Nic's Devotion: An Endless Series: Book One (15 page)

Chapter Thirteen

CARRIE

     I trailed docilely after Amanda as she pulled me up the
stairs and under some barricade tape. When we reached the top of the landing I
noticed that five doors lined the walls along the hallway; two on the right and
three on the left. Amanda pulled me into the first door on the right.

     I looked around in interest. So this was Nic’s room. It
smelled like him; musky and dark. The room was spacious containing a queen
sized bed, dresser with mirror, a night stand, and a desk with a computer and
printer. A large flat screen television hung on the wall opposite the bed with
shelves under it containing a DVD player and speakers. A couple posters of
lacrosse were on the wall and there were two doors; one that was probably to a
closet and the other to a bathroom. It looked like he had cleaned up in here
because it was spotless, unless it was always this clean. 

     Amanda plopped down on Nic’s bed. “Go ahead and jump in
the shower, then we’ll get you ready.”

     I looked at her in surprise. “I was just going to
change out of my work cloths.”

     She shook her head with a frown. “No, no, no. You have
to be dying for a shower after watching the game and working.”

     A shower actually did sound great, but the idea of
taking my clothes off in Nic’s area felt weird.

     “Uh, I don’t know.” I hedged.

      “I can see the longing on your face, so get in there.”
She stood and shooed me toward the bathroom.

     The door closed behind me and I stood in indecision for
a moment.

     “I don’t hear any water running in there.” Amanda
called out.

     “Okay, okay.” I mumbled with a smile. She was quite
officious. 

     Starting the shower I stripped down and jumped in. The
heat felt so good, and the pressure was more powerful than the shower in our
apartment. It beat at my tense muscles. Unraveling my braid I washed and conditioned
it . Not wanting to linger too long I switched off the water and quickly dried
myself making sure to wring out all the excess water from my hair. Wrapping the
towel around me I stepped back into the bedroom.

     Amanda looked up from rearranging something on the
dresser. “Oh my god, your hair is gorgeous, and so long. I can’t wait to get my
hands on it so get on over here.” She pulled back the chair she’d been standing
in front of and waved me over.

     “Get your hands on what?” I noticed all the supplies
stacked on the dresser. “What do you have planned, Amanda?” I looked at her in trepidation.

     Anticipation brightened her eyes. “I’m helping you get
ready. And I’m not going to hear a ‘no’ from you so stop shaking your head.”
Walking up to me she herded me over to the seat.

     I took stock of the supplies she had arranged on the
desk: a blow dryer, curling iron, hair stuff, and some make-up.

     “Amanda, I don’t know about this.” Tension crawled up
my spine.

     A sympathetic expression settled on her face. “If you
don’t like what I do you can rearrange it your way and I won’t feel bad.” She
smiled playfully. “Just enjoy someone messing with your hair; I always do.
Makes me all relaxed.”

     She picked up a brush and started brushing my hair. I
couldn’t remember the last time someone had bushed my hair…did anything to my
hair. I never went in to get my hair cut. If it needed cutting I did it at
home, and I usually just took a couple inches off the ends. Since my hair was
up in a braid all time there was no need for any kind of style.

     My body remained rigid for about twenty seconds, but
then the rhythmic strokes of the brush began to soothe me. Amanda had been
right. I could fall asleep to this. She set the brush down and picked up some
kind of spray bottle. After a couple squirts around my roots she exchanged it
for another bottle, squirting some foam in her hands. She then messaged that
into my hair from scalp to ends. Starting the blow dryer she began running her
fingers through my hair. That felt even better than the brushing. I couldn’t
hold back my groan of bliss.

     “Can I take you home?” I moaned.

     She laughed. “I don’t think Noah would like that.”

     “He can come too.” I whined.

     A snort this time. “I don’t think Nic would like that.”

     I just harrumphed.  

     Some undisclosed time in the future the blow dryer
eventually stopped. I swayed in my seat at how relaxed I felt.

     “Right now I am so jealous of you.” Amanda complained.

     My eyes opened lazily. Amanda’s smile reflected back
from the mirror. “Jealous of what?” I asked confused.

     Grabbing a handful of my hair she held it up. “I want
this. Everyone always goes on about blondes, but our hair is usually thin.
Yours is so thick, and the color is striking. I feel so bland next to you.” She
pouted good-naturedly.

      I looked at her in amazement. Amanda’s hair was golden
and loose down her back and had curls everywhere. “You’re beautiful. Sometimes
I feel so Goth-like with my dark hair.” 

     Now she looked amazed. “You are so far from Goth-like.”
She picked up the brush and the curling iron and proceeded to brush and curl,
brush and curl. Because my hair was so thick it was completely straight; any
curl was pulled out by its weight and length. I didn’t have any layers so
Amanda just smoothed it out and added big curls at the ends and then she parted
most of it to one side.

     I stared in amazement. It’s not like I never wore my
hair down but it never looked like this. The tension crept back in. I wasn’t
sure if I could go down like this. Amanda must have seen the anxiety on my
face.

     “You don’t like it?” She asked with a disheartened
frown.

     My mouth opened and then closed. I couldn’t tell her I
didn’t like it because it looked really nice. “I’m just not used to wearing it
down, it feels weird.” I said lamely, but truthfully.

     “Well, you look beautiful, but if you’re uncomfortable
we could put it up a little. You don’t want to put it all up do you?”

     Amanda looked so dejected. “No, I want to try it down.”
I caved. It was only one night.

     Her expression lightened immediately. “Different
hairstyles just take some time getting used to. I can tell you one thing for
sure; Nic will love it.”

     Heat filled me at the thought of Nic. Would he like it
down? I know he liked it when I took my cap off, which I hadn’t done since that
one time he’d asked me to.

     Amanda was watching me with amusement in her eyes. “I
have a feeling you’re not into wearing a lot of make-up so I’ll leave it light.
You don’t need it anyway. Your lashes are so dark, thick, and curly that you
don’t need eyeliner or mascara, we’ll just give you a little bit of blush to
your cheeks…” she proceeded to do this, “and a touch of color to your lips…”
she dabbed at my lips and sighed, “Again, I’m jealous; women go under the
needle for these lips. And wha-la!”

     Amanda step back and I turned to the mirror. The
touch-ups were very subtle. My cheeks were defined a little more, and my lips
were a soft pink color. It wasn’t too bad. It was really my hair that made the
biggest difference to my looks.

    I swallowed. I could do this. I’d wanted to push my
boundaries and I was just taking the adage ‘letting your hair down’ and
applying it literally. It was a small concession in the large scheme of things.

     I nodded my head determinedly. “I like it.” Standing up
I hugged Amanda clumsily. “Thank you.”

     She returned the hug with more enthusiasm. “My
pleasure, I’m just glad you like it.” She stepped back and began gathering up
her supplies. “I’m going to take this stuff back to Noah’s room and you can get
dressed.” She hustled out the door closing it behind her.

     I grabbed my bag and pulled out the cloths I’d brought
for the party. A nicer pair of second hand jeans that didn’t hang on me and a
soft light blue, slightly oversized sweater that fell just past my butt. The
blue sweater had been an atypical purchase from my normal dark colors but the
color had just called to me. My ensemble was a lot different than Amanda’s
skinny black jeans with almost knee high black boots, and a long sleeved soft
pink wispy shirt…that didn’t hide her butt.

     I was pulling on my socks and boots when Amanda came
back.  

     “Ooh, I love that color on you. You have the most
amazing blue eyes and that color makes them really pop.” She flicked her
fingers in demonstration.

     I stood and my five foot five frame, in boots, was
petite compared to Amanda’s five foot nine in heeled boots.

     “I want to try something and if you hate it don’t worry
about undoing it.” She bent down and cuffed my pants legs up over my boots. She
straightened back up. “What do you think? It gives you a more carefree look.”

     I chuckled at her remark. I bent to look at my feet and
my hair flowed forward obstructing my view. Sweeping it to the side I examined
the change.

     “It doesn’t make me look shorter?” I asked.

     “No, your boots are high enough that it actually
accentuates you height.”

     I shrugged and smiled. “Okay.”

     “I’m sure Nic is biting at the bit so let’s go put him
out of his misery.” Amanda joked with a snicker.

    I followed Amanda down the stairs and from the increase
in noise level it sounded like more people had shown up. At the bottom she
hooked her arm in mine and some of my anxiety settled at her show of support.
We stepped around the corner to a roomful of about twenty guys and ten girls.
Several gazes looked our way as we entered. The rest stayed glued to whatever
was playing on the television. A couple of the girls smiled and waved to Amanda
while several just stared. Anxiety coiled tightly in my belly at the attention.

     Nic was standing behind the couch and he had looked
over immediately at our entrance. I smiled shyly but I’m sure my expression
read ‘
please rescue me’
. Yet, he just stood there staring at me, and I swallowed
feeling uneasy. Why was he just standing there staring at me? He’d done that
the first time at the restaurant.

     There was a girl standing beside him; a very pretty
girl in an extremely short skirt with a very low cut blouse. She reached out and
touched his arm. He blinked and looked down at her with a frown. Then his gaze
came back up and he sidestepped around her to walk toward me. There was so much
heat in his gaze that my insides quivered. He had almost reached me when
another body blocked his path.

     “Hi, I’m Brody.”

     I stared up in surprise at the tall smiling male in
front of me. He had sandy brown hair and really dark brown eyes.

     “Uh, hi.” I replied.

     His gaze roamed over my body and I took a step back
reflexively the quiver in my belly bottoming out. I was never comfortable when
guys looked at me that way. The next second Nic was beside me, his arm around
my waist. Leaning over he kissed my forehead and the quiver in my belly was
alive again.  

     “Brody.” Nic’s voice was friendly but there was an
underlining edge to it. “This is Carrie, she’s with me.”

     Brody expression twisted. “Of course she is.” He said
in resignation looking me up and down again. I leaned in closer to Nic.
“Although, I have to say she looks a little too sweet for you, not your usual
type.” He remarked with cynicism.

     Nic squeezed my side and gave me a smile. “Well, she’s
my only type now.”

     My entire body warmed at his words.

     Brody’s expression morphed into astonishment. Nic
ignored him and turned to Amanda who was watching the whole display with a huge
smile. As Nic turned he situated me in front of him so that he covered my back
and wrapped two arms around me loosely. I felt surrounded by him, but safe. 

     “Thanks for helping Carrie, Amanda. I appreciate it.”
Nic rumbled from above my head.

     Amanda grinned widely. “Oh, no problem, no problem at
all. “ She replied. Noah snuck up behind her wrapping his arms around her
waist, only tighter. A stab of longing hit me wanting to feel Nic’s arms tight
around me like that. I must have shifted unconsciously because Nic’s embrace
constricted and his face rubbed my hair. I heard him inhale and a shiver
overtook me.

     Noah gave me a smile. “Carrie, you look great. If
Amanda didn’t have a death grip on my balls I’d give Nic a run for his money.”

     I gasped a laugh out. Nic groaned. Amanda’s just
grinned.

     “You know it,
baby.
” She said winking at me.
Turning in his arms she kissed him. “Now let’s go get me drunk so you can take
advantage of me.”

     “Oh yeah.” He exclaimed with a salacious grin as he
pulled her away.

     “Do you want to get something to drink?” Nic whispered
in my ear. Tingles erupted everywhere.

     I swallowed and croaked. “Just some water, please.” I’d
never had alcohol and wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I know I didn’t want to
initiate myself at this moment.

     As we turned to leave I noticed that almost everyone in
the room was watching us with varying degrees of astonishment, and the girl
who’d touched him was scowling heavily. I was glad we were going to another
room.

     Nic enfolded my hand in his and pulled me after Noah
and Amanda. He leaned over and breathed in my ear. “You look beautiful.”

     My cheeks heated and I tipped my head down. Having my
hair loose had some advantages. “Thank you, Amanda did it.”

     “No she didn’t, you’re always beautiful, and not just
on the outside.”

     The genuineness and meaning of his words hit me in the
chest. Did he really see me that way? I had the urge to hug and squeeze him
tight. I settled on leaning into his side further.