Broken Pieces (Riverdale #2) (6 page)

Phillip raised an eyebrow. “That’s a pretty bold statement, Samantha.”

She grinned. “You’ve never been kissed by Nick.” She ran her tongue over her lower lip, almost remembering the taste of his kiss, knowing it was impossible.

He frowned miserably. “No, I haven’t.” He lifted his gaze to her and flipped her the bird. “I’m jealous you wench!”

She laughed. “Anyway, fast forward seven years later and I’m still bitter. I’m so angry he left after he promised me everything I had ever wanted.”

“Wait a minute, what happened when you guys got back home from the vacation?” He asked, clearly, not happy with her vague details.

“He played it safe. He would call me every day. He’d steal kisses when my brother wasn’t around. A few nights before he left he took me on a real date brought flowers and everything.” She smiled wistfully. “I thought he would be my first… but he then he left, without a word of explanation or goodbye.”

“He just left out of nowhere?” He asked disbelievingly.

“Pretty much, I mean I don’t know why he left so suddenly. I always assumed it was because of me. He had everything going for him here. He and Luke were going to open the garage together. He had plans. The only thing he hadn’t factored was me. His conscience wouldn’t let him break my heart. He was in too deep and his friendship with Luke would suffer. So he ran.”

“Is that what he told you?” Phillip prodded.

She shook her head and sighed. “He never had to. I learned that after I graduated college and went to surprise him. See, at first I told myself it was his mother. She was a bitch and always was riding him that he was never going to amount to anything. I thought she forced him to leave. So when I graduated college, my parents surprised me with a trip to California. I have an uncle out there.” She explained and took another sip of her soda. “Anyway, I traded the ticket in and instead I got a one way ticket to Seattle. It sounded like an excellent idea at the time.” She scrunched her face. “Not so appealing now.”

“Girlfriend, how is it that we’ve been friends for so long and you have hidden the ballsy, Samantha from me?” He leaned on the table, propping his elbows on the edge hands under his chin. She had his undivided attention.

“Don’t get too excited. I lost my balls somewhere along the way up to his office. To this day he doesn’t know I was ever there.” She looked away and for the briefest of moments she allowed herself to wonder. Wonder if she would’ve gone about things differently, how would they, have wound up. Would he have been happy to see her? Would it have changed anything? She shook her head. It didn’t matter because what she had seen in Seattle had left her broken. She boarded the plane home the following day, with her heart shattered into a million broken pieces.

“You flew across the country to see him and he has no fucking idea?” Phillip asked, outraged.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She said lowly.

“Of course you don’t, because out of everything you’ve ever confided in me about, this has to be the dumbest thing you ever did. You should tell him you went to see him.” Phillip demanded.

“No! I never want him to know. What does it matter anyway? It won’t erase the last seven years.”

“No, it won’t, but Samantha, he deserves to know.”

Anger boiled in her veins and she couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you kidding me? What gives him the right? He never thought I deserved to know why he left in the first place.” She pushed back her chair and stood up. “I may have left Seattle without as much as a hello, but he left me without as much as a goodbye.”

Phillip studied her for a few moments, and she began to fidget under his scrutiny. “There’s more to it, and you’re not spilling.” He leaned closer to her. “What else happened?”

She had never told a soul what had happened in Seattle. As much as she tried to block out the memories, they still lived inside her. The embarrassment and pain, that had transpired, from that trip, was still etched in her heart. She didn’t want to be the woman scorned, but the choice wasn’t hers, it had been ripped from her.

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this.” Sam said, turning away from him. If she looked at him when she told him, she’d only feel more of her pride slip away from her.

“When I made my way to his office in Seattle, I sort of just walked right into his office.” She closed her eyes and remembered how the palm of her hand was sweaty as she turned the door knob that day, she had visited Nick. She opened her eyes, looking down at her sweaty palms, this time there was no doorknob to turn, and she wiped them along her shorts.

“Nick was busy, so busy that he never even heard the door open.” She laughed sarcastically. “But then again, how could he have heard anything with my best friend screaming out his name, while he fucked her brains out on top of his desk?” Sam stood up and let out a deep breath.

“Nick had always flirted with my friends. I don’t know why it never bothered me.” She laughed at herself almost in disgust. “I think I was stupid enough to believe he was just flirting with them, but it was me he really wanted. I guess I truly never believed he had anything going on with any of them, especially Erica.”

“Filthy sleaze bucket.” Phillip grunted. “Where does the little bitch live? I’ll claw her eyes out.”

Sam laughed as she hugged herself, turning around to face Phillip. His face was full of anger, and she knew that she had a true friend in him. He would never betray her, nor would Mallory. She had finally found two people in her life she could trust. She smiled miserably towards him. “Last time I stalked her Facebook page, she was living in Seattle and employed by Nick.”

“Wait, you didn’t know she had moved to Seattle before you went to see him?” Phillip asked, clearly confused.

“No. I thought she was away at college in California. See part of my graduation gift was not only to see my Uncle, but to visit with my best friend who I hadn’t seen in two years. It’s funny because she never lost contact with me. We’d text and speak on the phone all the time. I still wonder how she was going to dodge me if I called her and said I was in California.”

“She knew you were going to see her then?”

“Yes, and the last time I spoke to her was the day before I switched my flight. She never tried to contact me.” Sam shrugged her shoulders, sometimes she speculated if Erica knew that Sam had walked in on them. She never confronted Erica, because she was too proud. In her mind, it was easier to let Erica believe that Sam was the one who wanted nothing to do with her. Call it a defense mechanism, call it naïve, whatever it was, it helped. She never wanted Erica to know what kind of pain she had inflicted on her.

“So this bitch basically knew how much you cared about Nick.” Phillip said disgusted.

“She knew everything. She knew the promises that were made before he left. She knew that I had been in love with him for years. She knew how desperate I was for him and in the end she was the one who got him.”

“So what’s your plan? He obviously isn’t going anywhere.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. The minute things become too real for Nick, I’m sure he’ll find an excuse to run the hell out of Riverdale. Besides, it’s only a matter of time before he has to get back to Erica. She is still employed with his father’s company.” She covered the remaining leftovers and placed them in the refrigerator.

“Does it get any more real than your brother being diagnosed with Stage four Cancer?” He asked, softly. He stood up and walked behind Samantha and placed his hands over her shoulders. She turned around and faced him. “From what you’ve told me, he’s been nothing but a stand-up guy when it’s come to Jake.”

She couldn’t deny that. Since Jake had been diagnosed, Nick had been there for him. When Jake began to lose his hair, he took the buzzer to his own hair. No one fights alone, and he made sure Jake didn’t. Emotions coursed through her as she remembered the day she walked in on Nick and Jake after they had both shaved their heads. She felt as if her heart was stuck in her throat, staring at them, much like she did now, just reminiscing that day.

“He has been. He loves Jake.” She looked down and remembered how she threw in his face that he was her brother not his. She knew very well that Nick loved Jake just as much as she did. She wished she could take back those harsh words. But in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but think Nick was just sticking around until Jake’s health was back to normal.

“My point is he hasn’t left. He’s been right there by your family’s side throughout this entire ordeal.” He shrugged his shoulders, driving his point home. “Maybe it’s time you realize he’s not the same person he was seven years ago. Maybe it’s time you accept that he is home and he’s not leaving this time.” His mouth curved and he smiled at her. “Or at least allow yourself a roll in the hay! Even if he is tied to that bitch, which you don’t know for sure, get the hussy back!” He lightened the mood with his little innuendo.

Sam sighed and then reluctantly she laughed. “Sure, that’s the answer. I’ll just have my way with him and cut him loose.”

Phillip pressed his lips to her cheek and then his smile widened. “Now, you’re getting it.”

She wished it was that simple. That she could be satisfied with just a taste of Nick. That she could have one night, and not allow her heart to get involved. It would be great if her heart had an on and off switch. Her phone rang and disrupted her thoughts. She looked around her kitchen and saw it vibrating along the table. She walked over and picked it up. Staring at the caller I.D. her heart began to thump wildly. She held her phone in her hand and turned around to face Phillip. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, unsure what to do.

“It’s him!” She said as she showed him the caller I.D.

“Well, answer it!!” Phillip urged, motioning with his hands for her to pick up the phone.

She took a deep breath and tried to erase the fact that the last half hour she had done absolutely nothing but profess her undying love for Nick. She hit answer on her iPhone and brought the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Are you home?” Nick barked curtly into the phone. His voice was distressed she countered.

“Yes.” She said as she drew her eyebrows together, trying to decipher his voice.

“Open your door.” He commanded through the phone.  Her eyes widened in shock and she looked at Phillip as she answered him.

“You’re here? You’re in front of my house?” She swallowed hard and both she and Phillip stared across the living room at the front door of her apartment.

“Open the door, Sam.” He said, his voice agitated and then the line went dead.

“Does he know I’m here?” Phillip whispered.

“How the hell would he know that?” She said as she glanced down to look at herself. Not much changed since he had seen her an hour ago.

“I’ll hide in the bathroom. Hurry up and answer the door.” He said as he ran towards her bathroom. She looked after him perplexed. Why was he hiding? She shook her head once the door closed behind him. She stood still, staring at her front door. Why wouldn’t her feet move? Nick banged on the door, lighting a match under her ass. She hurried to the door and swung it open.

When the door opened Nick stood in front of her, his fist in the air ready to pound her door again. Lucky for her door, she got there in time. “What are you doing here?” She asked.

He ran his hand over his short hair and let out a strangled breath. He didn’t say a word for a moment and instead of answering her question he just stared at her.

She studied his face, and noticed how frazzled he looked. His eyes darkened as his head dipped lower, traveling the length of her body. She could feel the heat creeping up inside her as she stood under his heated stare.

“Do you have any idea what I just endured?” He asked roughly, his hands falling to his sides as his eyes held hers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” She stammered.

“Your father just gave me the No Glove, No Love speech.” He bit the side of his cheek and struggled to remain calm. “I couldn’t shut him up. I tried to tell him nothing would happen between us. I told him he had nothing to worry about, that you couldn’t stand the sight of me.” He paused and watched her swallow. She gripped the edge of the door, not sure where he was going with this or why he had decided this was so urgent he couldn’t wait to tell her. “Then he asked me why? Why can’t my daughter stand the sight of you?”

She bit her lip as she watched him shuffle his feet, not able to remain still.

“I couldn’t answer him because for the life of me, I have no idea why you hate me so goddamn much? What I do know is that I’m stuck with a woman who hates me for two days and a four hour car ride, each way, scares the shit out of me.” He took a deep breath. “Why do you hate me Sam? Is it because I left? Is it because I don’t call you Samantha?” Is it because I came back? Because I honestly have no fucking idea how the girl I left almost seven years ago, the girl who looked at me like I was everything to her, can look at me now like I’m the devil.” With each question his voice grew louder, until he was shouting at her, demanding her to answer him.

Sam absorbed his words and her grip on the door tightened as her knees threatened to buckle. Her mouth was suddenly dry, so she swallowed. She couldn’t recall a time in her life where she had seen Nick so unhinged. They stared at each other, for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was barely a minute. She heard him mumble a stream of curses before he closed the distance between them. It took her a moment to register what was happening, and before she could, his hands cupped her face and his mouth crashed down upon hers.