Break-up Games
Story by Daisy
~~*Chapter Five*~~
Brian immediately dropped my hand and Chelsea ran to him, wrapping her arm around his waist, just like I had many times this summer. I stared at the two of them, unable to believe my eyes or my ears. Chelsea’s words rang in my ear and I felt as if I were going to faint. I leaned against the counter for support just as my head began to pound.
“Yeah, we met,” Brian said coolly. “So, why are you here?”
“Baby, didn’t you know?” Chelsea giggled. “She came with Nick.” Brian’s eyes bulged, then he quickly regained his composure.
“Um, yeah. We came together. Isn’t he great?” The words flew out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying.
“You guys are a couple?” Brian asked. I could see his ears starting to turn red.
I thought fast. I could get him to fall for me with jealousy. He already has a wonderful girlfriend, but once he sees me and Nick, he’ll be so jealous that he’ll dump her for me! “Uh-huh.” I said dreamily.
“Baby, come on! They’re about to start the game!” Chelsea walked out of the kitchen with her arm still wrapped around Brian. He craned his neck to stare back at me as he left me standing in the kitchen. I walked into the living room and sat down next to Nick.
“We need to talk,” I whispered into his ear.
“Why?” The guys were beginning a game of charades and Nick was barely listening to me.
“Nick,” My voice was whiny as I tried hard not to cry. “Nick,” I pleaded, waiting for him to look at me.
“What?” He finally turned, his voice exasperated.
“We have to talk.” I whispered, not trying to hide the wobble in my voice. Nick looked at me, his eyes clouding over with concern. He nodded, then took my elbow and escorted me to the kitchen and out to the patio. It wasn’t until the door was shut that I let the tears fall. Nick didn’t say anything, just wrapped his arms around me and held me while I cried. I let the anger and frustration come out, as well as all the hurt.
He stood there, his big hands massaging my back as he assured me that everything was gonna be alright. We stood there until the sobs turned to dry hiccups. He led me out to the backyard and to the large pool that was in it. He slipped off his shoes and sat down, sticking his feet into the water. He reached up and grabbed my hand, pulling me down to him. I slipped off my sandals and dipped my feet into the pool. I swung my feet around in slow, little circles for a while.
“What happened?” Nick’s voice was gentle, low and soothing, making me relax a little. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
“When I told you why I wanted to come, I didn’t tell you the whole truth. You see, me and Brian…well this summer we met up at a…”
“Hawaiian resort. I know.” I turned to look at him. He shrugged. “Brian told me what happened and begged me not to tell Chelsea. It wasn’t until just now that I realized that the same Ashley from this summer was the same Ashley that I had just met.” We sat in silence for a little while. “Ashley, I was gonna tell you…” His voice trailed off and he looked at me. I nodded.
“There’s more to it than that.” I slowly shifted towards Nick until my body was facing his side. “He thinks that we’re…he thinks…he thinks that we’re going out.”
“What?”
“Well, Chelsea told him that we came together and…he asked if we were going out and I said yes.” Nick stared hard at me. “I was suffering from major heartbreak! I wanted to make him jealous. I’m sorry.”
“Ashley, you’ve got to tell him the truth.”
“I can’t! I want him to be jealous! Then he’ll choose me over Chelsea.”
“Ashley, Brian and Chelsea have known and loved each other for half of their lives. Do you think that he’s just gonna let that go?”
“From the way that he kissed me this summer, I’d say definitely!”
Nick stood up and shook the water off his legs. “Listen, if you’re not gonna tell him, then I am.” He started towards the patio door.
“Nick!” I jumped up and ran after him, ignoring the hard grass that stabbed into my feet. “Nick, wait. Please.” He stopped and turned around. “You can’t tell him. I’m in love with him, Nick. I know that he loves me too, or did. And I want him back. Will you do this for me? Please?”
I watched Nick as his face muscles relaxed and his mouth turned up in a slight smile. “You’re crazy, you know that?” I smiled at him. It sounded like he was giving in. “But, I’m not gonna do it.” The smile fell off my face and frowned at him.
“So, is this wonderful couple having a fight?” Brian stepped out onto the patio and made his way to us. I fidgeted nervously, waiting for Nick to tell him that we weren’t a couple. I closed my eyes as Nick began to speak.
“Brian, you should know something,” I felt Nick’s arm slide across my back and I felt his finger slip into my belt loop. My eyes flew open and I looked directly at him. He was staring right back at me, a smile in his eyes. He looked back over to Brian. “Me and Ash never fight. We were just talking.” He looked at me again. “Right, baby?”
“Right?” It came out as a question. Nick’s face was slowly nearing mine. Oh my gosh! He’s gonna kiss me! At the last second, I turned my face and Nick’s lips connected with my cheek. I turned to look at Brian. His face was white and his mouth was slightly open. He shut it quickly, gave a half smile, and stalked back into the house. I waited till he was out of sight before sliding out of Nick’s arm.
“I saved your ass. The least you could do is let me kiss you.” He smirked, his face taking on an “I’m high and mighty” look.
“Thanks, but that was a little much.” I was a little peeved at him for trying to kiss me, but I loved the reaction that we got from Brian. “Did you see his face? It’s working Nick! It’s working!” I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. “You just turned my night from horrible to not so bad!”
Chapter 6 E-mail the author More stories by Daisy Hosted Stories