Page 50 of Tailwhip
Sitting in front of the fire, she says, “So, first fill me in on Seattle. I have been dying to know what you all did up there and how he liked the lingerie!”
I get the biggest smile on my face, thinking about everything we did in Seattle. “We did so much! I don’t even know where to start. You knew about the Orca watching, right?”
Pouring the wine into the glasses, she says, “Yes, he asked me if that was something you would like to do, and I was like ‘um do you know who Ashlynn is and how much she loves Orcas?’”
I laugh at Neha because she is right: they are my favorite. “So, we did that the first day I was there. At first, it wasn’t fun because I was getting motion sickness. I didn’t throw up, but got close a few times. Anthony felt so bad because he didn’t know. Once we saw the Orcas though, it all faded away. It was so worth it.”
I take a drink of the wine, and it is so good and sweet. “After the whale watching, he took me around Seattle. That night, he had Nash’s mom come over and have the house all romantic with candles everywhere and the fireplace going. She even cooked us dinner and dessert for it.”
Neha has wide eyes, with the glass rim to her mouth. “Holy shit, Ash. Who would have thought Anthony was so damn sweet and thoughtful? If Nick did that, I would die. His idea of being sweet is saying, ‘damn that ass looks good.’ Which I guess is a nice compliment!”
I burst out laughing at Neha and Nick; they have a different kind of relationship, for sure.
I continue filling her in on Seattle and going up to Leavenworth and how Anthony said we could try to go back in December for Christmas. I also tell her we also hung out with the team and met Nash’s parents. “Wait, so Nash was on the boat for the Orca watching, and you went to his house?”
Taking a sip of my wine and nodding my head, I say, “Well yeah, It was his grandpa’s boat and we met his parents and had a cookout with the whole team there.”
Nodding her head, she says, “Do you think Nash has a thing for you? That’s weird he would pull you into a hug on the boat, with Anthony right there, but Anthony has nothing to worry about. I will say, Nash is good looking, though. Dark features and tall.”
She is getting off track here. “Neha, we are not talking about Nash, and the second time we saw him at his house, he didn’t pull me into a hug, but just asked how I was feeling! Everyone gave me a hug when we got there, I don’t think it means anything!
“Anyway, after we left and got back to the rental, that’s when Anthony saw the lingerie. It was too good of a set up: I walked down the stairs and stood on the last one, and he saw my reflection in the mirror. He was lost for words!”
Making a loud scream, she says, “Oh my gosh! I wish I would have seen his face, did you–you know–after that? I need to know!”
I can feel my face go bright red, which is a dead giveaway. Neha covers her mouth. “Oh my, what did you all do for you to get so red?”
So, I take a deep breath and tell her EVERYTHING, not in so much detail. “Neha, it was so intimate and felt amazing. I can’t describe it.” Now, I am the one covering my mouth, trying to hide my giant smile, thinking about that night again.
“WOW! Umm, I don’t even know what to say other than wow!” Neha starts to pour us more wine. “I have to admit, I am a bit jealous here. Anthony is setting the bar way too high for all the guys. I am pretty sure Nick would never do anything like that with me or for me.”
I tilt my head a little, because I don’t think Neha knows just how much Nick is in love with her. They may not have said it yet, but he is.
Changing the subject to her, I say, “What have you been up to since I have been gone? Fill me in on everything.”
Getting up and walking into her kitchen, she comes back with a piece of paper and hands it to me. I read the top and it is an offer for a new position with Sports World Magazine as an executive writer. “Oh my gosh, holy shit, Neha! You got the executive position!”
I am so happy for her. She has worked hard to get into that position as a writer; she earned it. “I know! I couldn’t believe it when they asked me into the office. Nick was happy for me and took me to an expensive dinner in Denver to celebrate!”
I smile over to her, “See, Nick is romantic, too. He just does things in his own way.”
She gets a big smile on her face, “Um, we also made our relationship exclusive.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that, but it’s about damn time. “Finally!” I tell her.
Once we are done filling each other in on what we have both been up to, we get online to book our tickets out to Vancouver to see Cora. We decided to go in mid-February and stay for a week. “I can’t wait to see Cora; it has been too long. I only hope Brock isn’t going to be there. She can’t be herself around him.”
Rolling her eyes and sighing, I say, “I know. I can’t stand him and how he is with her. Maybe we should hook her up with one of the guys on the Overbear team. They are all good looking. However, Cora’s self-esteem is so low because Brock always puts her down.”
I just shake my head because Cora is such a good person and Brock has reduced her to a shell of herself. “She needs an older guy, someone who can see her true personality and love her for it, regardless. Brock doesn’t deserve her; I think she is only with him because she feels like she can’t leave.”
Neha clinks her glass to mine. “That’s the truth!”
Vancouver is booked and ready. We FaceTime with Cora really quick to let her know the dates and she seems excited, but we both know she is holding back because Brock is out of the camera shot, listening to everything we say. Once we end the face time, she sends me a text.
We sit around and talk for a little longer and decide to get a grocery list together so we can go get everything we need to make Thanksgiving dinner. Once we are done with that, we head to the store and get what we need. After putting it all in Neha’s refrigerator, I plan to return tomorrow to help prepare everything ahead of time. I have been at Neha’s house since 11:00 and it is now close to 4:30. I send Anthony a text to see if he wants a coffee before I get home.
After waiting a few minutes to see if Anthony wants to meet me for coffee and no response, I decide to just stop and grab the coffees and take them home. Hopefully he will have the fireplace going; it is freezing out and the snow is really coming down now. I tell Neha bye and we plan on a time for me to come over to get dinner prepared. Luckily, Nick will be back late tonight from his demos. It’s a quick turnaround, but Neha said he didn’t want to miss Thanksgiving with all of us.