Nic's Devotion: An Endless Series: Book One (9 page)

     After my episode I’d sat in Nic’s lap for another
several minutes nearly falling asleep. I normally became a bit befuddled after
each one and it had felt so amazingly good to be held and comforted by someone
that I’d completely spaced out. Carl was the only person who hugged me
regularly, but he didn’t do it for a lengthy period of time and I also hadn’t
seen him in a while, so the warmth and strength of Nic’s embrace had lulled me
into feeling a real sense of security and affection.  

     But eventually awareness had crashed down on me
reminding me that I’d only know Nic for a couple of hours and here I was
literally
dumping my problems in his lap. I’d scrambled off him and over to the other
seat absolutely humiliated. All I’d wanted to do was jump from the truck and
hide but Nic had stopped my escape by grabbing my arm. With no way out I’d
muttered apologizes directing him to my apartment which had only been one more
block down the road. He’d assured me that it was no problem and had even asked
to walk me to my door, but I’d told him it would only disturb my mother. I’d
then thanked him for the ride, jumped out, and ran for my door. Slipping inside
quietly I’d peeked out the window to watch him drive away.

     I was used to keeping people at arm’s length, but
something about him had pushed me to take a chance. He’d been so easy to talk
to. Then I’d gone all crazy person on him and now he was probably going to stay
as far away from me as possible. 

     Monday arrived and I was back to keeping my head down.
I had two classes in the morning and then I worked for Professor Gale for a
couple hours grading and filing. I was finished with that around three and then
I had a late lunch while doing some school work. At four I went to work at the
Sports store.

     John was off today so I was working with Mark, a junior
manager. He was a senior at UVA majoring in marketing. He had dark brown hair
and brown eyes and appeared to have some Asian ancestry. I’d worked with him
twice before and he was tolerable to work with. He seemed to follow me around
to check up on me a lot and whatever section he found me in he would start
expounding on the marketing techniques used to sell that equipment. It had been
interesting the first few times but got old after a while. All I could think
was that he must really like marketing which was good since he
was
majoring in it. 

     The way he stared at me was a bit unsettling at times,
but he was pretty ‘shmooshy’ with many of the attractive female customers so I
didn’t take it too personally. Many of the women seemed to appreciate his
attention so they must find his looks and manner to their liking.

     It was seven thirty p.m. and the store had only one
customer. Mark was on the floor seeing to them and I was behind the counter manning
the register familiarizing myself with the sports catalogues when the door
jingled announcing another customer.

     I looked up automatically and caught my breath when I
saw Nic walk in. He was in jeans with a tan jacket, and his blonde curly hair
was slightly disheveled. With his blonde scruffy…sexy…stubble he made a sigh
worthy picture. He was looking around and when he spotted me the smile that lit
up his face sent my already fluttering heart into overdrive.

     He strode toward me unfastening his coat and it parted
to reveal a white cotton thermal. His walk was graceful yet powerful, his long
legs eating up the distance to the counter in seconds. I had the urge to reach
up and pull my cap off but instead set my hands on the counter interlacing my
fingers. I was unsure on how to act with him after the other night.

     Stepping up to the counter he gazed down at me with a
warm smile. Jeesh, he was tall, like a whole foot taller than me. “Hey Carrie.”

     Tingles erupted everywhere at the sound of his husky
voice. I could tell he’d taken a recent shower because he looked and smelled
fresh. He smelled more than fresh, he smelled incredibly male and musky. It
affected me in a very physical way.   

     “Hi Nic.” I returned guardedly. He didn’t seem to be
treating me any different or looking at me like I was about to go raving mad;
that was something. 

     His gaze traveled over me, at least what he could see
of me behind the counter, and returned to my face. The heat in them warmed me
all over.

     “You look very nice today.” He said gruffly.

     I looked down at my old light blue button up sweater
and the same white polo and khaki outfit I’d worn the last time he’d seen me. The
absurdity of his remark had humor tugging at my lip. “If you say so.”   

     “I do.” He responded firmly. “You always look nice. In
fact, I don’t believe you could ever look bad.”

     Relaxing a little more I snorted. “Have you ever gone
to bed with wet hair before?” I asked.

     He frowned slightly, still grinning. “Yeah, I have.
Why?”

     “How does it look in the morning?”

     “It sticks up everywhere.” He answered, grin growing.

     He had such a great smile. “Now imagine someone with
longer hair going to bed with wet hair and waking up. It’s like wicked witch
meets Don King. It’s scary.”

     His eyes twinkled and he laughed. “Come on, you’re not
supposed to be ruining the perfect image of yourself. Girls want us to believe
they wake up with hair perfectly coiffed glowing from a good night sleep. Next
you’ll be telling me about eye boogers.”

     “Even I don’t want to imagine that.” I shuddered. That
was too close to the other boogers.

     Mark came around the counter. “Nic Stanford, what can
we do for you?” His tone wasn’t as friendly as it usually was with the other
customer’s. He walked over to stand next to me, almost touching my side.

     I shuffled over half a foot uncomfortable with my space
being invaded. Mark was only about five inches taller than me so he wasn’t all
that imposing, but I still didn’t like it. Nic’s face tightened and he lost his
smile. In fact, he seemed to be holding back a scowl.

    “I wanted to get Carrie’s advice on some shafts. She was
helping me Saturday but I had to take off for practice.” Nic’s voice sounded
terse.

     “Carrie’s just started here and doesn’t really know all
that much. I’d be happy to help you. Although, I don’t know why you would need
any help at all since you probably know more about shafts than me or John, collectively?”
Mark offered with a sham smile.

     “Yeah, but
John
wants her to become more
familiar with the equipment so I thought I’d help her out.” Nic said with a
smile that was just as forced.

     My brows were near my hairline at their dialogue. Did these
guys have some bad history or something, because they seemed to really dislike
each other?

     What looked like a sneer crossed Mark’s face. “You’re
all about being helpful, aren’t you, Nic? Can’t help hearing about how helpful
you are all over campus.”

     Nic’s face flushed with anger…and something else. His
gaze flickered my way and what looked like discomfiture filled his eyes. I
understood what Mark was trying to infer. I’d already heard some talk about
Nic. I knew he’d slept with a few girls on campus, and if I went on rumors it
could be a lot more than a few. But I disliked rumors and tried not to let them
direct my behavior. Nic had been nice to me from day one and rumors weren’t
going to influence my behavior toward him.

     “Uh, Mark, Nic’s a...friend…” I hope he was okay with
me calling him that even after my meltdown. “And he
has
been helping me
to learn more about lacrosse.” I interjected before something was said that
shouldn’t be. I wasn’t sure if Mark was trying to protect me or if he had some
kind of ‘beef’ with Nic, but I didn’t want to be in the middle of it, and I
didn’t need his protection either. Not from Nic.

     The two males continued to glare at each other. I
rolled my eyes and walked around the counter. “Come on, Nic, lets’ go look at
the shafts.”

     “That’s not the only shaft he wants to show you.” Mark
said.

     My face instantly burned with embarrassment. I knew
that shaft was another term for penis.

     Nic had turned to follow me but at Mark’s words he spun
back around. Reaching out he gripped Mark by his polo shirt and hauled him half
over the counter. I gasped in dread at the possibility of violence.

     “Listen to me Mark; Carrie is my friend not a groupie.
You need to watch what you say around her and to her. You hear me?” Nic gave
Mark a little shake as if to emphasize his point and then shoved him away. Mark
stumbled back, his face beet red.

     “John’s going to hear about this.” Mark said angrily
straightening his shirt.

     “He’ll be hearing from both us then, about everything
that was said. Just remember that.” Nic retorted. The anger on Mark’s face
deepened.

     Nic turned away and grabbing my hand pulled me toward
the lacrosse section. I followed silently, skipping a little to keep up. When
we reached the section he released me and began making fists with his hands.

     “I’m glad I’m not the only one who has to do that.” I
said watching him in fascination. 

     He turned toward me, confusion joining the anger covering
his face. “Do what?”

     I held my hands up, clenching and unclenching them.
“Fist and release, fist and release. That’s the same technique I use to get
control. I focus on the muscles tightening and loosening, but I also
concentrate on my lungs and how my breaths enter and leave them.”

     The confusion and anger were slowly draining from his
face as I talked. He walked up to stand in front of me, and I had to tilt my
neck way back to look up at him. I shifted nervously at having him so close.
Where Mark’s proximity had made me feel uneasy, Nic’s just made me feel warm
and tingly and breathless and excited and...lots of other things.   

     His hand lifted and his finger traced a line from the
corner of my eyebrow down to my chin. Heat suffused my skin at the intimate
contact. His thumb continued the caress along my bottom lip and the green of
his eyes darkened as my lips parted in a shaken exhale from the sensations of
his touch. 

     “I’m sorry for getting angry like that in front of you.
But I don’t regret setting him straight for what he said, because it
embarrassed you. And what he implied before, about me helping out all over
campus…” Red flags slashed across his cheeks.

     I put my hand on his forearm and squeezed. I had a
feeling it was unusual for Nic to become tongue-tied. It was quite
endearing…too bad it was over a conversation about his number of sexual
partners.

     “Nic, he isn’t the first person I’ve heard stories from
about you.” His face became even more ill at ease. I patted his arm. “I don’t
pay attention to rumors. What you do…” I waved my hand and shifted my gaze away
from his awkwardly. “…with other people is none of my business. You’ve been
nothing but nice to me and that is what I’m basing our friendship on.” I took a
step back because being this close to him was messing with my head and
hormones.

     He frowned. “I don’t like that you’ve heard rumors
about me, but it’s my own fault. I’ve told you about the groupies, you’ve see
them, and, well…they sort of make themselves available. I don’t feel like I’ve
gorged myself, but I probably availed myself more than I should have.” His face
flushed further and he rubbed the back of his neck.

     I had no right to judge him. In truth, I was the last
person in the world who had the right to judge. The thought of him with other
girls in an intimate manner did make me sick to my stomach, but that was
probably because of my own personal issues and I wasn’t going to let them
interfere with our burgeoning friendship.

     “Nic, really, it’s none of my business.” And I really
didn’t want to continue talking about it.

     He still looked discomfited. “Hell, I’d never thought
I’d regret my past…” He cut himself off with a shake of his head and looked at
me with apprehension. It was kind of a novel look on him, he normally appeared
so self-assured. “Hey, you get off at eight, right?”

     I almost did a double take at his abrupt topic change.
“Yes.” I replied tentatively.  

     “Would you let me drive you home again? I promise it
will be better than last time.” He smiled ruefully.

     “Um, okay.” I said nervously. My heart felt like it was
about to thump out of my chest.   

     He stepped back and turned toward the shafts, and I
blushed slightly at the wayward thought that shot through my mind. Stupid
historical romance novels.

     We spent the rest of my shift discussing the properties
of shafts and why Nic preferred one over another. I only heard about half of
what he said because my mind was awash with rioting emotions. Had he come in
just to give me another ride home? If he had, why did he want to? He’d been
extremely bothered at the idea of me taking the bus; maybe he was just trying
to be nice.

     It was exhausting attempting to analyze his motives so
I forced that part of my brain to shut up.

     Two minutes to eight Nic finally made his selection and
brought his…‘chosen equipment’ to the register. Mark didn’t say anything when I
left with Nic, but his expression revealed that there was a lot that he wanted
to say.

     Nic guided me out the door as Mark locked up behind us.
It was dark out but the parking lot was brightly lit as we made our way to his
truck. The temperature had dropped with the sun to what felt like thirty
degrees. I stuffed my hands in my pockets. Once again Nic helped me up into his
truck again, and I found his chivalry charming. No one had really watched after
me for such a long time.

     “Have you had dinner yet?” Nic asked climbing into the
driver’s seat and starting the engine.