Chapter 5
(The next morning)
Nick inhaled deeply, catching the scent of Daisies in his nostrils. He opened his eyes and saw a mass of red tendrils strewn about on his chest. He picked up one and began twirling it on his finger gently, so as not to disturb Riley. He felt her shift and drape her arm across his waist, pulling his naked body closer to her. Nick smiled and laid his head back down on the pillow, thinking back to the night before and their continuous work out. The thought of that made his stomach growl in a different kind of hunger and he opened his eyes to see Riley's beautiful baby blues sparkling back at him.
A wild grin spread across his face and he released her curl from his grasp. He smiled and went to kiss her until she moved her head out of the way. "I have morning breath." She explained and Nick smiled.
"So go brush your teeth."
She crawled away, smiling. "I have a spare tooth brush if you need it." She offered, her voice barely above a whisper. He nodded and climbed out of the bed, throwing on his Scooby Doo boxers in the process. She chuckled as they crossed the room to the bathroom she had all to herself.
"Your lucky, a bathroom all to yourself when you live in a house full of the opposite sex."
She snickered. "Yeah, Thomas and Kiersten share a bathroom, and the rest of the guys have to duke it out between the two other bathrooms."
"How did you end up as the only one with a bathroom to their self?"
"I bring in the most money." She explained and handed him the unopened toothbrush. He smiled and unwrapped it, and they began brushing their teeth. Nick's eyes kept flickering to her lips as she brushed her teeth. As soon as she moved her toothbrush out of the way Nick seized his moment and quickly captured her lips in a minty, toothpaste filled, kiss. She chuckled as he did so but kissed him back. He pulled back smiling, spitting into the sink.
"Sorry...I couldn't wait."
She chuckled and spit into the sink, not saying anything, merely smiling and shaking her head. "You want breakfast?"
Nick looked into the other room, his eyes searching for the alarm clock, and he grimaced when saw the time. "Damn...no, I can't. I gotta head home. I have to be at work in about eight hours, I still have paperwork I gotta finish up before I head in though."
She gave a sad smile but nodded. "Alright."
"I'll call you when I get off of work, we can meet for breakfast." Nick replied and she nodded. They exited the bathroom and Nick rummaged around the room in search of his clothes. She helped him find them, then slid into a pair of plaid sweats and a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt. Nick smiled at her after he was dressed and she pushed her finger to her lips in a gesture for him to be quiet. She opened her door and peeked out before they cautiously exited and walked down the stairs.
She smiled as she looked over at Tony, still passed out on the couch. She chuckled as they reached the front door and she turned to kiss Nick before he left. Nick's hands dropped to her waist and brought her closer to him. She pulled away after a few moments, and her eyes flickered to make sure Tony was still sleeping. She smiled at Nick until his eyes focused on something behind her and a mixture of embarrassment and worry crossed his face. Riley spun around to see what he was looking at and let out a bated breath when she saw it was only Kiersten.
Kiersten smirked and raised her eyebrow. "I take it the home team won." Kiersten stated, her form of saying, I think you two just had sex. She saw the blushes creep up on their cheeks, and Nick's hands on her waist and her grin grew. "Oh yeah, home team scored big."
Riley rolled her eyes. "Excuse me Kit." She brushed passed her as she and Nick walked to the front door. She jotted her number on his hand and smiled at him.
"I'll call you." He said and leaned in to kiss her, but caught himself. He pecked her cheek and practically bolted out the door. Riley reluctantly turned around to face her friend's smiling face.
"Don't even start."
"Oh my God. You re-slept with your one-night-stand." Kit accused and Riley was reminded of their conversation the night before. "Details." She demanded as Riley walked into the kitchen.
"No."
"Yes."
"Kit..."
"Ry...Come on," She said pulling her to the hallway so they could go in the backyard and have a cigarette. "Please."
She sighed and immediately lit up a cigarette. "There isn't anything to tell."
"Liar. Come on Ry...who else are you gonna tell this to."
"No one else is gonna know, you got that? Keep your mouth shut." Riley drawled.
"Well, they'll soon figure it out, thanks to that massive hickey on your neck." Kit pointed to the object in question.
"No, this is from Deven."
"What?"
Riley rolled her eyes and waved away the comment. "He got plastered last night and gave me a hickey before I could stop him...you remember when we were dating...I looked like a fuckin leopard."
Kit chuckled. "Alright...but what about that kiss on the cheek shit and, 'I'll call you later...'?"
Riley sighed when she realized there was no way out of this. "The guys invited him last night...and it was awkward at first...but then, we kinda relaxed, more than likely thanks to the beer, but after the game we were all hammered and no one could drive home. I forgot to set aside a place for Nick to sleep, as dumb as that sounds it actually happened so don't start with me," Riley demanded, silencing Kit's comment. "So he stayed with me."
"And..."
"And..." Riley re-stated.
"How was it?"
"How was what?" Riley asked, playing dumb.
Kit shot her a 'you-know-what-I'm-talking-about' look and rolled her eyes. "The beer...the sex Riley! How was the sex?"
Riley opened her mouth to say something, but ended up just shaking her head, and smiling with her mouth open like an idiot. She finally took another hit from her cigarette and sighed, sitting back. A goofy grin spread across her face. "Amazing." She breathed, releasing the smoke from her body.
Kiersten smiled and nodded. "Nice. So..."
"So, then we ended up talking."
"About what?"
"Well...we talked about...his boxers." Riley admitted smiling.
"What?" Kiersten asked and shook her head.
"His boxers, they were the cutest thing Kit. They were Scooby Doo."
"No."
"Yeah, they were so adorable, after we were done I couldn't stop giggling. He said that they were 'fellow investigators'. So then he asked me about us..."
"Oooh. Not cool."
"Well, I said I didn't think starting anything was smart because of Deven, and the whole Joey disaster and I didn't want that to happen with Nick. So he said I didn't have to worry about that, then we talked about how different we were..."
"The police officer and the delinquent."
"That's what I said, but he said he was a forensic scientist and I was a bartender, not a delinquent. So we talked about how we all used to do drugs, and when we were younger we were basically just like the kids of That 70s Show, just living in a different time. And then I asked him his magic number..."
"Oh man, what's the damage?"
"Probably less than half a ball park."
"Fuck."
"No, he's done enough of that for the both of us." Riley quipped and Kit laughed.
"So...did you tell him..."
"That the only guys I've been with are him and Deven? Yeah..."
"What'd he say?"
"He thought it was cool. So then I changed the subject and he explained his job, then cracked a joke about me being like Coyote Ugly, except I didn't dance on the bar as much as them. So I asked what was so hot about girls on bars, he gave a few jokes, we talked about Dane Cook, and how crazy all of you guys are..."
Kiersten laughed. "Thomas called this morning and said that Tony got up last night and accidentally started blasting Fall Out Boy at like 3 in the morning."
"Yeah, so after that I dozed off, but he accidentally woke me up and he asked me about us again..."
"Shit. He's a relentless little son of a bitch huh?"
"Yes...so we finally decided to keep it on the down low. So..."
"So...what?" She gasped. "You had sex again!"
Riley chuckled and nodded. "Yeah."
"And how was the second round?"
Riley smiled and bit her lip. "He might have slept with a lot of girls...but Kit, it paid off big time! He knows what he's doin even when I'm takin the lead." She admitted and they laughed for a while.
"So then what?"
"We talked more about music and what we each like. Then about our families and his friends. And then uh...we did it again."
"Damn Riley! How many times?"
"Well, after the third round we talked more, then went at it again and finally fell asleep."
"Holy shit...I don't think you've had a fuck-a-thon like that since Deven..."
"That's cause I haven't had sex since Deven."
"So what, are you two goin out now?"
"Well, he's callin me after work so we can go out for breakfast."
"Oh my God Ry..."
"What?" She asked, lighting another cigarette.
"You had 'the night'!"
"What, what night?"
"The night! Where you stay up all night and talk about each other and realize your feelings..."
"Uh, we spent half the night talkin and half the night fuckin..."
"Even better! You know you connect on a physical level too."
"Kit, don't I've only hung out with the guy twice."
"So...Riley-"
"Don't do it Kiersten." Riley warned and finished her cigarette. "I'm goin to catch some Z's before work."
"Yeah, you didn't sleep much last night..."
Riley shot her a look. "Say anything and you're dead."
"My lips are sealed."
Nick had his back to the locker room door as he laced up his boots and pulled the pant leg down over them. Warrick walked into the room and glanced at the Texan for a minute before making his presence known by clearing his throat. "Hey Man." Warrick greeted as he began unbuttoning his shirt to exchange it for a clean one.
Nick turned his head partially to the left to only half glance at Warrick. "Hey Boss." He drawled and Warrick looked back at him.
"How was your weekend?"
Nick groaned inwardly, not wanting to have to deal with questions already. "It was good. How 'bout you?"
"It was good...Tina went out with the girls." Warrick supplied and Nick grimaced, he knew the only reason Warrick told him 'Tina went out with the girls' was because he had the house to himself and had intended to invite Nick over..."You catch the game last night?"
"Uh, yeah." Nick answered feeling guilty that his best friend couldn't get a hold of him when he probably wanted to talk.
"At a friend's house?" Warrick asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice. That made Nick crack a small smile, he hadn't realized how envious his friend could be.
"Yeah...at a friends house."
They were silent for a moment as Nick stood up and pulled off his shirt to exchange for a new one. Warrick turned his head to ask Nick another question when his attention was drawn to the long scratches on Nick's back. Warrick felt his face burst into a smile and he stuck his tongue in his cheek to keep from laughing. "You uh...you get into a fight?"
Nick turned to face his friend in confusion, when Warrick caught sight of the large hickey on his chest. He didn't bother to stifle his laughter this time. "What?"
"Oh man Nicky..." He said in between chuckles and pointed to his chest. "You got a hickey."
Nick's eyes widened and he looked down at his chest quickly. He turned to hide it, once again exposing the artwork on his back and bite mark on his shoulder.
"Jesus man...you sure took one helluva beating..."
Nick didn't answer.
"Did your friend have a cat?"
Nick pulled a shirt over his body and shut his locker. "Leave it." Nick said in his 'don't-mess-with-me' voice. Warrick chuckled and shook his head as he buttoned up the midnight blue shirt.
"Whose handy work is that?" Warrick called before Nick reached the door.
Nick stopped but didn't look back. "My friend's cat." He couldn't hide the laughter in his voice, and Warrick chuckled freely now.
Nick shook his head, chuckling, not too worried that Warrick would spill on his personal life. He was too cool for that. He might even back off on Nick...at least about getting out more. As for how he was spending his free-time with the 'cat'...
That was one subject Nick predicted would come up frequently in the near future.
Nick shook his head and walked into the break room, wanting to get the shift done and over with so he could have his breakfast date with Riley...
Nick walked Riley to her car after their date was over. He wanted to take her in his car and then walk her to her door so they would have more time to talk, but he didn't want to risk anyone seeing them. She paused when she reached her Corolla and turned to smile at him.
"I had fun Nicky..." She said softly while flashing an innocent smile.
Nick smiled back and nodded. "Me too..." He wanted to ask her for another date, but was worried about her reaction. Her smile grew and she shook her head slightly.
"Ask it Nick."
He blushed at how well she could read him. "Would you go on another date with me?"
God, I feel like I'm back in seventh grade asking the prettiest girl in the class to eat lunch at my table...
She left him hanging in ambiguous agony before she cracked a smile. "Yes I would."
Nick released a breath he didn't know he was holding and his smile went from anxiety to delight. "Great. I um...how about the day after tomorrow? Same place, same time?"
She nodded and kissed his cheek. "Okay...I'll see you then."
And with that she turned and got in the car and drove off. Nick stood there, watching her and his hand went to his cheek. Such a chaste move made him feel so very giddy...especially coming from her. He furred his brow when he thought about it. How innocent she could be at some times, how she giggled continuously at the touch of his hands on her bare skin. His soft kisses on her shoulders and arms, legs, thighs, stomach.
Giggling and blushing as he kissed every inch of her, then sealing their date with an unblemished kiss on the cheek. Yet she could be so hard core, and a 'Redneck Woman' as Kiersten described her. The hard core bartender had disappeared when she had met him that morning, and was replaced by the soft, Southern belle he had met at the bar.
Just a few hours earlier when he had gone to the bar to pick her up from work, he had caught her telling Thomas a joke, wayward enough to make several male patrons at the bar blush in astonishment that such a sweet Southern Belle could udder such profane words in such an offensive joke. Yet, at certain times, like last night, she would blush and giggle profusely at his slightest touch. One of the boys, yet able to be such a girl.
She contradicted herself in so many terms, and it puzzled and floored him all at the same time. He shook his head as he walked back to his Denali and climbed behind the wheel, eager for their next date...yet oddly nervous. He'd been feeling that a lot lately.
Aww...isn't our little couple just so cute:)
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-Chella