***
“He did what?” Evan asked amused, “You’re okay with that?”
I eyed the room suspiciously, making sure Nick wasn’t around, “I’m not okay with that.” I whispered, “But I have to be. I don’t want our friendship to be all awkward…”
“He would have made a big deal out of Nick banging you in public, trust me.” Evan’s eyes darkened, ” But yeah sure… It’s okay when he does it.”
I turned back to glance at my pasta, “He sounded broken, Evan. He was scared of losing me. He mentioned losing part of me to Nick and he is right.” I swirled a wooden spoon around, “I dropped everything to be with Nick.”
“So he is now trying to make you feel guilty about your relationship with Nick?” Evan sounded more disapproving than a minute ago, “So now I should complain to Nick about losing a part of him to you? That’s how it works, Em. When you start dating someone you have commitments. You can’t continue on with your life as it was before. Isn’t it a saying… When you meet that person you’re supposed to be with it will be the end of life as you know it?”
I frowned as I tried to place that saying, “It sounds familiar. Did you watch too much Netflix over the weekend?”
Evan rolled his eyes, “The point is that you’ll spend more time with Nick now because he is your BOYFRIEND. The waitress banger needs to accept that.”
I slapped Evan with my wooden spoon, raising an eyebrow at him when he gave me that sad little puppy eyes look. I had to admit that he looked adorable, but I had to stand my ground. That was very rude of him.
“Don’t call him that.”
“Fine, the shameless whiner.” Evan mumbled, rubbing his arm where I hit him with the spoon, “Why is it that you’re the only one making an effort here? Shouldn’t he be as committed to this friendship thing as you are?”
I tried to compare our relationship with Evan and Nick’s. Somehow it seemed they were more stable. It wasn’t just Evan putting effort into maintaining their friendship. I knew for a fact that Nick called Evan to meet up just as often as Evan did. Evan was his guy and even though they seemed to always fight, I knew they were very loyal to each other.
Brandon was very loyal to me as well, I knew that for sure. It was just me who always called him, texted him or visited him. There wasn’t much effort on his side, he just knew I’d always come running to him. It made me rethink our whole friendship.
“Are you going to stand there and be useless the whole evening?” I asked Evan trying to change the subject, “Or are you going to help me prepare dinner?”
He pouted, “My arm hurts.” He spun around and used that cute voice which made me want to hug him, “Nick your girlfriend just abused me. She hit me with a wooden spoon.”
Nick walked over to me, kissing my cheek before he reached for the wine bottle and refilled all our glasses before pouring himself a glass as well.
“If she hit you with that spoon I’m sure you deserved it.”
Evan’s eyes glittered, “Daddy always takes mommy’s side. It’s not fair.”
Not holding it anymore I burst into laughter. Actual laughter. I knew everything Evan did and said tonight was to comfort me, to help me. He was definitely a great friend to Nick and I was glad Nick had such a person in his life. He deserved someone who always had his back no matter what.
***
After Evan left Nick insisted on cleaning up the table. He was currently in the kitchen doing the dishes. It was amazing how normal we were these days. Nick definitely changed a lot. I knew I had something to do with it, but it also because of the people who surrounded him. Evan and now Chris. Life was going well for us and I wouldn’t tolerate anyone who wanted to mess that up.
“Have you heard from Chris?” I called Nick.
“No need to yell, honey.” Nick called back, lowering his voice as he spoke again, “I haven’t heard from him, but there was a picture online of him and Anna. A recent photo and I haven’t heard from her for a while, so I’m assuming they’re talking.”
“He really loves her.”
I walked to the kitchen and watched my boyfriend clean everything up. He was even obsessive when it came to cleaning. Everything was actually sparkling, looking brand new.
“Sometimes that isn’t enough, Em.” Nick repeated the words Chris once told me, “Don’t get your hopes up, okay? I don’t want to see you hurt.”
I moved closer to the bar and took a seat on the stool right across Nick who was scrubbing a pot with so much force I could actually see his muscles in his arms flexing.
“I’m not the one who can get hurt in this scenario, Nick.” I giggled, “I think that pot is clean.”
“You care too much.” Nick rinsed the pot which now sparkled in the light, “That’s a good thing, but it also means you can get hurt easily, Em.”
I watched him for a minute. I was done discussing the annoying people in our lives. What I needed right now was for Nick to undress and take me into our bedroom. I couldn’t be on the counter because that was just bringing unwanted memories back.
“Let’s go to bed, Nick.”
He must have heard something in my voice, because he looked up, his eyes darkening the moment he looked at me. He dropped the towel on the counter and walked to me, cupping my face in his cold hands. He leaned in and claimed my lips for a kiss.
The moment he kissed me everything around us just faded. Nick always had that effect on me. He could make everything disappear for a second, making me focus on him and him alone. Sometimes that was a good thing. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and smiled into the kiss when he pulled me up and headed to the bedroom. Nick was all I needed right now.