“Nick is obviously stressed then.” I wanted to be there for him but I knew there was very little I could do to help him right now, “I’ll make him some soup.”
Evan almost choked in his water and looked at me like I was crazy, “Because soup makes everything better?” He sounded curious and amused at the same time, “That was very random, Em.”
I straightened my shoulders as I looked over the simple menu. I already had in mind what I wanted to eat, but maybe the menu would change my mind. After giving our order to the waiter we returned to the conversation.
I actually had a great time with Evan, that was until my very angry looking boyfriend approached us. First of all, I had no idea how Nick found out that I was together with Evan right now, and secondly it was really insane that he showed up just because I was having lunch with Evan.
“What is going on here?” He asked quietly, yet we could both tell how pissed Nick was.
“We’re having lunch, as you can see.” Evan said gesturing to our table, “So nice of you to grace us with your presence.”
“I thought you’d be at Brandon’s.” Nick didn’t even bother to look at Evan, he only had eyes for me.
“Change of plans. Brandon had a girl over so I asked Evan to have lunch with me instead.”
He still hovered over the table not looking any less pissed, “So you could have called me instead.”
“I didn’t want to bother you.” I really didn’t understand the problem here and I knew Nick could hear how annoyed I was right now, “I’m having lunch with a friend. I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal out of it.”
“Because you should have called me first!”
He didn’t raise his voice, but I could see the change in his eyes. Nick was stressed because of all those issues involving his new club. Me having lunch with Evan pushed him over, yet I wouldn’t let him take it out on me. I got up and forced a very big smile on my face.
“You’re going to turn around and head back to the office. Tonight we’re going to have a nice dinner together and talk about it. Okay?”
Nick stood there, challenging me with his eyes. After a few minutes of staring at each other, he actually backed off and stormed off. I fell back in my chair and leaned back, huffing loudly. Evan looked just as beat as me. Nick’s presence somehow sucked the life out of us.
“Is he like this with all his girlfriends?” I asked after taking a minute to collect my thoughts.
Evan mechanically shook his head, “I have never seen him like this before. He usually is more reserved.”
“Nick is intense.” I rolled my eyes when I saw the dirty look in Evan’s eyes, “Stop imagining things, dirty boy.” I smiled when Evan kicked me under the table, “This behavior actually scares me a little.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Evan ensured me, “He never got jealous before. He really didn’t give a fuck who talked to his women nor did he care if other men flirted with them.”
“So I’m special?”
“Don’t sound so pleased about it.” He said when he saw the sour look on my face, “This is new for him, don’t give up on him just because he threw a tantrum.”
We tried to make the best of it after Nick’s tantrum and stalking, but I didn’t feel quite as cheerful as before. After lunch, I went back to Brandon’s, even though he embarrassed me before because of his sex life. I needed my best friend right now and I knew he’d kick that other woman out if he knew how upset I was right now.
“Dump him,” Brandon exclaimed, handing me a beer.
I sipped it, needing something to release the stress, “Shut up. I don’t want to leave him.”
“So maybe he was just stressed because of that whole thing about his new club. Miles might have told him about Evan and that was the last straw. He probably didn’t mean it.”
That was the first time Brandon actually tried to defend Nick. He sounded sincere about it as well. I knew Brandon had a point. Even though Evan and Nick were friends, they were still quite competitive. He had a lot of issues right now and hearing about my lunch with Evan just freaked him out more. He was wrong about his approach, but I understood why it might have happened.
“He needs help with the club.”
Brandon sighed, “I’ll step up my game.”
I smiled, “Thank you, that would be appreciated.”
Brandon suddenly became very serious. I had never seen him that serious before. Not when he tried to convince me that Nick was not good dating material or when he heard about me being attacked in the parking lot. This was a whole other Brandon.
“As long as we are clear that I’m doing this for you. Not for that asshole who doesn’t deserve you.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes because I was happy someone was going to have Nick’s back through all this. Brandon was the club manager, I knew there wasn’t much damage control he could do. But at least someone was at Nick’s side no matter what.
“I need to go home and face my stalker billionaire of a boyfriend.”
Brandon walked me to the door, “Tell him that stalking you is not okay. If he doesn’t get that I’ll punch him in the face. He surely understands it after a good punch in the face.”
He made me laugh even when he said something so mean about my boyfriend. I left Brandon’s and asked Miles to take me home. I’d prepare dinner, and think of a million things to say to Nick when he finally arrived home. He needed to know that I was not okay with his behavior and if he didn’t get that, I couldn’t be with him. I knew that last part would probably not leave my lips, but it was what I was thinking about. Love wasn’t supposed to be about stalking and jealousy. It had to be something warm and welcoming. Something different than this.