01. Chasing Nikki (10 page)

“Winters
must’ve hit him harder than we thought,” a sardonic voice floated up from
behind me, followed by some twittering laughter through the rest of the class. 
I didn’t even bother to look to see who had said it.  Honestly, I didn’t give a
crap what anyone else thought about me.

What reason
was there to try and please people, when they were clearly going to draw their
own opinions of who I was, regardless of what I did?

I stumbled
my way through the rest of the piece, and then slumped into my chair when I was
finished.  I didn’t hear anything that was said for the rest of the class.  I
could only see Nikki’s face floating in front of me, torturing me with her
parting expression.

I watched
the clock tick away every second of the remainder of the hour, springing to my
feet when the bell rang and hurrying out the door ahead of everyone.

Searching
the locker hall, I looked around for Nikki, but didn’t see her anywhere.  I
walked toward her next room, hoping to catch her so I could apologize, but
couldn’t find her.

Lunch
arrived, but I still hadn’t seen her. I was starting to get worried because it
seemed that Jeremy had mysteriously disappeared too.  All of a sudden, unbidden
thoughts of terror coursed through me.  He wouldn’t really try to hurt her
after I’d threatened him with going to the police, would he?

“Dude, what
is up with you?” Brett asked.  “You’re acting weird.”

“Have you
seen Jeremy since this morning?” I replied, still scanning the hall.

“Yeah, he
went home after third period.  His dad came and got him because he was feeling
too sick to drive.  I think you worked him over more than you realized.”  He
clapped me on the shoulder.  “Mr. Tough Guy, that’s what we should call you
from now on.”  He laughed.  “Why do you want to talk to him anyway?”

“I don’t,” I
answered with a shake of my head, as I spied Tana talking to Brittney.  “Hang
on a sec, bro.”

I hurried
over, causing Tana to look up in surprise when I grabbed her arm roughly,
twirling her to face me.  “Where’s Nikki?” I asked abruptly.

“Uh, hello. 
You’re hurting me,” she said with a frown as she wrenched her arm away from me.

“Oh, sorry. 
I didn’t mean to.” I took a step back from her, looking between both of the
girls.  “I’m just worried.  I haven’t been able to find Nikki.  I wanted to
make sure she was okay.”

“Her little
sister got sick at school.  She had to go pick her up and stay with her because
her mom wasn’t able to get off work,” Brittney spoke up.

Tana gave me
strange look.  “You have her number.  Why didn’t you text her yourself?”

Relief
coursed through me, as well as a moment of feeling stupid.  “I thought I
might’ve hurt her feelings earlier.  I didn’t know if she was avoiding me on
purpose.”

Tana
shrugged.  “Well, if you did she certainly didn’t say anything to me about it. 
All I ever hear lately is her singing your praises.”

“Thanks,
Tana.” I grinned.  “It’s nice to know all my charm is finally working.  I
needed to hear that.”

“Well, don’t
tell her I told you.”

“That was a
nice thing you did for her today, by the way,” Brittney said.

I squinted
at her, wondering if she was being serious.  “I think your boyfriend would beg
to differ.”

She
shrugged.  “I don’t care what he thinks.  Jeremy can be a real loser, and it’s
about time someone called him out for it.  I wish Matt would learn to stand up
to him too.”

“I don’t
know … can you teach a pansy new tricks?” I gave her a questioning look, and
she punched me in the arm.

“You don’t
like him.  How come?”

I shook my
head.  “I just think you could do better.  I’ve got to go get hold of Nikki
now.  Have a nice day ladies.”

“Everything
all right?” Brett asked when I rejoined him.

“I think
so.  I just need to check one more thing.” 

I dialed
Nikki’s number.

She answered
on the second ring.  “Hey.”

“Hey,
yourself.  You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” she
replied, basically repeating the same story I’d just heard.  “I was just
getting ready to text you while you were out for lunch.” 

“Okay, I was
worried about you.  I thought you’d been kidnapped or something. Kind of went
frantic on everyone.”

She laughed. 
“You’re such a tease.”

“I’m dead
serious.  Can I come see you after my detention this afternoon?”

“Sure.  Come
on over.”

“Alright. 
I’ll catch you later then,” I replied, hanging up the phone and turning to
Brett.  “Let’s go eat.”

Chapter Nine

 After
serving my time at the school without further incident, I pulled up in front of
Nikki’s house and sat, staring at it.  I needed to apologize to her for my
earlier behavior, and running away from her like I did.

It was time
to face the music.  I liked her a lot, and that was okay.  It wasn’t as if I
had to be committed to her for the rest of eternity.  I could just relax, see
where things went naturally, and have some fun with her along the way.

I climbed
out and headed toward the door.  Nikki opened it before I could knock, lifting
her finger to her lips.

“My brother
and sister are sleeping.  Clara’s sick, and Timmy fell asleep beside her when
he got home from school.”

She stepped
aside and gestured for me to come in, closing the door behind me.

“How old are
they?” I asked looking over to where they were laying snuggled on the sofa
together.

“Clara is
seven, and Timmy is five.  She’s in second grade and he’s in all day
kindergarten.  They’re best friends though and rarely ever this quiet, so I’m
determined to enjoy it.”

“Gotcha.” I
totally understood how that might be nice.  I didn’t have any siblings, but I
had enough cousins to know kids this age could get rowdy.

“So what’s
up?” she said after a slightly awkward pause. “Did you come over for some reason
in particular?

Leave it to
Nikki to be so direct that it made me nervous.

“Uh, yeah …
I guess.” I slid my hands into my pockets, glancing down at my shoes for a
moment while I tried to compose myself. “I just wanted to apologize for being a
jerk and ducking out on you earlier today.”

“Yeah, I
noticed that.  Why did you?”

Okay, so she
wasn’t going to go easy on me.

“I just had
a moment of panic, but I’m better now.”

“Panic over
what?”

Damn.  She
was going to make me spell it out.

“Over how
much I like you,” I replied honestly, and she made a little “oh” shape with her
mouth, but no sound came out.  “I didn’t mean to, you know.”

“Mean to
like me so much?” she asked for clarification.

“Yeah. 
Getting close to someone again hasn’t really been a top priority of mine.”

“I see,” she
answered, but she still had this wrinkle of concern on her brow.  “So what are
you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.” I
sighed. “I’m gonna quit fighting everything and let life take me wherever it
wants.”

She moved
toward me and placed her hand on my chest.  “Chase, this is your life.  Only
you can decide what it’s going to be like.  It can be anything you want it to
be, but you have the power to steer your ship where you want it to go.”

“Is that
so?”

“It is if
you believe it.  What do you want?”

I stepped
closer, wrapping my arm around her waist and dragging her up against me. I
stared down into her big brown eyes, wondering if she could feel my heart
pounding in my chest.

“Kiss her,”
a soft voice came from the couch, and I turned in surprise to find Clara
staring at us with sleepy eyes and a grin.

Nikki
blushed heavily.  “I’m sorry, the kids get excited, and they say dumb—”

I silenced
her by covering my mouth over hers.  Her body felt so good as it melted into
mine, her arms reaching up to intertwine around my neck, and she kissed me
back.

I couldn’t
help myself as I deepened the contact, slipping my tongue between her lips to
taste her for the first time, and sparks raced through me. 

Suddenly, I
felt like I couldn’t get enough, and I caressed her urgently, running one of my
hands up into her hair, pushing her face harder to mine.  I couldn’t ever
remember being affected so much by such a simple touch.

Another
child-like giggle brought us both back to reality, and Nikki gasped as we broke
away from each other.  I found myself a little out of breath as I looked
between her and her little sister.

“Sorry.  I
didn’t mean to get so carried away,” I apologized.

She waved
her hand away as if it was nothing, but the color of her skin said otherwise. 

“Clara, go
back to sleep so you can get feeling better.”  She tucked the blanket up higher
under the young girl’s chin.

“He’s cute,”
Clara said with a dreamy look on her face and closed her eyes.  It wasn’t long
before her breathing was deep and even again.

“Would you
like a drink?” Nikki said, walking past me, into the hallway.

I followed
her into the kitchen, leaning up against the fridge and watching her as she
moved about the space, stretching to reach into the cupboard.

I couldn’t
stop thinking about the way she felt in my arms as she filled the glass and
turned to give it to me.  I took a couple of quick swallows, before setting it
down on the counter.

“Come here,”
I said, holding my hand out to her, and she took it without hesitation.  I
pulled her into my arms, and she laid her head against my chest.  We fell into
this natural swaying rhythm, as we cuddled together, and I found myself just
wanting to keep her close to me.

She
eventually slid from my grasp, mumbling something about needing to check on the
kids, and I followed her into the hallway.  She peeked briefly around the
corner.

“Good
they’re still asleep.  My mom’s going to hate me for letting them nap so long,
because they probably won’t rest well tonight now.” She stepped toward the doorway
once more.  “Would you like to squeeze into the recliner with me and watch some
television?”

I grabbed
her before she got too far away and spun her around, pressing her body up
against the wall with my own.  “I’d rather pick up where we left off, if you
don’t mind.”

“I don’t
mind.” She tilted her head to mine, and I lowered my face to hers again.

The same
shock rushed through me once more, setting my body aflame.  I couldn’t believe
the electricity that moved between us, more powerful than anything I’d ever
experienced before.

Her lips
were so soft and yielding under my own.  I couldn’t seem to get enough.  I
pressed against them, teasing with my tongue and even nibbled with my teeth.

She made a
happy little sighing sound in the back of her throat, and I started chuckling
into her mouth before I broke away slightly.

“You
enjoying yourself?” I asked, nudging her nose with my own.

“Very much. 
And you?” She smiled, her stare never leaving my mouth.

“It’s okay,”
I replied and her gaze flashed up to lock with mine.

“Only okay?”
She looked truly worried.

“Alright. 
It’s a little more than okay.”

She bit her
lip before she pushed me away from her.  I was about to protest when she
grabbed my hand and pulled me through a nearby door.

“This is my
room.”

It wasn’t
big, but it was well cared for.  The furnishings were made of a black painted
wood and consisted of a twin-size bed, dresser, desk, and ceiling-to-floor
bookshelves.  Her bed was covered in a white bedspread and pillows that matched
the curtains at the window.  There was an overstuffed white chair and ottoman
pushed into a corner as well.

“So you like
to read,” I observed, as I ran my fingers over some of her titles.

“Yep.  I’m a
big romance fan, in case you couldn’t tell.  And I love pretty much all things
paranormal.”

“Really? So
you’re into that whole vampire craze?”

“Absolutely.”
She grinned.  “There’s nothing better than a good bite.”

“Is that how
it is?” I yanked her to me and leaned in to nip her on the neck, and she
squealed.  “Like this?” I breathed against her and she shivered as goose bumps
rose over her skin.

“Something
like that,” she whispered breathlessly.

She smelled
so good, I didn’t want to move, and she held still as I brushed my lips up the
side of her neck and face until I found hers again. I feathered a light kiss
over her mouth before I reached down and swung her into my arms.

“I thought romance
heroes swept their girls off their feet and carried them off to bed.” I
chuckled evilly at her shocked expression that turned to delight when I stepped
over to deposit her on the soft mattress with a bounce.

She giggled,
and an elated look passed across her face as she scooted over and patted the
spot next to her.  “Are you going to join me?”

“What kind
of hero would I be if I didn’t?”

“A virtuous
one perhaps? Or one who is great at resisting temptation?” she teased.

I appeared
to ponder this for a moment.  “No, I can safely say neither of those
descriptions has ever applied to me.  Sorry.”

She
shrugged, as I sat next to her.  “Okay.  I guess I’ll just have to settle for
whatever you’ve got.”

“Hey now,” I
said, rolling over and pinning her under me.  “Be nice, or I may have to
torture you instead.”

I laughed
and started tickling her. 

She squirmed
and thrashed beneath me as she tried to get away. 

“Give up
yet?” I asked.

“Never!” She
grabbed my head, smashing her lips to mine.

Something
ignited, racing through me at the contact, and I groaned as I pressed against
her, feeling every part of her body that was connected with mine.  Her tongue
invaded, causing a burst of pleasure to course through me at her
aggressiveness.