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Chapter 17
Nick and I quickly got dressed, in separate rooms, not wanting to keep Joe waiting. I threw on an old pair of skinny jeans and a graphic tee, while Nick also had a pair of skinny jeans but with a blue button-down, looking adorable as usual. I ran a hand through my chocolate brown hair before yelling goodbye to my aunt.
“Jamie?” she called back. “Can you hold on one second?”
Groaning, I turned towards Nick. “You can go on down. Tell Joe I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Nick smiled. “Okay,” he replied, kissing my forehead. I watched as he walked to the door, opened it, and shut it behind him, reminding myself how lucky I was to have him. My aunt interrupted my thoughts by stomping her way into the kitchen, as loud as possible.
“Jamie, oh, good, you’re still here,” she exclaimed, out of breath for some odd reason. “I wanted to talk to you.”
I sighed. “Listen, Cici, I really have to go. They’re waiting for me downstairs. Can we do this later?”
“Well, it’s sort of important—“ she started, rubbing her forehead.
“And it can wait, can’t it?” I interrupted. “I’ll be back later.” I kissed her cheek before grabbing my purse and running out the door. I quickly made it to the car, which was waiting just outside the building.
“What did she want?” Nick asked when I jumped into the black SUV he, Joe, and to my surprise, Kevin, Julia, and Katie, had been waiting in.
“Wow, hey, guys,” I said, surprise written all over my face when I saw the extra three people. Turning to Nick, I explained, “I don’t know. She wanted to tell me something, but I asked her if it could wait until later, and she said it could.”
Nick let out a deep breath, like he had been waiting for me to say something different. “Oh, okay,” he replied.
I nodded and smiled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I leaned in and rested my head on his shoulder, listening to Kevin and Julia discuss a Broadway play they had seen the night before. Not having any idea where we were going, I tilted my head back and closed the short gap between mine and Nick’s lips. He was surprised at first, but immediately moved his hand up my jaw line and to the back of my head, fingers through my hair.
“Hey, lovebirds, we’re here,” Joe yelled from the front, to where Nick and I were in the back. I quickly pulled away just in time to see Nick wink at me before getting out of the car.
“Where are we going?” I asked, taking Nick’s waiting hand, nudging him in the side.
Nick shrugged. “I’m not sure. Joe just said he was taking us somewhere for lunch. Then we can have some alone time,” he replied huskily, placing his arm around my waist.
I have to admit, lunch was pretty fun. I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t just Nick and I, but he had promised me some alone time later, plus his brothers and their girls were actually very entertaining.
“No, Joe, I’m not going to drink this nasty concoction you created from ketchup, Dr. Pepper, salt, and God knows what else,” Katie exclaimed as Joe pushed the clear glass full of a disgusting-looking drink towards her.
Joe and Katie were definitely the comedy providers, and Julia and Kevin flirted the entire time, which was just plain adorable. Nick directed most of his attention towards me, which was completely fine in my opinion.
Afterwards, instead of going back to my apartment, Nick took me to the hotel he was staying in. We lay in his room for hours, finding a way to divide our time between watching a movie, kissing, talking, and more kissing.
He took my back to my hotel later that night, around eight, forcing me to say goodbye for at least a few more months. And it was hard. It felt like I was losing another person after my mom.
“I promise I’ll try to come whenever I can,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine and staring into my eyes.
I nodded and fought back the tears, which seemed impossible at the moment. Nick closed the gap between our lips, kissing me deeply. I wanted to stay in that moment forever, but I knew it had to end.
~~~
“Jamie, you’re home,” my aunt exclaimed when I walked through the door that evening after saying bye to Nick.
“Yeah…” I replied, throwing my purse down on the table and grabbing Vitamin Water from the refrigerator, the only decent thing we had in the apartment. “Right, you wanted to talk to me.”
My aunt nodded, sighing. “Yes, yes, I did. I really don’t feel like things have been working out between us.”
I scoffed. “You think?”
She shook her head. “Yes, I do. And that is why I’m sending you to Milton Boarding School in France.”
