Finding Him

Chapter Thirteen

~Nikki~

I must've dosed off in Dex's warm grasp because when I wake up I am being carried to a gold-colored Honda Odyssey and a sprinkle of rain is falling from the sky. I don't even have to guess who is carrying me. I was surrounded with his soapy, freshly cut grass smell.

I lift my head from the confines of his red sweatshirt and groan, my throat raw from sleep and my eyes begging to be closed again. Spotting his defined features and soft, thick strands of black hair crowning his head, I smile.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't planning on falling asleep," I murmur. He looks down and smiles. He carefully slides me onto the slick ground and tucks stray tendrils of hair behind my ears.

"Ah, it's all good. I called the group and they said they're still on for the movies if you are," he says, taking my hand as we continue to the car. I recognize it as his sister's "soccer mom" car. Yes, he has a sister, she's just never around. She was one of those empowered types who is really successful and beautiful and everyone on the freaking Earth wants to be her. Her name was Katherine, the typical successful business type name. Kate was in college when Dex and I were twelve, making me really little when she was around, so I can't really remember much about her. That is except for the fact that I idolized her as a little girl and practically begged on my knees for someone to give me her tall, lean body and memorizing crop of raven hair.

Dex's Mom had called me two years ago when Kate got engaged to a CEO of a car company named Xavier Johnson. Let's just say I wasn't surprised, Kate gets what she wants, just like her Mother. Also, my mother, if I can call her that, had shown me the baby announcement card she got in the mail when Kate had her first son, Oliver. Since then, Kate had had a baby girl named Sandra.

"Nah, do you mind if we just hang out at tonight, it's been a long week," I answer. The movies sounded like a good idea earlier but now it just seemed like a big waste of energy. Besides, I kind of liked just hanging out with Dex and because I knew my friends wouldn't mind it made the idea even better.

"Yeah, we can have movie night at my house if you want, Dad already set up the big den downstairs. Why, I have no idea, he's rarely ever home anymore," Dex says, squinting through the annoying drops of warm wet rain.

"Sounds good, thanks," I say, my teeth chattering from the wetness on my bare arms and legs. Dex picks up on this instantly and unzips his jacket before sliding it onto my shoulders. It's warm and smells like him. It also falls down to my knees and drowns my arms in all the fabric but I love it nonetheless. I smile and zip the jacket over my body, sighing into it's warmth. Dex was like one of those wolves on Twilight; so warm.

"Thank you, Dex. When did your sister get home?" I question, leaning my head on Dex's shoulder. He smiles and kisses the top of my head before answering.

"Yesterday, Mom insisted, said she should take a break to prevent from too much stress," Dex explains, standing up straighter as we approach the car. The fact that Dex thought he needed to look all prim and proper for his sister was hilarious to me. "Oh, and your welcome."

I smile and he takes a deep breath before pulling on the handle of the door. Right away, I see Kate, sitting in the driver's seat, her long nails typing away on her phone. Dex's Mother sits in the passenger seat, mimicking her daughter's motions. As they say, like mother like daughter.

"Mrs. Harrison? Kate! It's so good to see you," I say, hearing my own enthusiasm. Kate and Mrs. Harrison whip around to look at me. Kate smiles her warmest smile, the one I rarely saw and says, "Hi, Nikki, God has it been that long? You look so, well, old!"

"Yeah, you look older too, Katie! What are you, like ninety?" I joke, sliding onto the tan leather seat. Personally, it's a very ugly seat color.

She scowls and rubs a hand over her forehead, checking for wrinkles no doubt. Of course, she has none, her version of Mr. Harrison's deep brown eyes are clear and bright and her raven hair is a deep black, no signs of gray at all. She is only twenty seven, but still she's always under so much stress you would think she would look kind of worn.