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Chapter 22
We
pulled into a parking lot of an unfamiliar restaurant.
"Let's go." Steph said getting out of the car. I opened my door and
carefully got out. She waited for me and then we walked in together. I
could see a bar straight ahead, but Steph grabbed my arm and led me down
a hall to the right. I saw a little table off to my left with pictures of
me. Recent ones and ones of my childhood.
"Oh my god." I said under my breath looking at the pictures. Steph
dragged me away from the table and I came face to face with about fifty
people. Nobody said anything to me as I walked in, but I was greeted with
embraces form every which way.
"Happy birthday, sweetie." I heard a familiar voice.
"Gram?" I said in disbelief surprised to see my grandmother. It had
been years since I last saw her. I said my ‘hellos' to just about
everyone, when I needed a drink. I reached down to grab the pitcher of
Sprite when I heard someone whisper in my ear.
"Happy Birthday, baby." I turned around leaving my glass on the
table. I wrapped my arms around his neck and reached up to kiss him. I
hugged him tightly and thanked him again for throwing me a wonderful
birthday party.
"Linds, check it out." Nick said nodding hid head towards the right.
I looked over and saw Steph and AJ sitting at a table very close
together. I could have sworn they were holding hands. I smiled and
laughed as Nick grabbed my hand and wove his fingers through mine.
Grabbing my drink with my free hand, we proceeded to greet some other
people.
~About Two Hours Later~
"Have I told
you how beautiful you look tonight?" Nick asked as we
danced to a slow song. I laughed at him knowing that he has said that at
least a dozen times tonight.
"Yes you have and if I didn't know any better I'd think you were
trying to get on my good side. You never say I look beautiful." I said
jokingly.
"Hey, just because I don't say it, doesn't mean I don't think it."
He replied looking down into my eyes. I smirked at him before we kissed.
This kiss felt different for me. It wasn't a heavy make out kiss or
anything, but from the simple touch of his lips, I felt feelings I
couldn't deny. Now, I don't know if I'm crazy or what, but I think loving
someone and being in love with someone are two TOTALLY different things.
Being in love is so much stronger and I think that's what I was feeling.
We pulled away and I smiled.
"What's that about?" He asked as the song was about to end.
"Well...I'm in love with you, Nick." I said with a large smile on
my
face.
"Well now I'm happy to know the feeling is mutual." He said as we
walked off the dancefloor still connected by our hands.
I left Nick's side for a second to go to the bathroom. I walked in
and saw Steph washing her hands.
"Look in the mirror, dear." I said and walked into a stall. I heard
her gasp and grab a paper towel. I finished and walked out to see her
washing the lipstick off her face.
"Now, is that your lipstick or AJ's?" I asked sarcastically as she
tried to smack me in the butt.
"I'm surprised you don't have Nick's lipstick all over you by now."
She said.
"And what's that supposed to mean, Stephy-poo?" I asked leaning on
the counter facing her.
"Well, let's just say if you were by yourselves looking that that,
he would've jumped you by now. That's all." She finished. I shook my head
and left the room.
About an hour later, the party was winding down and Nick wanted to
leave.
"Nick, this is my party. Shouldn't I be the last one to go?" I
stated.
"Nah, Steph has got it under control. And I think AJ will stay and
help too." He said knowingly with that smirk on his face. Yep, that
smirk. The smirk that makes you want to grab his face and kiss him and
kiss him and never let go.
"Now let's go." He said. He did let me say ‘goodbye' to the few
guests that remained. We walked out of the restaurant and got into his
truck.
"Thanks again, Nick." I said as I buckled the seatbelt.
"No problem. Any time." He said glancing at me with that smirk. Damn
it, I am about to go into overload. He is just about to kill me.
"Do you just wanna go home or do you wanna take a drive?" Nick
asked. I had an idea, he didn't want t go home and I could easily figure
it out since we weren't even driving towards our house. I shrugged my
shoulders. We drove for about ten minutes when we pulled into a small
parking lot next to the park. There was a lake and some swing sets and
stuff. I hopped out of the truck as Nick grabbed something from the
trunk. He walked around with a plaid fleece blanket and something under
the blanket. He grabbed my hand ans we walked towards the lake. Nick set
down the blanket which revealed a gift bag with some tissue paper
sticking out of the top. I got situated and took my shoes off. After
danced countless times with Aaron, my feet were tired.
"This is for you." Nick said passing me the bag. "Happy birthday."
He whispered leaning over towards my ear. I removed the tissue paper
slowly just to annoy Nick. He huffed at my pace. I smiled and pulled out
a little black box. It looked like a ring box. I took a deep breath and
opened it. This looked an awful lot like an engagement ring. Nick must've
seen my eyes go wide. He grabbed my hands and made me look at him.
"I don't know exactly how to say this..."
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