Wild Tendy (IceCats 2)

“What are you going to do?”

“Don’t break his heart.”

“He makes you so happy. He doesn’t think things through, but he means well.”

“You know him better than anyone. He didn’t do this to hurt you.”

I shut the door on them before they can leave my room. I let out a sigh and then head downstairs. When I hit the stairs, I hear the song playing that reminds him of me. It’s ending, but then it restarts. I make a face as I come down and into the shop.

Nico’s behind the counter, waiting for me.

He looks tortured, and I know I mirror him. I swallow hard as I cross my arms. “What are you doing here?”

“You haven’t called.”

“I know.”

“I’ve called.”

“I know. I watched the phone ring.”

He narrows his eyes. “I don’t want to fight, Aviva. I miss you. Bad.”

I bite my lip. “I miss you too, Nico, but—”

“No, hear me out,” he says quickly, holding his palms out to me, and I perk my brow. “Welcome to Nico’s I’m Sorry shop.”

He waves his hands over the three subs in front of him, and I can’t help it. I laugh.

“The what?”

“Sub Shop of Sorrys. It’s a working title. Play nice.”

I raise a brow at the stupidity of it as he goes on. “We have a Number 0, The One Nico Really Likes—where I do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want.” I scoff, and he winks. “It’s the dirty sub of sexiness. Lots of salami.”

I snort as I shake my head. “Of course you’d start with that sub.”

“Hey, can’t blame me for all the naughty time I like with you.” He winks once more. “I feel banging this out will be good for both of us. I’ll even let you choke me a bit. Safe word: subs.”

I laugh out, shaking my head. “I’m supposed to be mad at you.”

He nods before he points to the second sandwich. “I know. That’s why we have the Number 00, the I Don’t Want a Life without You. Yeah, I played decent last night, but I came home sad because I didn’t have you. I’m growing, Aviva, but I want to grow with you.”

“Well, that’s a heart-clencher.”

“Yeah, I needed you to know that, so I threw it in there. It’s your favorite too, tuna.”

I grin as he moves on. “Then finally, the Number 000, the Nico and Aviva special. It’s three zeros for me, you, and Callie. It’s where we have a great life and ignore my stupidity. Do everything that makes us happy and forget the stupid things I’ve done. But we appreciate them because I would only do them for you and my mom because you mean that much to me.”

“That option has appeal.”

“I thought so. It’s my favorite sub,” he says, and then he leans on the counter, his eyes burning into mine. “I fucked up. I know this. I shouldn’t have lied and done everything behind your back. I’m sorry for the lie and doing it in secret. But, again, I’m not sorry for doing it. And let me explain why.”

I feel like we’re just going round and round, but then, his eyes don’t allow me to argue.

“I watched my mom struggle and work hard to make ends meet. She’s just like you. She didn’t want help. She did it her way and I came out great, but it was hard to watch. I always said when I got older, I would make life easier for her, and I did. I saw how happy it made her, how all the stress left her body in an instant. And all I could think when I saw you struggling was that I had to do it for you.” He swallows hard, his eyes pleading. “It didn’t matter if you would have broken up with me the next day. I was going to pay everything off and make things easier for you. But the more and more I was with you, with Callie, the more and more I knew I was doing it for our future.”

I press my lips together, watching him, and my heart feels as if it is beating out of my chest.

“I can have a million women throw themselves at my feet, and I’d still only want you. I want to be there to tell you every morning how beautiful you are. I want to kiss you every chance I get. I want to dance in the streets of Barcelona with you again and again while we listen to that damn song that drives me bananas. I don’t care because we’d be together. I want to go to every single meet of Callie’s. I want to watch her grow. I want to be there with you to cheer her on. And damn it, Aviva, I want to have kids with you.”

Emotion takes over, and I can’t keep the walls up much longer. He has a way of knocking them down with no warning at all. My lips start to quiver as he holds my gaze.