Nets and Lies(63)

I nodded. “It’s like you’ve totally got your head on straight.”

She smiled. “Wow, that’s cool to hear. Thanks. I mean, something good had to come out of all this bullshit, right?”

I stared down at my hands. “I hope so—I mean, that’s what I’m trying to believe.”

“And at the end of the day, you gotta have something to believe in.”

“Yeah, you do.”

Jordan smiled. “Thanks for coming down, Melanie. This really means a lot.”

“Yeah, I know. It does to me too.”

She cocked her head at me. “What’s gonna happen next? Me and you become bff?”

I laughed. “Stranger things have happened.”

Chapter Twenty-Two: Jordan

Two months later

Friday night found me working my usual shift at Fiorenza’s. But this Friday night was special because I had the next week off for Spring Break. A whole week away from the nuns and school work was going to be Heaven.

Almost two months had past since Melanie and I had made our peace. Having her on my side had really helped with Coach T out on bail awaiting his trial. We really leaned on each other, which was totally insane when you thought about it. I guess you could say we were even friends—something I never imagined in a million years.

After I took Table Nine’s order, I headed back to the kitchen. Manny glanced up at me as he shoved some plates in the window. “Jordan, after you take out these Chicken Marsalas, you can go on break.”

“Good deal, Bossman,” I muttered, grabbing up the plates.

Once I’d delivered the food and fended off a drunk customer hitting on me, I headed outside to smoke. As I dug in my pocket for my cigarettes, I missed my smoking buddy. It was never the same working without Nick. Of course, not having him around was something I was going to have to get used to. A few weeks ago he’d finally agreed to accept his uncle’s offer and move to Jersey. I hadn’t taken the news very well. Since February, Nick and I had been spending all of our free time together as friends.

Allegedly just friends.

No kissing and no touching that wasn’t purely friendly.

I had acted totally supportive when he told me about the move, but on the inside, I was dying. But what was I supposed to do? Tell him not to go? It was a no-win situation.

“Don’t you know that’s bad for you?” someone said out in the parking lot.

“Yeah and why don’t you mind your own business, ass**le!” I called back. But when I peered into the darkened night, I saw the figure striding toward me was Nick.

He was outfitted in khaki pants with a white dress shirt and navy blazer. I had never seen him so dressed up. I let out a low whistle. “Wow, you look amazing!”

“Thanks,” he replied with a grin.

My chest tightened a little as I wondered the reason for his attire. “You must have some hot date tonight, huh?”

He responded by jerking me to him. “What are—” I began before he crushed his lips to mine. The moment was electric. I should have pushed him away, but I didn’t. I mean, I probably should have argued about what this would mean to his sobriety. Not to mention that we were only supposed to be friends, and most friends didn’t make out in parking lots. But I didn’t fight it. I just gave into it.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pressed myself against him. My mind spun in a dizzying frenzy. Deep, languid strokes of his exploring tongue coupled with warm, inviting lips pressed to mine. No one had ever kissed me like Nick was kissing me. And with my considerable experience, that was saying a hell of a lot.

And then I realized why it was so different—I honestly and truthfully loved him.

When he pulled away, I had to steady my wobbly legs by bracing myself against the stair railing. My chest heaved, and I fought to catch my breath. As I glanced up at Nick, he was beaming down at me. “Um, what was that about?” I asked.

“I wasn’t on a date tonight, silly. I was at an AA meeting—my celebratory sobriety meeting.”

“Okay….” I murmured, still trying to recover from our intense make-out session.

“See, I made it to my one year sobriety, so by AA standards, that means I’m officially in play again on the dating scene.”

I cocked my eyebrows at him. “I didn’t realize you were such a player.”

He laughed. “I’m not. There’s only one person I care about being with, and that’s you.”

“Really?” I squeaked.

He bobbed his head. Staring into my eyes, he said, “I-I love you, Jordan.”

“Oh wow,” I murmured.

“Was it bad to say that?” Nick ask, his brows furrowing in concern.

“No, it wasn’t. Neither was the kiss. It’s just—”

“Too soon?”

“More like bad timing strikes again, don’t you think? I mean, you’re about to move to Jersey permanently in two weeks, so it’s not the greatest time to be professing our love. I can’t make relationships work under normal circumstances, so I’m pretty sure that I’d suck ass at a long distance ones!”

Nick reached into his coat pocket and took out an envelope. He grabbed one of my hands and placed the envelope in it. My eyebrows arched in surprise. “A gift for me? But tonight is your celebratory night. I have should have something for you,” I protested with a smile.