"Oh, I do," Ash chimed in, bouncing up and down. Her enthusiasm was infectious and was one of my favorite things about her. Zachary was a complete asshat for not proposing to her yet. My worst fear was that Ash would eventually get sick of waiting for him to pop the question and move on. I loved my brother dearly, but if that happened I would have to disown him.
Pulling out my phone, I clicked on my pictures icon where I had already stored the new cover. Both Mom and Ashley reacted with the appropriate enthusiasm I had expected.
"Oh my. That's what I call smoking," Ash said, fanning herself as Zachary and Tony came in from outside.
Zachary looked over, understandably curious. "Let me see," he demanded, holding out his hand for my phone. I debated not giving it to him. Alec had been a complete monkey's ass the other night, but I wasn't all that keen on hearing him being criticized.
Tony peered over his shoulder and I could tell they both wanted to find something negative to say, but neither of them could find anything.
"Too bad he's gay," Zachary finally said, handing the phone back to me.
I should have kept my mouth shut. It was an easy out. Let them assume Alec was gay. But no, I had to open my mouth like a complete dipshit. "Alec is definitely not gay," I stated with more emphasis than I intended.
Everyone's eyes pivoted to me, including Dad's and my other brother Riley's, who had walked in on the tail end of the conversation. "Who's not gay?" my dad asked. Great. Big Mouth Nicole had struck again.
"Apparently, 'Alec is definitely not gay,'" Zachary said, snapping his fingers in the air.
"Zach, stop teasing her," Ash said, coming to my defense.
Dad kissed me on the cheek and walked to the fridge to fill a glass he had pulled from the cabinet with ice. "Who's Alec?" He sat his glass on the counter and cracked open a can of Diet Coke.
"The model on her new cover. Quite the looker, I must say," mom said, winking at me.
Before I could react, Riley snuck up behind me and snatched the cell phone from my hand. "Oh yeah? If he's got Mom singing his praises, he must be something special," he said, swiping the screen to reveal the cover picture. "Holy shit. Oops." He covered his mouth and ducked out of the way when Mom swiped at his head with a dish towel. Even though we were all adults, my mom would not tolerate cussing in the house. "Sorry, Mom. That's just a very pretty man in that picture."
"Pretty? Maybe you're the one who's gay," Tony said, grabbing Riley in a headlock. They wrestled around, nearly knocking Dad's drink from his hands.
"Hey, knock it off," Dad yelled. My brothers stopped roughhousing immediately. He had always kept my brothers under control, and they knew when they had pushed him to the limits. "So what if this Alex is gay? It's none of our business."
"It's Alec, and he's not gay. I mean, I don't think he's gay," I lamented lamely, trying to fix my mistake. At this point it was a lost cause. I had already put my foot in my mouth. Zachary's and Tony's eyes sparkled, obviously sensing a conspiracy. Even Mom looked delighted, like she could read my mind. Shit. Shit and double shit. She'd have me married off before the evening was over if it was up to her.
"Be still, my heart. I think our Nikki Pooh has a crush," Riley proclaimed. And to think he was my favorite brother. We were the closest since we were only a year apart. What a traitor. See if I asked him to do the playlist for Wicked Lovely now. Riley had aspirations of becoming a producer after studying music in college. He was actually quite talented and could play seven instruments. Still, music genius or not, he could stick it.
"I do not." I wished I had more conviction in my words, but how could I when I didn't believe them myself? Instead, my traitorous lack of a poker face decided to show up.
"There it is, ladies and gentlemen. Nikki Red has shown up for the party," Zachary laughed, using the nickname they had coined for me when we were kids because my cheeks would blush bright red from embarrassment.
"Boys, stop teasing your sister," Mom said. I shot her a grateful look, hoping we could all return to being adults. "Now, tell me all about this boy who has you so worked up," she added, slinging an arm across my shoulders.
I sighed. They were all incorrigible. "Mom, I'm not worked up. I just meant to say I went out with him and he's not gay." I was doing a horrible job of thinking before I spoke. The words came out before I could stop them. Seriously, I needed to cut out my tongue.
Suddenly no one had anything to say. They all looked more shocked than anything. It wasn't that farfetched of an idea that I had a date. Maybe in their eyes Alec was out of my ballpark or something, but they didn't have to look like I'd just told them I was carrying Satan's baby. "I have to use the bathroom," I said, walking away before they could say another word.
Closing the bathroom door behind me, I sighed with relief when I twisted the lock and heard it engage. The downstairs bathroom was only a half bath with a pedestal sink and a toilet, but it felt like a luxurious sanctuary after the barracuda's nest I had just left. I knew they would pounce on me the moment I opened the door, but for now I was safe.
Gripping the cold porcelain of the sink, I glanced in the mirror and nearly startled myself at the almost wild look in my eyes. No wonder they had all been eyeing me like I'd gone off the deep end. I was being utterly ridiculous. I needed to get over Alec. Just because he was on my new cover didn't mean I'd have to see him again. I'd also tell Olivia not to use him on any of my covers in the future. She'd understand.
When I resurfaced from the bathroom I didn't get the full-blown inquisition I had been expecting. I didn't know if I should have felt insulted or relieved. Maybe Mom and Dad had told my brothers to lay off. Whatever the reason, no one uttered another word about Alec. Instead, the conversation shifted to the Rays game that was about to start. We sat in front of the TV eating pizza like every other Sunday.
Chapter Eight
"Don't be mad."
Nothing good ever came from those words. Truthfully, their use together should be stricken from the English language.
I paused the show I had been binge watching. Anytime I finished a book I allowed myself an entire day of mindless TV. I'd watch an entire season of one of my favorite shows without any guilt. This time I picked one of my favorite shows on HGTV and I didn't want to miss it. I shifted my phone to my other ear. "What did you do?" I asked Olivia.
"First, you need to remember that I always have your best interests at heart. You know I'm your biggest cheerleader when it comes to your victories and milestones. I want nothing more than N.S. Blake to be a household name. I feel your brand is the most important thing at the moment and that we should be working aggressively to build it." Her words poured out like a tidal wave.