Nets and Lies(47)

When Luke didn’t answer me, Natalie cleared her throat. “He’s suspended for the week, and he can’t play in next week’s games.”

I closed my eyes. Not being able to play basketball was the worst punishment anyone could have given Luke. He lived and breathed the game just like I did. But he’d risked everything to fight someone over my honor.

Once again, it was all my fault.

Suddenly, I was so exhausted it felt like a tremendous effort just to keep my head up. All I wanted was to sleep. I didn’t want to have to deal with anymore of my problems, and I couldn’t bear looking at Luke’s face. “Listen, it’s time for my medicine again. And it makes me sleepy, so I guess we’ll have to visit later.”

Natalie appeared stung. “But I just drove in to see you!”

“I’m sorry.”

She didn’t say anything. Instead, she grabbed her purse and dropped the magazines on my bed. “Come on Luke, we better go.”

When he started to leave, I said, “Luke, I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mel,” he replied. His shoulders drooped in defeat as the door closed, causing my heart to ache.

Natalie breezed past me. When she got to the door, she turned around. There were tears in her eyes. “Melanie, I’m sorry about what happened. I wish I knew what to say, but I don’t.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Nat. The fact you came to see me really means a lot.”

She nodded. “You’re my little sister, and I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered.

She hesitated. “Just don’t let this defeat you, okay?”

I stared at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you’re too strong of a person to let this ruin you. You’ve got too much ahead of you.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

She sighed. “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow, okay?”

I nodded. The door closed behind her, and I covered my face with my hands. I just wanted out. With trembling hands, I reached over and buzzed for the nurse.

“Yes?” asked the voice.

“I need a shot.”

“All right. Your nurse will be there in a minute.”

Chapter Sixteen: Jordan

I’ll be honest. Since the night I first met Nick, I thought about him way more than I should have. I started looking forward to work more and more because I knew he’d be there. And then when I started getting butterflies in my stomach whenever I was around him, I totally and completely freaked out. So much that it sent me googling ‘sex addiction’ and ‘codependency’. I mean, how screwed up was it that I was incapable of swearing off guys? It hadn’t even been a whole month since my affair with Coach T, and here I thinking about another guy.

That’s when I decided Mom was right, and I needed therapy. I wanted to find out why I still couldn’t man up to tell the authorities I had lied or why depended on a man so much.

Manny interrupted my thoughts by shoving a plate of linguini in front of me. “Hey! Wake up and get this to table ten.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled.

As I turned to head over to my station, I almost collided with Nick. “Easy Jo-Jo, where’s the fire?” he asked, giving me his signature grin.

“Just the usual Manny fire,” I replied.

He chuckled before heading over to the undesignated “Senior Citizen Section”. He always made a point to come out of the kitchen to talk to the regulars. He was especially sweet to this one cute little old lady named Mrs. Santoriello who had sort of adopted him as a grandson.

As I waited on the tables in my station, bits and pieces of their conversation floated bacl to me. I almost dropped some plates of lasagna when Mrs. Santoriello asked, “Don’t you have a girlfriend, Nicky?”

I held my breath as I strained to hear his response. The customers waiting on their food gave me an odd look. “Oh, sorry,” I said, putting the plates down.

“Nope, no girlfriend for me.”

“And why not? A handsome young man like you should have a string of admirers.”

I could almost feel Nick’s cheeks reddening.

“Jordan,” Mrs. Santoriello called.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Can you tell me how it’s possible Nicky doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing would come out. Nick ducked his head and jammed his hands in his pockets. Since I was never one for being speechless, I fought to find my voice. “I don’t know, Mrs. Santoriello.”

She shook her head at my response. Just as I was about to turn to go refill glasses, she clapped her hands together. “I know! Nicky, you should date Jordan!”

Now it was my turn to blush. Jeez, not only was I never speechless, but I most certainly never blushed—not until I’d met Nick. “Well, Jordan and I are good friends,” Nick replied.

Mrs. Santoriello was undaunted. “But lots of relationships start out as friends. Take my late husband and me. We lived two houses down from each other our whole lives, and as children, we played together every afternoon. Then in high school, we were still good friends until this one Sadie Hawkins dance. I had no one to ask or go with, so I asked him.” She closed her eyes, reliving the happy memories. “We had our first kiss that night—right after we both admitted how we really felt about each other.”