The Perfect Gift

Ch. 13

"Uh huh," he answers dully. "So, sorry, but I'm already booked for the evening."

Nini can hear the grin in his voice, toward the end of his comment. It makes her chuckle into the phone and she shakes her head. "I'm sure she'll love what you have planned for her." And she does, because while she owned quite a large collection of classic movies on DVD, Netflix's selection of the genre still managed to make her envious.

"You think she'll want me to pick up ice cream on the way home?"

The chuckling dies down and she sighs into the phone, thinking back to Kourtney's orders— because really, it wasn't exactly a polite request. She clears her throat and says, "Ricky..." before trailing off hesitantly.

"...We can do Go-Gurt if you're not feeling ice cream?"

She makes a pained smile at the reservation in his voice. She's touched that he would actually consider giving up ice cream for Go-Gurt, even if it was only for a night. "Uh, no. Ice cream sounds delicious, but we're going to have to cancel those plans."

"Oh." He sounds disappointed and confused.

"Kourtney wants to meet you," she blurts. She winces and reaches up to twirl a strand of hair around her fingers, mostly out of nerves.

"Oh." Now he sounds surprised and confused.

A beat of silence passes by.

She mistakes his silence as an answer for not wanting to go. She'll just have to think of an excuse to cancel on Kourt later. "Ricky? Ricky, it's okay if you don't want to go. I'll just—"

"This is a big deal, isn't it?" he asks, plain and simple.

She starts at the question, eyes blinking in rapid succession and her fingers pause mid-twirl in her hair. She doesn't want to freak him out about the big-dealiness of meeting Kourtney and Devon. They are her best friends, after all, and the most important people in her life.

"Um. No, no it's not a big deal. Like, at all. Nope, not a—not a big deal."

Yeah, that lie could have gone better.

"You're lying," he states, sounding amused by her inability to lie convincingly.

Her shoulders slump and she presses the heel of her hand in between her eyes. "That was your out, Ricky!" she moans. "You could have easily overlooked my lie and we could have avoided the whole thing."

"I don't mind going, Neens," he says lightly.

She perks up a little. "Really?" she asks in a timid voice.

"They're your friends!" he laughs. "Of course I don't mind. I mean, I was bound to meet Kourtney and, uh—Devon? Was it?—eventually, anyway." He pauses for a second and then continues. "But I just want to make sure you feel like you're ready for me to meet your friends," he adds softly. "I know you already feel like we rushed some things, so I just want to go with whatever pace you're comfortable with."

She smiles at his words. "Thanks, Ricky. I really appreciate that."

"Seriously, whenever you're ready," he says in an understanding tone.

Her grateful smile turns into a regretful one as she mutters her next words. "The only problem is, whether I'm ready or not, Kourtney is." She sighs. "So basically, if we don't show up, she's just going stake out our floor until she catches even the slightest glimpse of my 'supposed boyfriend'," she adds in a droll tone.

"What's all this 'supposed' business?" he asks in a playfully hurt voice that manages to make her relax and smile. "Anyway, if it makes you feel any better, I'm up for it. What would we be doing?" he continues, taking on a more sincere and serious tone.