“Just a second, Nick. I’m changing into my pajamas,” she replied.
“Okay,” he said shakily.
“Wait, are you crying? Come on in,” she called.
He opened the door to see her in a padded bra and a pair of boxers. As he recovered from the shock, she pulled on a tee-shirt. “I could have waited, you know,” he stated, his cheeks reddening.
“Nick, you’ve seen me a lot more naked than that,” she reminded him. “Remember the time you walked in on me changing into my swimsuit in your bathroom? I wasn’t even wearing underwear then.”
“Yeah, but…it was just a surprise. This was only the second time I’ve seen you without a shirt.” He sat down on her bed, and she sat down next to him, then gently pulled his head onto her shoulder and put her arms around him.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“She broke up with me, Aims.”
“What do you mean, she broke up with you?”
“She broke up with me. She said I wasn’t paying enough attention to her, and I was too attached to you and Caitlin.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” Inside, she was furious. As much as she couldn’t stand Steph, she hated it even more to see Nick crying. “She didn’t deserve you.”
“I know. I know. You told me that every day I was with her, and I never believed you. I should have just listened.”
“You really cared about her, Nick. You don’t listen to bad things someone says about someone else when you care about that someone else.” She paused. “Do you want to skip on the wedding tomorrow?”
“No way! I’m not gonna make you go all by yourself.”
“Are you sure? I can always call someone else.”
“Like who? Steve?”
She sighed. Steve was the jerk who got her pregnant, then ran off with an old girlfriend. “You had to bring that name up, didn’t you?”
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“That’s all right. I don’t know who I’d call. Maybe Patrick or someone,” she replied, referring to the waiter she worked with, the really cute one who had been busy on the three other dates she’d asked him on.
“He’s not worth your time.”
“According to your standards, no guy is worth my time,” she groaned.
Nick smiled slightly. For some reason, he hated to see Aimee with a boyfriend, probably because she had gotten hurt so many times before. He didn’t trust anyone to treat her right. Still, it was selfish, because he knew she deserved to be able to date and be happy without his antagonistic attitude toward the guys she dated. “Sorry, Aims. I just don’t think anyone deserves you,” he stated.
“You’ve made that clear, Nick,” she said.
“Well, I’ll go with you tomorrow. It’ll get my mind off things.”
“All right. I can’t believe she broke up with you.”
“I’ll live.”
“Do you want to sleep in here tonight?”
“Sure.”
“Just let me go check on Caitlin real quick.” She walked out of the room. When she got back a few seconds later, Nick was stripped down to his boxers, and she sucked in her breath. “Damn, that working out has really done you good, Nick. You’ve got a great body!” she blurted out.
“A great body?”
“Well, I mean, uh – “ she stuttered, blushing.
“Thank you.” He crawled under the covers, and she did the same.
“You’re welcome.” She threw her arm across his chest and pressed her body against his. Ah, the benefits of having a guy best friend.