Chapter 1 Em’s Crazy Jealousy(1)
“Can I ask you a question?”
The ride to Nick’s apartment or rather our apartment since Nick would get upset if I didn’t refer to it as that had been quiet. We had a nice lunch with Nick’s friend Zoey. She was nice, had a history with both Evan and Nick, but not romantically. I could feel there was something going on between her and Evan, but she wasn’t talking about it. Neither was Evan. When I watched Nick and Zoey interact I felt a pang of jealousy, I knew it was stupid considering I was five months pregnant with his baby and I was the one going home with him, but still, I couldn’t push the feeling away.
“Sure.”
Nick was engrossed in his phone, always working. He made time for me so it never bothered me. I knew what I was getting myself into when I chose him. I didn’t regret my decision either. Nick understood me, made me feel like I couldn’t breathe when he looked at me and when I looked into his eyes I knew it was the same for him. Yet that stupid little emotion called jealousy wasn’t going away. I needed reassurance and I needed it now.
“You’ve known Zoey for a while right?”
My question still didn’t make him look up from his phone, “Hm, we didn’t speak to each other for a while, life got in the way, you know.”
“But you followed her career?”
“Yes, I do keep an eye out for people I care about.”
I shifted in my seat, “So you care about her?”
That caught Nick’s attention, but how could it not? I wasn’t being subtle about what I was asking anymore. The look in his eyes told me he didn’t appreciate it either. I couldn’t help how I was feeling right now though. I could blame it on the pregnancy, saying my emotions were all over the place, but I was sure that even if I wasn’t pregnant I’d still ask those questions.
He narrowed his eyes on me, “What are you trying to ask me, Emily?”
He knew what I was trying to ask, he knew exactly where I was going with this, yet he still wanted to hear me talk about it. Maybe he was hoping I wasn’t going there at all. Especially since I met Zoey in person and had a lovely time with her.
“Did you ever… with her?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
He was silent for a while, his eyes never leaving my face. He pocketed his phone which told me I had his full attention now. He grabbed my hand and tightly held onto it.
“No, we’ve only ever been just friends.”
He told me it straight out, never blinking either. He wanted the thought out of my head, but I was paranoid. I was fully aware of it right now. Maybe it was the fact that Zoey looked amazing, had a mouth on her and made Nick laugh. There weren’t many people out there who got that side of Nick.
“You two seem to get along really well.”
“Yes, Em, we get along, but we’ve never gone there.” His eyes sparkled amusingly, “She is like Evan to me and you know I’ll never go there with Evan.”
Now he was just making fun of me. I was glad he could laugh about it because I certainly couldn’t. I was serious about Zoey. She was a nice girl who was so confident in herself, I could totally imagine them dancing in a club and Nick getting a bit too personal with her. I could picture them together, both ambitious and always on the move.
“Em, you’re imagining things that aren’t there.” He pulled me back to reality, obviously seeing right through me like always, “Zoey and I never went there, I swear. She always has been just a friend.”
I knew he wasn’t lying to me, maybe my emotions were all over the place. I felt Nick softly tracing the back of my hand with his thumb, trying to soothe me. Just that simple touch of him calmed me down more than his words did.
“I don’t know if you would never go there with Evan.” I tried to lighten the mood between us and by the looks of it, it was working, “You two are really intense together. Who knows!”
“You’re not funny.” His dancing eyes told me a different story though.
“You never know maybe you have just one glass too many and so does Evan. You two stare at each other, your heart beating, your lips parting and before you know it-”
Nick leaned in captured my mouth with his and shut me up, his kiss harsh and wet. Instantly my fingers gripped his hair, loving every second of his dominating kiss. Before I could get really into it Nick pulled away, his eyes flickering to the front of the car. Miles was being professional, ignoring us while we had our private moment. We weren’t alone though and the thought of Miles listening to us, hearing our kiss made my cheeks burn up. Thank god Nick stopped me before things would have gotten out of hand.
“Like hell, I’m ever going there with Evan.”
I couldn’t help but to laugh, “I know. I was just messing with you.”
His eyes got serious again, “But all joking aside, we’re good, right?”
I smiled at him, “Yeah, we’re good, Nick.”
His eyes warmed, making me take in a sharp breath when he placed his hand on my belly and focused his eyes on our baby, “You good too, little man?”
“He isn’t going to respond, Nick.” I laughed at him both our smiles dropping from our faces when our baby kicked, very hard, which made Nick’s eyes shot up to mine.
We were quiet for a while, both keeping quiet as if we were afraid to let go of the moment. Matthew didn’t stop moving though. He was active now, letting his presence known. Sometimes I felt him move and sometimes I couldn’t tell if it was him or just my body. The doctor told me not to worry though, Matthew was doing fine.
“Guess he got you there, Em.” Nick smiled, leaning in to kiss me.
***