Chapter 28 - Winning Everything Back
Nyssa looked at her cell phone after she hung up on Jesse. She looked around the big living room of the old house then called Manda. She told her all about what Vince had said and how she had run away. And how Dom went to talk to her dad. She asked Manda what she should do about it. What Manda would do.
"Well first of all I would not have fallen for Vince." Nyssa sighed, that was a tired argument, the girls had been down that road before. Manda continued. "But since you did, make him sweat it out for at least a week, then go back to the house, but not to him. And be so happy and upbeat that he thinks you are over him. Then after a week of the happy treatment you tell him you miss him and you want to try again."
"You think?"
"Oh ya, that'll make him see what he is missing and he'll be so glad you took him back it'll be a long time before he messes up again."
"As scary as it is to me to take this kind of advice from someone who thinks two weeks is a serious commitment what you're saying makes sense."
"Oh, if you really want to get to him, have a big party in that big ol mausoleum and invite everyone but him to attend. Or better yet let him come and ignore him."
"Oh, that's good, evil, but good. How's this Friday looking for you? I could have it then go back their place on Saturday."
"Friday is looking wide open."
"Great. Now I just have to get through this week and then we do this thing. Sound good?"
"Sounds super. Get started on your party plans my girl."
Nyssa hung up the phone. It did sound good. She would invite Mia and Letty and Jesse and Leon and she guessed Dom. She was warming up to Dom. He hated that jail. She knew that he would die before going back as an inmate, it couln't be fun for him to go even as a visitor. But he had done it for her. Well maybe for Vince, he was worried about Vince too she was sure. But she was sure of one thing. She knew Vince would come to the party if he was invited or not so she had no worries there. She would make sure it was a happening party with lots of people attending.
She started to plan right away. She figured on having a BBQ for supper around 7 then dancing and partying till well into the night. She had lots of room for people to crash at her place if they got too drunk to drive. She went shopping and laid in a good supply of corona and other liquor and mix, then got the food. She figured she would ask Mia and Letty to come help her cook and dish girl stuff before the big bash. It could be the first big summer blowout. She would get the word out to all the racers that Dom's team rolled with. She should get a huge crowd. She would hope it was nice out so that it could be a mostly outside party. That was good really. They could set up a dance floor outside, and have someone set up a DJ booth. Her dad had told her to spend however much of his money she needed to. She hadn't spent much of it at all since she had been getting a small pay check from Dom for working in the garage and not paying rent.
Manda helped her get the word out on races on Wednesday about the party, and reported to Nyssa to expect a huge crowd. Nyssa rubbed her hands together and told Manda she was going to ask Lett and Mia to come around 5 and help her get stuff ready if Manda wanted to come early and help too. Then they could all get ready at the same time. She told her to bring a bathing suit too. They could put the huge pool to use too while it was warm early in the night.
Everything was ready to go by Thursday, which was went she called the Torreto house. Leon answered. "Yo."
"Leon, do you know the word hello by any chance, or is it always Yo with you?"
"Nyssa, girl, where the hell are you?"
"My house. What's up?"
"Your house? You went and got a place? Jesse said you were coming home sometime."
"I mean my dad's house, I'll be coming back soon. Can I talk to Mia or Letty?"
"You had me goin for a second Dawg, if you were never coming back it wouldn't be fit to live here." Leon said as he went looking for one of the girls. "Yo Mia, you got a phone call."
"Who is it?" Leon shrugged. Vince was within hearing and he figured Nyssa didn't want to talk to him or she would've asked for him. Mia took the phone and walked into the living room.
"Hello?" Mia didn't know who it would be.
"Mia, girl, how ya livin?"
"Nyssa, you dirty, evil girl. How could you take off like that and not call us. I have been going out of my mind worrying about you. And Vince is not even fit to be around. I can't believe you didn't call."
"I did call. I told Jess to tell you all I was fine. I'm at my Dad's house. That's why I called. I want to invite you and Letty and the guys to a big party I'm having on Friday. I'm starting it at 7pm and it's going till people drop or go home."
"We got invited to a party on Friday already, at some big house in the 'burbs. We're going to that already. You could come with us."
"That's my party you heard about at races. Told you it would be a big bash. I wanted you and Letty to come out around 5 to chill and hang out before hand and maybe you could help me cook. You're the best cook Mi, and you know you miss me and love me and wanna help."
"Of course I miss you. And I would love to show up early and dish. I'll see you then. Are we allowed to bring Vince?"
"I wouldn't tell you not to. The whole team can come. Why not just not tell him who's party it is hun? Let him wonder. I hope he doesn't decide not to come. I hope he wouldn't rather stay home and mope."
"Dom'll make him come, don't worry. Letty and I'll see you at 5 on Friday."
"Oh and Mia,"
"Ya?"
"Bring your swim suit and dressy clothes too. We are going to swim at some point, kay?"
"Sweet." They said their good byes and Mia went to find Letty. She filled her in and Letty said it sounded fun. They would take Letty's car up at 5. They could get ready with Nyssa and then wait for other people to show.
The rest of the week seemed to drag for Nyssa. She couldn't wait for Friday to come so she could see her friends again. She was going out of her mind on her own. She was use to a smaller house filled with people. She loved living in the back pocket of everyone, strangely enough. She had thought her self to be a very private person but at Dom's there was always someone to talk to, you were never alone, and she felt safe with the guys watching out for them. It was nice.
Her uncle John stopped by once to make sure she was ok, and Steve came by every day to make sure she didn't need anything. The gardener and the guy who cleaned the pool came once a week and it was on Thursdays. So she was glad that the yard and pool were all ready for the party. She called Manda to make sure the place was going to be packed. Manda told her it might be too packed and she hoped Nyssa was counting on a huge crowd. Sounded good to Nyssa.
She went to bed on Thursday night and she couldn't get to sleep. The nights were the worst for her since she ran away from Vince. She found it hard to sleep on her own. She was also increasable excited about her party. She finally drifted off.
Friday dawned clear and sunny. The weather man said that sun was the name of the game for the day. It was gonna be hot. She put on her bikini and then pulled on a pair of gym shorts with kiss this on the butt and then padded down to the kitchen. It was lunch time so she had a chicken salad then started to play phone tag.
She called around and everything was set. She called Manda and told her she knew that Manda had been just going to come over but would she like to go shopping that afternoon. Since Manda could not remember the last time she had turned down shopping she told Nyssa she would pick her up in about 15 minutes since Nyssa's convertible was still with the Torreto's and it was too nice of a day to drive around in a car with no convertible top or sun roof. Nyssa laughingly agreed and waited for her cousin after she threw on some jean cut offs and a tank top.
They hit the mall. Manda wanted to know if they were just looking, or if Nyssa needed something in particular. Nyssa needed an outfit that said you- were-crazy-to-do-anything that-would-cause-me-to-leave-your-ass-and-you- know-you-want-me-back-so-bad-it-is killing-you. She didn't know how to put that in words so she just said "I am looking for an outfit that makes people go WOW." So now they had a goal. They hit Manda's favourite store, Beyond the Beach.
They looked around and Nyssa was not seeing that outfit. She didn't know what she wanted but she knew she would know it when she saw it. Manda held up a top. It looked like a halter top. It was silver and Nyssa knew it would look good with her dark skin, but she wanted something better then a tank top. Almost as if Manda had read her mind she turned the shirt around to show the back. The back, if you could call it that, was two string straps that criss crossed on the back. From the front it looked almost demure for a tank top, but there may as well have been no back. It was perfect. She tried it on with a black leather skirt that just covered her butt with a silver dragon on it, on the left hand side, and a slit up almost to her hip on the right. She put on knee high leather boots and came out of the dressing room.
"Well? It seems like too much."
"No way girl, you need that outfit. It looks almost like something it would be ok to wear around your parents, till you turn around, then, wow. Now help me pick one."
They picked out a white V neck tank top in which the sides were cut away and the top was held together with criss crossed Xs of strings and the back was low cut and a white leather skirt just a short as Nyssa's with matching criss cross cut outs on the sides. Manda bought new boots, white leather knee boots. She wanted to know it if was too much as well. Nyssa told her no way, not with her dark tan and blond hair. It looked awesome.
So they headed home. On the way Manda bought a highlighting kit and put light red highlights in Nyssa's hair. They chilled from 4 till the doorbell rang at 5 then let the other girls in. Nyssa introduced Manda to Letty and Mia. Mia and Manda hit it right off but Letty was cool to Manda. She was a bit sensitive about girls who had made plays for Dom. Manda knew that Letty thought she had a crush on her man and she figured she owed it to her to be both honest that she had, honest that she had never acted on her crush, and honest that she was over it.
"Letty, I know you don't like me much right now, and I know you have reasons. But I just want you to know that I never did anything to be mad at me over, I just had a crush, I know it was stupid, but like I said I never did anything about it other then tell the wrong person, and I am totally over it. I've never even talked to him I swear. I don't even think about it anymore, I knew all along I never had a chance with him anyways and that it was wrong to be crushing on someone else's man. So I hope that you aren't too mad at me."
"Well, thanks for telling me that. We aight." Everyone could tell that Letty was not totally over it but that she really had appreciated being told face to face, and that she knew how hard it was for a girl like Manda to admit she hadn't had a chance.
They got the food all ready then around 6:30 they all went to get ready. Mia saw what the cousins were wearing and almost died. Mia was also wearing a fairly short skirt but her skirt and top were not quite as tight as the other two. Letty was wearing her barely there leather skirt and a sheer tank over a white bra, which looked awesome against her dark skin.
All the girls knew they were leaving their hair down but Nyssa. She couldn't decide what to do with hers. It was to the small of her back when it was curly now. She hadn't had it cut in so long she couldn't remember when it was cut last.
"If we straitened it how long would it be?" Mia asked.
"My butt somewhere I would think." Nyssa answered. "But if we do that and I go swimming later all that hard work is down the drain."
"True, and we're runnin outa time." Letty said.
They put it up to show off the back of her shirt, they piled it on top of her head and left some curls hanging down around her face and down her back. They all agreed it looked good and she never wore it up like this, so it was still a change.
The guys didn't show up till 8pm, so the party was already jumpin by the time they got there. They didn't know who's party they were at either. Mia and Letty had found it easier to just not tell any of them because Dom and Vince were so thick who knew if Dom would've kept it from him.
"Cool house Dawg." Leon said to the group in general as they all piled out of their cars in the driveway.
"Yeah, wonder who is throwing this bash anyways. I think the girls knew more then they let on. What was up with meeting us here?" Dom could smell a sneaky plan behind this whole thing, he just couldn't figure what could be up.
"Whatever guys, let's just go eat so I can leave." Vince hadn't wanted to come. Dom had to threaten him for 30 minutes solid and he only came in the end because Dom told him that they were going as a team.
"What is with you and your stomach Vince? Can't you hear that music? And ok, the food smells good too. It smells like Mia's chicken. Am I going crazy?" Jesse sniffed the air again.
"Hey Dawg, that does smell like Mia's chicken, let's go around the back." Leon started down the path that lead around the house. The back yard was packed, but the table with the food on it was pretty well cleared out because everyone was chowing down. They all helped themselves then looked around. They spotted Hector and went to talk to him for awhile while they ate.
Hector said some race chick was throwing the party. He wouldn't tell them who. The food tasted just like Mia's cooking though. Just then the girl in question walked out of the house and saw her brother and team. She grabbed Letty and walked over to them. "Hey guys. You find the place ok?"
"Sure Mia. You helping them out with the cookin at this party?" Jesse asked.
"Sure am, you would know my food, you eat enough of it." They all laughed.
"So who's place is this?" Vince asked.
"Someone's, I'm not really sure. Girl from around races." Letty looked around and then at Dom, who had just finished eating. "Wanna dance?"
"Sure." Dom took in the way Letty was dressed and the attention she was getting from other guys and took her onto the makeshift dance floor under the lights on the other side of the place. Mia sat down with the guys and they chatted. If he hadn't been talking to Mia Vince would have left long ago. He caught sight of a tumble of red curls on some girls head and did a double take but the girl was gone.
"Mia, is Nyssa here?" Vince asked very hopefully.
"Oh she might be I guess. A lot of people are." Mia winked at him to let him know that Nyssa was in fact around.
Vince stood up. "I'm just goin for a little look around."
"Sure cowboy, have fun. You might try the kitchen." Mia laughed at the look on Vince's face. Ever since him and Dom were 8 Vince had the same look come over his face when he was busted doing something he didn't think he should be doing. Vince walked off in a huff. Brian arrived just then and grabbed Mia for a dance. Leon and Jesse moved off to see who they could run into themselves.
Nyssa was mingling in the house. She caught sight of Vince and quickly headed outside through another door. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet. She wandered around outside for a while then went looking for Manda or Letty. She found Manda.
"He's here. What do I do? I can't avoid him forever. But I don't know what to say."
"Say whatever seems right. If you want to forgive him then forgive him. I mean you made him sweat it out over a week now. If you're still angry then just be cool to him. Find a guy to dance with and have him find you on the dance floor would be my idea. Then he knows it is not like you can't get other guys interested and you're not stuck with him or somethin'."
"Good idea. Have I told you lately how fucken' scary it is to take romance advice from you?" Manda just laughed. Nyssa and Manda headed off to see what guys they could find to dance with. Nyssa saw Leon and Jesse talking to Edwin. Well she hoped they were not trying to pick up Edwin. She smiled to herself and steered her cousin over toward them. Looking at Jesse she got an idea. She wondered if Jesse and the new and improved Manda would hit it off. She walked up to the guys with Manda by her side. "Leon, Jesse, how you doin?"
"Nyssa!" Both of the guys exclaimed and grabbed her.
"Could I breathe now?" She croaked out and the guys let her go. She pulled Manda forward. "This is Manda. Manda, that's Jesse, and that is Leon. Leon, let's go dance. Manda, show Jesse around the place." Manda smiled. Jesse was cute.
"Ok cuz, come on Jesse, I'll show you were the drinks are. I could use something cold." It was hot out for sure.
"Vince see you yet girl? He's gonna freak." Leon asked as they walked toward the other people dancing, leaning back to check out the back of her outfit. Ol' Coyote would do more'n freak.
"Haven't seen Vince. Is he here with you all?" Nyssa asked looking totally innocent like she figured Vince stayed home. Leon knew she was far from innocent and she had known Vince would come with the team.
"Yes he's here. Dom had to drag him. Who's throwing this party?"
"You guys didn't figure that out yet? I am. This is my Dad's place."
"No shit, really?"
"Yes, really. You know how to dance to this kind of music my man?"
"Yeah." Much as the though of dancing with Nyssa sounded good, he knew what kind of dance went with this kind of music and he wasn't sure if he wanted Vince to see him doing that kind of dance with Nyssa. Oh well, you only lived once and he figured the whole point was to make the old Coyote jealous. And Vince was not likely to beat his face off at least. He hoped. Man was it hot out or what, Leon asked himself. Probably or what, he was looking at Nyssa, in that outfit, dancing with him like that. The song that had just started was one he didn't know but while it wasn't a slow song it was one of those songs that involved a lot of touching to dance to. He was in too deep now he figured so he was going to enjoy the ride for now.
The song was one minute man and it was a very sexy song. Nyssa didn't know if dancing to this song with another guy was smart either but she was going for it now either way. She grabbed Leon and they started to dance to the song. Leon really could dance. Dom and Letty had decided to take a break from dancing and they noticed Leon and Nyssa dancing.
"Oh shit. Look at Leon and Nyssa. That is a pretty, um, involved dance they are doing." Dom said.
Letty said. "Yeah, who knew Leon could dance like that? Oh no, there's gonna be trouble." She pointed at Vince who had noticed his girl, he hoped she was still his girl, and one of his best friends doing a dance that was almost like sex with clothes on the dance floor.
"Oh shit." Dom echoed Letty and stood up to go after Vince. But Vince came over to Dom.
"What the hell is that?" He asked staring at Leon and Nyssa.
"Dancing." Dom answered.
"I know that, I'm not stupid. Why is she dancing with Leon like that?"
"Cause she wanted to dance and he was there maybe."
"Well what am I gonna do about it? I don't even know if I have the right to go retrieve her. She might still not want anything to do with me."
"Go dance with her, cut it."
"I don't dance like that."
"How hard can it be man, you can have sex right, so that dance is basically just sex standing up without taking your clothes off."
"I guess." Vince headed off behind Leon and tapped him on the shoulder. "Mind if I dance with her for awhile man?"
"Naw Dawg, go ahead. Later Nys."
"Yeah, later Leon. Hello Vince, how you been?"
"Later we talk, right now we dance." Vince grabbed her and was surprised to find he did alright if he followed her lead and his instinct. The song ended and she agreed to walk off with him. "So, how you been?" Vince asked. What a lame start.
"Good, I been aight. Upset at first but aight now. You?"
"Well, not so good. I was stupid. I know that, and I'm sorry I hurt you."
She nodded. "Well, that's a start." Vince stopped her and turned her to face him. She wasn't looking at him so he tipped her head back and looked into her eyes.
"I just want you to know, the reason why I acted like that was I was scared. I never been involved with a girl before like this. I was always just marking time till I ended up with Mia before you and having such strong feelings for a girl was just over whelming. I didn't deal with it very well. I see that and I'm sorry. I was always the one that couldn't think before I acted, which didn't help me out there and I had way too much to drink. I hope you can forgive me."
Of course she had planned on it already and that was a much better apology then she had been expecting. "I mean I'll forgive you Vince, but not right away you know? But we can be friends for now right?" She was still ticked off so she figured she'd make him sweat it out a little while longer.
"Ok, friends for now. So who's party is this?"
"Mine."
"No shit?"
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" She looked exasperated at the constant questions about who owned the house.
"This is a great house, why would you ever want to come live in our place if you could live here?"
"Cause this place is big and lonely. I like living with the team. I like the company. I like helping Mia look after all you helpless guys. I like working for Dom and I like racing. I was totally happy till this all went down."
"Ok, fair enough." They walked back to the main part of the backyard. "You look good by the way."
"Thanks."
She looked more then good he thought but he didn't want to sound like a moron. They saw Jesse and Manda dancing. "Hey isn't that your cousin? And Jesse?"
"Yep."
"You sound very satisfied about that."
"I hope they hit it off. Manda has changed a lot."
Vince figured he'd take her word for it. The song changed to one he was not familiar with but it was, well, almost like stripper music or something. The song, Nyssa knew, was Lick, by Joi, and she wanted to dance with Vince to it.
"Let's dance to this one V."
"I don't know."
"Just follow my lead again and it'll all be good. See Dom and Letty are gonna dance." She had told Mia and Letty what rooms to crash in earlier and she figured after this song Letty would be showing Dom to their room. She dragged Vince off onto the dance floor.
Nyssa looked at her cell phone after she hung up on Jesse. She looked around the big living room of the old house then called Manda. She told her all about what Vince had said and how she had run away. And how Dom went to talk to her dad. She asked Manda what she should do about it. What Manda would do.
"Well first of all I would not have fallen for Vince." Nyssa sighed, that was a tired argument, the girls had been down that road before. Manda continued. "But since you did, make him sweat it out for at least a week, then go back to the house, but not to him. And be so happy and upbeat that he thinks you are over him. Then after a week of the happy treatment you tell him you miss him and you want to try again."
"You think?"
"Oh ya, that'll make him see what he is missing and he'll be so glad you took him back it'll be a long time before he messes up again."
"As scary as it is to me to take this kind of advice from someone who thinks two weeks is a serious commitment what you're saying makes sense."
"Oh, if you really want to get to him, have a big party in that big ol mausoleum and invite everyone but him to attend. Or better yet let him come and ignore him."
"Oh, that's good, evil, but good. How's this Friday looking for you? I could have it then go back their place on Saturday."
"Friday is looking wide open."
"Great. Now I just have to get through this week and then we do this thing. Sound good?"
"Sounds super. Get started on your party plans my girl."
Nyssa hung up the phone. It did sound good. She would invite Mia and Letty and Jesse and Leon and she guessed Dom. She was warming up to Dom. He hated that jail. She knew that he would die before going back as an inmate, it couln't be fun for him to go even as a visitor. But he had done it for her. Well maybe for Vince, he was worried about Vince too she was sure. But she was sure of one thing. She knew Vince would come to the party if he was invited or not so she had no worries there. She would make sure it was a happening party with lots of people attending.
She started to plan right away. She figured on having a BBQ for supper around 7 then dancing and partying till well into the night. She had lots of room for people to crash at her place if they got too drunk to drive. She went shopping and laid in a good supply of corona and other liquor and mix, then got the food. She figured she would ask Mia and Letty to come help her cook and dish girl stuff before the big bash. It could be the first big summer blowout. She would get the word out to all the racers that Dom's team rolled with. She should get a huge crowd. She would hope it was nice out so that it could be a mostly outside party. That was good really. They could set up a dance floor outside, and have someone set up a DJ booth. Her dad had told her to spend however much of his money she needed to. She hadn't spent much of it at all since she had been getting a small pay check from Dom for working in the garage and not paying rent.
Manda helped her get the word out on races on Wednesday about the party, and reported to Nyssa to expect a huge crowd. Nyssa rubbed her hands together and told Manda she was going to ask Lett and Mia to come around 5 and help her get stuff ready if Manda wanted to come early and help too. Then they could all get ready at the same time. She told her to bring a bathing suit too. They could put the huge pool to use too while it was warm early in the night.
Everything was ready to go by Thursday, which was went she called the Torreto house. Leon answered. "Yo."
"Leon, do you know the word hello by any chance, or is it always Yo with you?"
"Nyssa, girl, where the hell are you?"
"My house. What's up?"
"Your house? You went and got a place? Jesse said you were coming home sometime."
"I mean my dad's house, I'll be coming back soon. Can I talk to Mia or Letty?"
"You had me goin for a second Dawg, if you were never coming back it wouldn't be fit to live here." Leon said as he went looking for one of the girls. "Yo Mia, you got a phone call."
"Who is it?" Leon shrugged. Vince was within hearing and he figured Nyssa didn't want to talk to him or she would've asked for him. Mia took the phone and walked into the living room.
"Hello?" Mia didn't know who it would be.
"Mia, girl, how ya livin?"
"Nyssa, you dirty, evil girl. How could you take off like that and not call us. I have been going out of my mind worrying about you. And Vince is not even fit to be around. I can't believe you didn't call."
"I did call. I told Jess to tell you all I was fine. I'm at my Dad's house. That's why I called. I want to invite you and Letty and the guys to a big party I'm having on Friday. I'm starting it at 7pm and it's going till people drop or go home."
"We got invited to a party on Friday already, at some big house in the 'burbs. We're going to that already. You could come with us."
"That's my party you heard about at races. Told you it would be a big bash. I wanted you and Letty to come out around 5 to chill and hang out before hand and maybe you could help me cook. You're the best cook Mi, and you know you miss me and love me and wanna help."
"Of course I miss you. And I would love to show up early and dish. I'll see you then. Are we allowed to bring Vince?"
"I wouldn't tell you not to. The whole team can come. Why not just not tell him who's party it is hun? Let him wonder. I hope he doesn't decide not to come. I hope he wouldn't rather stay home and mope."
"Dom'll make him come, don't worry. Letty and I'll see you at 5 on Friday."
"Oh and Mia,"
"Ya?"
"Bring your swim suit and dressy clothes too. We are going to swim at some point, kay?"
"Sweet." They said their good byes and Mia went to find Letty. She filled her in and Letty said it sounded fun. They would take Letty's car up at 5. They could get ready with Nyssa and then wait for other people to show.
The rest of the week seemed to drag for Nyssa. She couldn't wait for Friday to come so she could see her friends again. She was going out of her mind on her own. She was use to a smaller house filled with people. She loved living in the back pocket of everyone, strangely enough. She had thought her self to be a very private person but at Dom's there was always someone to talk to, you were never alone, and she felt safe with the guys watching out for them. It was nice.
Her uncle John stopped by once to make sure she was ok, and Steve came by every day to make sure she didn't need anything. The gardener and the guy who cleaned the pool came once a week and it was on Thursdays. So she was glad that the yard and pool were all ready for the party. She called Manda to make sure the place was going to be packed. Manda told her it might be too packed and she hoped Nyssa was counting on a huge crowd. Sounded good to Nyssa.
She went to bed on Thursday night and she couldn't get to sleep. The nights were the worst for her since she ran away from Vince. She found it hard to sleep on her own. She was also increasable excited about her party. She finally drifted off.
Friday dawned clear and sunny. The weather man said that sun was the name of the game for the day. It was gonna be hot. She put on her bikini and then pulled on a pair of gym shorts with kiss this on the butt and then padded down to the kitchen. It was lunch time so she had a chicken salad then started to play phone tag.
She called around and everything was set. She called Manda and told her she knew that Manda had been just going to come over but would she like to go shopping that afternoon. Since Manda could not remember the last time she had turned down shopping she told Nyssa she would pick her up in about 15 minutes since Nyssa's convertible was still with the Torreto's and it was too nice of a day to drive around in a car with no convertible top or sun roof. Nyssa laughingly agreed and waited for her cousin after she threw on some jean cut offs and a tank top.
They hit the mall. Manda wanted to know if they were just looking, or if Nyssa needed something in particular. Nyssa needed an outfit that said you- were-crazy-to-do-anything that-would-cause-me-to-leave-your-ass-and-you- know-you-want-me-back-so-bad-it-is killing-you. She didn't know how to put that in words so she just said "I am looking for an outfit that makes people go WOW." So now they had a goal. They hit Manda's favourite store, Beyond the Beach.
They looked around and Nyssa was not seeing that outfit. She didn't know what she wanted but she knew she would know it when she saw it. Manda held up a top. It looked like a halter top. It was silver and Nyssa knew it would look good with her dark skin, but she wanted something better then a tank top. Almost as if Manda had read her mind she turned the shirt around to show the back. The back, if you could call it that, was two string straps that criss crossed on the back. From the front it looked almost demure for a tank top, but there may as well have been no back. It was perfect. She tried it on with a black leather skirt that just covered her butt with a silver dragon on it, on the left hand side, and a slit up almost to her hip on the right. She put on knee high leather boots and came out of the dressing room.
"Well? It seems like too much."
"No way girl, you need that outfit. It looks almost like something it would be ok to wear around your parents, till you turn around, then, wow. Now help me pick one."
They picked out a white V neck tank top in which the sides were cut away and the top was held together with criss crossed Xs of strings and the back was low cut and a white leather skirt just a short as Nyssa's with matching criss cross cut outs on the sides. Manda bought new boots, white leather knee boots. She wanted to know it if was too much as well. Nyssa told her no way, not with her dark tan and blond hair. It looked awesome.
So they headed home. On the way Manda bought a highlighting kit and put light red highlights in Nyssa's hair. They chilled from 4 till the doorbell rang at 5 then let the other girls in. Nyssa introduced Manda to Letty and Mia. Mia and Manda hit it right off but Letty was cool to Manda. She was a bit sensitive about girls who had made plays for Dom. Manda knew that Letty thought she had a crush on her man and she figured she owed it to her to be both honest that she had, honest that she had never acted on her crush, and honest that she was over it.
"Letty, I know you don't like me much right now, and I know you have reasons. But I just want you to know that I never did anything to be mad at me over, I just had a crush, I know it was stupid, but like I said I never did anything about it other then tell the wrong person, and I am totally over it. I've never even talked to him I swear. I don't even think about it anymore, I knew all along I never had a chance with him anyways and that it was wrong to be crushing on someone else's man. So I hope that you aren't too mad at me."
"Well, thanks for telling me that. We aight." Everyone could tell that Letty was not totally over it but that she really had appreciated being told face to face, and that she knew how hard it was for a girl like Manda to admit she hadn't had a chance.
They got the food all ready then around 6:30 they all went to get ready. Mia saw what the cousins were wearing and almost died. Mia was also wearing a fairly short skirt but her skirt and top were not quite as tight as the other two. Letty was wearing her barely there leather skirt and a sheer tank over a white bra, which looked awesome against her dark skin.
All the girls knew they were leaving their hair down but Nyssa. She couldn't decide what to do with hers. It was to the small of her back when it was curly now. She hadn't had it cut in so long she couldn't remember when it was cut last.
"If we straitened it how long would it be?" Mia asked.
"My butt somewhere I would think." Nyssa answered. "But if we do that and I go swimming later all that hard work is down the drain."
"True, and we're runnin outa time." Letty said.
They put it up to show off the back of her shirt, they piled it on top of her head and left some curls hanging down around her face and down her back. They all agreed it looked good and she never wore it up like this, so it was still a change.
The guys didn't show up till 8pm, so the party was already jumpin by the time they got there. They didn't know who's party they were at either. Mia and Letty had found it easier to just not tell any of them because Dom and Vince were so thick who knew if Dom would've kept it from him.
"Cool house Dawg." Leon said to the group in general as they all piled out of their cars in the driveway.
"Yeah, wonder who is throwing this bash anyways. I think the girls knew more then they let on. What was up with meeting us here?" Dom could smell a sneaky plan behind this whole thing, he just couldn't figure what could be up.
"Whatever guys, let's just go eat so I can leave." Vince hadn't wanted to come. Dom had to threaten him for 30 minutes solid and he only came in the end because Dom told him that they were going as a team.
"What is with you and your stomach Vince? Can't you hear that music? And ok, the food smells good too. It smells like Mia's chicken. Am I going crazy?" Jesse sniffed the air again.
"Hey Dawg, that does smell like Mia's chicken, let's go around the back." Leon started down the path that lead around the house. The back yard was packed, but the table with the food on it was pretty well cleared out because everyone was chowing down. They all helped themselves then looked around. They spotted Hector and went to talk to him for awhile while they ate.
Hector said some race chick was throwing the party. He wouldn't tell them who. The food tasted just like Mia's cooking though. Just then the girl in question walked out of the house and saw her brother and team. She grabbed Letty and walked over to them. "Hey guys. You find the place ok?"
"Sure Mia. You helping them out with the cookin at this party?" Jesse asked.
"Sure am, you would know my food, you eat enough of it." They all laughed.
"So who's place is this?" Vince asked.
"Someone's, I'm not really sure. Girl from around races." Letty looked around and then at Dom, who had just finished eating. "Wanna dance?"
"Sure." Dom took in the way Letty was dressed and the attention she was getting from other guys and took her onto the makeshift dance floor under the lights on the other side of the place. Mia sat down with the guys and they chatted. If he hadn't been talking to Mia Vince would have left long ago. He caught sight of a tumble of red curls on some girls head and did a double take but the girl was gone.
"Mia, is Nyssa here?" Vince asked very hopefully.
"Oh she might be I guess. A lot of people are." Mia winked at him to let him know that Nyssa was in fact around.
Vince stood up. "I'm just goin for a little look around."
"Sure cowboy, have fun. You might try the kitchen." Mia laughed at the look on Vince's face. Ever since him and Dom were 8 Vince had the same look come over his face when he was busted doing something he didn't think he should be doing. Vince walked off in a huff. Brian arrived just then and grabbed Mia for a dance. Leon and Jesse moved off to see who they could run into themselves.
Nyssa was mingling in the house. She caught sight of Vince and quickly headed outside through another door. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet. She wandered around outside for a while then went looking for Manda or Letty. She found Manda.
"He's here. What do I do? I can't avoid him forever. But I don't know what to say."
"Say whatever seems right. If you want to forgive him then forgive him. I mean you made him sweat it out over a week now. If you're still angry then just be cool to him. Find a guy to dance with and have him find you on the dance floor would be my idea. Then he knows it is not like you can't get other guys interested and you're not stuck with him or somethin'."
"Good idea. Have I told you lately how fucken' scary it is to take romance advice from you?" Manda just laughed. Nyssa and Manda headed off to see what guys they could find to dance with. Nyssa saw Leon and Jesse talking to Edwin. Well she hoped they were not trying to pick up Edwin. She smiled to herself and steered her cousin over toward them. Looking at Jesse she got an idea. She wondered if Jesse and the new and improved Manda would hit it off. She walked up to the guys with Manda by her side. "Leon, Jesse, how you doin?"
"Nyssa!" Both of the guys exclaimed and grabbed her.
"Could I breathe now?" She croaked out and the guys let her go. She pulled Manda forward. "This is Manda. Manda, that's Jesse, and that is Leon. Leon, let's go dance. Manda, show Jesse around the place." Manda smiled. Jesse was cute.
"Ok cuz, come on Jesse, I'll show you were the drinks are. I could use something cold." It was hot out for sure.
"Vince see you yet girl? He's gonna freak." Leon asked as they walked toward the other people dancing, leaning back to check out the back of her outfit. Ol' Coyote would do more'n freak.
"Haven't seen Vince. Is he here with you all?" Nyssa asked looking totally innocent like she figured Vince stayed home. Leon knew she was far from innocent and she had known Vince would come with the team.
"Yes he's here. Dom had to drag him. Who's throwing this party?"
"You guys didn't figure that out yet? I am. This is my Dad's place."
"No shit, really?"
"Yes, really. You know how to dance to this kind of music my man?"
"Yeah." Much as the though of dancing with Nyssa sounded good, he knew what kind of dance went with this kind of music and he wasn't sure if he wanted Vince to see him doing that kind of dance with Nyssa. Oh well, you only lived once and he figured the whole point was to make the old Coyote jealous. And Vince was not likely to beat his face off at least. He hoped. Man was it hot out or what, Leon asked himself. Probably or what, he was looking at Nyssa, in that outfit, dancing with him like that. The song that had just started was one he didn't know but while it wasn't a slow song it was one of those songs that involved a lot of touching to dance to. He was in too deep now he figured so he was going to enjoy the ride for now.
The song was one minute man and it was a very sexy song. Nyssa didn't know if dancing to this song with another guy was smart either but she was going for it now either way. She grabbed Leon and they started to dance to the song. Leon really could dance. Dom and Letty had decided to take a break from dancing and they noticed Leon and Nyssa dancing.
"Oh shit. Look at Leon and Nyssa. That is a pretty, um, involved dance they are doing." Dom said.
Letty said. "Yeah, who knew Leon could dance like that? Oh no, there's gonna be trouble." She pointed at Vince who had noticed his girl, he hoped she was still his girl, and one of his best friends doing a dance that was almost like sex with clothes on the dance floor.
"Oh shit." Dom echoed Letty and stood up to go after Vince. But Vince came over to Dom.
"What the hell is that?" He asked staring at Leon and Nyssa.
"Dancing." Dom answered.
"I know that, I'm not stupid. Why is she dancing with Leon like that?"
"Cause she wanted to dance and he was there maybe."
"Well what am I gonna do about it? I don't even know if I have the right to go retrieve her. She might still not want anything to do with me."
"Go dance with her, cut it."
"I don't dance like that."
"How hard can it be man, you can have sex right, so that dance is basically just sex standing up without taking your clothes off."
"I guess." Vince headed off behind Leon and tapped him on the shoulder. "Mind if I dance with her for awhile man?"
"Naw Dawg, go ahead. Later Nys."
"Yeah, later Leon. Hello Vince, how you been?"
"Later we talk, right now we dance." Vince grabbed her and was surprised to find he did alright if he followed her lead and his instinct. The song ended and she agreed to walk off with him. "So, how you been?" Vince asked. What a lame start.
"Good, I been aight. Upset at first but aight now. You?"
"Well, not so good. I was stupid. I know that, and I'm sorry I hurt you."
She nodded. "Well, that's a start." Vince stopped her and turned her to face him. She wasn't looking at him so he tipped her head back and looked into her eyes.
"I just want you to know, the reason why I acted like that was I was scared. I never been involved with a girl before like this. I was always just marking time till I ended up with Mia before you and having such strong feelings for a girl was just over whelming. I didn't deal with it very well. I see that and I'm sorry. I was always the one that couldn't think before I acted, which didn't help me out there and I had way too much to drink. I hope you can forgive me."
Of course she had planned on it already and that was a much better apology then she had been expecting. "I mean I'll forgive you Vince, but not right away you know? But we can be friends for now right?" She was still ticked off so she figured she'd make him sweat it out a little while longer.
"Ok, friends for now. So who's party is this?"
"Mine."
"No shit?"
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" She looked exasperated at the constant questions about who owned the house.
"This is a great house, why would you ever want to come live in our place if you could live here?"
"Cause this place is big and lonely. I like living with the team. I like the company. I like helping Mia look after all you helpless guys. I like working for Dom and I like racing. I was totally happy till this all went down."
"Ok, fair enough." They walked back to the main part of the backyard. "You look good by the way."
"Thanks."
She looked more then good he thought but he didn't want to sound like a moron. They saw Jesse and Manda dancing. "Hey isn't that your cousin? And Jesse?"
"Yep."
"You sound very satisfied about that."
"I hope they hit it off. Manda has changed a lot."
Vince figured he'd take her word for it. The song changed to one he was not familiar with but it was, well, almost like stripper music or something. The song, Nyssa knew, was Lick, by Joi, and she wanted to dance with Vince to it.
"Let's dance to this one V."
"I don't know."
"Just follow my lead again and it'll all be good. See Dom and Letty are gonna dance." She had told Mia and Letty what rooms to crash in earlier and she figured after this song Letty would be showing Dom to their room. She dragged Vince off onto the dance floor.