I swallowed, trying to recover from the sweet words. How could this guy be so in love with me? He had everything, literally everything and yet he wanted me in his life, talking about long-term relationships. It just didn’t make any sense to me.
“I’m afraid…”
“Yes, I get that.” He talked slowly, “What are you afraid of exactly? ”
“That this all will disappear.” I turned around, facing him, “That you’ll walk away, leaving me behind.”
He wrapped his arms around me, tightly making it hard for me to breathe, but I loved it. It made my head understand that he was here, that he was here with me.
“I’m not walking away from you, Em.” He kissed my head, “What you don’t understand is that my world starts and ends with you. When I wake up you’re all I can think off. I want to hold you and never let go.” He kissed my temple and brushed his fingers over my arm, “And at night I don’t want to fall asleep because I’m afraid you won’t be there when I wake up. That I somehow made you up and you’ll evaporate into thin air…”
My heart squeezed, I could barely breathe and tears rolled down my cheek. I shook my head when Nick cupped my face, kissing me through the tears and hiccups.
“You’re the kind of guy I’d like to marry,” I whispered, clutching his jacket when he pulled away and just kissed my cheek lightly.
“Good.”
“You have it bad for me.”
He chuckled, “You have no idea, Em. I’m obsessed.”
Nick had to go back to work, so I asked Miles and his new friends to drop me off at Brandon’s. They didn’t leave though, one of them stayed at the front door and I’m sure the other one hovered around as well. Miles was waiting in the car. This was bizarre but I kept my tongue. This was the only way to keep Nick from freaking out.
I dropped down on the comfy couch next to Brandon and stared at him. A big grin spreading across my face. I couldn’t help it. I had to share the good news with him, but I couldn’t speak because of the big, ridiculous smile on my face.
“Stop smiling at me like a serial killer, it’s frightening.”
My smile only widened, “I have good news.”
“I can tell, the creepy smile is hard to miss.”
I grabbed his hand when he sipped his beer, surprising him by my sudden action. He sipped his beer and gestured to the pack on the table. I reached for a bottle and took the cap off, placing it on the table.
“Nick is opening a new club.”
“Okay…”
He didn’t understand my excitement over a new club, considering Nick had hundreds of properties all around the world. Opening a new club was nothing new to him.
“He wanted to make me the manager.”
That caught his attention, he smiled. He didn’t look as excited as me, but he was happy.
“That’s great news, Em. Congrats.”
“I declined though.” That really caught his attention, he sat straight and narrowed his eyes at me, “I’m not ready for that. I’m just a part-timer, I don’t deserve it-” I held up my hand when he wanted to protest, “So I told him to hire you.”
“You did what?!”
“I told him to hire you.” I said more firmly, “You have more experience and you’re responsible, caring and I know you can do this. Nick agreed you are the most capable person for the job.”
Brandon didn’t seem convinced though, “He is only agreeing because of the sex, Em. Guys are like that.”
I rolled my eyes, “Nick isn’t like that.” I knew he didn’t believe me, “We haven’t had sex yet and he told me he is in it for the long run. Nick is not the guy you think he is. Nick L-”
“Loves you?” Brandon asked, “You know each other for five minutes and you’re talking about love?” He shook his head, “This is not healthy.”
I felt offended that Brandon still saw Nick as the bad guy. I understood why he was against it in the beginning, but he had to see that Nick was not going to use me and then leave me. Hell, we haven’t even done anything yet and he was still here.
“Since when does love have a time frame? You could date someone for years and still not be in love with that person. You can’t force something that isn’t there. But with Nick and me, I know it’s there. So yeah, maybe we know each other for five minutes… but five minutes was all it took to make us realize we love each other.”
I placed my bottle on the table and grabbed my jacket and purse. I headed straight for the door and ignored his calls for me. The blonde security guy stood right in front of the door and I almost bumped into him.
“We’re leaving.” I managed to say, walking away.
Once I was home, or rather Nick’s apartment I got ready for bed. Taking a shower and slipping into some comfy clothes. I needed the comfort to shake off the words Brandon told me. I settled in bed, watching some random TV show when Nick got home. He also got ready for bed and joined me, leaning against the headboard with a book in hand. Shifting my gaze to him I watched him, observing him closely as he enjoyed reading his book. He felt me looking at him and closed the book, giving me his full attention.
“What’s wrong?”
I clutched the sheets, pulling it to my neck, “I went to see Brandon after our meeting at the club.”
He laughed, actually laughed. Filling the room with his beautiful laughter. He looked years younger and almost made me forget about my anger. Almost.
“None of my meetings are that fun.”
I smiled as well and brushed my fingers through his hair, “Brandon called our relationship unhealthy, so I got upset. I practically ran out of there, because I was angry that he… insulted you.”
“You’re still upset.”
I nodded, “Brandon is my Evan. I can’t ruin that friendship.”
Nick leaned closer to me, “Brandon is your guy, I get that.” He took my hand in his and kissed my knuckles, “Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine tomorrow… because he gets you and you get him. A friendship like that won’t get ruined just because of one stupid argument about me.”
I couldn’t help myself, this guy was giving heart melting words away as Santa gave away presents. I blurted it out before I realized what I actually said.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I grabbed onto his black t-shirt and pulled him to me, kissing him as if my life depended on it, and he responded the same way. If this was unhealthy I really didn’t give a damn, because it was what made me happy.