| Chapter 11 Nick sat staring at his phone. What was he going to do? Mandy had called yesterday and he was supposed to go to dinner with Lexa tonight. He had called AJ after getting the message. AJ had told him in no uncertain terms to forget about Mandy and move on with his life. But what did AJ know? He had hated Mandy from the start of their relationship. Hell, he had been trying to get Nick to dump her for over a year. Not satisfied with the results of his conversation with AJ, Nick called Brian soon after. He told Nick to follow his heart, that it would take him where he was supposed to be. A lot of help he had been. A day later Nick still had no answer to the great Lexa/Mandy debate. Nick picked up his phone and dialed her number. Lexa sat by her phone for the better part of the day, leaving only to eat lunch in the kitchen and to shower. She couldn't imagine why he hadn't called yet, they were supposed to go to dinner, which she assumed would be around six or seven. Where the hell could he be? "Hello?" "Mandy, baby what's up?" Nick spoke into the phone. "Nicky, hi. I wasn't sure that you were gonna call. I'm glad you did." Mandy was smiling to herself. After watching him leave the club last night with another girl, she decided that she was gonna be the only girl in his life. So she called him, making it look like she was the one crawling back this time, but in reality it was Nick again. It always was. "Yeah, I just wanted to know if you meant what you said about us getting back together," Nick said uneasily, overcome with the sudden feeling that what he was doing was wrong. "Of course I meant it. I miss you, Nick. Maybe we could just go out on a date, say tonight, see how it goes. Then we could just go from there." 'Shit, tonight?' Nick thought to himself. Before he knew it, the wrong words were coming out of his mouth. "Sure, Mandy, tonight sounds good. How about I pick you up around 8 o'clock. We could go to dinner." "It sounds great Nick. I really think we can make it work this time. I love you." "Love you too. See you tonight." "Bye." Mandy hung up the phone, a smile on her face. So much for the new girl. 'Quite the mess you've gotten yourself into this time Carter,' Nick heard his conscience say. He picked up the phone and dialed Lexa's number. "Hey Nick." "How'd you know it was me?" "Caller ID. So what's up?" "Um, actually I was wondering if you could come over here to my place. There's something I need to talk to you about." "Is there something wrong Nick?" "Could you please just come over here, as soon as possible?" "I'm on my way." "See you soon." With that Nick hung up his phone and tried to plan in his head how he was gonna explain this all to Lexa. "Where are you going? Was that Nick?" Ang asked Lexa as soon as she hung up the phone. "Yeah, it was. I'm going over to his place," Lexa said, pulling on her sneakers and grabbing the car keys. "Why?" Ang asked, following Lexa out the door. "He asked me to, I don't know Ang. He sounded different. I hope he hasn't changed his mind about this whole thing." "Now why would he do that?" Lexa faced softened. Ang was right, there was nothing to be worried about. "You're right. See you a little later." With that Lexa sped off towards Nick's home. Nick sat impatiently, waiting for Lexa to arrive, when he heard a car pull up. Getting off the couch, he met Lexa at the door. He kissed her on the cheek, and led her into the living room. "Nick, what's going on? I mean, what is so urgent that it couldn't wait till tonight?" Nick just looked at her for a moment. She looked so innocent, she had no idea what he was about to hit her with. "That's what this is about. I can't go out with you tonight." "That's it?" Lexa looked at him with a smile on her face. "You could have told me that over the phone. If you are busy, we can always reschedule." "No, we can't. I can't go out with you at all." Nick watched as Lexa's face fell. "Why not?" "Mandy called me last night and she wants to get back together." "And you're going to?" Lexa heard her voice rise. "So that's just it, huh? After I poured my heart out to you? All that bullshit the other night about how she was out of your life was a lie, right? Damn good thing I didn't sleep with you or this would be a lot worse." "Lexa, please." Nick began pleading with her. Even though she had only been in his life a week or two, he somehow knew he needed her friendship. "I wanna be friends." Lexa looked at him. If friends was what he wanted, then that was what he was gonna get. But that was as far as it was ever going to go. "Okay Nick, but here's the catch. That's all we'll ever be. What happened last night will never happen again, Mandy or no Mandy. If that's what you want, all you have to do is say it." I'm letting go of all I've held onto I'm standing here until you make me move I'm hanging by a moment here with you. Chapter 12 Story Index |