Page 43 of Big Nick Energy

“What’s up, Evie?” Nick greeted her. When she fell into step with us, he introduced, “Evie, this is Asha. Asha, this is Evie.”

She flashed me a smile. “Hi.”

I smiled back. “Hey.”

Turning her attention back to Nick, she turned on the charm. “You’re going to the party tonight, right?”

“Yeah, we’re hosting.”

“Yeah, but I hear you’re not as social as you used to be.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

“Oh my God, if it isn’t the homecoming king and queen!” a woman with long, curly hair squealed. She pointed at Evie and Nick. “You two still look so good together!”

Even though Nick had his arm draped around my shoulders, it was like I didn’t exist. The woman did not see me or if she did, she did not register that Nick was there with me.

“Michelle!” Evie screeched before throwing her arms around the woman. “It’s been so long!” She looked back at Nick. “See you tonight!”

The two women took off in the opposite direction before either of us had a chance to react.

“That was your college girlfriend, right?” I asked even though I already knew.

“Yeah, Evie.”

“It looks like you two ended on good terms.”

“Yeah, we did. There’s no bad blood.”

“That’s good.” As we approached my SUV, I let him go to dig my keys from my bag. “I’m glad there’s no bad blood.”

“Are there any issues with any of your exes?”

“I wouldn’t say there are issues. But there’s one that I wouldn’t acknowledge if I saw him in the streets. Other than that, everyone else is cool.”

“What did he do?” He opened the driver’s side door for me.

“It’s a long story,” I told him as I got in.

“We have time.” He leaned in the car to kiss me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A chill ran down my spine.

I watched him walk to the other side of the car and when he climbed in, I told him a shortened version of the story. “So the ex I told you about, the one who lied and cheated. He wasn’t just a horrible boyfriend; he was a horrible person. After I broke up with him for being a liar and a cheater, this dude stole from me.”

“Stole money?”

I shook my head. “I rarely keep cash on me. He stole jewelry. I had a few items in this small antique jewelry box. Just a few special pieces. And he stole it.”

“What?” His face twisted in disbelief. “No, the fuck he didn’t.”

I pulled out of the parking spot as I nodded. “He did. And I had a few rings and a bracelet I liked. But I had a necklace made to look kinda like the one my grandma has. It was a 14K white gold necklace with a double bar. One bar said blessed with two diamonds on each end and the other bar was encrusted with diamonds all the way across. It was gorgeous. I didn’t wear it often, but I loved it.”

“Did you ever get it back?”

I frowned. “He said he’d give the jewelry box back to me when I agreed to talk to him and if I’d at least consider takinghim back. I told him we wouldn’t be getting back together, and he said take a week to think about it.” I exhaled. “He claimed his car was broken into and I never saw my shit again.”

“Now that’s fucked up.”

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