Whiskey and Country

17

NICHOLAS

In the darkness of the night, Dahlia’s mouth found mine. Fireworks shot in every direction, making me feel drunk too. Drunk on her. On her scent. On her touch. Our shared connection ran deeper than a physical need. An urge to tame. It was a whirlwind I never wanted to escape. Her mouth moved against mine, playing with the strings of my restraint. Breaking through the walls I set around me, saving my heart for the one I could see myself build something with.

Love. A future.

Some common sense snapped me out of the trance that had settled between us. Cursing at myself and fishing in the pit of my will, in the corners of my soul—something so deep and intense I couldn’t explain—I moved away. Hurt flashed in Dahlia’s eyes. And incomprehension. A blazing flush crept upon her cheeks, and when she started to move away, not ready to have her out of my energy field, away from my body, I tightened my grip on her hands.

Could she understand my words? My need to treat her right. To not rush what we could be. And kindle it to ashes.

Her lips trembled as I tucked her hair behind her ear and framed her face. My eyes lingered on her for a long beat.

“Do you feel it too?” she asked.

I did. So much, it floored me. That I could feel things for someone I barely knew.

The words escaped my mouth of their own volition.

“Can I call you tomorrow?” I asked.

An avalanche of emotions crashed into me when she shook her head.

It broke something in me. Something I didn’t know existed. I schooled my face, doing my best to hide my confusion. I blinked. Dahlia was tipsy, and I’d wanted to be respectful. Not kiss her when I knew the effect she had on me and that in the heat of the moment we shared, I feared I’d be too bewitched by her to stop before it went too far. The fire sparks burning between us could easily be turned into an inferno.

I’d wanted to be nice, to not be an opportunistic jerk, and I’d ended up being rejected. Big time. By a woman I was falling for a little too hard. A little too fast.

My stomach turned to rock as Dahlia stood there, inches away from me, my hand still cupping her cheek. I’d never spoil what Dahlia and I shared because I couldn’t be patient. And she had to know—I hoped she did—that I spoke the truth.

Earlier, in her shop, she’d nestled against Carter and let him play with her hair. The sight of them, friendly and intimate, shook me to my core. For the first time, in almost ever, I felt possessive of something, or rather someone, who wasn’t mine. Someone who I had no right to lust this way about. But I couldn’t help it. I hated his hands on her and the familiarity with which they embraced. As if they were alone in a room full of people.

And I hadn’t missed the way Carter Hills longed for her. Watched her. Or only smiled when she stood by his side.

Dahlia pressed her hands to my chest, bringing my focus to her, her touch powerful enough to get every part of my body twitching and begging for her attention.

Dahlia Ellis possessed a rare power over me.

“Tomorrow, I’m spending the day with Addison. Jack is with Carter for a few nights, so we’re enjoying ourselves.”

“Oh.” I exhaled. And chastised myself for imagining the worst.

“She’s leaving after dinner. If you’re free, we could go out afterward? Hang out or something?”

“Yeah. Okay. Huh, I’d like that.”

My eyes captured hers and before I changed my mind and claimed her lips, I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her cheek, my heart banging, beating a chaotic rhythm in my chest.

“Night, Dahlia.”

“Good night, Nick.”

My thoughts eddied in my head as I drove away.

Dahlia Ellis had kissed me twice now. And the teenager part of me, mostly alive around Tucker, high-fived itself. Sure, it lasted only seconds, but it was a well-worth micro-moment of bliss. Her full lips felt like velvet on mine. I darted my tongue out and swept the bottom one. Vanilla. It still tasted like her. For some reason, I wished it would linger until the morning.

Dahlia had no idea what she had done.

With the kiss that she initiated, she’d opened the door to my heart. The one I reserved for my special someone. My person.

By the intensity of the fire searing between us, I hoped one day she would be.

The contact of her lips electrified all my cells but also brought forth the doubts creeping into my mind and the sadness enveloping my heart.

“Hey bro. Are you listening? Your intake on this would be much appreciated. And yes, I know you’re just a child, but if I call Tuck, he’ll give me all the wrong advice. You know I’m right.” I sighed. “Dahlia and I just met. Why do I feel so protective and possessive about her? It makes no sense. None. But there’s something between us. I can tell. And now I know she senses it too.” I ran a hand through my hair, messing it up. “And like an idiot, I pushed her away. Goddamnit. Please tell me I did the right thing.”

My heart jackhammered.

My body pulsed, vibrating at the mere thought of her.

To silence my racing thoughts and frenetic hormones, I turned the radio on.

“Bro, really? Are you kidding me right now?” I said through the windshield, my eyes fixated on the inky sky.

The “Monkey Business” song started playing on the radio. Again.

I smiled and shook my head.

“C’mon, is it your answer to everything?”

For the first time, my ears listened to it in a different way.

I could only hear Dahlia. And it troubled my mind. And my body.

The tone of her clear voice as she sang the chorus.

The one that had only been a voice for as long as I could remember now belonged to the person I couldn’t wait to see again. The chorus again. I was floating. Like an out-of-the-body experience as I hung to every word coming out of her mouth. The mouth I kissed. And cherished. The one I could listen to days and nights.

I parked in the driveway just as the song ended.

“Bro, what are you doing to me? Telling me I was a fool for walking away or just messing around with me on purpose like Tuck would do and having a blast about it? Yep, I bet you’re laughing from your cloud. I can see it clearly in my head.” My cheerfulness died a little. “Derek, I just wanna thank you for always hearing me out. I feel ya. With me. And thanks for the song. If it’s your way of telling me you approve, and I hope it is, I’m thankful. I haven’t figured out that master plan of yours yet, but I will.” Tension left my shoulders. And for a moment, I relished the solitude of my truck and the quiet of the night.

Glued to the seat, I watched the stars through the window. Somehow wishing for another sign or something.

My lids grew heavy, and I could barely keep my eyes open, so I exited the cab.

“And by the way, I met Carter Hills. All right, you already know. But anyway, I’m not sure he’s a fan of mine—grown-up stuff—but he would’ve been a fan of yours. I witnessed him with Jack. Yeah, you would have liked him. Go play now. I love you.” I kissed two fingers and raised them toward the sky on my way inside. “Night, bro.” Without turning any light on, I went to my room, undressed, and fell face first on the mattress, tired of replaying how I turned Dahlia down earlier and hating myself for being so reasonable. Or chickenshit, as Tucker would say.

Derek’s Bucket List –15. Nick: Do something that’s right even if it doesn’t feel like it at first