Chasing Him (Dark Love 4)

“Yes?” I reply quietly, eyeing Nikki as she waits for me patiently.

“Never mind.”

I don’t want to let him get away with that answer, but with Nikki hovering, I have no choice but to hang up.

I place my cell in my back pocket and walk toward Nikki. We both stand on the deck before Nikki talks. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, not sure why everyone asks me that. Did Charlie send you out here?”

She smiles, playing with her ponytail which distracts me. “Charlie is still probing Lex about the porn stars on the beach.”

I laugh out loud, Nikki following, but my head is elsewhere.

“Adriana, I know we don’t talk as much as we used to, but I’m here, you know. Any time you want to chat.”

What’s this about? Dog sniffing the trail? Okay, pretty fluffy cute dog sniffing the trail.

“Thanks for the offer, Nikki. Really, I’m okay,” I reassure her.

“If there’s something you need to get off your chest, I promise not to say anything to anyone.”

I shoot back defensively, “Have you been speaking to Eric?”

“Uh, no, but I did run into Tristan earlier.”

“Oh…” I play dumb. “How is he?”

“Good. He’s perfect for Eric. Really grounds him. But listen, that’s not what we—”

We are interrupted as the rest of the group walks outside. Rocky starts rambling on about something which leads to a conversation involving Elijah. Everyone stops and turns to look at me.

“I’d really appreciate it if you guys stopped doing that. I’m fine.”

“Sorry,” Rocky says.

“Let’s go inside for dessert,” Charlie says. “It’s homemade blueberry pie and vanilla bean ice cream.”

“See, this is why I love LA.” Rocky places his arm around Charlie as the rest of the group follows. Eric stays back.

“I haven’t spoken to you about your adventure Down Under. Give me the juice,” he probes.

“Eric, this isn’t the time. Not here, at least.”

He lets out a loud gasp and covers his mouth. “You got laid!”

“Eric… shh!”

“Batman got some kitty!”

“OMG, Eric. That’s so crude, even by my standards.”

The back door opens once again with Lex carrying a bag of trash. He looks our way, his eyes darting with curiosity, and I know he really doesn’t need to take out the trash. Considering he despises housework, it’s blatantly obvious what he’s doing.

“Let’s go in. We’ll talk later.”

Back inside, everyone is happily eating dessert. I notice the time is after nine and tell everyone I need to head home to get Andy to bed. After a number of goodbyes, I head off home.

A little later I pull into my driveway but feel somewhat odd. Andy is fast asleep in the back of the car, and something warns me to look around. The neighborhood is quiet, a few cars parked on the street which belong to residents. There’s a faint glow of light coming from the streetlamp. In the distance, I can hear the sounds of birds or even bats.