Chapter Twenty-Three

Victor

How was the holiday over?

No matter how many times I'd asked myself this very same question on the flight home, I still had no answer. What I also couldn't talk about with Denton, as he was on a different flight because he'd booked later than everyone else, so would arrive several hours later than me, was Nese.

We'd kind of avoided any actual conversation, as in we, I mean me, as I really didn't want to ruin the trip. Now I had little else to think about as I'd collected my bag. On the plane I'd had a guy who nervously chatted his way through the flight, explaining every air disaster in the history of air disaster—or that's how it felt—by the time we'd landed. I'd never been more grateful to get off a plane, or at least I had been until my thoughts returned to Nese.

"—so you can come with me."

I caught part of what Beckett said as Ollie made a weird noise in the back of his throat that sounded weirdly like an animal about to attack.

What had I missed?

"We can get the bus," Ollie muttered, kicking at a stone on the ground.

"I'll drive you both home," Beckett replied with an authority that made Ollie look… pleased?

Beckett reached for Ollie's bag and hefted it with little effort, along with his own. "I'll grab the car and bring it around."

Once Beckett had disappeared, I gave Ollie a searching stare, trying hard to figure out what I was missing. "What's happening between you two?"

"Nothing." Ollie didn't quite look me in the eye.

"Did you talk to him like I suggested?" I felt bad that we'd not had much time together, alone. My brain slotted together all the times that might have been possible… there were none.

A slow grin slid over my face. "You're dating Beckett."

"Am not," he scowled.

"Are too," I fired back, highly amused, and happy for Ollie. "He's a nice guy." Nothing had dissuaded me differently over the holiday.

"It's not like that," he muttered, once more kicking at the ground. "We probably won't see each other after we get back. It's not like he won't have other options now. He doesn't live in Sweet Haven any more."

I frowned at the sadness. "You know he had plenty of options on the cruise, but he wanted to be with you. If there was ever a time, a guy would want to figure out his options, it was then!" I pointed out, trying hard not to get cross at how silly my friend was being. "And long distance can work too."

He remained silent, and I hoped when his expression turned thoughtful that he registered the truth of my words.

Beckett pulled up minutes later, and we'd still not spoken. I stowed my bag in the back seat before Ollie could jump in, leaving him with the front seat.

I gave him a sweet smile as I shut the door and settled back for the journey home, my thoughts returning to how to approach Nese. Should I leave it? No, that didn't feel right.

No closer to what to do when Beckett parked outside of our apartment block, I got out quickly, grabbing my bag. "Thanks Beckett." I waved and darted for the door, leaving them alone to give Beckett time to talk to Ollie.

Inside the apartment, the smell of stale air got me opening windows as I roamed restlessly through what had been my home for the last three years. When that did nothing more than lighten the scent and leave me feeling uneasy, I went to my room to unpack.

That took no time at all, and I had the washer going long before Ollie came in, his lips puffy and a dazed look of someone who'd received a mind bending kiss. I bit my lip and remained silent, waiting Ollie out, having learned when pushed he'd clam up.

Ollie hovered by his bedroom door a minute later, and I gave him a smile of encouragement. "I'm gonna go unpack… Beckett is coming back to take me out for dinner. He"s staying in town for a few days."

"That's great."

"Will Denny be coming here?"

My smile dimmed at how I would not see him until the following afternoon after he'd gotten a message request to work as they were short staffed this weekend. "Nah, he's gonna arrive late tonight and has an early shift tomorrow so he's gonna come here after that, he wants me to come to Sunday dinner with his folks."

"Oh, meeting the parents, that'll be fun."

"If you say so." My stomach did a weird flip at how I'd avoided thinking about his plan for us on Sunday. Now it was front and center and took over for the worry of Nese knowing about us.

I'd only briefly met his grandmother and although she seemed nice at the time, I had no clue how she'd feel about Denton dating a guy. How would his mother and father feel about him being with me? I had nothing to compare it to as I didn't have any family to be concerned about that.

"They'll love you." He dropped his bag and came over, giving me a hard hug. "Everyone who meets you, loves you."

"Not Mr. Polished," I said to lighten the mood when my throat wanted to close with the rush of emotions at his show of affection.

He laughed as I expected. "The guy just couldn't take a hint."

"I hit him in the head with a ball and he still couldn't see Denny wasn't interested." Mr. Polished after the threat on the bus tour had kept his distance.

"I knew you did that on purpose." Ollie let go and walked back to his bag, he picked it up and swung around, grinning. "I'd have done the same if he'd acted like that with Beckett."

"Totally understandable!" I said forcefully.

"Yeah, that's what..." Ollie's expression was hard to read when his free hand went to his ass and he rubbed in a way that suggested it wasn't a conscious action. "I thought, only when I mentioned it to Beckett, he had other ideas." He sighed and his eyes refocused on me, where he blushed and dropped his hand like he was holding hot coal. "Anyway… I'm gonna shower and unpack."

He slipped into his room and quietly shut the door leaving me with an impression once again there was a side to Ollie he had never shared with me. I stared at his door trying to figure what it might be, when the bell rang.

Jerking from my static position, my pulse leaped at the possibility, then I checked my watch, knowing it couldn't possibly be Denton. I sighed, disheartened and trudged to the door. One look in the peephole and I hissed out a breath.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" What was Nese doing here?

With a shaking hand, I hesitated for a brief second, contemplating not opening the door, then like a plaster, I opened the door fast. "Hey Nese," I said with forced cheerfulness. "I wasn't expecting to see you." The squeak to my voice revealed the nerves as I stepped aside, working on trying to dampen the heat flooding my cheeks.

She walked in, looked about with an air of expectation I didn't miss. "I was down the street with my friend Lou, the one I got to dance classes with when I saw a car pull up."

"Yeah, Beckett, Garrett's friend, dropped us off."

"Oh, so that was who it was." She gave me a speculative glance.

"He came on the cruise," I answered, unsure what was going on. Before I'd left, she'd hardly said two words to me, now she was coming across in a way I couldn't interpret.

"So Denny didn't drop you home?"

I shook my head, feeling my innards knot at the direction of the conversation. "No," I replied hesitantly.

She sighed and plonked herself down on the sofa, then patted the seat next to her. "I"m being weird, I'm sorry. It's just…" she ran her hands through her hair and gave me a pleading look. "Please sit."

I did as she asked because it was that or collapse on the floor with how my knees were knocking at trying to explain that I was now dating the man she was in love with.

"I had this whole speech ready and now it just seems silly. Denny broke up with me ‘cause he loves you."

"Huh?" It was the best I could come up with when the blood was rushing in my ears at her, knowing this.

"Let me try to explain myself and to say sorry for being such a bitch before the cruise." She took a breath, and I wished I could when the air remained in my lungs, not budging because I couldn't see why she was the one apologizing.

"I cried, had a few tantrums and then once I'd calmed down, something struck me hard or more my friend pointed something out to me. I never really loved Denny. I was more in love with the idea of loving him. There was something about him, and I couldn't figure what it was until he broke up with me. He'd always been unattainable—"

"But you dated for three years," I pointed out, feeling way out of my depth with her logic.

"I know, but even from the beginning, I think I suspected he had a thing for you. The way he was with you, now when I look back makes total sense. It was probably why I never pushed for more from him, knowing it wasn't possible because he never led me on—"

"But you were hoping he'd propose," I said, once more interrupting due to my growing confusion.

"I wanted it, yes. Or I thought I did. I think now it was a kind of ‘I need to move things to the next level' type of thing to shake him up and it turns out, me too, without fully understanding that it wasn't what I wanted. Does that make sense?"

I grimaced. "No, not really."

"It's girl speak for I loved him, but not enough and to prove it I pushed at him to see what would happen."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I realize I'm more angry at me than Denny for not pushing sooner and making us both face that neither of us were in the relationship for the right reason. Dumb right."

It didn't seem like a question, and I wasn't dumb enough to agree, so I sat and waited to see if she was finished.

"So, when I saw you were home, I wanted to come and clear the air and find out if Denny got up the courage to ask you out like he's wanted to for years because you and I are friends. And that friendship is important to me."

This I could answer, and a smile slid over my face. "He did."

She squealed and grabbed my hand like she'd done a thousand times before. "Tell me everything… well, yeah, maybe not everything. But you know the good bits."

Was it as simple as that?

"What bits are they?" I asked, just to be sure I wasn't standing on a landmine about to get a limb ripped off by sheer accident.

"Was he romantic, did he do anything cute? That sort of thing."

I nodded, thinking about Mr. Polished and how what Denton did was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me. "He stood up for me against Mr. Polished."

She burst out laughing. "Mr. Polished, oh gods, this sounds like a saga. Tell me everything."

And we were right back to how we'd been before her break-up. A grin so wide spread over my face as I started by giving a dramatic sigh. "It all began on the first day of the cruise when this guy, Mr. Polished, didn't get that Denny was just being Denny…"

An hour later, she was flushed and gave me a bright smile. "You cruised right into love." She came forward and kissed my cheek, her expression turning serious. "I'm happy for both of you. You deserve this happiness, Vic, and don't let anyone tell you differently."

I sniffed. "Thank you." I rubbed at the tip of my nose. "Catch me up with what's been going on with you."

Her smile turned brilliantly bright. "I went on a date…"