Chapter 91
Nick half-expected Claire to call back later that day or
the next, crying, apologizing for how she had acted.
But she didn’t. A
whole week passed by, and he didn’t hear from her once. But the world went on around him, and he went
with it, going ahead with the plans he had worked out with Leah. She moved into his house on a warm Saturday
in mid-October, marking the beginning of a new life for him. It was not a life he had expected or
necessarily wanted, but that was just how things worked. He would make do and live with it, for his
conscience allowed him no other choice.
To say the Boys were shocked when he told them would be a
gross understatement. Kevin and Brian
were both disappointed in him, he could tell.
Disappointed in him for getting a girl he didn’t love pregnant, yet
relieved that he was at least taking care of her. Howie and AJ were more supportive, focusing
only on the positives and wishing him good luck, offering to be there for him
if he needed anything and congratulating him on becoming the second “Backstreet
Daddy.” Not by choice, Nick
thought dismally.
Of course, his family knew nothing of this yet, and he
didn’t plan on telling them. In fact, he
hadn’t talked to any of them in months, except for Aaron, who had secretly
called him a few times over the course of his late summer tour. But there was no point in phoning his
fifteen-year-old brother to tell him that he had knocked up some girl and was
now letting her move in with him.
He knew Jane would be beyond pissed when she found out that
her famous oldest son had gotten “that stripper” pregnant. But he didn’t care one bit what she thought
of him. She had tried the whole “mother”
act a few times since he had kicked her out of his house, calling him up and
leaving tearful messages on his machine, begging him to call her back. After the TRL interview announcing his
remission, she had called even more frequently, but after he continued to
ignore her, the calls died off. Now it
was back to the two of them pretending the other didn’t exist, and that was the
way he preferred it, wanting nothing to do with the heartless woman who called herself
his mother.
The day Leah moved in was chaotic. She had borrowed a large pick-up truck from a
friend and had used it to haul suitcases and boxes of her stuff from where she
been staying to Nick’s house. He met her
out front and hastily started in with the moving, grunting as he slid a large
box out of the truck bed. Leah made to
help him, grabbing one of her stuffed suitcases, but he swatted her hand
away. “You shouldn’t be lifting stuff,
should you? That thing looks heavy,” he
said, eyeing the bulging piece of luggage.
Leah giggled. “Yeah,
I guess you’re right, Nicky. Okay then,
I’ll just go inside. I’ll make lemonade
for when you’re done, okay?”
“Sure,” Nick groaned, struggling under the weight of the
box he was trying to carry.
It took nearly an hour to get all of her stuff moved from
the truck to the largest guest bedroom upstairs, where she would be
sleeping. Exhausted and out of breath,
Nick stumbled down the stairs for the final time and went into the kitchen,
where Leah was perched at the table, legs crossed, sipping a glass of pink
lemonade. “There’s more on the counter,”
she said, pointing to a pitcher of the pink liquid.
Without a word, Nick staggered over and poured himself a
glass, downed it thirstily, and poured another.
He joined Leah at the table, glad for a chance to sit down and relax.
“So,” he said after a moment, “your stuff’s all upstairs.”
“Good.” Leah
smiled. “I’ll go unpack later. I thought we could go out for dinner tonight
and maybe rent a movie on the way home?”
“Oh… well, do you think we could just order in
tonight? I don’t really feel like going
out to eat. Maybe we could just have
pizza or something delivered.”
Leah considered this a moment and then nodded. “Okay, that will work.”
So that’s what they did.
Nick called for pizza in the evening, while Leah went to the video
store. She returned with three different
chick flicks, sappy romances that Nick could care less about seeing. They watched “Romeo and Juliet” first, the
newer one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Nick had never seen it before, nor had he
ever had the urge to, for Leonardo DiCaprio was just irritating, and Claire
Danes wasn’t that hot. He had to admit,
the opening action sequence filled with guns and fire held his attention, but
after that, the movie quickly went downhill.
He sat beside Leah on the couch, stuffed with pizza and
daydreaming, his mind on anything but the movie. He couldn’t help but think of the time he and
Claire had sat on the couch in her apartment, watching reruns of “The Man Show”
late into the night. For a brief moment,
he wished Leah could be more like Claire.
But he quickly pushed the thoughts of Claire out of his mind, for every
time he thought of her, he felt sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Are you okay, Nicky?” Leah asked softly, and Nick quickly
focused his attention on the movie again.
Romeo had just showed up at some costume party dressed as a knight… was
it Halloween already?
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered.
“Good.” As he stared
unblinkingly at the TV screen, he felt her arm slide behind his head, her
fingers creeping lightly along the nape of his neck. Her touch sent shivers down his spine, and he
twitched a little. She giggled. “Ticklish?”
He glanced over at her and smiled a little. “Guess so.”
Their eyes locked, and even in the artificial twilight
created by the TV screen in the unlit room, her beauty was evident. He felt her body brush against his as she
shifted over a bit, never breaking her gaze from his eyes. Her arm tightened around his shoulder,
bringing him closer to her, and her face began to drift toward his. He wanted to pull away, but her gleaming
brown eyes were the song of a Siren, luring him ever closer to the unknown
dangers that came with her kiss.
Rendered senseless by the hypnotizing power she seemed to possess, he
unconsciously dipped his head to meet hers, and their lips locked in a sensual
kiss.
Leah’s kisses were like… M&M minis – “once you pop, the
fun don’t stop,” right? Well, that’s how
it was with Leah. One taste was all it
took to leave Nick craving for more, ready to overindulge himself on her
body. His lips found her again, and now
that the heat was rising, his heart was racing, and his hormones were raging,
there was no going back. Romeo and
Juliet shared their first passionate kiss in an elevator on the TV, but no one
was watching, for Leah and Nick were lost in each other’s arms, her arms
caressing his back, as his lips blindly explored every inch of her face.
“Are you ticklish here too?” Leah asked in a sultry whisper
as she traced his jawline with her mouth and then nipped and sucked her way
down the side of his neck, finally resting her lips in the hollow just about
his collarbone. His skin tingled with
each soft touch, each gentle kiss, and his body yearned for more.
Leah was not one to disappoint.
She gave him more.
***
Nick woke up the next morning in his own bed, a smile on
his face and a naked woman in his arms.
Leah was still asleep, her head lolled on his shoulder, her body curled
up against his, their legs entangled beneath the covers. He sighed blissfully, trying to stretch out
without awakening her. But as soon as he
moved, she left her dream world and awoke, sighing sleepily as her eyes
fluttered open.
“Mm… Nick?” she asked groggily, pulling herself from his
embrace and sitting up, pulling the sheet up with her to cover herself.
“Morning,” he said, smiling at her. Even after just waking up, her hair a tangled
mess and her eyes glassy with sleep, she was gorgeous, and he couldn’t help but
lean over and place a sweet kiss upon her lips.
“Morning,” she grinned, raking a hand through her blonde
hair. “Are you hungry? Want me to make breakfast?”
“Make breakfast?” he repeated, impressed. “Sure!”
“Okay.” She slid out
of bed, not bothering to conceal herself as she stood up, exposing her naked
body to him once again. His eyes
traveled over her, and he smiled a little as he caught sight of her
stomach. He hadn’t really noticed it the
night before, but her stomach was no longer flat, but protruding ever so slightly. She was already beginning to show.
Bending over to retrieve her clothes from the floor, she
said, “I’ll be downstairs,” and walked out of the bedroom, leaving him
alone. He found he did not like it that
way and quickly got up, throwing on a pair of boxers before descending down the
stairs. When he met her in the kitchen,
she was looking angelic in her white satin robe. Yet, a wicked smirk spreading over his face,
he remembered how devilish she had been the night before.
He came up behind her, resting his hand briefly on her hips
before letting them slide down further.
“Stop that,” she giggled, turning and swatting his hand
away. “I’m trying to cook.”
As Nick had suspected, Leah’s “cooking” didn’t turn out to
be very good. The toast was burnt, and
the scrambled eggs were scorched, while the bacon was undercooked. But hey, Nick thought, at least she
tried.
He was beginning to regret the things he had said to her
those many months ago, right after his tour had ended. Maybe she had been telling the truth the
whole time. That she had been taken
advantage of, that it wasn’t her fault.
That she had never meant to hurt him.
His mind had always told him she was not to be trusted. But then why did his heart always go crazy
when she was around?
Follow your heart – wasn’t that what he had always been
told to do?
Well, his heart was telling him that things were going to
work between him and the beautiful Leah.
So, against his better judgment, he followed its advice and let himself
fall for her for the third time in his life.
***