“Let’s get out of here!” Nick said, but Carly hesitated.
“As much as I want to, don’t you think it would be rude to leave right now?”
“Hell, no. The guys don’t care and I don’t care what anyone else thinks.” Nick grinned. “Come on, woman, I’m getting impatient.” His insistence to be alone with her doing all kinds of delicious things to her body made her weak at the knees and common sense flew out the window.
“Where?” Carly asked.
“Anywhere.”
“What do you mean anywhere?”
“I mean anywhere. I mean, I would do you right here in front of the restrooms if I thought you would let me!” Nick laughed, teasing her. He knew she had her standards, but he was hoping to corrupt her somewhat.
Nick grabbed her hand and led her through the restaurant. They got into Nick’s car and just as he was about to turn on the ignition, Carly put her hand on his and said, “Wait. I know you’re impatient, but there’s something I want to say.”
As drunk as she was, her common sense returned, if only momentarily. “Look, Nick, I want you as bad as you want me and I can’t even believe I have a coherent thought in my head right now because I’m pretty damn drunk, but I have to say this. First of all, I’m really sorry about that whole AJ thing. I don’t want that to affect anything you do… we were just messing around.”
Nick looked at her. Okay. She was asking him to switch gears. It would be difficult, but he could do it. He sighed and sat back in his seat, looking at her. Uh, maybe better not to look at her too much because every time he did, her sparkling eyes, full breasts and sexy legs made him want to jump her. That damn outfit looked so good on her…
“Carly, you don’t have to explain. I know AJ and I’m getting to know you and I’m not mad about that. I admit I was a little jealous, but not mad.” He smiled at her and then turned away again.
“How come you won’t look at me?” She asked.
“Because if you want me to sit here and talk and not jump your bones, that’s the way it’s gotta be.”
Carly smothered a laugh and her heart lurched. “I’ll try to make this quick then. I just want to say that as much as I want to “jump your bones” as you put it, I can’t keep doing this, Nick. First of all, I do still have a boyfriend, although I’m not sure where we stand these days… he’s been gone a lot the past month and let’s just say we aren’t as amorous around each other as we used to be.”
Nick nodded, staring out the window. Good, he thought. He didn’t want another man touching her. He hadn’t thought about the possibility of them making love, but now that he had was he was glad to know that they weren’t. Why are so possessive of her if its “just sex”, Nick?
“And then there’s the fact that I don’t know where we stand. You said you ‘want me’, but does that just mean sex or what? I mean, sex is great, don’t get me wrong, but I’m a practical girl and sometimes I need things spelled out for me.”
Nick sat there, deep in thought. He wasn’t sure what to say. He knew he wanted her physically, of course, but did he want more than that with her? He liked her and did like spending time with her even without the sex. But what did that mean? They would need to spend some time getting to know each other better; i.e., start dating and right now she still had a boyfriend!
Nick decided to just bite the bullet as he turned to look at her. God, she was beautiful he thought and then said, “Look, Carly, I like you a lot—that’s why I invited you here tonight. You are fun, you are sweet and you are beautiful. But to be honest, I hadn’t thought about us as being an “us” because you have had a boyfriend the entire time I have known you.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but why have we had sex twice and were headed down the same road tonight? Nick, I can’t just be your ‘fuck buddy’.”
Fuck Buddy? He was shocked those words were coming out her mouth. One of the things he admired the most about her was that she was somewhat innocent; more innocent than most of the girls he had dated and he liked that about her.
“Do you really think that’s all I want with you?” Nick asked.
“I don’t know, Nick, that’s why I’m asking. Is that all you want?”
“Shit, I don’t know! This is not how I saw my evening playing out. I like you, but I don’t like being interrogated!” His sexual frustration was coming to a head so to speak. Life with Rinda hadn’t been as complicated, but then again, their relationship had been rather shallow and not based on much more than sex which how his relationship with Carly started, but he knew he felt differently about her; it could go somewhere. However, the alcohol was clouding his judgment at moment; not allowing him the ability to articulate all the things he would normally say to her. All he wanted to do right now was rip her clothes off and ram his hard penis into her.
Carly was taken aback by Nick’s harsh words. She was drunk, too, so she allowed her actions to be dictated by the alcoholic content inside her body as well.
“Well, have fun playing with yourself. I’m outta here!” She spat at him angrily, got out of the car and walked towards the restaurant.
Nick jumped out of the car and yelled after her, “Where are you going?!”
“Inside where I don’t have to be with you!” She yelled back, now running towards the door and opening it. She laid back against the hard wood and started crying. Why are you crying, Carly? She thought. It’s the wine, it’s the wine she told herself, but she knew that wasn’t it. She had started to feel something more for Nick than she had cared to admit to herself and it appeared that he didn’t feel the same way.
Get a hold of yourself, this is ridiculous, she told herself. Some customers seated nearby waiting for a table turned to stare at the crying woman.
“Miss, are you alright?” The hostess approached her.
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.” Carly tried to smile and dried her eyes with her hands. Oh crap! I’ve probably smudged my mascara, she thought. As she was rummaging through her purse for her concealer, she felt the whoosh of the front door opening behind her. She hoped it wasn’t Nick. She wasn’t ready to talk to him just yet.
“Carly? Is everything okay?” It was AJ just coming back in after having a smoke.
Carly looked up at him and smiled. “Hey, Alex. I… no, it’s not. Nick and I just had a fight.” She slung her purse over her shoulder and crossed her arms in front of her, looking down; hoping he wouldn’t see her tear-stained and mascara-smudged face.
“Hey, why don’t you come into the bar and keep me company. And if you want to talk, that’s cool.”
Carly smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks, I’d like that. But what about everyone else?”
“Oh, we were all just about to leave to go over to this club called Acacia in West Hollywood. Let me go tell them I’ll meet them there later, okay? I’ll be right back. Oh and order me a Coke or something like that.”
“Sure.” Carly walked into the bar and AJ went back into the restaurant.
“I’m just so confused.” Carly admitted to AJ a few minutes later. He was drinking a Coke, she a Diet Coke. She had had enough alcohol for awhile.
“About?”
“Well, first of all, has Nick told you anything about me?”
“He just said he met you at a party a few weeks ago and you guys were good friends. That’s all I know.”
Oh. Wow, Nick really hadn’t told the guys anything. That was cool of him, she thought.
“Huh. Interesting.” She said.
“It sounds like there’s more to it than that. Now I’m curious.”
Carly laughed. “Yeah, well, you have no idea. Things are not always as they seem.”
“They almost never are, baby!” He laughed.
“Yeah, right. In your business you probably know all about that. OK, here’s the deal. You want to know how we met? He was dating my best friend, Rinda and I invited them to a dinner party at mine and my boyfriend Derek’s house.” She looked at him to let it sink in.
“No shit! Nick never said nothin’ about that.”
“But you knew about Nick and Rinda, right?”
“Yeah, we met. She was a trip.”
“Yeah, that she is!” Carly laughed.
“Anyway, the dinner was great and we all got along well and had a good time. And then Derek suggested we start drinking Tequila shots and we all got wasted!”
“This is getting good! Damn you, Nick, for not filling me in on the good stuff!” AJ joked and Carly giggled.
“Just wait—it gets better. So, Derek suggested we play strip poker and it sounded like a really great idea. That’s how drunk we were!”
AJ almost choked on his drink. “No fuckin’ way! Man, I wish I had been there!”
“Yeah, well, wait til you hear the rest!”
“What? Tell me!” He demanded.
“OK. Well, of course, Rinda and I kept losing, so we soon ended up completely naked and Nick was down to his underwear until he figured out that Derek was cheating. At that point, Derek confessed and took off his clothes, too. And the next thing I knew… oh, wait, I can’t tell you this!” She suddenly realized whom she was talking to. He had made her feel so comfortable, it was like talking to a close girlfriend.
“You better damn well tell me! You can’t leave me hanging like that! Don’t worry, I can be discreet.” He assured her.
“I just don’t know if Nick would want me to tell you.” She said. He hadn’t told him before…
“Carly, I can probably guess what you’re going to say and I don’t think Nick would care if I knew.”
“Oh, okay. Well, the next thing I knew Nick and I were on the floor, you know…” She was trying to figure out to say it, resorting to her “good girl” behavior.
“Screwing?” He could have used a more graphic word, but he decided not to embarrass her.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Carly, you are a rare find, you know that? Most of the women me and the guys meet in this business do not get embarrassed talking about sex. In fact, they like doing it a lot more than talking about it!” He laughed. “I can see why Nick likes you.” He added.
Carly looked at him. “He said that?”
“No, but I could tell he does by the way he acts around you. But, hey, finish your story.”
“Well, we woke up the next morning, clothes everywhere and Derek and Rinda were sleeping all cuddled up on the couch. I freaked and ran into the bedroom and then Nick followed me. I was really mean to him, though. I feel kind of bad about that now. Anyway, a week later he came over to get his watch that he had left and we ended up you know, ‘screwing’”—to use his word—“again and then I didn’t hear from him until two weeks later when he invited me out for this. He said he thought I would like to meet you guys which I really did and I’m so glad I came because all of you are so awesome!”
AJ smiled. “We’re glad, too. So, what happened tonight with you guys?”
“Well, we were going down the sex path again until my brain got involved and I started demanding basically what his intentions were towards me and then he ended up getting frustrated with me—which I don’t blame him; I was being unreasonable—and kind of yelled at me and I yelled back and ran in here.”
“And you’re confused about…?”
“I’m confused because I think I want to break up with Derek and be with Nick, but I don’t know how he feels about that; how he feels about me. If it’s just sex he wants, then I can’t continue the relationship, but if it’s more than that, then I want to see if we can make it work. Does that make sense?’
“Yeah, it does.” AJ said.
“I can’t believe I just spilled my guts to you like that!” She put her head in her hands.
“Hey, it’s cool. Do want to know what I think?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I think Nick really likes you; he’s just afraid of getting hurt.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I told you before that he looked like he really digs you. Why don’t you call him? Wait—do you have his cell phone number?”
Carly shook her head.
AJ scribbled it on a cocktail napkin and handed it to her. “Here. You should call him and tell him where we’re going to be so you guys can join us if you want. Wait a sec, were you guys just going to skip out on us earlier?”
Carly looked at him sheepishly. “Yeah, I didn’t want to, but Nick…”
AJ laughed. “I’m just messin’ with you. I don’t care about that. We would have figured it out. Hey, I’m going to go join those guys and let you find Nick. Good luck. Oh and Carly, it was great chattin’ with you. You are pretty cool chick.”
Carly’s face lit up. “Thanks, AJ! Thanks for everything!” She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And you won’t tell anyone…”
“My lips are sealed. See ya.” He left and Carly fished her cell phone out of her purse and began to dial Nick’s number. God, that was so healing being about to spill her guts like that to AJ. What an awesome guy—they all were. She knew why Nick loved them all so much and had stayed with them for all these years.
Carly heard ringing and her heart skipped a beat. Please pick up, please pick up, she prayed. I want you, Nick. She thought. But how am I going to tell him that?
