The Perfect Gift

Ch. 14

The man and the woman look at each other in surprise and then back at him.

"Uh, I think we've got the wrong apartment," the woman answers. Her eyebrows furrow in shock as she glances up and down at him silently. The once over she gives him is more calculating than lascivious, which makes him grateful.

"Oh," Ricky says disappointingly. He'd thought for sure that this was Kourtney and Devon.

The tall man frowns and scratches his head in confusion. "I dunno... I could have sworn that this was Nini's apartment..."

Ricky brightens. "Nini?" he repeats with a small smile. "Nini Salazar-Roberts?" The couple nods at him, looking even more unsure. "You guys must be Kourtney and Devon! You've got the right apartment, after all!" he laughs merrily.

Their jaws drop. Their eyes bug out in the most comical way. Finally, after their perfect imitations of floundering fish, they manage to find words. "YOU'RE RICKY?!" they shout in bewilderment.

He raises an eyebrow at their reaction. "Uh, yeah. That's me," he says slowly, with a friendly, albeit awkward, smile. "Nice to meet you guys."

Nini has finally made her appearance. "Kourt! Dev!" she says breathlessly, showing up at Ricky's side. She grins happily at them. "Hey, guys! Come on in and—ahh!"

Kourt has reached over to thrust the box she'd been carrying into Ricky's chest so she could yank Nini by the arm out into the hallway to join her and Devon.

Ricky stumbles backward a few steps and he clumsily catches the box before it drops. "Whoa!"

"Hey, Rick! Why don'tcha do me a favor and refrigerate that pie for me? Thanks, pal, you're a doll!" Kourt shouts as she shuts the door in his face.

"Oh my God!" Nini breathes as Kourtney gently slams her against the wall. "What was that for?!" she shouts irritably as she shakes the hair out of her face. "And since when did manhandling become a sign of friendship?" she adds under her breath.

Kourtney gives her an overly excited look, practically bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "That's the guy? That's the guy you're seeing? That's Ricky?"

Nini stares at her friend oddly. "Yes. Yes. And... yes," she says in a slow, clear voice as to make sure Kourt understands her. She flushes a little and fidgets with the hem of her top. "And, um, he's kind of my boyfriend now." She winces at her own wording. "Well, not kind of, he totally is," she quickly amends with a tumbling motion of her hands.

Kourtney's jaw drops. "Since when? Just last night you were all, 'Oh, golly gosh gee, he may not be my boyfriend but I sure do think he's swell!'"

Nini gives her friend an offended look. "Never in my life, have I spoken like that," she states in a miffed tone.

Kourtney ignores this and raises an eyebrow. "So? When did this happen? The official boyfriend and girlfriend titles coming into play, I mean."

"Last night," she answers tiredly. "I was going to introduce him as my boyfriend so there wouldn't be any uncertainty but then you pulled me into the hallway and shut the door in Ricky's face," she reminds her, expressionless.

Kourtney lights up at the mention of the curly-haired man's name. She nudges Nini and throws her a suggestive glance. "Oh my God! Can we just take a moment to talk about how Ricky is so totally—" and then she breaks off guiltily and turns to her respective boyfriend, who'd been watching them with amusement etched into his features. "Sorry, honey. Uh, never mind."

"Oh no," he says airily with a shake of his head. "You can totally continue. Because my God, is Nini dating a beautiful man."

The girls share a look and then raise an eyebrow.