Caroselli's Christmas Baby Page 11

Elana grinned. “Sure. Say hi to Gena for me when you see her.”

  “I will,” she said, heading in Nick’s direction.

  “Hey,” Nick said, smiling brightly as she approached. “Where’d ya go?”

  “Bathroom. How are you?”

  “Just standin’ here holdin’ up the bar,” he said, his speech slightly slurred.

  “You mean, the bar is holding you up?”

  He nodded, his head wobbly on his neck. “Pretty much.”

  “Maybe you should give me that,” she said, gesturing to his drink, and he handed it over without argument. She set it on the bar, out of his reach. “Why don’t we go sit down? Before you fall over.”

  “You know, that’s probably a good idea.”

  He hooked an arm around her neck and she led him to the sofa. If she hadn’t been so tall and fit, he probably would have gone down a couple times and taken her with him.

  She got him seated on the couch, but before she could sit beside him, he pulled her down onto his lap instead.

  “Nick!”

  He just grinned, and whispered in her ear, “Everyone needs to believe we’re crazy in love, remember?”

  Yes, but there were limits.

  She thought about what she’d heard upstairs, and curiosity got the best of her. She doubted Nick would remember much of this night, anyway. “So, what’s the deal with your Uncle Demitrio and Aunt Sarah?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, fiddling with the bottom edge of her dress.

  She moved his hand to the sofa cushion instead. “I saw them talking and it sounded…strained.”

  “Well, they do have a history.”

  “They do?”

  He laid his hand on her stocking-clad knee instead. “I never told you?”

  If he had, she couldn’t recall. “Not that I remember.”

  “They used to date.”

  Uh-oh. “Seriously?”

  “In high school, I think.” His hand began a slow slide upward, under the hem of her dress. “But Demitrio enlisted, and dumped Sarah, then Sarah fell in love with Tony instead.”

  And in light of what she’d heard upstairs, Terri would say it was pretty likely that Sarah and Demitrio had rekindled their romance. But since it was none of her business, she would keep it to herself.

  Nick’s roaming hand was now pushing the boundaries of decency. She intercepted it halfway up her thigh.

  “Behave yourself,” she said, and before he had the chance to do it again, Nick’s dad announced that dinner was served.

  She assumed she would be relatively safe at the dinner table, but thanks to a tablecloth that hung just low enough, she spent a good part of her meal defending herself against his sneak attacks.

  She knew he could be affectionate when he drank, but she’d never known him to be so…hands-on. Of course, the last time she saw him this drunk, they weren’t sleeping together. And as much as it annoyed her, she liked it, too.

  The food was amazing, and the wine flowed freely, but Terri was able to limit Nick to two glasses. Unfortunately no one was keeping an eye on Jess and Mags, and by the time people started to leave for home, they were so toasted, Terri needed the assistance of Rob—whom she’d never seen even the slightest bit intoxicated—to get the girls in the car, and wondered how the hell she would get them in the building and up to Nick’s apartment.

  When everyone was buckled in and the doors were closed, Rob asked, “You want me to follow you and help get them upstairs?”

  “Would you?” she said. “That would be so awesome. Unless his building has a flat-bed cart I could borrow, it would probably take me half the night to get them up to the apartment.”

  And just in case she had conceived, it would probably be better if she didn’t lift anything too heavy.

  “Let me go get Tony and we’ll swing by Nick’s—I mean, your apartment, on our way to Tony’s place.”

  When she climbed in the car, Nick looked over at her, that goofy grin on his face. “Thanks for being designated driver.”

  “No problem.” She buckled up and started the engine.

  He let his head fall back against the rest and loll to one side. “I had a lot to drink today.”

  “You certainly did.”

  “Are you mad?”

  “A little jealous maybe, but not mad.”

  He closed his eyes as she pulled away from the curb. They hadn’t even made it to the corner when, his eyes still closed, he said, “Are we there yet?”

  She laughed. “I bet you were a riot as a kid.”

  He grinned, and must have fallen asleep after that, because he didn’t make another sound all the way to his building. Rob and Tony were a few minutes behind her, and they each took a sister while Terri led Nick—who thankfully was able to walk with little assistance—upstairs.

  Rob and Tony got the girls into the guest room, and Terri got Nick undressed—all the way down to nothing because he would end up that way eventually—and into bed.

  She leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek, and discovered that even intoxicated, he was lightening fast. He looped an arm around her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. A long, slow, deep one. He smelled so good, felt so nice, that she let it go on longer than she should have.

  He looked up at her, brushing her hair back and tucking it behind her ears. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do this?”

  “Um, since the last time you kissed me?”

  “For years,” he said. “And I wanted to do more than just kiss you.”

  “Uh-huh.” That was definitely the alcohol talking.

  “Terri, I mean it. When we lived together, I would meet girls and bring them home—”

  “I remember.”

  “But what you didn’t know was that when I was with them, I would be wishing it was you.”

  Her heart took a dive, then shot back up into her throat. “Come on, Nick. You did not.”

  “No, I did,” he said, his eyes so earnest she could swear he was actually telling the truth. But he couldn’t be. He was only saying it to soften her up, so she would sleep with him again.

  “If you wanted me so much, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I should have,” he said. “I wish I would have.”

  “No you don’t.” He was clearly confusing her with some other woman.

  “Yes, I do. In the car, when I said I love you, I meant it.”

  “Of course you did. We’re best friends. I love you, too.”

  “No. I mean, I really love you.”

  In a way she wanted to believe it, but she knew it was just the alcohol making him sentimental. She’d seen it happen before.

  “I think I always knew it was inevitable,” he said, his eyelids heavy.

  “What was inevitable?”

  “That we would end up together. And Jess was right, we are perfect for each other. Now I can’t believe we didn’t figure it out a long time ago. Maybe we just weren’t ready.”

  “You should go to sleep,” she said. “We can talk about it in the morning, okay?”

  “Okay,” he said, letting his arm drop from around her neck, his eyelids sinking closed.

  She stood up, knowing that despite what she’d said, this was not a conversation they would be continuing. She doubted he would recall a single word of it.

  She switched off the light and walked out to the kitchen. Rob sat on one of the bar stools, drinking a bottled water. Tony had helped himself to a beer and leaned against the fridge drinking it.

  “What a night,” Terri said, sitting beside Rob. “Thanks for helping me.”

  “So, what’s going on?” Tony asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve seen Nick and his sisters get pretty drunk, but never all of them at the same time. Is everything okay with Gena?”

  “Gena is fine.”

  “Does it have something to do with Eddie not showing up for dinner?”

  “Maybe you should ask Jess about that.”

&nb
sp; “So it is about Eddie,” Rob said.

  “I can’t really say one way or the other.” But they would find out soon enough if Nick followed through and gave Eddie that ultimatum.

  “You know,” Rob said. “You’ll never survive in this family if you don’t learn to gossip.”

  Your dad is sleeping with Tony’s mom, she wanted to say. How was that for gossip? “Let’s just say it’s been a tough day for everyone.”

  “Everything okay with you and Nick?”

  “Great. We’re great.”

  “He mentioned that you guys wanted to start a family right away,” Rob said. “And I noticed that all you drank tonight was water.”

  He and half a dozen other people had noticed. And inquired.

  “A preemptive precaution,” she said.

  She was under the distinct impression that she was being pumped for information. Had Rob and Tony agreed to Nonno’s offer, too? Would they be making engagement announcements of their own? And if they did, would this turn into some sort of race to the finish line?

  Eleven

  Last night’s overindulgence had taken its toll, and when Terri returned home around eleven the next morning after a few hours of Black Friday shopping with Nick’s mom, she encountered a gruesome scene. Jess and Mags were sacked out in the living room, the curtains drawn, the television off, looking miserable.

  “Good morning,” Terri said, setting her packages on the floor beside the door so she could take off her coat.

  “Not really,” Jess said weakly, a compress on her forehead, eyes bloodshot and puffy. “Is it physically possible for a head to explode? Because it feels like mine might.”

  “I don’t think so,” Terri said.

  “Shhh,” Maggie scolded. The previous night’s makeup was smeared around her eyes, giving her a raccoon appearance. “Do you two really have to talk so loud?”

  “Did you guys take anything?” Terri asked, and both nodded. “Are you drinking lots of water?”

  “Yes, Mom,” Maggie said.

  “Hey, I’ve gotta practice on someone. Where’s Nick?”

  “He got up and took some ibuprofen then went back to bed,” Jess said.

  “How did he look?”

  “Have you seen the movie Zombieland?” Maggie asked.

  “That bad, huh?” Terri had been a little jealous last night to be the odd man out, but in the aftermath, she was glad she hadn’t been able to let loose. “I’d better go check on him.”

  Terri hung her coat in the closet and gathered up the other three coats that had been dumped in various spots throughout the room and hung them up, too. Then she tiptoed into the bedroom. The blinds were closed, all the lights off and Nick was sprawled out diagonally, facedown on the mattress naked, as if he had collapsed there and didn’t have the strength to move another inch. He may have been hungover, but he sure did look good.

  There were two empty water bottles on the bedside table—so at least he’d had the good sense to hydrate—and a pair of jogging pants on the floor. She picked them up and draped them across the foot of the bed. During their honeymoon, he’d been pretty good about picking up after himself. He left an occasional wet towel on the floor, or whiskers in the sink, but so far he was nowhere near as bad as he used to be.

  She was about to turn around and leave, when Nick mumbled, “What time is it?”

  “After eleven. You okay?”

  He lifted his head and gazed up at her. Only one eyelid was raised, as if he just didn’t have the energy to open them both. The eye she could see was so puffy and red-rimmed it almost hurt to look at it. “What do you think?”

  “Is there anything I can get you?”

  “A gun?”

  She laughed. “Anything else?”

  He sighed and dropped his head down. “Another bottle of water? And a promise that you’ll never let me do that again. I must be getting old, because I’m not bouncing back like I used to in college.”

  “That happens, I guess.” The last time she’d overdone it with a pitcher of margaritas, she’d paid severely the following day. “I’ll be right back.”

  She walked to the kitchen for his water, stopping to ask his sisters if they wanted one, too. They both moan-mumbled an affirmative, and she grabbed an armful from the fridge. She set two beside each sister, then returned to the bedroom, where Nick was actually sitting up in bed. She sat on the edge of the mattress beside him and handed over the water.

  “Thanks.” She watched his Adam’s apple bob, the muscles in his neck flexing as he guzzled down the first bottle in one long gulp. He set the second one on the bedside table for later. He sighed, letting his head rest against the headboard. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  “How are the girls doing?”

  “In a little better shape than you, but not by much.”

  “Thanks for taking care of us last night.”

  “You would have done the same for me. And if I recall correctly, you have a time or two.”

  He slipped down, flat on his back. “Like the time in high school when you broke up with Tommy Malone and you went a little crazy with the peach Schnapps.”

  “It was peppermint Schnapps, and I didn’t break up with him. He dumped me for Alicia Silberman because I wouldn’t put out. And apparently she was more than happy to.”

  “I did offer to kick his ass for you.”

  She smiled at the memory. He would have done it, too. “He wasn’t worth the trouble.”

  “So when did you finally do it?” he said.

  Confused, she asked, “Do what?”

  “Have sex.”

  The question took her aback. Not that she was ashamed of her past—not all of it, anyway—but it just wasn’t something they had ever talked about. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Just curious. I was a junior in high school.”

  “I heard,” she said. “With Beth Evans, in her bedroom when her parents were both at work.”

  “Who told you?”

  “I overheard Tony and Rob talking about it a couple years ago. And, of course, there were rumors around school at the time.” Which she had rarely put any stock in, but apparently this time they were right. “I hear you gave quite the performance.”

  Nick laughed. “Not exactly. I was so nervous I couldn’t get her bra unhooked, and the actual sex lasted about thirteen seconds.”

  “That’s not the way Rob tells it. He said that you said you had her begging for more.”

  “I may have exaggerated a tiny bit,” he said with a grin. “Sexual prowess is very important to a teenage boy. The truth is, it was a humiliating experience.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, you’ve perfected your methods since then.”

  He laughed. “Thanks. When was your first time?”

  She cringed. “It’s embarrassing.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it was so…cliché.”

  “Tell me it wasn’t a teacher.”

  It was her turn to laugh. “Of course not! It was the night of senior prom.”

  “You’re right, that is cliché.” He paused, then said, “Wait a minute, you went to prom with that guy from the math club. Eugene…something.”

  “Eugene Spenser.”

  “Wasn’t he kind of a…geek?”

  “A little, but so was I.” And that geek had moves that she later realized put most college guys to shame. He actually did have her begging for more.

  “I don’t remember you dating him.”

  “Um…I don’t think you could call what we did dating, per se.”

  His brows rose. “What would you call it?”

  “Occasionally we would…hook up.”

  The brows rose higher. “Hook up?”

  “You know, have sex.”

  He sat up again, his hangover temporarily forgotten. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “You would just…have sex. No relationship, no commitment?”

  She nodded. �
�That’s about it.”

  “Were there other guys that you ‘hooked up’ with?”

  “A few.”

  “But they weren’t boyfriends.”

  “They were friends, but not boyfriends.”

  “And you had sex with them?”

  “I had sex with them,” she said, unsure why he found the scenario so unbelievable. “What can I say, I liked sex.”

  “So did I, but…”

  “But it’s supposedly different for you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? Because you’re a guy? Or because you were madly in love with every girl you slept with? I’m recalling the parade of females in and out of your room when we lived together, and I can’t say I remember seeing the same face more than once or twice.” Which made her think about what he’d said last night. How he would be with a girl but think of Terri. But he’d been so drunk he probably hadn’t meant it. He probably didn’t even know what he was saying.

  “Well, we know you didn’t sleep with all your friends,” he said.

  “Not any of my girlfriends, if that’s what you mean. Although one did invite me into a three-way with her boyfriend once, and I might have if the guy hadn’t been such a creep.”

  “You never slept with me, either.”

  She shrugged. “You never asked.”

  His brows perked up again. “If I had, would you?”

  At first she thought he was teasing, but his eyes said that he was serious. Had he really wanted to sleep with her back then? Were those not just the ramblings of a drunk man last night? And did she really want to know? It’s not as if they had any kind of future as a couple now, so what difference did it make?

  “No. Our friendship was too important to me.”

  “And theirs weren’t?”

  “Not like ours. For me sex was…I don’t know. I guess it made me feel in control. And special in a way. Definitive proof of how much my aunt screwed me up, I guess.”

  “Do you still feel that way?” he asked, looking intrigued.

  “No, not anymore.” She also didn’t like the direction this conversation was taking. It was too…something. “Well, I should let you get back to sleep.”

  “I’m feeling better now. I think I’ll take a shower instead.”

  “Are you hungry? I could pick up lunch.”

  “Something light, maybe? I have soup in the pantry.”