Page 17 of Rise & Fall
“Thanks,” I say as I guide Em in that direction. But then suddenly, thunder cracks through the sky creating a roar that nearly knocks me off my feet. I love a good thunderstorm but what the fuck was that?
“Oh no!” I hear Aria’s little voice whine.
“Oh no is right,” Nolan responds to her, looking outside.
The once sunny sky is now layered in dark clouds and little waves of lightning can be seen in the distance.
“We might need to reschedule the swimming part of this playdate.” He looks between both our girls, then outside again.
Emsley just shrugs her shoulders as Aria runs toward the balcony sliding doors and presses her face up against the glass, sighing in defeat and leaving fog on the surface as she breathes against the door.
Lightning lights up the now-gray skies and Aria turns around. “Wanna play with my squishy animals?” she asks Emsley and they both take off toward her bedroom.
“Well, that was easy,” I say as I walk toward where Aria was standing, taking the sleeve of my zip up hoodie and wiping the fog Aria left with it.
“I’m gonna go change and then I can make dinner. You hungry?” Nolan asks as he makes his way into his kitchen.
Dinner?
It’s not intimate if we’re on a playdate, right?
I turn to face him and get distracted watching him work in the kitchen. He sets the oven to bake before exiting down the hall. So I focus my eyes on the rest of his living area.
His kitchen is open to his small dining area, which is where I’m standing by the balcony. His living room is also connected to the open floor plan with a TV mounted into the wall, a small fireplace below it, and a gray couch across from it.
The tan colored flooring looks like wood, maybe linoleum, but still pretty fancy. And the accent walls are light gray to match his couch and kitchen counters. There’s a hallway that leads to what I’m assuming are two bedrooms and the bathroom he directed me toward before the storm started.
I love how cozy his home feels. But I look for any sign of a wife or a live-in girlfriend. I wanted to ask Aria in the car, but I know it’s not my business, so I decided not to pry. But surely, a girl must live here. Some sort of situation-ship maybe? But I don’t see any pictures of anyone other than the one on the wall in the hallway of him and Aria. Before I can ponder any more, Nolan’s husky voice interrupts me.
“DJ?” He’s looking at me with a smirk.
His dark hair drips with water. He changed into sweats and a black v neck t-shirt.Graysweats.
Does he know our secrets? That girls love it when men sport gray sweatpants.
“I’m so sorry. I got distracted. What did you ask?” I rub the back of my neck sheepishly as I lower my eyes to the floor feeling embarrassment creep up into my cheeks.
“Distracted,” he repeats before letting out a small chuckle, and it’s almost as if he wants to add on something else but decides against it. “You okay with lasagna?” he asks as the oven beeps signaling that it’s heated up.
“Dinner. Right. You cook?” I blurt out, still not answering his question. I’m still standing near the back door when the thunder whips through the sky again, like a crack at a horse during a Kentucky Derby race. It almost makes me jump, but part of me thinks it’s just the nerves racing through my veins.
“Yeah. And I’m actually pretty good at it if I may say so myself.” He gives me a crooked smirk as he winks a beautiful, brown eye at me, and all that is safe and sound within me has broken free because my body internally screams.
I’m suddenly hot andhellabothered. Men like that should not be legally allowed to throw winks in any way, shape, or form. Especially not while his arms are flexing as he dries his hands in his white kitchen towel.
“I can help.” My mouth, again, blurts before I can think, clearly needing a distraction from eyeballing my sister’s best friend’s dad.
Get a fucking grip, Dakota.
“Not necessary. I prepped it before I went into work this morning so there’s not much to do. Want anything to drink?” I watch him lean into the fridge and pull out a large glass baking dish already loaded with something that looks mouth-watering. He slides it into the oven and turns the timer on before grabbing a beer. He turns to me and waits for my answer.
“Umm, water is perfect.” I turn away from him and stare out the windows. The sky is now pouring rain. Little zips of lightning speed through the clouds and rumbles of thunder whisper throughout.
“Here you are.” I turn to see that Nolan is standing by my side with a glass of ice water, his beer in his other hand.
I nervously bite my lip as I look up at him to take the glass. His eyes are piercing into mine. And it’s hard to see anything else but him as he puts the opening of his beer bottle to his lips, and swallows. His Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. And between the sweat on my palms and the perspiration on the glass, it slips out of my hand as he lets go. Glass shatters around my feet and water soaks my jeans.Good thing I brought an extra pair of clothes for work.
“I’m so sorry. It slipped.” I drop down to my knees and start frantically picking up what I think is ice but is actually glass and, unintentionally, I slice my fingers. Blood starts mixing with the spilled water.