I shrug. “It’s fine. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thanks,” she says, tapping on her phone. “I know this probably put a wrench in your plans for the day.”
“Nope, I was just heading home. Probably go lie on the beach for a bit.”
She scoffs. “Must be nice. I gotta get home and open my shop.”
“Shop?”
“Yeah, I own Willz Sub Shop—”
“By GymMasters.”
She nods. “Yeah. My sister, Callie, goes there.”
“My boy’s girl works there as a coach.”
“Oh? Who?” she asks, dropping her phone to her side.
“Amelia Justice.”
She smiles. “That’s my sister’s coach.”
“Wow, small world.”
“Small town,” she says simply. “Listen, I gotta go. They have all my info, you know where I work, and yeah, so sorry again. Come on in for a sub on the—”
“What’s your name?”
She presses her lips together, her green depths meeting mine. Her lashes taunt me. I want so badly to pull her hair down to see how long it is. “Aviva. Aviva Pearce.”
I nod and hold out my hand. “I’m Nico Merryweather.” She takes my hand and shakes it. I feel the heat of a thousand suns radiate up my arm, but Aviva doesn’t appear to feel it. She looks annoyed and ready to go. “You should let me take you to lunch. Maybe turn that day around.”
She seems taken aback. “I possibly total your car, and you want to take me to lunch?”
My lip quirks at the side as I look away. “I’m not worried about the car.”
She scoffs. “It’s a nice car that I’m sure will up my premium, which again, is just how great my day is going.” She laughs, shaking her head. “Thanks for making me feel good about myself on this shitty day, but I don’t have time. I gotta open the shop and do sub shit. Again, sorry. Nice to meet you. Hopefully we don’t meet under these circumstances again.”
“I don’t care what circumstances as long as I see you again,” I say, stopping her mid-step.
She curves her lips, but she’s got a suspicious gleam in her eyes. “Are you messing with me?”
“Messing with you?”
“Yeah, because let’s be honest, I look like roadkill run over twice and picked through by vultures. I’m living on dry shampoo and a prayer, and you are far from that. You probably wake up on gold sheets with someone wiping your ass. Like, hello Greek god, go find a Greek queen.”
I can’t help but grin. “All I see is a Greek queen who may need something to smile about.”
She narrows her eyes, and it wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Usually when I say that to a woman, she’s ready to get naked. Nope, not this girl. Fire fills those green eyes. “What is wrong with you?”
“Huh?”
“I legit just met you because I rammed my car into yours, and you’re hitting on me? Is this a tit for tat?”
“Huh?”
“Like, I hit you physically, so you hit on me figuratively?”
I look around myself, confused. “Yes?”
“Why? It’s not funny. My day has been complete shit, and I don’t need you fucking with me. So yeah, fuck-you-very-much.”
All I can do is blink. What just happened here? I hold out my hands in complete confusion as I watch her walk away. I’m about to run after her when the officer comes back, and he’s asking me more questions. I’m pretty sure Aviva just blew me off, and wow, that doesn’t happen to me. The only time it did was by the girl I thought was my match. I know Aviva’s day has been shit, but I meant what I said. I want to give her something to smile about.
And I think I just added an item to my goal list. To get Aviva to believe me.
Chapter Five
Nico
I would have called Chandler to come and get me, but then I remembered he’d had to stay late to film his stuff for the sports network. Since I don’t do that stuff, I was able to leave. Maybe if I had stayed for the filming, I wouldn’t be sitting between the twins in Amelia’s new minivan, with my legs across the console in the front seat while I hold the bottles for Carter and Hannah. But I also wouldn’t have met Aviva.
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
Amelia waves me off, and even though she’s driving, her eyes are like hawks on the kids. “I was out and about anyway. I can’t believe Callie’s sister hit you. She’s usually so safe when she’s driving.”
I want to laugh because I know Amelia has already decided Aviva is never driving her kids. I, too, have been removed from that list. I’m pretty sure the only reason I’m feeding them is because she didn’t want to wait around for them to eat. She’s a busy lady, and since her nights are dedicated to the gym, she’ll settle for me feeding them.