I lean in closer until I can feel his warm breath on my face. The closer I get, the shorter his breaths become, until he’s damn near stopped breathing. “You wanted to find me? You wanted me?”
He nods in response. “ Well, I don’t give a damn what you want.”
I back away from him, giving us each some breathing room. Not that it helps. My heart is racing, but I won’t let him know it. I didn’t just run from my life there; I ran from him too. “Leave.”
“Shady . . .”
“Get out of my damn house and go home,Niko,” I say, crossing my arms.
He licks his lips and nods his head a few times as if he’s thinking about his next move. “All right. I’ll leave—tonight. But we aren’t done. We’ll never be done.”
He turns, heading towards the door, listening for once.
“We were done the moment I left,” I mutter. He grabs the doorknob but pauses. He heard me.
“Goodnight, Shady.”
He walks out of my house, leaving me with chills running down my arms. I don’t need a blast from the past upsetting the good thing I have here.
I roll over to my alarm shrieking at me. It’s the worst kind of sound to start my day to, but the only thing that will actually wake me up. Working all night around teenage kids is exhausting. I get dressed and make my way to the coffeemaker, pickmy cigarettes up off the table and head outside to my porch. I set them both down on my small table and light up. I watch the fire burn the tip until I see something black shift in my peripheral vision.
Niko smirks as he leans against his Mercedes. Both look so out of place in my driveway. I take a drag and exhale, letting the smoke blur his image. “What the hell?”
“You don’t have a running car. I do. Thought you might need a ride to work.” He flicks his nose with his thumb as he looks pointedly at my piece of shit on wheels.
I take another drag as I watch him watch me. Then I turn, putting out my cig in the ashtray on the table before I take my coffee and my ass inside without a word.
I work on school for the next hour. When it’s time for me to get ready for work, I call it quits. I walk over to the front window, pull the curtain back and find Niko still leaning on his car looking down at . . . This fucker is really reading a book on my porch.
I yank the curtain back and get ready for work.
When I finally get to the point I can’t procrastinate anymore, I walk out my front door and lock it. I turn around to find him looking up at me with the book still hanging in his hand and that smirk still plastered on his face.
“It’s just a ride. It’s too cold to walk,” I gripe.
He is full-on grinning now and it’s beautiful. He’s as gorgeous as always. I pause before I walk down the steps and point a finger at him. “Don’t make me regret this.”
He raises his hands like he’s placating me. “Just a ride.”
He rounds to the driver side as I slide into the passenger seat. The car smells like him, or his cologne.
“Family business is going good I see?” I say sarcastically. “They don’t give you shit for being covered in tats?”
He shrugs. “Business is business.”
“You still his bitch?” I ask, pulling my eyes away from him to watch the beauty of the track come into view. The trees, the fresh air, and seclusion were only a few of the reasons why I decided to take this job.
He parks the car at the front of the track and looks to me. “Nah, that was always more Nathan’s thing than mine.”
I quickly look back at him. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying exactly what you heard, Shady.” He looks at me, his eyes burning. He leans over the console, bringing his face closer to mine, his arm reaching across me. Our lips are so close. “I’m no one’s bitch.”
He pulls the door handle and pushes hard enough to swing my door open. He leans back with that damn smirk on his face. “I’ll come back to bring you home, but I got few things I need to do first. You good?”
I sit for a moment, trying to breathe. I need to calm my heart and steady my hands but with Niko so close to me, it almost seems impossible. I’ve got to get out of this car.
I get out and slam the door. I stomp towards my office, trying to put as much space in between us as I can. Once I get through the office door, I slam it and lean against it, taking deep breaths in through my nose and out my mouth.Get a handle on yourself Shady.
And what did he mean “that was more Nathan’s thing”? Nathan never wanted any part of the family business. My father always went on about how Nathan needed to be more like Niko. Niko hated it and I think Nathan resented him for it. But they stayed friends through it all, even when everything was falling apart. Niko never abandoned Nathan.
Even when he had to pick between me or that stupid internship for my father.
He chose Nathan and the internship.
I walked away after that. From that lifestyle. From the parading and the rules. From the lack of freedom. They molded me into something I never wanted to be, never chose to be.