she loosened her grip on the wooden handle.
"What the hell are you doing honey?" He let out a chuckle and gently closed the door behind him, securing the lock.
"I thought..." she swallowed hard and let her body completely relax. "I thought you were away with your wife... that's why I'm watching the house."
Negan continued to grin and reached a hand down, accepting the bat from hers and ran his other hand over the trim beard he sported.
"She's away," he corrected without elaboration, holding her gaze.
"Oh..." Nicole swallowed hard and felt her face grow a shade darker. The fear she had been feeling subsided when he kicked off his shoes.
"I didn't see you pull up."
"Neighbors do a lot of talking." Negan let out a huff of a laugh. "I parked down at the dead end. I'll move it into the garage when it's late."
Negan let out a long, decompressing sigh. As the adrenaline of the moment wore off she felt her body begin to relax.
"Someone... someone's parked outside," she said in a voice just above a whisper.
Negan squinted his eyes and then pulled the curtains back. His eyes shifted from side to side as he scanned the street in front of the house. "Where?" He asked.
Nicole joined him by the window and felt the conflicting emotions of relief and fear when she saw that the station wagon had disappeared.
"It... it was right there," she pointed with her index finger. "A green station wagon. I saw it earlier too. You don't think-"
Negan leaned in and kissed her, pulling her toward him by the cheek as he cupped the side of her face with one hand.
Nicole kissed him back for a moment until his grin separated their lips. "Negan you don't think... could someone be following me... or us?"
He laughed out loud and tapped under her chin with his first two fingers. "That's movie shit honey." Negan looked back out the window and then drew the curtain back into place. He smiled wide again, highlighting a set of dimples beneath his perfectly trimmed facial hair. "Probably someone who was visiting a neighbor or something."
Nicole took a deep breath and then gave a subtle nod.
"Look if this is too much-" he began but she immediately cut him off.
"It's not." Nicole shook her head and then subconsciously reached for the string on his hoodie that hung against his chest. She toyed with it a moment and then finally managed a smile. "I... sometimes being alone in someone else's house like this just freaks me out, I guess."
Negan snaked his fingers through the belt loops on her jeans and guided her back to him, connecting their lips again. "Well you're not alone anymore."
Nicole felt desire replacing the anxiousness and fear that had paralyzed her body a moment before and melted against him. She disregarded her feelings of paranoia as some underlying guilt for sleeping with a married man.
Negan sat back on the couch and reached for both of her hands. He gave a gentle tug, prompting Nicole to sit on his lap as they continued to make out on the couch.
Nicole sighed into a long kiss and felt him do the same.
"You wanna ride Daddy's dick?" He whispered against her lips.
Nicole eagerly slipped her tongue back into his mouth, moaning as she did and let out a deep breath through her nose as they parted.
Rather than reply she shimmied down her black yoga pants, maintaining eye contact with Negan as she purposely took her time. When his Adam's apple moved up and down in his throat she couldn't help but grin.
"Mmm..." he gave a small smile back and unfastened his belt.
Nicole straddled him before he could remove his pants and kissed him hard again, grinding against his pelvis as she did.
Negan leaned his head back against the couch cushion. "You didn't answer my question."
"Ask me again," she whispered.
Negan held her gaze and gripped her hips as he repeated his question as a demand. "Ride my dick baby."
Nicole looked down, taking the top button on his pants between her thumb and index finger before regaining eye contact as she unclasped it.
"I'll take your lack of response as a yes," he teased.
Nicole managed a light laugh and pulled his zipper down as Negan outstretched his arms to either side along the back of the couch.
The sound of breaking glass by the front door made both of them jump and Nicole put her hand over her chest.
"What was that?" She looked at Negan who's face clung with as much shock as hers.
"Stay here." He rose to his feet and zipped up his pants, listening intently as he slowly paced to the front door.
Nicole swallowed hard, not feeling quite as crazy about the station wagon out front as she watched Negan ease his way across the room. When he opened the front door her heart rate picked up.
Negan looked up at the light fixture that hung by the door and pressed his eyebrows together angrily when he saw the bulb had been shattered and the display hung crooked against the house.
"Fucking kids," he mumbled to himself.
"What is it?" Nicole asked, not masking the fear in her voice. She pulled a blanket over her lap.
Negan shouted aloud. "Come back again and I'll bask your fuckin' heads in!"
"Negan..."
He slammed the door and locked it before switching his gaze back to Nicole. "I used to love mischief night as a kid. Now I fucking hate it."
"What happened?"
"Someone shattered the light bulb and bailed." He made his way back to her and placed his hands on the back of the couch behind where she sat, capturing her lips again.
Nicole kissed him back for a second and then forced him to look her in the eye. "I have a bad feeling. That car-"
"It's kids doll." Negan kissed her again, this time drawing his lips down her neck. "Besides... I can fuckin' tune up anyone who's stupid enough to try to fuckin' break in here." He smiled to try easing her mind and then removed the blanket from her lap. Negan repositioned his lips so they hung by her ear, "Now... ride Daddy's dick."
Nicole took a breath and smiled, closing her eyes when he kissed her hard again. Before she could respond there was a knock at the front door.
"Mother fucker..." Negan pushed away from her angrily and stormed toward the front door. Nicole held her breath as he flung it open.