Yo, yo, yo! Here is the next chappy. (: Uh, I have nothing else to say. Odd. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Thanks and Happy Readings! (:
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Chapter Six: Casey
-->Leena's POV:
It was official. I was falling head-over-heels in love with Nick. I don't know what happened, or when I started to even like him. And, the worst part was that I had no idea if he even felt the same. He was very kind, yes, but he never really came on to me physically-even though I knew he wanted to. We'd been out the past four days now, talking, sharing, falling asleep with his arm wrapped around me, and I had somehow fallen in deep. With him, I doubt that I'd be a train wreak tomorrow. It was the anniversary of my parents' deaths, and every year I had converted into a total mess. Now though, I was sure, with Nick, I'd be alright.
I had just handed a tequila shot to a customer when the jingle of the door caught my attention. When I looked up it was Nick. He was wearing worn-in jeans and his trademark leather jacket. His hair was messy and looked a little wet, and he had on his ear to ear grin. When he reached the counter he leaned over and placed a kiss on my lips, not caring about any one else in the bar.
"What do you say about ditching?" he asked, taking a seat at the counter.
"I don't get off for another four hours."
"So what?" he smiled. "Technically, since I own this place, you really work for me."
I laughed at that. "I can't just leave. There's only me and one other bartender tonight."
Nick shrugged at my remark. "I still don't get your point."
I shook my head. "Do you always get your way?"
Nick smiled. "Mostly."
Mostly? Please. I knew he did, and he knew he did.
"What about Sean?" Okay, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. Every time I would mention Sean, Nick would get that jealous gleam in his eyes. It was nice to see he didn't want me to be with another guy, but kind of disgusted me because it was Sean. That would be like being in love with my brother.
"What about him?"
"I can't leave without telling him."
"I'll tell him. Go get your stuff."
My eyes followed his back as he walked away. God, the man could be very demanding. I rolled my eyes and turned around, only to run into Ava.
I wanted to run away. Ever since the day Nick asked me out, Ava had been giving me the evil eye. I mean, I wouldn't blame her. Nick was definitely someone to get jealous over, but sheesh. It was like our kind of friendship was nothing now.
"You know he's just hanging around until you put out, right?" Ava said menacingly. It was as if she wanted to cause trouble.
"Well I guess that's my problem, huh?" I remarked.
"Whatever. I'm just saying that he wants a piece of ass." Ava said, shrugging. "Besides if he didn't want me, what makes you think he'll stay with you? A guy like that will never settle down with a girl like you."
A girl like me? The same thought had been running through my mind since Nick had dropped me home after our date that first night. Why would a guy like Nick want a girl like me? I wasn't as pretty as Ava, or experienced. And I was sure that Nick was definitely experienced. He had to be, the way he looked.
I watched, in silence, as Ava picked up a drink order and left. A few minutes later, Nick came back out with a smile, though it was gone when he saw my face.
"Baby?" he said, pulling me into his arms. "What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking about something."
"Won't you tell me?"
"Well, why do you-er, I mean, why are you with me?"
"That's a silly question. You're my ma-" he cut off so quickly I wasn't even remotely sure what he was trying to say.
"Huh?"
"Because I really, really like you." He said. I had a feeling he meant to say something else the first time.
Either way, it made me smile. "Okay."
"Okay?" he said, not quite believing me.
"Mhm," I nodded.
He seemed to be okay with my answer because he nodded then changed the subject. "Let's go. Sean was more than happy to let you ditch today."
That stopped me. "You didn't say the word 'ditch' did you?"
He smiled. "Yes, I did since that's what we're doing."
"God, you suck."
"No, but I'd like to." He smiled and his eyes lowered to her breasts, then lower still. I rolled my eyes at his innuendo.
"Only if you're good." His eyes snapped back to mine so quick I though he might have gotten whiplash. It made me laugh.
"I'm going to hold you to that, you know?"
I smiled seductively. "And I'm holding you to that."
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We were in yet another one of his fancy cars, I think he called it a Ferrari 430 Scuderia, driving down a road that wasn't familiar to me. "Uh, Nick," I said, my voice coming out shaky. "Where are you taking me?"
He looked over with a wicked smile on his face. "To my home."
"Oh."
"What? Did you think I was taking you to some deserted place to have my wicked way with you or something?"
"Or something."
He laughed, concentrating on his driving once again. "You're too precious to me to hurt."
The sincerity in his voice was incredible. "Why are we going to your house?"
He shrugged. "I hope you don't mind, but the others kind of want to meet you. Officially."
I didn't mind. Though, I had to admit, I was kind of nervous. Would his family think I wasn't good enough for him?
"Don't worry. They like you already." Turning slightly, he winked at me. "I've been singing your praises."
I blushed.
"We're here," he announced suddenly. "And look. We have a welcoming party."
"Ugh," I groaned. "That doesn't give me enough time to fix myself up."
"You don't need fixing. You're perfect."
I narrowed my eyes. "Thanks, but I just got off work."
"You're always perfect."
"Chivalry won't change the fact that I look horrible." I was wearing white shorts and a black t-shirt that had the words 'eat me' written across my chest in hot pink letters. Hey, it was laundry day and I had no clothes, so I bored the top from Rae.
"Seriously. You look good enough to eat."
I would've laughed at the comment, were it not for the fact we were already parked. I glanced at the house only to be mesmerized. It wasn't a house. It was a mansion. Or maybe two mansions. I wasn't sure. All I knew was that it was huge. It made me more conscious of the differences between Nick and I. I mean, I kind of figured he had money because of the cars and the fact that he was part owner of the bar, but this was just crazy.
"Wow," I said. "Nick you're loaded."
When I looked over at him, I noticed he was blushing.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think it was important."
Maybe not to him, but it just created another major ditch in our relationship. This just proved he deserved better that me. I narrowed my eyes once again at him. "You still could have told me."
"I just did."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, but it's nothing, really."
Before I could say anything else, Nick said, "C'mon. I want you to meet someone special."
Someone special? "Okay."
"Great." He opened his door, then walked around and opened mine, taking my hand to steady me.
"Who is this special someone?" I asked curiously.
"The only guy I've ever kissed."
That stopped me in my tracks. He didn't just say what I thought he just said.. right? What did that mean exactly?
"It's not what you're thinking Leena."
"How do you know what I'm thinking?" I countered.
"I'm not gay. I'm not bi. Get your head out of the gutter."
"Uh.. then what exactly-" I was cut off by a loud high-pitched scream.
"Unca Nicky," the voice continued in its high-pitched manner. I looked towards the house where Nick's family were standing, and saw as a little body pushed through them, making it's way to Nick at a dead run. It was a little boy? That was definitely not what I had been expecting. The boy didn't stop until Nick had picked him up swiftly, twirling him around in circles.
"Hey there little man. How're you today?" Nick asked the boy. His voice was playful.
"Daddy let me go to the lake with Annie Lissa." The enthusiasm in the little boy was only barely more that Nick's.
"Did you have fun with your scary aunt?"
"She not scared me," he giggled.
"That's good." The little boy laughed again and turned his attention to me, then back to Nick.
"Is she your mate Unca Nick?" The look on Nick's face meant the little boy had said something he shouldn't have. I, however, wanted to know what the hell that meant. His mate? What were we, animals?
Clearing his throat, Nick said, "Not now."
The little boy looked confused, then smiled again. "Okay, but can we go and play now?"
"Maybe later. I want to introduce you to my friend here."
Nick knelt down and placed the little boy on the ground. "Casey, this is Leena Harris." He looked at me. "Leena, meet Casey James."
James. Was Casey Nick's son? Nick must have read my thoughts because he said, "He's Kris' son."
Oh. "Where's his wife?"
Nick looked away. I guess that was a sore subject. "Casey, go inside and me and Leena will be there in a little bit, kay?"
Casey beamed and nodded. "Kays."
"Sorry. It's just, Casey's mom isn't around."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. We're not."
I guess she didn't get along with the family. "What happened?" I pressed.
It took Nick a while before he said, "It's not my business to say."
"Okay. I understand."
He nodded.
"But, how is Casey handling it?"
"He never met her." Then his face took on a look of pure hatred. "Thank god for that."
It seemed like there was some major history there and apparently Nick didn't want to talk about it.
"Let's go me your family, eh?" I said, drawing him out of his thoughts.
He smiled at me. "Alright. Lets."
He led me to the curving steps that led up to the front door and stopped. There were five people sitting around on the porch, which I suspected wrapped all the way around the house.
"Leena, these are my parents, Carson and Olivia James." He pointed out the older looking man who had a very attractive older woman sitting on his lap. It wasn't that they were old, they were just older. Though, they looked much too young to have full grown kids, plus a grandchild. As he introduced me, Olivia James stood and walked over to me with a huge smile on her face.
"Call me Liv," she said, pulling me into a hug. I realized that she wasn't going to pull away until I returned the hug, so I did. "It's a great pleasure to meet. My Nicky has been talking about you nonstop."
Her comment made me blush. "Don't be embarrassed hon."
"Okay, Mom," Nick said. Then he turned to his siblings. "You remember Kris, Lissa, and Christie right?"
I nodded. "Yep. Kris and Lissa are twins and Christie is the youngest."
"You remembered."
"Of course."
I smiled at his brother and sister and said hello. Then, remembered that Christie was deaf. I quickly signed, /Hello./
Christie smiled at me and signed, /I can lip read. You're good./
/That's good. I just miss signing./
/Miss it?/
/Yeah. My dad was deaf./
/Oh. Nick told us. I'm sorry./
/It's okay. It was a while ago./
She smiled sympathetically at me. Nick pulled me closer to him.
"Well, welcome to our home," Kris declared. He now had Casey in his arms.
"Yup, yup. Welcome Annie Leena," Casey said with a smile. Everyone laughed at his comment.
I ignored the fact that he called me Auntie and said, "Why thank you Casey." Then he surprised me, and everyone else, by reaching out to me. I opened my arms and he came to me, wrapping his arms around my neck.
"You smell pretty."
Again everyone laughed.
"Thank you Casey. You smell good too." Matter-of-fact, he smelled a lot like Nick.
Casey giggled. "I borrowed Unca Nick's perfume."
"Borrowed his perfume?" I tried not to, but I could stop myself from laughing.
"Yup." He looked over at Nick. "I maked sure I dinint take a lot. I promise." He then went on the draw a cross over his heart.
Nick just laugh. "I'm sure."
I couldn't help but feel comfortable around these people. With Casey as an icebreaker, the conversation was pleasant, and more than funny.
"Let's go in the house. I made dinner." Liv announced.
Casey refused to go to Kris when he called, and instead clung harder to my neck.
"Do you see that Nick?" Kris joked. "Looks like you've got some competition."