He woke up entangled in sheets and nothing else, he moaned as he looked over at the clock, she always was a early riser; but then again it was 12:30. He realized he was in Angel's room and struggled to get dressed quickly, the last thing he needed was for his little sister to come home and see him naked in her bed, that was a hell of a lot of explaining. Oh God, he thought, I just had sex in my little sister's bed. He shook his head as he walked out the room and into the family room to see it was empty. When he saw no one was in the kitchen he walked out the backdoor and saw his mom, Shayna and Leslie sitting at one of the picnic benches. He could smell the aroma of BBQ and looked over to see his dad and Aaron as he made his way over to join the ladies. He sat down, smiled quickly at Shayna and looked over at his mom,
"Morning momma." She smiled and nodded,
"Good afternoon, your dad wants your help." He nodded and patted Leslie on the head before making his way over to the grill,
"Hey." His dad looked over at him and nodded,
"Aaron, go get me a beer out of the fridge." Aaron began to run and Bob called out,
"Take your time." Take his time for a beer Nick thought. Great, we're about to talk,
"So, I hear you and Shayna are back together." Nick frowned,
"Where'd you hear that?" Bob looked over at him with an expressionless face,
"Last night in Angel's room." Nick inwardly groaned and wanted to crawl in a hole,
"Oh yeah?" Bob frowned and shook his head,
"What do you mean 'oh yeah'? How could we not hear that? What's wrong with you? Look, I know you live that rock n' roll lifestyle-" Nick wanted to object but his father lifted his hand stopped him,
"Don't even try to lie about it. I saw the alcohol and girls myself when I was on tour with you and I KNOW there was drugs. But, you don't have to bring that back to our house Nick." Nick sighed,
"It's not like she's some random girl, it's Shayna, I love her." Bob shook his head as he went back to the grill,
"You have a funny way of showing it, why did you cheat on her, then break it off?" Nick rolled his eyes,
"That's real funny coming from you. I learned it from you." Bob dropped the fork and turned to face Nick squarely,
"Son, I will kick your ass." Nick shook his head,
"I'm out of here." Bob grabbed his arm and pulled him closely,
"Watch it Nick. This is our house and you're going to respect it. And if you love Shayna you should make it work and stop acting like a kid. That's a woman." Nick ran his hand through his hair,
"I know." He looked down at the ground,
"I'm sorry for what I said and I'm sorry for last night. She didn't want to, I kind of talked her into it." Bob smiled and shook his head,
"You didn't TALK her into it." Nick smiled,
"Nick, I swear to God you gotta have some kids somewhere in the world." Nick laughed loudly and shook his head,
"No Pop, I don't have no kids, I promise." Bob nodded and muttered as Nick walked away,
"I wouldn't be surprised if I'm a grandpa in nine months though." Nick walked back over to the picnic table and gave Aaron the sign it was ok to join their dad once again. He sat next to his mom and kissed her on the cheek and whispered,
"I'm sorry." She nodded and placed her hand atop his,
"I know sweetie." He looked over as Shayna stood up,
"Where you going?" She smiled lightly,
"Take care of some laundry, I'll be back." She walked over to him, gave him a peck on the cheek and walked off. He turned to his mom as Leslie stood up,
"I'm going to make a call, be back later. It's hot out here, call me when the food is ready." Nick was left alone with his mom and he could tell she wanted to say something,
"What? Go ahead and say it." She shook her head,
"Are you and Shayna back together? Because she really loves you Nick. More than any girl ever has. And what Mandy thought up in her head was nothing compared to everything Shayna has been through to be with you and support you." He nodded,
"I know, I know I'm lucky and all that but sometimes I feel like I need to be single again." She nodded,
"After a couple years you always get antsy and feel you need to be single. It was that way after Mandy and now Shayna. Of course, I agree with getting rid of the first one but why do you feel you need to be single now? What do you think you're missing? You know what's out there and you've experienced it. Do you love that more than Shayna?" He shook his head,
"Momma, what guy doesn't like to have different girls wanting him? I don't know, I can't explain it. I'm young. What if I settle down with her but always feel like I'm missing out? Thats not fair to me or her." He sighed as he looked up at the sky,
"I see people go out and party and think that's what I'm supposed to do. I'm 23. I'm supposed to date different girls, go partying, not have responsibility. I mean, I have enough responsibilty in my life. There aren't many 23 year olds who have hundreds of millions depending on them. I want something in my life where I don't have to be a serious adult all the time." She nodded,
"I know baby. You've worked like a man since you were twelve." She looked over his shoulder,
"But you better decide what you want soon." She stood up and he turned to see Shayna sit down beside him,
"I'm gonna go check on your dad and Aaron, those flames are way too high." Nick looked over at his dad and brother and they looked like a cartoon strip as they waved their arms and backed away from the grill. Shayna lay her head on his shoulder,
"What were you doing?" She lifted her head and smiled,
"Laundry...Angel's sheets." He groaned,
"Yeah, she'd flip if she knew." The thought made him laugh at the melodramatic act his sister would perform. There might have been three singers in the family, but she was definitely the actress. Shayna lay her chin on his shoulder and looked up at him as she ran her hand through his hair,
"I love you." He smiled,
"I love you too." he replied. Yeah, he definitely had to figure out what he wanted to do.
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Chapter 105