Heather and two of the girls head inside to get some food together and probably talk about me. Nicole laughs when they ask if she’s going to help, and instead, sits beside me with a beer in each hand. “You’re going to need this.” She hands me one of the bottles.
“Thanks.”
“I want you to know that Heather is special.”
I guess since there’s no father or brother in the picture, I’m going to get the speech from her best friend.
“I agree.”
She takes a swig and nods. “I think you’re good for her. I’ve known her my whole life, and there’s something different about her since you came around.”
“Aren’t you breaking some kind of girl code?” I ask.
I’m not sure how these things work with chicks, but if I’m basing it off my experience with Savannah, they’re all deranged. She and her friends talk in some alternate language that Randy and I tried to decode once. In the end, we gave up and decided being on the inside wasn’t worth it. However, I know she’s talked about never breaking the code. Whatever the fuck that means.
“She knows me too well. I don’t have a code.”
“Good to know.” I laugh as I take a pull from my beer.
“I heard about what you did for her sister.”
I know this is a test. What I say now will determine if Nicole helps or hurts me. So far, I think she’s been pro-Eli, but that can change. I’m not a fool.
“What’s important to Heather should be important to who she dates, don’t you think?”
She smiles and then catches herself. “Not all men feel that way. Some think they should be most important. I’m sure in your world it’s that way a lot?”
There are days when I wish people could see the shit I go through. It may look all wonderful on the outside, but it isn’t when you live it. I get hounded by the press, followed by the paparazzi, and forget having any kind of privacy. The only reason I have an ounce of it with Heather is because I’m here. Tampa is where I can be low key. But if Heather and I went to dinner in public, you can bet your ass I’ll have photos taken, which will bring the headlines, questions, assumptions, and everything else. I don’t think that was her point, though. I have a feeling it’s about the loser she married before me.
I weigh my words carefully. “It can be, but not where the people I care about are concerned. Sure, the people who want something from me treat me differently, but if you met my brother or his wife, you’d know that’s not the case. I’m fully aware of Heather’s situation and only a selfish piece of shit would put her in a position to choose.”
Nicole looks off at the kids running around and then back to me. “I’m protective of her.”
“I’m glad.”
“I won’t let you hurt her,” she warns.
“I don’t ever want to hurt her.”
Quite the contrary, actually. I want to be her protector, her sense of comfort, and the one who she can rely on. It’s a primal desire to take care of her. I just don’t know if she’ll let me.
“Wanting and doing are two different things and people tend to protect themselves over another.”
Her words strike me deep in my heart. Is that what I’m doing? Knowingly keeping things from her to protect myself? To be able to have whatever I can have with her at her expense? I hate myself in this very moment.
Chapter 18
Heather
“There you are,” I smile when I find Eli still sitting with Nicole in the backyard. His eyes are filled with sorrow when they meet mine. “Eli?”
With a blink, the sadness is gone. “Hey.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask quickly and glare at Nicole. I’ll kill her if she said something stupid.
“Don’t look at me.” She waves her hand. “I was warning Eli of all the ways I’ll make his life miserable if he hurts you.”
Seriously, I wonder if I can have her committed. I know she’s being a friend, but Jesus, she’s a pain in the ass. “Could you not scare him off so soon?” I ask.
Eli pulls me to his side. “I’m good. It takes a lot to scare me off. Besides, I’m pretty sure Nicole would like to meet a certain member of the band, right?” He kisses my shoulder, and I chuckle.
In one of our recent conversations, I told him the stories of Kristin’s tickets, Danielle licking the poster, and Nicole’s obsession with his brother. He called his publicist right away and got something special for each of the girls. I laughed hysterically when he told me they took a photo of Shaun licking his own poster for Danielle. I’m sure her dumbass husband is going to be thrilled.
“Shut up!” Nicole yells. “I can’t believe you told him!”
I shrug.
She turns her gaze back to Eli and huffs. “I know he’s married and all, but seriously, your brother has always been my favorite.”
Eli and Nicole are sitting on the table portion of the picnic table, and he pulls me so I’m sitting between his legs. I rest my hand on his thigh as they talk about how his sister-in-law would laugh so hard she’d pee herself hearing people talk about Randy. He tried to tell Nicole that he isn’t all that special, but she’s a dog with a bone, and there’s no changing her mind.
Nicole heads inside for another drink and then the guys come over, striking up a conversation with Eli. I sit, bored and then I encourage him to go look at whatever the hell they’re talking about. The three guys walk away, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face. He looks so domestic right now, and it’s adorable.
“Look what I got,” Nicole calls me over by holding the sangria she’s famous for.
“You’re the best.”
I take the glass, and we both take a seat away from everyone. “I think he really likes you, babe,” Nicole says as she watched me watch Eli.
“Yeah?”
She smiles. “He’s a good guy. Keep your heart open to him. I know you guys have a ton of obstacles, but he passes the best friend test.”
I think Nicole forgets we’re almost forty, and I don’t need her approval. Still, I’m glad I have it. She tends to see through people’s bullshit easier than anyone else. She also would never say it if she didn’t mean it.
“I love you.” I pull her close.
“I love you even though I’m jealous you’re sleeping with a God each night.”
“What about your threesome?”
She scoffs. “I’m over those two, I think they wanted to fuck each other more than they wanted to fuck me, and if I’m taking two men to bed, I better be the center of the world. I have my eye on someone else.”
My jaw falls slack, even though I’m not sure why. This is Nicole. She’s always been this way, and I’d be worried if she weren’t. “I can only imagine what the hell you’re up to now.”
Danielle comes over and touches my shoulder. “I can’t believe you kept this from us.”
I wanted to keep Eli to myself for as long as possible. Plus, I don’t talk to them as much as I talk to Nicole. They’re in marriages that are hanging on by a thread, and their advice is always so off base.