Three is a crowd

Chapter 17 (Part One)

You up?

Two words; just two words were enough to make Jade feel giddy and excited. It was a text from Nigel and Jade felt ecstatic.

Yeah. Jade typed back a quick response and impatiently waited for a response.

It was 9am on a Wednesday night and Jade was already ready for bed. That was all until her phone beeped with a message from Nigel. Jade was then up and awake.

It had almost been a week since the teddy bear incident and almost a week since Jade had seen Nigel due to their schedules clashing. Jade missed Nigel more than she liked to admit. Missing him reminded her of the time they had broken up, she was lost without him. She was merely living then, a skeleton of her former self till Jack.

Now that there was a chance of seeing him, Nigel, Jade was beyond excited. She wondered if they would text or Face time or maybe go to his apartment? The possibilities were endless when it came to Nigel. When five minutes passed without a reply from Nigel, Jade's mood dampened.

She checked her connection over and over again but it was fine.

She checked if her message had really sent and it had.

So, she waited and waited.

Fifteen minutes Jade whipped out her laptop and started watching a movie to pass the time occasionally checking for a message but there was none. Absolutely nothing. It was exactly thirty minutes later that Jade started feeling annoyed.

Who did Nigel think he was raising her hopes like that?

Why did he even bother texting if he was going to disappear?

What if Nigel was with Amanda?

Jade felt sick at the thought. Most times she didn't care about Amanda except times like these. When Jade's feelings got the best of her and all she wanted was Nigel. Moments when she felt vulnerable, Jade hated Amanda with every fibre of her being.

A knock on the door tore Jade out of her thoughts. Jade rolled out of bed and trudged to the door, opening it to find Nigel. A wide smile of both happiness and relief made its way to Jade's face and Nigel smiled back.

They hugged, holding onto to each other tightly. Jade could feel all the previous tension that was in her melting away as Nigel held onto her. She felt safe in his sturdy hands.

"It's been hell without you," Nigel mumbled into Jade's hair and Jade smiled.

"I have missed you too," Jade admitted and Nigel let her go to cup her cheeks.

Nigel's hands were soft and warm on Jade's skin and she didn't want him to let go. Their gazes locked and Jade was entranced like she always was when she looked into his brown eyes. They leaned closer to each other and their foreheads were touching. Jade closed her eyes to savor the moment, to memorize it.

Nigel's breath smelt minty which made Jade smile; he had put in some effort to see her. Jade almost gasped when Nigel closed the gap between them kissing her with so much fervor it made her weak in the knees. She was grateful he was holding her waist but she still put her arms around him for support and to have him as close to her as possible.

They pulled away a few minutes later, their breaths fast paced like their heartbeats. Nigel interlaced his hands with Jade's before he kissed their joined hands.

"I want to take you somewhere," Nigel said and Jade raised her eyebrows.

"I should change then," Jade said looking down at her pajamas with a frown.

"You look perfect," Nigel replied filling Jade's stomach with butterflies before leading Jade out of her room.

Jade didn't ask where; she wanted to be surprised. They walked to his car and Nigel opened the door for Jade, a simple act that made Jade fall harder for Nigel. Nigel allowed Jade to pick out the music and they sang out loud to all the songs as they drove into the night.

It was a warm night so Jade was fine in her pajama tank top and shorts. She didn't even mind the occasional breeze. Throughout the drive she kept her eyes on Nigel because nothing was better than him. He was all she wanted to look at. Thirty minutes they arrived and Jade realized Nigel had taken her to the beach.

Jade laughed quietly as they were walking aimlessly on the sand which made Nigel shoot her an amused look.

"I just remembered the last time I was here," Jade began and Nigel seemed intrigued. "I was here with Nevaeh and we got so wasted that we passed out on the sand. Then Cam had to track his car which Nevaeh had stolen. He was so mad but it was worth it."

Nigel laughed as he heard the story.

"You have really changed from the girl I knew," Nigel commented and Jade shrugged.

"Change is inevitable in everything, especially people," Jade replied and Nigel smiled wistfully.

They continued their walk in silence, each to their own thoughts until Jade saw why Nigel had brought her to the beach. Jade smiled and covered her mouth in disbelief.

There was a small blanket on the ground with a wine bottle, chocolates, strawberries, apples because Jade hated bananas and packets of chips...all junk foods which made Jade grin taking in all the food. She turned to face Nigel who was smiling back at her.

"You know I'm going to have to take whatever remains of this spread back to my room," Jade promised and Nigel nodded.

"I was just thinking of how we haven't been together in such a long time and I just wanted to spend uninterrupted time with my girl," Nigel told Jade and her stomach fluttered.

She was his girl.

"We have just about the whole night," Jade whispered quietly allowing Nigel to grab her waist and pull her closer to him.

He pulled out his phone from the pockets of his joggers before playing a slow cheesy song.

"May I have this dance?" Nigel asked and Jade smiled trying to cover the way proximity to Nigel made her nervous.

"Do I have a choice?" Jade asked swaying side to side with her arms placed loosely around Nigel's neck.

"You always have a choice with me," Nigel whispered huskily staring at Jade with so much intensity it made her stomach flutter again.

They continued dancing quietly until Jade leaned against Nigel's broad shoulder listening to his heartbeat. Jade was happy to know that his heart was racing like hers; to know that she had the same effect on him as he had on her.  

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