Page 28 of Big Nick Energy

“Our ride?” My brows furrowed in confusion. “Are you sure? I can drive.”

He brought his forehead to mine. “You won’t be driving on our first date.”

“Okay,” I breathed.

He tipped my chin and brushed his lips against mine ever so softly. “You ready?”

I nodded. “Bye, Paris!” I called out.

As if she were waiting for her name to be called, she popped up behind me. “Bye!”

I laughed. “Nick, this is my best friend, Paris. Paris, this is Nick.”

Stretching his hand out toward her, Nick flashed his perfect smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Paris.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” she replied. “I’ve heard nothing but good things.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.If only he knew…

He glanced at me. “Good. I plan to keep it that way.”

My stomach fluttered again.

“I’ll text you and let you know when we’re heading back,” I told her as we said our final goodbyes.

“Where are you going?” Paris asked him.

“That’s a good question,” I cosigned.

Nick let out a light chuckle. “It’s a place that I think Asha will appreciate. I want to surprise her, but I’ll have her send you a picture when we get there.”

Paris nodded. “I like that.” She looked at me. “I like him.”

We said our goodbyes once more and then we left. With his hand on the small of my back, Nick escorted me down the hall toward the elevator.

“Your best friend likes me,” he said boastfully.

“Who’s your best friend?” I asked him.

“Demario. You’ll meet him tonight. He’s frat but he wasn’t on my line.”

“I look forward to meeting him.” Looking at our reflection in the mirrored walls of the elevator car, I couldn’t help but smile.

We look good together, I thought, pulling my phone out of my bag.

“Uh oh! Picture time,” he joked, smoothing down his shirt and stepping into a pose.

I giggled as I got the phone set up for our selfie. “I have to capture the moment.”

When I looked up to see if he was ready, he was staring at me. My cheeks heated under his gaze.

Clearing my throat, I turned the camera to get us both in it and smiled.

“This is the before photo,” I said as I examined the cute picture. “I’ll take one when we get there and one after it’s all done so it’ll tell the story of this outing.”

He let out a light chuckle. “I like that.”

The elevator opened to a thick crowd of Hamilton University alumni. There were so many people milling around and leaving out.

---