He was standing outside Mac�s room, they wouldn�t allow anyone to go inside not until twenty four hours after the surgery, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Mike and smiled at him quickly, giving him a hug, hoping he didn�t notice his red eyes. Of course he would notice, Nick thought, he just hoped he didn�t say anything.
�Hey man. I can�t believe it, you�re a dad. I can�t wait man. We�re going to take her out and put her on some cool gear, walk around with her in the mall and pick up chicks. You know girls are a sucker for a cute little baby.� He appreciated his friends light-hearted words.
He and Mike�s relationship was one based solely on having a good time. Mike was really a party buddy when it was all said and done. It was somewhat of a meaningless relationship. He didn�t expect to get the same support he received from Josh, he only wished he wasn�t given any grief. In fact, if he never saw Mike again it wouldn�t be some sad moment in his life. Someone else would come along to fill the spot of half-ass friend.
�So, what�s going on man? Is she going to be ok?� Actually, he was waiting for someone to tell him that. All he knew was that she was in stable condition but she wasn�t exactly out of the woods yet. The next few days were going to be crucial to how well she was going to recover.
�It�s one day at a time. That�s all I know.� Mike placed his hand on Nick�s shoulder,
�Where�s ole girl? She still giving you a hard time?� He could only guess that the �old girl� was Quinn,
�Yeah, but its nothing I can�t handle.� He knew Mike didn�t think much of Quinn. He never understood why Nick spent any time past the first couple of hookups with her. He figured it was just something Nick wanted to experience, being with a black girl. And to be honest, it was.
He was almost embarrassed to admit that. Especially now that he had a black daughter. If anyone used her the way he used Quinn he would see red. Sure, there was something beyond having sex with her because she was black that initially attracted him to her. The reason he kept talking to her and seeing her was because she was a nice person who he felt comfortable around. But as time went on, and more and more conversations were had with his friends, he had a mission to accomplish and that was to have sex with Quinn.
He felt a twinge of guilt for being such a slime ball but in all fairness he cared about her. He enjoyed her company and it wasn�t completely about sex that kept him going back. If that were the case, he only would have done it once or slept with other black girls but it was just her.
He liked listening to her talk about her family. She was so proud and it wasn�t because of professional accomplishments. She was proud of the family dinners where they all sat down at the table and talked about their day. She was proud of the family time together when they went bowling. She was proud of their family vacations during the summer.
He liked hearing about her college stories. The way they would have parties (and not have to worry about pictures and tabloid magazines). How they would travel out of the state to support the football team. Pep rallies and the feeling of living out on your own for the first time. It all excited him and made him jealous of her life.
He loved that when she asked him questions, they the majority of the questions had nothing to do with being a pop star, who he knew or the best dirt on the biggest star he knew. She asked him about life in general, about his family�s well-being and even asked his opinions on things.
There was something about her. For her, he felt something he hadn�t felt in a long time and something he had never felt before, all at the same time. He couldn�t explain it. Unlike the women in his past, when he saw her, after all this time, it still did something to him. He still felt like he was about to go on stage and sing live for thousands of people when he saw her. What she thought about him mattered more than most people. He never wanted to be seen as a bad guy to her.
He wanted to do everything right. He wanted to impress her but he didn�t know if that were possible after their fight. She wouldn�t have anything to do with him from now on. He knew it. He ruined it. He wanted to be stronger and be a part of MacKenzie and Quinn�s life; he wanted to be there for them but he went too far; he came on too strong. If there was anyway he was going to fix things it was going to take a lot of work on his part. The only good thing was that now he was stronger than he had ever been during this entire situation so he wasn�t going to back down easily.
He groaned and looked up to see Mike standing over him looking down at him,
�Hey man, it�s eleven o�clock. Let�s get out of here.� He licked his lips and sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking around the room. The only other people in the room were Quinn and Larry. She was wrapped in a blanket on one of the three sofas like a baby in the fetal position. She held a tight grip on the pillow and it reminded him of when Angel was a baby. She had a security blanket that she wouldn�t go anywhere without.
Should he go? There wouldn�t be anything wrong with him going back to his hotel and sleeping in a comfortable bed for a few hours and then returning first thing in the morning. He nodded and stood up, waiting a moment to steady himself. He walked over and went down on one knee in front of Quinn and gently tapped her. She looked up at him and moaned and he could only smile as she looked like a kid as she stretched.
�Hey, sorry to wake you.� It wasn�t until that moment did he stop to think she might still be mad at him. Maybe he shouldn�t leave. She was still here, she was going to be mad that he was leaving when she was making the sacrifice; at least that�s how she would see it. She gave him a weak smile,
�I�m glad you stayed Nick.� She placed her hand on his shoulder,
�Thank you.� That was it. He couldn�t leave. She wanted him there, she was happy he was there. There was no way he could leave her now. He nodded and walked back over to the other side of the room.
�I�m not going to leave man. You go ahead and go.� He could see the disappointment, or was it anger, on his face,
�Man, come on. I heard about this hype party down on South Beach.� He didn�t know what made him angrier. The fact that his friend was thinking about partying or that his friend actually wanted him to leave after his own daughter just had surgery so he could get him into some club. If there was any doubt about staying it ended at that moment.
�I�m not going. You have fun. I�m sure Josh will go.� Mike didn�t say another word. He just left. He shook his head and wondered,
�Why am I friend with him again?� He looked over at Quinn and it seemed that the smile hadn�t left her face. He wanted to make her smile like that more often. He kicked off his shoes and decided to get comfortable for the long haul. He wasn�t going anywhere, ever again.
Chapter 80
Reunited
Stories