Page 53 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

Chapter28

Nikki

Sunday afternoon

“Wait, Theios, please!”I called after Uncle Henry as he rushed ahead, eager to get to Tristan’s class.

He turned to me and hmphed, sweeping his hands up and down in the air as he took in my shorter, black, wrap-style dress and four-inch black sandals. “We will be the first ones there so he can see you. This way, he will have time to quiet his heart so it does not pop out of his mouth while he is trying to teach, agapi mou.”

I laughed, full of more happiness than I could remember feeling in years. Maybe wearing this outfit was impractical, especially when I considered what a mess I made of myself last week. But I couldn’t shrug on another over-sized tee when we agreed to go on a date after this.

I was thinking about it all day, as I put on a dance mix while cleaning my apartment. I fell over myself while singing, dancing and taking out the garbage so many times I couldn’t believe I wasn’t bruised all over. I could barely keep my hands from trembling as I put my makeup on and waved my hair. Thankfully, I walked away from those endeavors without smudged eyeliner, or a burn, and took it as a good sign.

We walked through the threshold to the classroom, which was already full of students. I searched their faces as they turned toward me, and many of them lit with recognition. I was the weirdo who embarrassed herself last week. But instead of laughing into their hands or pointing at me, they turned away and continued their conversations. Maybe this crop of artists was used to embarrassing themselves?

“Where’s my boy?” Uncle Henry asked just as Tristan emerged from the supply closet that was tucked in the back corner of the room.

My breath caught as I straightened and followed Uncle Henry. Tristan looked up from dumping his paint supplies onto one of the long, thin tables, and we locked eyes, my grin widened as his mouth dropped open just a fraction. He stared at me, swallowed and tilted his head, just slightly. I loved the way he looked at me. It sent a thrill that heated every area of my body.

He was wearing the blue shirt I bought for him, tucked into a pair of dress slacks and new black dress shoes. He looked so good I could’ve been content with standing here and staring at him all afternoon. Except I was getting so hot and bothered that a sweat had already started beading in my armpits.

“My boy, where were you, huh?” Uncle Henry asked, despite having seen Tristan emerge from the supply closet. Without waiting for an answer, Uncle Henry looked back and gestured to me. “She is beautiful, is she? Yes.”

Tristan said softly, “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

And oh… the fire that raced through me… It was obvious, I knew it was obvious, that I was blushing, but I tried to own it, standing straighter under his heated stare and shooting him a flirty look of my own.

Uncle Henry hmphed and chortled happily, then shuffled toward his canvas.

Tristan closed the distance between us. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to do this, Nikki. If I could cancel this class and take you out now, I would.”

I swallowed, trying to keep butterflies from bursting out of my mouth. Clearly, I was nervous. I knew that, but I didn’t know how to make it stop.

This was Tristan. Tristan.

He watched me clean toilets, mop floors and shovel food and coffee into my face at a rapid pace. He poked the bags under my eyes on the late nights I studied for law school, brought packed lunches to the library during my time off from the shop, and watched old Kung Fu movies with me in the backroom through the lull between customers. He saw me puffy faced and crying when I was homesick… and when he broke the news that his mother lost her battle with leukemia, we held each other and trembled.

I thought those days were the closest we would ever be… then he kissed me, rubbed butter on my breasts and almost pushed his finger into me.

Tristan smiled and took hold of my elbows, drawing me close. “We’ll both have to be careful not to get paint on each other today, huh? I’ve got something special planned after this. I can’t wait to show you.”

I swallowed and looked down at his chest, nodding. “I can’t wait either.”

Whatever this something special was, I hoped it involved him taking his shirt off again. And his trousers. I wasn’t picky about the shoes; he could leave them on if he wanted. Oh man, I was a goner. What happened to all the self-restraint I’d honed in the nine years we’d been friends? I definitely lost it when I made him touch my breasts last Friday.

He leaned closer and almost-whispered, “Your surprise has something to do with the Nikki-Special.”

I let out a laugh. “My special? What’s it got to do with that?”

My special was a sandwich made of fries crushed with a waffle maker, deli ham, mozzarella cheese and chopped pickles with relish. I would slather it with a mixture of barbecue, tomato, mustard, and garlic sauce, and serve it to customers every Monday morning as a weekend hangover cure.

He lifted a brow and winked at me. “I’ll show you later.”

I left Tristan’s side and went to sit next to Uncle Henry with a spark skipping in my lower belly. Class started and I tried to calm down and follow Tristan’s instructions as best I could.

Throughout the lesson, Tristan kept a wide berth from Uncle Henry and me, but he made one round to check on us, and I managed to sit still when he bent close to my ear and whispered, “Almost there.”

Refusing to glance up at him, I kept working on texturing my trees as he taught us, determined to show him that he wasn’t turning me into some big, blobby, confused mess. I was still Nikki, and he was still Tristan, and I could keep my shit together during a date. At least I hoped I could.