“About that…”
He gestured toward the living room. I gestured for him to come in. The fact Mum hadn’t told them to take off their shoesgave away how excited she was to have company. Nick took a seat at the end of the couch, and I plopped down on the center cushion, sitting on my leg as I faced him. We were close enough that we could touch, but far enough away that nobody would get the wrong idea.
Let them wonder.
“Don’t tell her,” he whispered, pointing toward the kitchen. “But I don’t think her ritual worked.”
“Oh?” I had hoped whatever convincing Nick needed had set in last night. I’m not sure how much he bought into the idea of magic and ceremonies. Even if he didn’t believe, I wanted him to walk away with a new sense of confidence.
“The slap might have helped.” He touched his cheek again. “But I don’t think… I don’t know how to say this without sounding desperate.”
“I think we’re past that.” I let a finger graze the hair along his thigh. “Way past.”
“What if I was wrong about it?”
“About the curse? I have to admit, hearing everything you’ve dealt with made me a believer.”
“If he hadn’t broken up with me here…” Nick’s words trailed off. This differed from before. He didn’t shrink into himself, withdrawing from conversation. I wanted to grip his leg and shake the words from him.
“Is it a curse if it brought me here?” He bit his lower lip while his fingers fidgeted in the palm of his hand. That hit like a fist to the sternum. After everything he’d dealt with… was he really saying it was worth it if it meant landing here? Landing with me?
“I- I-”
“It’s cheesy, I know.”
My hand gripped his thigh. “Very cheesy.” It might have been sappy as all hell, but it got me anyway. “I won’t hold it againstyou,” I lied. Oh, I’d save that line for years. I’d use it to tease at every opportunity.
“You’re an ass.” The grin on his face said otherwise. “But it’s true. Maybe I had been thinking about it all wrong?” He held up his hands. “Not that I’m putting the pressure on you.”
I’d wear it like a badge of honor. “Sorry it took all that to get you here. But I’m glad youarehere.”
He didn’t reply. Instead, his pointer finger traced the tattoo along my hand. We’d had a rough start, but the first night on the green? Finding somebody who sat in comfortable silence? That stuck with me. Being dense, I didn’t realize it then, but I had already taken a shine to him. I’d never admit it aloud, but I wanted him back out there with me. It had taken both of us the long route, but here we sat on my mother’s couch, once again comfortable in the?—
“I hope you boys are hungry.”
We jolted upright, as if we had been caught kissing with the bedroom door half-open. He snickered as guilt flashed across my face. Having never had a boy over to the house before, I still didn’t know the protocol. Good to know some things didn’t change with age.
Mum appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands along the ripped abs of the man on her apron. Having a full house made her happy. She loved taking care of people. When I first arrived, it had been begrudgingly, and now, I begrudged a little less. We’d make the most of our time together, memories that we’d laugh about when I called, and therewouldbe phone calls. Pops would be happy to know?—
“Oh, shit.”
I had almost forgotten the flowers. Holding up a finger, I dashed out to the garage. I reached into the passenger side of the car, grabbing the bouquet before returning to the living room.Mum’s eyes went wide as I thrust the bouquet out. She took them by the stems, bringing them to her nose with a deep inhale.
When she came up, a smile stretched across her face. Mum cupped my cheek, and for a moment, it was as if there were three of us in the room. I didn’t need to hear her say it. I could feel Pops’s presence in the room. There’d be no more?—
“Charles,” she whispered.
She glanced at the rose in the center and then toward where Nick sat on the couch. “Just like your father used to,” she said. I froze at the comment. Had Marigold rolled the same bouquet decades before for my father? I’d have to process that later, right after I made my grand gesture.
Pulling the rose free, I offered it to Nick. “I flowered you.” What? “I got you flowers.” I should take off my shoe and see how much of my foot I could wedge in my mouth. “For you.” I held it out in the same awkward manner I had for my mother.
“Just like his father,” she said, heading to the kitchen.
Nick snickered as he took the flower. “That was more painful than dumping Moxie down your pants.”
“Says you!”
He sniffed the flower before giving me a smile, one that traveled from his eyes to his shoulders. He got up from the couch, stepping close enough that our bellies rubbed together. This was the same man who had stripped beside the river and jumped in without hesitation. Getting to know him did something to me. Not fear. Something worse. Better. I’d need time to process.
