Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection) (26 page)

“Yeah, we’re actually going to look
at places right now.” I turned right as Zoey pointed out directions to me,
pulling into an office building complex.

“Really? That’s so perfect. I was
going to see if you would be willing to take on another roommate. I know it’s a
little short notice since you’re starting to look at places, but I’m sure it
won’t be too big of a deal to add an extra bedroom to your search.”

“And who would that be?” I asked, puzzled
by who Mia knew in North Carolina. She hadn’t mentioned anyone when she was in
town and she hung around Justin and me constantly.

“Me, silly. I need a change of
scenery, and your mom suggested that I talk to you. Obviously it worked for
you. I’m not sure if I’m going to enroll there to finish my degree or not, I
might just find a job and work for a little while. Besides, I think we could
use a little sister bonding and what better way to do that then living with
each other?”

I could think of about a thousand
different ways other than living with each other, but I didn’t want to squash
her excitement. I looked between Zoey and Callie who were giving me questioning
looks, tapping at the time to show that we needed to get into the leasing
agents office.

“Um, I’m not really sure how my
roommates would feel about that. I would have to clear it with them first.  ”

“Oh, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a
problem,” she interrupted. “Plus, daddy all ready offered to pay the entire
rent for the school year as long as it was good with you. So what do you think?”

The thought of our rent being paid
for stopped me from telling her no. I hadn’t found a new job since I quit Shorty’s,
and although I had some money saved up, I knew it wouldn’t last long once I
started paying my share in rent and utilities. I had planned on looking for a
job soon and I still would, but Mia’s offer sounded pretty good.

 I blew out a breath looking
between Zoey and Callie. I wasn’t sure how they would feel about it and they
could always say no, but for now I was going to go with my gut instinct. “Ok
then. As long as Callie and Zoey think its ok, I think we can make that work.
I’ll call you later this week to fill you in on the details once we find a
place.”

“Awesome,” she squealed into my ear
before I hung up.

By the end of the day, we had
officially found a place with four bedrooms that would work perfectly. It was
close to campus, actually one block over from the house that Nash lived in during
the school year.

Zoey and Callie had been hesitant
about having Mia as a roommate since they knew we weren’t exactly close, but
after I told them about our rent being paid for the year, they seemed to warm
up to the idea.

We grabbed take-out on our way to
my grandparent’s house and watched a few movies while we ate. “So if it’s all
right with you guys, Nash wanted to take me somewhere later tonight.”

“Oh, like a date or what?” Zoey
asked, her fork paused in mid-air.

“I don’t know, I guess so. What do
you guys think? Should I go?”

Zoey and Callie both looked at each
other and then turned back to me. “Um, yeah! We can fend for ourselves just
fine, Della. And we have the rest of the week. Don’t worry about ditching us
for a bit. So, I take it the zoo trip went good?” For some reason, Callie was
always pushing me towards Nash and she seemed pretty happy about the new
developments.

“I think so, things were a little
weird at first because I’m not the greatest around kids, but Madison is pretty
easy to like. She’s so sweet. And then she fell asleep, and we ended up
kissing. It was nice.”

“Nice?” Callie piped up. “That is
not something you want in a kiss, Della. You want passion, fire, awe inspiring.”
She looked a little dreamy-eyed, probably picturing Drew in her head. I
completely agreed with Callie even though I wasn’t going to tell her that. All
of those things were what I felt every single time Justin had kissed me; every
time he touched me.

“Just give it some time, Della,”
Zoey instructed, glaring at Callie who still looked to be in lala land.

By the time ten o’clock was rolling
around, the girls were heading up to the guest room to paint each other nails.
They insisted they would be waiting up for details, no matter how late it was.

“There you are,” Nash called out
from the darkness as soon as I shut the patio door. I smiled as he rushed
forward and wrapped me in a quick hug before turning around to point at his
back. “Hop on.”

“Seriously? You haven’t given me a
piggy-back ride since we were like ten. You probably won’t even be able to hold
me.”

He snorted and pointed at his back
once again. “Trust me, I think I can handle it. And close your eyes.”

“But-”

“Just do what I say for once,
Della. I promise, I’m not going to dunk you in the water,” I could hear the
smile in his voice as I hoisted myself onto his back and closed my eyes like he
had instructed. We walked for about ten minutes, branches slapping me in the
face the whole time, but I didn’t peak even once.

“Here we are.” He slid my feet to
the ground, and I felt his hands on mine. “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

I gasped when I saw where we were,
I couldn’t believe I had forgotten about this place. Nash and I had come to
this little alcove almost every day when I spent the summers here. Grams would
prepare picnics for us, and we would alternate between swimming, eating, and
making forts with the tree branches. It was our spot.

Of course, it was a little bit
transformed since the last time I had seen it. Twinkling lights were wrapped
around the tree trunks, and tiny votives were lit and arranged on a blanket
that was spread out in the sand with a large picnic basket on top of it.

“You did all of this?” I whispered
as he pulled me down next to him on the blanket. “Mmm hmm,” he murmured,
smiling as he pulled out sandwiches, fruit, and cookies. “And I even made all
of this by myself. Well, with a little supervision from my mom, so at least you
know it’s safe to eat.”

“Wow, thank you. I feel pretty
special.”

“You are, Della.” He caught a piece
of my hair, twirling it through his fingers as he reached out to stroke my
cheek. “I did all of this because I wanted to show you much I want you, how
good I think we’ll be together if you just give us a chance. Do you think you’d
be willing to do that?”

I stuffed a cookie into my mouth to
give myself time to think. I thought about what Callie had said about just
giving things a try, but I was also worried about how this would affect our friendship.
Nash held my hand the entire time, silently staring back at me, waiting for my
answer.

“I think we could give it a try, on
one condition.”

“Anything you want,” he responded
quickly.

“If things don’t work out for
whatever reason, I need you to promise me that we’ll stay friends. I don’t want
to lose you, Nash.”

“I think I can handle that, Della.
In fact, I’m glad you brought it up. There is one thing that I wanted to talk
about before we go any further.” He gave me a tight smile, letting go of my hand.
“You know it’s been awhile since Mariah and I broke up, but I thought I should
let you know that we hooked up about two months ago. It was just a one-time
thing, stupid really, but I didn’t want to start anything up with lies between
the two of us.”

I shrugged my shoulders, showing
him that it really didn’t bother me, even though it reminded me all too much of
how things got started with Justin. But Nash wasn’t Justin. At all. My heart
wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but my head was telling me that it was.
Nash told me the truth upfront.

 “Nash, we weren’t together then. I
wasn’t even ready for another relationship, so what you did in the past doesn’t
affect us now. Let’s just make sure to always tell each other the truth, no
matter what.”

“Of course.” He gave me a relieved
smile, pulling my hand back up to kiss my palm.

We talked for what felt like hours,
just laying there looking up at the sky, his arm wrapped around my shoulder
while I listened to the steady thrum of his heartbeat. It felt good to be with
Nash like this. We were comfortable together, and I wished we could stay this
way forever.

                                                                     
                  **********

“I think we are in need of a night
out,” Callie commented as we walked inside after another day of just laying out
under the sun. Nash had stopped by for a little bit to swim, bringing Madison out
who insisted on seeing me. She looked so cute in her tiny bikini, and the way
Nash was instructing her on how to swim and playing silly little games in the water
was so sweet. By the time he left to take her in for a nap, I think all three
of us were in love with Nash.

“That actually sounds perfect, Cal.
I wanted to get together with this guy I met the other day, Reed. Totally hot,
fun, and smart as hell. He asked me out on a date, but I told him he would have
to wait for a bit. Do you mind if I bring him along?”

“Not at all, just gives me an
excuse to meet up with Drew. Do you think Nash will want to come, Della?”

“Um, I guess I could ask him and
see.”

By the time we grabbed something to
eat, showered, and got ready, all three of the guys had agreed to go. Nash
insisted on picking me up, so Callie and Zoey were going to ride together to
pick up Drew and Zoey’s flavor of the week.

“Damn, Della. I wish I could tan
like that,” Zoey sighed, coming up from behind me to look at my reflection in
the mirror. I had thrown my hair up, which had practically turned pretty blonde
from all of the sun I had been getting lately and then chose a strapless white
sundress that deepened my tan.

“Oh, please, I would kill for that
skin of yours, even though it seems like a pain in the ass with all of that
sunscreen you use. Have you ever considered buying stock?” Zoey rolled her eyes
as she slid on a pair of wedge sandals and tossed a set of keys to Callie.

“Mind being the DD tonight? If all
goes right, maybe I’ll end up going home with Reed.” She wiggled her eyebrows
as we headed down the stairs, and I looked out the front window when I heard
the crunch of gravel and saw Nash jump out of his truck.

He looked handsome in a white polo
paired with cargo shorts, his hair smoothed down that had grown out a little
since school had ended. I opened the door just as he was about to knock and he
grinned, looking me up and down. “You look amazing, Della. Are you all set to
go?”

“Yeah, I think so. Cal, are you two
about ready to head out?”I called out from the doorway.

“Just about, we’ll make sure to
lock the door behind ourselves, see you in a bit.”

Nash helped me into the truck, and
we headed towards campus. We had decided on going to the pub, even though it
wasn’t my favorite place in the world. Way too many memories, but tonight, I
was going to put a lid on those.

We waved at Serena who was getting
out of her car just as we were leaving. She looked worn out from a long day at
work, and I knew she would still have to deal with a four-year-old when she got
home. It had to be rough.

“Does Serena have much help besides
you and your mom? Is Madison’s dad in the picture at all?” I asked as Nash
merged onto the highway.

“Nope, just us really and a few
friends. That asshole took off as soon as he found out Serena was pregnant, and
she hasn’t heard from him since. She hasn’t gotten a dime in child support. I
know they were young when it happened, but that doesn’t matter, he should have
stepped up.”

“That’s too bad, it seems like
Serena’s really trying though. Hopefully, she’ll be able to be on her own two
feet someday.”

We pulled into the bar, and I quickly
scanned the parking lot, letting out a deep sigh as I opened the door car door once
I saw that Justin’s car was nowhere in sight. Nash grabbed my hand as we walked
through the parking lot and inside the bar. I found a table big enough for all
of us as he headed towards the bar to get us drinks.   

I waved Zoey and Callie over when
they walked in with their dates and took a sip of the drink that Nash handed
me. “What the hell is in that?” I managed to get out, my lips puckering at the
sour taste.

“A little bit of this, a little bit
of that,” he vaguely answered while pouring beers for the other two guys.

 “I have a feeling you’re trying to
get my drunk tonight.”

“Well, it’s normally not too hard,”
Zoey piped in before grabbing onto mine and Callie’s hands. “Let’s go dance
before we get too wasted.”

The three of us danced through a
few songs together before Drew and Reed joined us on the dance floor. I knew
Nash wasn’t much of a dancer, so I wasn’t too surprised when I looked back at
the table to find him watching me with a smile. “Haven’t had enough to drink
yet?” I asked as I tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear and took a sip of
the new drink that was set in my spot.

“I would have to have a whole lot
to drink for you to be able to drag me out there. Now, I wouldn’t mind a few
slow songs, but I don’t think that’s really their scene here.”

Not at all, I thought as I bobbed
my head to the music. It had definitely been Justin’s, one of the main reasons
why we probably met in the first place. We came a few times after that night
together, and I had always loved dancing with him. It had been highly erotic
every time, and I could still feel his hands on my body like it was yesterday.

Nash’s thumb started to rub circles
on my wrist, and I quickly shook those thoughts away as I smiled back at his
brown eyes that were focused solely on me. He deserved my attention, not for me
to be living in the past. He motioned to my empty glass as he stood up. “Yes,
please,” I answered, licking the remainder of the sweet drink off of my lips.