Page 31 of Until Now

I pull abottle from the wine cooler and head for the patio to rejoin the others on the rooftop. My parents took Karol and Jack to dinner at the club which left us on our own. I helped Eileen cook a pasta dish while the boys worked in the garage. Dinner was quieter than normal, it’s getting harder to ignore the tension between me and Nick. We’ve never talked about things, instead chosen to act like nothing happened. Which, I thought I was okay with. I thought that’s what I wanted, I thought—

I swing the bottle in my hands when someone grabs my arm before I reach the rooftop stairs. My attacker throws his hands up in surrender. “Lee! What the hell?”

“What were you going to do, wine me to death?”

“It would stun you enough to get away. Maybe even break and I could stab you with the broken pieces,” I say, taking a few steps back.

“Did you really thing some stranger was trying to attack you?”

“Strange times are these in which we live.”

“Okay, Plato.” He takes a step closer.

“What in the hell were you doing, anyway?” Another step back.

“You were taking a while, so I came to check on you.”

“Do you need a play-by-play of what I do every minute that I’m gone? I went downstairs to use the bathroom and then I came back upstairs to get this bottle before I walked outside and almost brained you with it for being a creep.”

“Come on, Dove, don’t be like that.” Another step closer.

“Don’t call me that.”

“You used to love it. Don’t you think we can at least try and let go of what happened?” The distance between us closing. “I just want to talk, that’s it.”

“Lee stop.” My back hits the wall, the stucco rough against my skin.

“C’mon, Dove,” Lee whispers and pushes a piece of hair from my face. “Just like old times.”

“Stop,” I whisper, my voice quivers.

“Sure?” His lips hover over mine. When I don’t say it again, he moves closer, his lips brushing mine. When I don’t refuse, he keeps going. But, it’s wrong. Everything about it feels wrong.

I push him away. “I said stop. This is not happening.” I can only hope he doesn’t notice the shake in my voice. My whole body vibrates from pure adrenaline as I back away from him towards the steps. “Stay the hell away from me, Lee.”

On the rooftop, I ignore the stares from Eileen, Kai, and Teagan around the fire walking straight to Nick. I position myself between him and the corner trying to keep as much distance between me and the others. Deep, shaky breaths catch his attention. Setting his empty beer down, he touches my shoulder. “You okay?” I can only nod, but he knows better. He pulls me into a tight embrace. It’s safe here. And slowly, I relax against him until I hear Teagan call out to Lee.

“What took you so long?”

“Mom was asking me something,” Lee lies.

“Baby, I’m starting to get kind of tired.” I can imagine Teagan playing with the collar on Lee’s shirt, her signature move. I’ve never understood why it worked on so many guys. “Aren’tyoutired?”

The rest of their conversation is a blur when I hear Nick whisper, “Did he do something?” I’m sure he felt my body tense when Lee returned. I swallow the lump in my throat. Do I tell him the truth? “Dee, you gotta talk to me. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, Nina. What did he do?”

“Just drop it. Please.”

“Dee—”

“Please.” It’s the first time in two days we’ve had a conversation away from the others. We have been avoiding one-on-one conversations, afraid what might happen if we brought up the you-know-what.

“You gonna go after her?” I hear Eileen ask and I notice Teagan is gone.

“Probably should,” Lee sighs. Before he leaves, he glances over his shoulder and I see him swallow the lump in his throat. Nick’s arms tighten around me. I can imagine his jaw locked, gaze zeroed in on Lee, daring him to say something.

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