“It was an accident. She didn’t seem to be having a good day.”
Amelia laughs. “Aviva never has a good day. I’m pretty sure the universe is out to get her, which I really don’t understand. She’s absolutely lovely. Great big sister and super business-savvy.”
“And really hot.” My comment makes her groan.
“Nico, no. You’re too much for her.”
“How so? I’m hot. She’s hot.”
I annoy Amelia, and I find it funny. “She has absolutely no time for you—at all. Like, not even kinda. She is always busy, always trying to make ends meet. And I can tell you right now, she doesn’t do handouts. So if, for some crazy reason, she gives you the time of day, don’t buy her shit.”
I slack a bit, and Carter chases the nipple of the bottle. I hold it better for him. “I’m a little confused. What girl doesn’t like gifts?”
“Aviva Pearce.”
“She has a really hot name.”
Amelia rolls her eyes. “It’s unusual, for sure. But really, Nico, I don’t think this is something you should pursue. With the season starting and Shelli breaking your heart—”
“Whoa. Shelli didn’t break my heart,” I say sternly.
“Nico.”
“Amelia,” I say back. “Don’t get me wrong. I liked her a lot—”
“I heard you say repeatedly you could love her more than Aiden does.”
I meet her gaze in the mirror. “I could have if she had given me the chance.”
“You obsessed over her for months.”
“It wasn’t obsession. I wanted to know everything so when I got the second chance, I wouldn’t fuck it up,” I say simply as Hannah finishes off her bottle. “Chance never came. I moved on.”
She shakes her head. “Aviva isn’t the kind of girl you sleep with and move on. She doesn’t have the time for a fling…or hell, maybe she does. I don’t know. I just know she is special. I know Callie, her sister, is talented and so damn kind. That’s all Aviva’s doing, and I don’t want anything hurting that family. They’ve been through a lot.”
“Like what?” I find myself asking.
Amelia’s shoulders fall a bit as she turns onto the road where the car rental office is. “It’s in no way my story to tell, but just know someone like Aviva should be worshiped—not played with. So, get your intentions in check before you bother her.”
I blink. “Why do you always think the worst of me?”
She doesn’t even laugh. “I don’t try to, and I honestly don’t think you’re a bad guy, Nico. You and Chandler are best friends, and Chandler is perfection in my eyes, so I know you aren’t evil. I think you make decisions and do things to hide what is really going on inside you. I don’t know what that is, or even if Chandler does, but I feel your outlandish ways won’t be perceived well when it comes to Aviva. She has too much going on, and she has too much to lose.”
“So, you’re saying I’m too weird for her?” I ask, my own insecurity about the word making it hard to breathe.
She shrugs. “I don’t think you’re weird, Nico. I feel you’re self-absorbed and only care about yourself. Someone like Aviva can’t stroke your ego like Shelli did. She doesn’t even have time to stroke her own.”
I nod slowly. I’ve heard this self-absorbed shit a time or two. I don’t feel I’m that way. Do I like to get off? Fuck yeah. Do I love women who fawn over me? Every day of the week. Do I like hearing good things said about me? Yes, especially when I have a tendency to put myself down. I like feeling good, and I won’t apologize for that or even think I’m self-absorbed. I’m not. Amelia doesn’t know me. She knows the Nico I allow her to know.
“I don’t know, Nico. It’s odd because I say that, but then I see how you are with the twins. Or Chandler and his parents. You’re a good dude—I know this—but I feel like you’d hurt Aviva.”
I scrunch up my face as I remove the bottle from Carter’s mouth as Amelia comes to a stop. I wipe the kids’ mouths and then hand her the bottles. “I’ll make sure to bring you something to eat tonight as a thanks.”
I won’t look at her as I pull my legs back from the console, and I know she notices.
“I upset you.”
I scoff. “Nope. Too self-absorbed to be upset,” I say as I get out. “Bye, babies. Be good.”
“Nico, I’m sorry. I’m emotional—”
I shut the door on her and head inside to get my rental car. I love Amelia. I do. I also know she’s going through a lot of hormones right now and has absolutely no filter. I can appreciate that since mine has been missing from birth. Amelia is wrong; I wouldn’t hurt anyone. And I may not know Aviva from Adam, but I know I wouldn’t hurt her. She may have told me to fuck off in three different ways today, but my intentions were never to get in her pants and leave. I wanted to take her to lunch to make her feel better. I wanted to make her smile since her day was so awful. I hadn’t even thought of getting in her pants at all. Would I like to? Yes, because leggings were invented to be peeled off someone with thighs like hers. But it was more than that for me. I saw a girl having a hard day, and I wanted to make it better.