She walked to the door and locked the three locks with her apple in her mouth. She was ready to go down the steps when there was a knock. She stopped and wondered who it was. It was probably Josephine deciding not to stay at Howard�s. Before unlocking the door, she looked out the peephole and smiled. There was another knock and she quickly put the apple in her mouth and she hurried to unlock the door and opened it.
She took the apple out of her mouth, smiled, and said, �Nicky.�
�Sunnie,� Nickolas said and walked inside. He grabbed her and kissed her. She kissed him in return, as he kicked the door shut.
�What are you doing here?�
�I had to see you.� He held her close, as she took a bite of her apple. �I couldn�t keep my mind off you.�
�What about Aaron?�
�He went out with a girl he met on the plane. I left him a note saying I went for a drive.� He kissed her then took a bite of her apple. �Did you miss me?�
�Yes.� He kissed the sensitive spot behind her and she moaned and smiled. �The girls wouldn�t shut up about you. It made me miss you more.�
�Good.� He picked her up and carried her to the parlor. He laid her on the sofa and started kissing her.
�Nicky��
�What?�
�I have an apple to finish.�
He looked at her then at the apple. He smiled and took the apple from her and laid it on the coffee table. She only looked at him and Nickolas kissed her again. They messed around for a while then Nickolas laid his head on Sunshine�s chest and put his arms around her.
�I love you, Sweets.�
�I love you too, Baby.� She ran her fingers through his hair that he left grow out the past two months and was longer than usual.
�Sweets, I came here tonight, because I want to be honest with you. I can�t lie to you anymore.�
�What is it?�
�About why I broke it off and acted the way I did towards you.�
�Why did you?� She looked at him.
�Because of Brad.�
�Nothing happened between me and Brad. We�re friends and you�re jealous over nothing.�
�I�m not jealous.�
�You don�t want to lie yet you continue it.�
�I�m not lying.� She pushed him off her and he fell to the floor, as she got up shaking her head. �Sunnie.�
�How do you expect us to work if you lie to me, Nick?�
�I�m not lying.� He got up and walked over to her. �I�m not jealous of Brad.�
�Yes you are. Nothing happened between me and Brad.�
�So seeing you two kiss the other day was my imagination? Is that it?�
�I�ll admit I kissed Brad when you admit that you kissed Jo.�
�I didn�t kiss Jo.�
�There ya go again; lying to me. Is it necessary? I saw you and Jo kissing out on my terrace!�
�You saw nothing.�
�Why, Nick? Are you purposely trying to push us apart?�
�Of course not.�
�Then why are you doing this to us?�
�I�m not doing anything; you are.�
�Now it�s my fault. What�d I do besides love you?� Nickolas looked at her. �Forget it.� She walked towards the kitchen and Nickolas stopped her.
�Being with Brad when you should�ve been with me.� She turned and looked at him. �Kissing Brad when you could�ve been kissing me.�
�We weren�t together when I kissed Brad. That was your doing.�
�Did you enjoy it?�
�Maybe I did.� Nickolas looked at her shocked. �And yes there was some tongue action going on. Anything else?�
�How about making love to Brad when you could�ve been making love to me.�
�I never slept with Brad.�
�Yeah right; that�s not what I heard.�
�Go to hell!� She walked to the kitchen, as her eyes filled with tears. After a minute, Nickolas went into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table crying. Sunshine didn�t look at him, but said, �Go away.� He sat beside her.
�Sunnie.� He put his arm around her, but she pushed him away.
�Don�t.� She got up. �Now I know what you really think of me; I�m an easy little twit.�
�I never said that.� He got up and walked over to her. �I�m sorry if I made you think that.�
�Is that all you wanted last night? A piece of ass? Well, you got it. Why don�t ya send the next guy in? Who�s waiting outside? Brent? James? Lane? Frank?�
�Sweets.�
�Our problems didn�t come from me; they came from you.�
�How?�
She wiped her eyes. �Your constant jealousy. I never slept with anyone besides you.�
�Why can�t I believe that?�
�You tell me. I�ve been honest with you since we got together. You stopped being honest with me for some reason.�
�Brad came between us.�
�No; you�re putting him between us.�
�You�re constantly with him. Why?�
�Because he�s my best friend and I haven�t been with him.� Nickolas didn�t say anything. �Fine! I�ll start telling you lies if that�s what you want. What do you want to hear? How about that I did sleep with Bradley more than I ever slept with you and that�s why we were always together? Is that good enough for right now? It�s what you want to hear, isn�t it?�
�I just want the truth and for you to admit our problems are because of you.�
�I told you the truth, but you don�t want to hear it. I won�t admit to something that ain�t my fault.�
�Why must you be so stubborn? Can�t you just admit your mistakes? It�ll be easier for the both of us.�
�The only mistake I ever made was falling in love with you.� They looked at each other and Nickolas felt the pain stab his heart. He knew Sunshine didn�t mean that, but the reality of hearing those words hurt him so much. They stood in silence for the longest time then Sunshine said, �Alright, Nick.� He looked at her. �I take full responsibility for what happened between us. It�s all my fault. Everything is my fault and not yours. All our problems are because of me. Even thought you know how much I want to be with you, you still called off the wedding and made a clean break, because of me. I want to thank you for breaking my heart into a trillion pieces. Congratulations.�
�You�re the one that was spending your time with Brad Fischetti; not me.�
�Excuse me for wanting to spend time with my best friend.�
�It wasn�t just some time it was all your free time.�
�At least I know he�ll be there for me, because it�s clear you�re not going to be.�
�When I was there you didn�t want to spend time with me. You always ran to Brad. You brought this all on yourself, Miss I�m-Too-Good��
�I will not continue this conversation with you. It�s over.�
She began walking from the kitchen and Nickolas grabbed her upper arm saying, �Don�t walk away from me when I�m talking to you.� He turned her around to face him.
Sunshine looked at him and said, �Who the hell do you think you are? Get your fucking hand off me.� Nickolas kept a hold of her as they just looked at each other. Sunshine never saw so much anger in Nickolas� eyes, as she saw at that moment. She witnessed the anger in Nickolas increase as the pain in her arm began to increase. She grabbed Nickolas� hand and tried to get him to leave her go, but his grip got tighter. �Nickolas! Leave go! You�re hurting me!� Nickolas didn�t leave go and Sunshine got more tears in her eyes, as the pain increased more. It was like he wasn�t even in the room and this mean bad person took over his body. She continued fighting his hold and clawed at his hand, saying, �Nick, please! You�re really hurting me!� Nickolas didn�t move or say anything, but just looked at Sunshine. The pain just continued increasing, as Sunshine�s tears blurred her vision. Still fighting Nickolas and clawing at his hand she begged, �I�m begging you, Nicky! Please leave me go before you break my arm or worse! You�re really hurting me!� After a few seconds more of fighting and Nickolas� hand covered in his own blood, Sunshine finally freed herself and Nickolas came out of his daze and just looked at her. �Damn it, Nicky, what is wrong with you?�
Sunshine held her arm, as she watched Nickolas look at his bloody hand and then at her. They looked at each other a moment then he said, �Sweets, I�m sorry. I didn�t mean to hurt you.� He went to reach for her and she backed up.
�Don�t�don�t even think about touching me.� She backed away from him more. �I want you to leave now.�
�I�m really sorry. I didn�t mean to hurt you.�
�I�ve had enough of you hurting me. First emotionally and now physically. Just go please.�
�You have to believe me, Sweets. I didn�t mean it.�
�Leave now! I don�t ever want to see you here again. The next time you touch me I�ll have you arrested.�
�Please listen to me. I didn�t��
�Didn�t you hear me? I said leave, now.�
Nickolas just looked at Sunshine, as she looked at him and continued crying. He could see the mark he made and felt terrible. He hated himself, but couldn�t erase what he had just done. He began crying himself and Sunshine just walked away. He followed her and he watched, as she went to her bedroom. He stood in the parlor for almost ten minutes. Knowing Sunshine wasn�t going to come back out, so they could talk, he wiped his eyes and left.
CHAPTER 35
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