Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 24 - Cold Shoulder

CHAPTER 24

CAT

Now that she was a little calmer, Cat realized Nick's apartment wasn't actually a complete pig sty. He had about half a dozen dishes in the sink that were a bit disgusting, but after washing those and placing them on the drying rack, all that she really needed to do was wipe down his counters, sweep the floor and pick up some empty beer bottles scattered across the kitchen and living room area.

By the time she'd started on breakfast, Nick joined her in the kitchen. He looked a lot better and a bit more hairless – actually, he was a lot more hairless. There wasn't even a small amount of stubble left.

"You didn't have to shave it all off," Cat giggled, running her fingers over the smooth skin of his cheek. "I loved your stubble," she told him.

"I fucked up while trimming, I should've been paying a little more attention," Nick spoke a little sheepishly, placing a hand over Cat's on his face. "I uh... I couldn't salvage any of it, so you'll just have to bear with me a couple days until it grows back in," he chuckled.

"It's OK, I think I'll manage," Cat smiled. "I think the only time I ever saw you like that, it was back in February when we first met... before open mic night, you didn't have a beard back then either," she mused. Luke had never seen Nick without facial hair; she wondered if he'd comment on it at all.

"I used to have a much bigger beard about uh... two years ago? I started growing it out in November of 2014. It was actually a bet between me and Leon... to see who could go the longest without shaving... or trimming. It got... pretty bad," he chuckled.

"Oh man, I can imagine, with the speed your facial hair grows and how dark it is... Do you have pictures? I wanna see Lumberjack Nick," Cat smiled. Her gaze darted momentarily toward the coffee machine, which looked to be about done. She crossed to the other side of the kitchen and grabbed two mugs from one of Nick's cabinets and filled them with steaming hot coffee.

"My mom has a few, for sure – every picture from every family event for about a year. She hated it, kept telling me I looked homeless... as far as I know, I probably did," he answered. "I think she was just worried people might think I didn't know how to groom myself," he laughed.

"Beards can look really sexy if you know how to maintain them, and you do – when it's not a bet, anyway. You've got the perfect face for a beard... and no beard, apparently. You've just got a perfect face in general," she smiled at him.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure I'm looking mighty smoking hot right now," Nick chuckled, running his hand over his face and rubbing the deep circles under his gray eyes. "I feel like fucking shit," he grumbled.

"And whose fault is that?" Cat chided, adding sugar and creamer to the two mugs of coffee in front of her. Besides a lonely spoonful of sugar and a pinch of creamer, Nick pretty much drank his black. Cat liked a little more creamer in hers.

"Mine," Nick bowed his head in shame, but the small, lopsided smile on his lips made her crack a grin of her own.

She was glad that things could get back to their normal rhythm fairly quickly. She figured it'd be insanely awkward for a while... that she'd still be mad and he'd still be... you know... all mopey and stuff... but no, it was like the five days they'd spent apart hadn't even happened.

"Here, I'm putting your mug in front of you, above your right hand, I already put in the sugar and creamer in, you've just got to stir it," she told Nick.