Sugar Rush (Friend-Zoned 3)

I don’t want to admit it, but after seeing Nik like he was last night, I’m a little scared to be alone with him. However, I do trust Max. I whisper through my covers, “Okay.”

He smiles down at me, climbing over my body to bury his face in the crook of my neck. “You want coffee?”

With his mouth on me, it’s hard to concentrate. “Is a frog’s ass watertight?”

His breath warms my throat as he chuckles. “Two sugars with a splash of milk, right?”

My eyes snap open. He knows how I take my coffee? My heart beams. Whelp, shit got serious and someone forgot to inform me. I lift my arms out of my cocoon of safety and wrap them around his shoulders as I breathe into his ear, “Yeah, honey.”

Lifting his head, he kisses the tip of my nose before standing. I ask through narrowed eyes, “You’ve still got your key, don’t you? That’s how you got in last night.”

Max grins so hard his dimple cuts deep into his cheek. “You’re so pretty.”

When I roll my eyes, he chuckles and calls out to Nik, “Don’t kill each other, okay? I like this one.” I smile to myself. But my smile falls to the ground with a plop, when Max tells Nik, “And I plan to keep her.”

Does he mean that? I can never work out whether the means the things he says or if they’re just for show.

The front door opens then closes, and I close my eyes and sigh knowing I have to face him sooner or later, and the later I wait, the more awkward this will become. Gaining what little courage I have left in me, I slide out of bed and dress in my pajama shorts and loose pink Cupcakeinator tee and walk out of my room, into the living-slash-kitchen area.

Nik stands at the open fridge door, rubbing absently at his belly, looking somewhat disappointed. “What are you living on? There’s nothing in here.”

A shocked laugh bursts out of me. “Your brother says the same thing only all the freaking time.”

Nik closes the fridge door and turns to me, a strained smile on his face. “We’re alike, him and me. My sisters are a little different. They don’t need food every hour to live.” I smile, but it’s as strained as his. He steps forward and starts, “Listen, Helena, I’m sorr—”

But I cut him off with a shake of my head. “Please, don’t apologize. You were right. I screwed up, and I’m the one who’s sorry.”

He pulls out a stool from the counter and sits, staying quiet for a while before he utters, “I’ve always been protective of Max. I don’t think anyone would blame me for it after what happened with Maddy.”

I know about Maddy, but not from Max. I haven’t ventured there, but I’ve been told by Nat it just isn’t something Max likes to talk about. With good reason. As far as I know, he only has bad memories of the woman. Nik adds, “But when he told me you were dating, I was happy for him,” he looks up into my eyes and utters sincerely, “because you’re a good woman.”

As long as he’s buttering me up, we’re going to be just fine. I walk over and pull another stool out, parking my butt on it. “Well, if it isn’t the famous Leokov silver tongue.”

Nik chuckles. “I’m not just saying that to say it. I’m saying it, because it’s true, and I should’ve known you wouldn’t have touched that asshole without a good reason. But for a split second, I thought—stupidly, I might add—that maybe you were gonna be a troublemaker. Like she was. And me, being me, I freaked out, not only because I don’t want to see him go through that shit again, but because I know this is something he can’t go through again.” He tilts his head, a sheepish smile crossing his face. “So I pushed when I should’ve reigned it in, and I’m sorry.”

I look down at the counter before I push my luck. “I know I’m meant to feel sorry for what I did, but I don’t. Not even a little. I’d probably do it all over again. The bitch deserved it.”

Nik’s rough laugh washes over me. “Yeah, I figured you’d say something like that. And secretly, I’m glad she got hers.”

I peek up at him and wince. “So about the lawsuit—”

But he cuts me off with a gentle shake of his head. “Didn’t you hear? We have witnesses to say she hit you first.”

My mouth gapes. “But she didn’t—”

He speaks over me, lip twitching. “And wouldn’t you know it? There isn’t CCTV in the bathrooms. We reported her before she managed to report us.” He shrugs. “Good to have friends at the NYPD.”

I smile. “Sure is.”

He smiles down at me, stands, and opens his arms wide. “Come here.”

Without a second thought, I stand and walk into his embrace. He wraps me up into a bear hug and sways me from side-to-side. “I’m so sorry. I promise I won’t ever talk to you like that again.”

Squeezing him tight, I lay on the guilt-trip I know I’m entitled to. “You were so mean.”

As he lets out a sore groan, I chuckle and he kisses my temple. “You’re all right, kid.”

We separate, and being a smartass, I ask, “So you don’t mind my dating Max?”