“I have narcolepsy, okay? It’s beyond my control.”
Isaac rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”
“Midge is blind once you take her glasses off and that’s the only reason she sleeps with you,” Earl hammers back.
I stand to excuse myself before I have any more visuals thrust into my head that will keep me up tonight. “It’s been a pleasure, guys. I’m sure I’ll be back.”
“I’m sure you will. Ethel’s always swindling her grandkids to come in and do something with us,” Earl says and waves.
Isaac crooks his finger for me to get closer. “Get me some pictures next time and I’ll pay you ten dollars.”
I pat him on the shoulder. “You’re a funny man, Isaac.”
I disregard his question and leave to go join my wife. Taking a chair, I turn it around and straddle it next to Nikki. She glances at me, smiles, and looks at her table.
“Are you ready to go?” she asks.
“No rush. Whenever.”
She finishes her ice cream quickly as though she wants to go. “Thanks, Grandma and Dori. Hope you enjoyed Logan.”
“Not as much as you’re going to.” Midge lowers her glasses and checks me out. “I wish I had a quarter to bounce off that butt.”
“Midge!” Nikki squeaks and her eyes widen.
“I might be old and wrinkly, but I’m still a woman.” She pushes her glasses back up.
I smile tentatively.
“You’ve scared the poor boy,” Dori says. “Go, you two. Have fun at home. Be watchful of Sheriff Miller, no erratic driving.” She waves her finger.
Nikki pushes at my side. “We need to go.”
“Bye, everyone.” I wave and they all wave back, saying their goodbyes.
Once we’re outside, Nikki stops touching me, as though we’re strangers again, and my body runs cold.
“They’re good people, just a little odd, that’s all.” I open the door of the truck and she climbs in.
“Thanks again,” she says, and I shut the door, rounding the truck.
My annoyance is getting the better of me. I really don’t want to have an outburst with her, but I’m done with this standoffish side of her every time we grow closer.
I pull out of the parking lot, out to the main road of Lake Starlight. We pass the infamous resort, Glacier Point, the small-town shops, then we’re on the highway back to Sunrise Bay. Lake Starlight is nice and maybe I’m not impartial, but I like that Sunrise Bay doesn’t have parking in the square, you have to park outside of it. It’s safer for the kids and families.
Jesus, when did I start thinking about the safety of children and prefer one small town over another? What’s happened to me in the short time I’ve lived here?
The twenty-minute ride is quiet. Nikki sits without saying much. By the time we pull up to my rented house, she’s ready to bolt. When the car door shuts behind her and I watch her walk up to the house, the last ounce of my patience snaps.
I turn off the ignition and slam the truck door, following her up the walkway. She uses her key to get in and is on the bottom stair to head upstairs when I make it through the door.
“Going to hide out in your room for the rest of the night?” I head toward the kitchen without waiting for an answer.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, never stepping down from the stair.
“Nothing,” I mumble and continue down the hallway. Yeah, I’m being passive-aggressive, but I’m not sure what to do at this point.
“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” she says, her footsteps sounding behind me.
“I guess you had to be around me for an unbearable amount of time and now you’re going to hibernate in your room for the rest of the evening.” I open the fridge, still hungry, and pull out one of my juices.
“Is that going to fill you up?” She eyes my juice.
I gulp down another swallow. “What do you care?”
She leans her hip against the counter. “Tell me again what’s wrong with you.”
I lower the juice and set it on the counter, then stare at her for a moment. Do I really want to do this now? Call her out? Hell yeah, I do. Even if it ends with me leaving town and heading back to Vegas. I can’t stand it anymore. I never would have thought she’d be this hard to crack.
“The fact that you won’t even allow me to get close to you. You act like I’m some diseased animal.”
She scoffs. “A little dramatic, don’t you think?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think I’m being dramatic. I think you act dramatic when you try to ignore the fact that you have feelings.”
She scoffs again and crosses her arms. All I see is her chest in that T-shirt. “What feelings? Feelings for you?” Her tone suggests it’s a ludicrous accusation.
“Yes. Feelings. For me. You’re trying to hide them. Or ignore them.”
“I told you—”
I hold up my hand before she can finish. “Yeah, daddy issues. Got it.” I walk away, but as I’m escaping the room, she stops me.
“You have no idea how messed up I am over it. And the fact that you’re… well… you, doesn’t help.”
I twirl around. “The fact I’m me? Did I invite some girl home with me? Have I given anyone any suggestion that I’m single while I’ve been here? I uprooted my entire life to be here with you.”
She laughs—an ungenuine one at that. “I never asked you to. You asked me to pretend the marriage was real until after your fight.”
I place my hands on my hips and my chin drops in defeat. She has a point. I did do that. “I only did that because I wanted to see where this goes. I felt something in my gut that told me there’s a reason we got married, something special between us. But you pushed me away, and I felt like the only way to explore it was to make that deal.”
“What?” she whispers. “You fooled me?”
I shake my head. “I was giving you the five contacts no matter what. I did it to buy time. Time with you. Time to explore this, but all I get from you is the palm of your hand in the air.”
“Yeah, because I felt like you wanted me to play the role, but didn’t really want me,” she says.
“You really believed that?” I ask. Is she really that bad at reading signs? “You said you didn’t play games.”
“And so did you. But you just played me.” She clenches her fists at her sides. “You tricked me, and now you’re angry that I’m not stripping down naked every night and sliding into bed with you.”
I throw my hands in the air. “I’m mad because you’re ignoring the pull we have toward one another. I see you looking at me, Nikki. I see your cheeks flush when I get near. I felt your heartbeat when I was on top of you tonight, the slight shift in your hips. Admit it to yourself at least, if you won’t to me. You want me just as much as I want you.”
She blows out a breath. “You don’t even remember marrying me.”
“Yet here I am!” I open my arms wide for her. “Waiting for you to want anything to do with me. Waiting for you to admit that there’s something here that neither of us can put into words and that it’s good, with the potential to be really fucking great.”