“I’ll be back in an hour. Do you want me to get anything for you while I'm out?” he asks his dad.
“Coffee,” his dad tells him. Mr. Stevenson turns towards me. “It was nice meeting you, November. See you next week,” he says, smiling big. EEEKKKK!!
“Nice to meet you too,” I say, walking out the door. “Um, Dad, I’ll see you at home, I guess,” I say, almost wanting my dad to offer to stay. I don’t want Nick to get the wrong idea that this is a date or anything close to a date.
“Sure, baby girl. See you at home.” We are all standing outside on the sidewalk a couple blocks away from Liz’s store. I watch my dad walk to his car. His head is bent towards his boots and he is shaking his head.
“Um, we can just walk to get Liz, and then go to the coffee shop next to her store, if that’s okay with you?” I say, looking up at Nick.
“Sure, lead the way.” He smiles and I smile back, and then I pull out my phone. I debate about calling Asher. I feel guilty and I don’t want him to find out that Nick is with me by someone else, but at the same time, I don’t want to call him in front of Nick, and have him freak out and get into an argument with him while on the phone.
“So, are you still seeing Asher?” he asks. I put my phone away, deciding I will just call him later.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling.
“Oh.” His eyebrows shoot together in surprise, and worry crosses his face. “Look, November, I know you’re new but you should know—”
I cut him off before he can make me mad. “What? That he has bagged almost every girl in town? Tell me something I don’t know. Do I like knowing that?” I ask, looking up at him. “No, but it is what it is, and I'm giving him a chance. He is sweet to me, and if there comes a time when he is not sweet to me, I will deal with it. Got it?” I narrow my eyes.
“Got it,” he says, his lips twitching. I am still looking at him when I'm grabbed from behind and pulled off the ground. I scream and start kicking, trying to throw a punch. I can hear someone telling me to calm down, but I can’t stop fighting. I won’t let myself be dragged down an alley and beaten again. I kick, scratch, and scream then arms wrap around me, and I am being rocked back and forth. Someone is whispering to me that it's going to be okay. I start pulling myself together.
I open my eyes and see Nick standing further down the sidewalk with Cash blocking him. I take a breath and realize that I'm sitting on the ground. Not only that, but I'm in someone’s lap. I hold my breath and lift my head. Yep, it’s Nico and he has a bloody nose and a mark under his eye.
“I'm sorry,” I whisper. I swallow hard and shake my head. “I don’t know what happened.” I shake my head again, trying to clear the adrenaline.
“Do not apologize,” he says, framing my face with his hands. I can feel the tears sliding down my cheeks.
“Jesus, Asher’s going to kick my ass.” He leans in and kisses my forehead then pulls my face back into his neck. I let him hold me for a minute and feel so embarrassed about what just happened.
“I'm okay now,” I tell him, wiping my face on his shirt.
“Did you just wipe your face on me?”
“Nope,” I say, smiling into his shirt, remembering Asher and the fake blood.
“Just checking,” he mumbles. I look up to see his lips twitching. His eyes scan my face and his thumb sweeps my cheek. “Have you talked to anyone about what happened?” I can’t talk. I just shake my head.
“Babe, you need to talk to someone.” I swallow and look down. I feel tears pooling in my eyes again. “Ah fuck,” he growls and hugs me tighter to him. Then he stands and pulls me with him, and then Cash is here hugging me.
“Hey, sis, you scared the fuck out of me.”
“Sorry,” I mumble while I try to smile. I like that he called me sis. He pulls back and Nick steps closer. Nico steps in front of him then I see the damage I caused. Nico’s shirt is ripped, his nose is bloody, and there are a few bruises under his eye.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. I walk to Nico and grab his hand. “Come on, we have to go to the bathroom.”
“What?” He stops and pulls his hand away. He looks at me like I'm crazy.
“We have to go to the bathroom,” I say slowly.
“This may have escaped you, but I have a dick. The only time I go into the bathroom with a chick is for a quick fuck, and that’s not happening, so no, we don’t have to go to the bathroom.”
“Yes, we do,” I yell. I grab his hand again and drag him down the sidewalk. When we get to the café, I see Liz. We make eye contact and her eyes almost pop out of her head.