Friends & Lovers Trilogy (21 page)

“
Yay,” Briana said
happily.

They all put on fresh make-up and fixed
their hair, then set out for a night on the town.

Nicole hadn’t been in a city since she’d
left Dallas, so she was looking forward to hanging out somewhere
other than the bar and grill.

They walked down 6th street, and Nicole was
surprised how many people were milling around.

“
Wow, this is a lot
different than being home,” She observed with a laugh.

Bree nodded her consent, then ushered them
into a bar that already had a crowd on the floor, dancing to a
local band.

They made their way to the bar and Bree
spoke loudly so they could hear her. “They don’t have a cover here
and have a special on pitchers, so this is where we usually hang
out. Is beer okay with you guys?”

Kara and Nicole both nodded and Kara said,
“Sure, but let me get the first round.”

They each had to show I.D. in order to get a
glass, but they were quickly given their pitcher and Briana led
them to a booth in the back of the bar. Close enough to see the
band, but far enough away that they could still talk.

At the first sip of the cool brisk ale,
Nicole smiled and licked her lips.

“
I’m so happy to be here.
Thanks for inviting me, Bree.”

“
Of course, I’m excited
that you could come. I have been begging Kara to come out ever
since we left. It was perfect that you guys had the same days off.”
Briana said with a smile, as she reached over to give Kara’s hand a
squeeze. “So, fill me in on all of the gossip.”

“
Well, Pete and I are doing
great, “Kara said with a big grin on her face. “He has given up all
pretense of living in your room and has moved all of his belongings
into mine. Bree, he’s just the sweetest thing!”

“
Aww, that’s great, Kara,”
Briana gushed happily. “I knew you two would be perfect
together.”

“
I know you did, but I
never imagined that I could love that red-headed stud the way I
do.” Kara was practically glowing as she spoke.

Nicole and Bree both giggled at that.

“
How’s everything going
with you and Roni?” Bree asked Nicole. “You guys are officially
roomies now, right?”

“
Yeah,” Nicole answered.
“It’s been great. Thank you so much for telling me that she was
looking for a place, she really is the perfect roommate. I like her
a lot.”

“
But not as much as she
likes her twin,” Kara divulged to Bree, causing Nicole to blush
with embarrassment.

Briana looked at Nicole with obvious
curiosity. “Really? You like Kent?”

Nicole was worried that Briana would be mad,
or things would be awkward, and she really wished that Kara hadn’t
said something about her and Kent already. She’d wanted to tell
Briana when they had a little more privacy.

“
Um, well, yeah… We’ve been
out a couple times.” Nicole admitted sheepishly.

Briana smiled broadly and reached across to
hold Nicole’s hand.

“
Nicole, that’s great!”
Bree assured her. “Kent is a terrific guy. The best. I can really
see you two together. In fact, I remember him checking you out back
when I was there. He’s had a thing for you for a while
now.”

“
Really?” Nicole asked with
surprise. “You did?”

“
Yeah. I think it was at
our place at one of the parties and at the bar. I totally saw that
he was interested in you.”

“
Are you sure it doesn’t
bother you?”

“
Totally sure,” Briana
exclaimed. “Kent was never really mine, not in that way. I promise
that I’m truly happy for the both of you.”

“
Awesome,” Kara said loudly
as she downed her beer. “Now what do you girls say we go tear up
that dance floor, huh?”

They nodded and finished their drinks, then
went out on to the dance floor to move to the music.

They danced until they were exhausted.
That’s where Colin found them when he walked into the bar.

He caught the stares of many of the male
patrons, as they watched the three beautiful girls dance together
on the floor. They were laughing, absorbed in each other and
oblivious to the people watching them.

Colin walked up behind Bree and put his arms
around her, matching her moves with his own.

He nuzzled her neck and was pleased to hear
her intake of breath.

“
Mmmm,” Bree purred. “You
really shouldn’t do that; my boyfriend could be here at any
moment.”

She giggled and he spun her to face him and
kissed her soundly on the lips.

“
Hey baby,” He whispered in
her ear. “I missed you today.” He pulled back and looked into her
eyes, his dimples flashing as he smiled at her.

“
I missed you too,” Briana
said, returning his smile full force.

Colin tore his eyes from Briana’s and turned
that heart-stopping grin on Nicole and Kara.

“
How’s it goin’, Ladies?”
He gave them each a hug, then asked, “You want me to grab another
pitcher?”

They all nodded and made their way back to
their table to wait for Colin to join them.

“
You guys look like you’re
doing great,” Kara said to Bree once they were seated.

“
We really are,” Briana
gushed. “I couldn’t be happier.”

“
That’s so wonderful, Bree.
You both deserve it.” Nicole chimed in, a little envious at Colin’s
obvious adoration of Bree. She wondered again about Kent’s recent
less than affectionate behavior.

Colin poured them each a glass of beer
before he sat, then settled in to enjoy a pint of his own.

“
So, how’s everything back
home?” Colin asked.

They filled him in on the same things they
had already told Briana, but Nicole also mentioned Rich helping
Roni move in and the fact that he was on track to graduate in
December.

“
Yeah, he mentioned
something about that last time we spoke, but it’s been a few weeks.
I’ve been so busy at work that I haven’t had a lot of time to keep
in contact with everyone.”

“
Kent also said that Rich
is planning to come down for Halloween. I’m sure he doesn’t want to
miss the Halloween bash at the bar,” Nicole added.

“
Oh, babe, we should
totally try to go home for that,” Briana said to Colin. “Halloween
falls on a weekend this year, and it would give us a chance to see
our folks. Plus, it’ll be great to see Rich again.”

“
Yeah,” Colin agreed.
“We’ll see what we can do.”

“
Yay!” Bree
exclaimed.

They finished the pitcher and decided to
head back to the loft to drink and talk in a quieter
environment.

When they got back, Colin excused himself
and said he had to get up early and would give the girls a chance
to catch up. He promised he would see them for dinner tomorrow and
wished them a goodnight.

“
I’m gonna go tuck him in,”
Bree said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “There are beers in the
fridge. Help yourselves and I’ll be right back out.”

Kara went into the kitchen to grab them each
a beer, while Nicole went to the bathroom to change into her comfy
clothes. When she was done, Kara went in to do the same, and Nicole
sat down on the couch and took a sip of her beer.

She looked around the loft and thought about
how much she would love to be at the point in a relationship that
Bree and Colin were in. They were so obviously in love, it made
Nicole’s heart ache.

Kara came out of the bathroom in her flannel
pajama pants and a t-shirt, with her hair piled on top of her head.
She grabbed her beer and settled across from Nicole in a comfy
looking oversized chair.

They were sitting there talking about how
much they loved the loft, when Bree came walking out in her
pajamas. She grabbed a beer from the fridge and joined Nicole on
the couch.

“
So, tell us everything,”
Kara prompted.

Briana smiled and filled them in on her
classes in culinary school.

“
I am having so much fun
and learning something new every day. Colin keeps joking about
having to hit the gym twice a day, since I started trying my
recipes out on him.” Briana looked so happy as she talked. “How’s
everything at the bar?”

“
Oh, you know, same old
thing.” Kara said as she snuggled further into the chair. “Pam
hasn’t changed at all. Remember the time we stayed late after
closing to wait for her, and then we realized that she wasn’t in
the backroom?”

Briana started laughing. “Yeah, she went
home early and didn’t tell anyone. We would have sat there all
night if Pete hadn’t gone back there to check on her.”

“
The day I came in for my
interview, I thought Pam was a busser or something,” Nicole chimed
in with a chuckle. “I talked to her for about ten minutes before I
realized that she was the manager and my interview had already
started.”

Kara and Briana cracked up at that.

“
That is totally, Pam!”
Kara chortled. When she calmed down enough to talk again, she
looked at Nicole and admitted, “When I saw you, I thought you were
going to be a Stone Cold Bitch.”

“
You did?” Nicole asked,
surprised.

“
Yeah, but it didn’t take
long after talking to you, to realize that you aren’t. You just
looked so perfect and put together, I jumped to conclusions.” Kara
said with a shrug. “I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

“
Thanks.”

“
Well when I first met
Kara,” Briana cut in, trying to lighten the mood back up. “I knew
Kara was a Bitch.”

They all started laughing at that. Kara was
laughing so hard that she almost fell off the chair.

They stayed up until four in the morning
reminiscing and talking about the upcoming Halloween party.

When Nicole lay down to go to sleep, she
realized that she finally had the kind of friends she’d always
hoped for growing up. She’d never spent the night gossiping with
girlfriends before. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter Eleven

They slept in the next morning, then decided
to put on their bathing suits and lay out at the pool.

Once the trio was settled into their lounge
chairs Nicole decided to broach the subject that had been on her
mind, but had been afraid to bring up.

“
Hey, guys, can I get your
advice on something?” She asked quietly, happy for the sunglasses
that concealed the nervousness in her eyes.

“
Sure, what about?” Bree
asked.

“
Kent,” She stated
simply.

“
Oh, yeah, you can
definitely ask our advice if it’s about Kent,” Kara chimed in with
a saucy grin. “Spill.”

“
Well, I mean, I know Bree
knows a little bit about my past, so I should probably fill you in
on that first, Kara.” Nicole started. “I was raised in a religious
home, and was expected to go to college, then return home to marry
my fiancé, Jake, and begin a congregation in Dallas. Once I got to
college, I realized that those were my parents’ dreams, not mine,
and I changed my major, broke it off with Jake, and moved out on my
own. That’s the gist of it. Well, um, what I haven’t mentioned is
that because I was raised in that way, I don’t believe in having
sex before marriage.”

Kara sat up, threw her legs over the side of
her chair, and pushed her sunglasses up on her head. She looked
into Nicole’s eyes, the shock apparent on her face.

“
Are you
saying you’re a virgin, and you’ve never had sex with
anybody
? Not even
once?”

Nicole couldn’t help but giggle at Kara’s
obvious disbelief. It helped ease her nerves, and she replied, “Not
even once.”

“
Oh. My. God.” Kara closed
her eyes and shook her head, causing Nicole to laugh again, and
Bree to reach over and punch Kara lightly on the arm. “What? I
can’t even imagine…”

“
Stop, Kara,” Briana
chided.

“
It’s okay, Bree, I know
it’s surprising to people. I was with Jake for so long, and he had
the same views on premarital sex, so it was never an issue
before.”

“
But it is now… with Kent,”
Bree surmised.

Kara started laughing at that. “Oh, I bet
Kent shit a brick when you told him.”

“
Kara!”

“
No, Kara’s right. That’s
pretty much the reaction I’d expected when I told Kent, but he
really took it in stride. He didn’t freak out, and he said he still
wanted to see me. I gave him an out, but he didn’t take
it.”

“
But,” Briana
prompted.

“
But since then, he hasn’t
touched me. I mean, not even a kiss.” Nicole played with the frayed
edge of her towel as she spoke. “Before I told him, we kissed and
made out a bit, and it was really hot, but ever since I told him,
he has given me a kiss on the cheek, or the forehead, but has made
no attempt to really kiss me. Do you think that means he’s not
interested anymore?”

“
Nicole, Kent may be a
great looking, single, man who has no problem getting women, but he
isn’t a ladies man. I mean, he doesn’t lie, and he doesn’t treat
girls like crap.” Briana said in his defense. “If he didn’t want to
see you anymore, he would respect you enough to tell you, I
swear.”

“
That’s true,” Kara put in.
“Kent is always a straight shooter, he wouldn’t lead you
on.”