“Stay away from her, Ryder,” I growl into the phone, my fists clenching.
“No worries there, but if you don’t man the f**k up, I’ll make it my mission to see that she’s mine.” The bastard then hangs up.
Fuck!
Derek looks over. “What was that about?”
“Ryder f**king took Nikki on a date tonight.”
“So? You aren’t with her.”
I look over, ready to punch him, then he goes on. “Get your head outta your ass, man, if not, she’s gonna move on without you.”
Fuck, he’s the third person today to say this shit.
NIKKI
Ryder and I haven’t spoken since our date, and Kade is acting weird too; our interactions are now more strained than ever. He barely even acknowledges I’m around. I’m mostly hanging out with James. I catch Kade staring at me every so often, but when I stare back he looks away. Tonight I’m going clubbing. Yes, clubbing again, what can I say? I love to dance. Simone says she'll meet me there. I don’t take that much time with my appearance; I just wear a pair of soft leather pants and a white off the shoulder top, paired with my red heels. I call a cab to come and pick me up.
When I get to the club I don’t see Simone anywhere. A cute guy asks me to dance, and when I nod, he pulls me to the dance floor. A couple of songs later, “Slut Like You” by P!nk is playing, and I love this song. I glance around the club, looking for a still missing-in-action Simone, when Kade pops up in my line of vision. I’m having deja-vu. I walk away from my dance partner and up to Kade.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. This is not my usual spot, so it can’t be a coincidence that he’s here.
“I have my ways,” is his vague, infuriating reply.
“Come on, Nik, were getting out of here. We have unfinished business,” he says, taking a hold of my arm.
“Kade, no,” I say sternly, pulling my arm out of his hold. I walk away, shouting over my shoulder, “I might not be home tonight, don’t wait up!”
I hear him yell “fuck”, which I ignore. I walk back over to the dance floor and resume my dancing.
“Nikki, stop. Fuck, you are worse than Layla with this running shit.” He grabs my arm, and that’s it, I’ve had it. I turn around, fist clenched, and punch him right in the jaw. He stumbles back. “What the f**k, Nikki?” he hisses. I run off the dance floor and Kade chases after me. When I get outside, Kade grabs me again. I turn around, and notice that his face has started to bruise. It makes me feel slightly better.
“Just leave me the f**k alone, Kade. God, I wanted you so bad! But now you just need to let me move on!”
“No, why the hell would I let you move on when I want to be with you? I’ve also never been jealous before in my life, and I don’t f**king like it, Nikki! Not to mention your f**king date with Ryder.” How the hell does he know that?
“How did you know it was Ryder?” I ask.
“He f**king called me, and told me to get my shit together before I lose you for good!” He growls out.
“I just need time, Kade. Can you give me that? We need to work on some sort of friendship first, learn to actually trust each other! If you really want to prove to me that you want me, keep your dick in your pants,” I tell him frankly, my voice hoarse. He was the one pursuing me when he hooked up with that Kelly chick. I know, my fault, I was avoiding him, but come on, when you say you want someone, you don’t just go and do that.
“I can do that! But the same rules apply to you. No more dates, none of that shit. Let’s go home.”
We are quiet on the way home. We pull into the driveway and I hop out quickly. I walk to the front door ahead of him, looking through my purse for my house key. Kade stops me with a hand on my arm. I still.
“Nikki,” he whispers softly. I glance up at him, and watch as he gently pushes me against the door, his lips demanding on mine. All of a sudden the door swings open and we land on the floor, Kade on top of me. He looks down into my eyes, and I feel like I can’t breathe, his stare is so intense. When we hear a laugh, we glance over, and see James standing there smirking. Kade gets up and then helps me up.
“Interesting night?” James asks with a grin. “Whoa, Kade, what happened to your face?” Kade huffs and gestures to me. James bursts out laughing.
“Excuse me,” I mumble, walking past him and straight to my room.
I fall face first into my bed with a huge sigh. This is a mess. There is a knock on my door.
“Nik, open up. We need to talk,” Kade rumbles.
“Can we talk in the morning?” I call out. I need time to process things.
He sighs and reluctantly agrees. “Okay, but tomorrow. Night, Nikki.”
I exhale in relief.
Chapter Twelve
The next morning I dread getting out of bed. I know Kade is going to be waiting for me to wake up, and have that damn talk. I groan, thinking of ways to get out of it. Other than using sex as distraction, nothing comes to mind. I step out into the hallway, noticing the bedroom doors are all closed. I sneak down the hall, praying no one hears me. I open the door as softly as I can, stepping out onto the deck. I take a quick look around, making sure I’m alone and then I pull out a cigarette and light it up, taking a deep calming inhale. Oh, did I mention I smoke? Probably not. But yeah, I do. Usually when I’m stressed out or having a bad day. I jump in the shower before anyone can smell the smoke on me. No one knows I smoke. Layla would probably kill me.