Chasing Di'Maggio: a BWWM romance (3 page)

“Look, Nico, I’m sorry. I’m tired, jet-lagged, all of these things... It’s just too much right now. I think I’ll head out. Tell the guys I said I’m leaving.”

“Where are you staying?”

“I’m going to try and get a hotel.”

“Um, that’s going to be hard. How about you crash at my place?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I have a guest room. When you have a good night’s sleep, we can talk in the morning, just you and me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure, Nico? I could just get a hotel or something. I’ll be fine.”

“Really, it’s okay. I’ll just text Gabe and tell him that we’re leaving, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

What was his issue?
Nicolette thought. It’s like one moment he’s okay, then another he’s all over the place. That would be very hard for her to put up with. Only God knows how they’d end up working out of or living in the same house.

Nico sent Gabe a text message, letting him know that she wouldn’t be joining them for drinks.

From: Nico

To: Gabe

12.24.2012 10:30pm

Dude, I’m leaving with your big bro. He is getting a GN’s sleep. Hopefully we can come up with a solution in the AM. Wake up call though, k? ;)

From: Gabe

To: Nico

12.24.2012 10:32pm

Pfft! Gn’s sleep, huh? Well good luck with him. Ok, wakeup call it is! Drive safe :)

“So are we leaving or what?” Matty asked.

“The hell is your problem, bro?”

“What’d you say?”

Thank God that Nicolette spoke under her breath because right now was not the time to be arguing. But she couldn’t help but smile at his grumpiness. Even through all of that, he still was sexy. The way he walked with grace, poise, and confidence, he looked like the sexiest thing alive.
God, help me straighten my mind!
she thought.

They quickly said their goodbyes to the family and were in Nicolette’s red Lexus hybrid convertible driving to Nicolette’s place. Nicolette was nervous at the thought of Matty sleeping in the next room. She didn’t know how she would be able to sleep peacefully now.

“We’re here. It’s nice, right?”

Matty peered out of the window as Nico approached the driveway. “Eh, it’s okay.”

“Hmmm. Come on.”

They went through the garage and into the kitchen. The kitchen was a cream color with marble countertops, black cupboards, a breakfast bar with stools, a built-in refrigerator, and wood flooring. Straight ahead was the living room: There was a black leather U-shaped couch complete with red and black pillows, and a glass coffee table in the middle. The centerpiece in the middle of the table was a narrow glass vase with black and red beads in water with a white floating flower. The left side of the couch faced away from two sliding doors facing the beach. On either side of the couch were small glass coffee tables with family photos of the Di’Maggio and the Richards families and red and white candles. Facing the back of the couch was the dining room. There was a round glass table with four black chairs. The center piece was a glass tube with black and red beads in water with a white floating flower with two white candles on each side. On the right side of the kitchen was a hall that led to a bathroom and two bedrooms were further down. The guest room was on the left, facing Nicolette’s room on the right.

“Well umm, this is the guest room. Have a good night, Matty. It’s nice to have you back. Did you want help with your luggage?”

Nicolette really meant that, and she wished Matty knew just how nice it was to have him back and for her to see him looking at her right now.

“No, I’ve got it, and hey…” He paused with a smile. “… it’s nice to be back. Have a good night, Nico.”

Matty leaned in and gave Nicolette a goodnight kiss on the cheek. Maybe Nicolette was in a daze but she could’ve sworn Matty lingered there for more than a minute. It’s like her whole world froze, even though it was only a kiss on the cheek. She finally knew what Matty’s lips felt like on her skin after all those years of wondering....

Nicolette was having the most perfect dream. She was walking down the aisle in the most beautiful wedding gown that she’d ever seen. Her dad was walking her down the aisle and her mom was smiling and crying. It was all so magnificent. Her best friend, Gabriel, was one of the groomsmen. Tommy, Michael, and Gabriel all grinned at her. She couldn’t see the groom because he wouldn’t turn to face her, but the closer she got, the more nervous she became. The groom turned around and it was Andrew—whoa, Andrew? Then as he was about to take her hand, the music stopped, and everything froze. No one was smiling anymore. Tommy was taking his suit jacket off to get ready to fight, and Gabriel and Michael were looking at Andrew like they were going to kill him. Everything happened in slow motion. Everyone in the church started to fight and Nicolette was there crying all alone, wondering what went wrong. Someone yanked her out of the corner she was hiding in and started to drag her by her veil out of the church. Even though she screamed, no one heard her; everyone was too busy fighting. Then she heard someone yelling her name. It sounded like Matty but she couldn’t find him. Everything was a disaster, a nightmare, her perfect day was ruined and she couldn’t help but sob some more. Someone knelt in front of her and wiped tears from her eyes. The hands were strong and familiar to her face. She loved his touch but she couldn’t connect the face to the hands. When she finally opened her eyes to look at his face, a ringing sound came from the other end of the room. She looked over and woke up.

“Ugh, what the heck? Hello?”

“Rise and shine, buddy.”

Nico groaned. “Gabriel.”

“Ready to hit the gym again?”

“Isn’t everything closed? It’s Christmas Day.”

“We’re running today, that’s all. Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean it’s a holiday for your body. Let’s go. I’ll give you ten minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Nicolette couldn’t understand for the life of her why she chose Gabriel to be her trainer. She decided to get back into shape a couple of months ago but God, was he kicking her butt hard. The results were showing though, having a pro baseball player as a trainer. Yet, she liked it better when Gabriel was away for games because when he was home, he liked to kill her with new workout techniques that she thought she’d die from the very next day.

Gabe walked into Nicolette’s house ten minutes later, as she was tying her sneakers. Nicolette shook her head and rolled her eyes as she wondered why she had given Gabe a key to her house.

“Okay, boss, let’s do this,” she yawned.

“Merry Christmas, Nico, my love.

“Doesn’t feel like freakin' Christmas,” she smirked. “Where is my gift?”

“That’s for later, so let’s get this run on. It’s nice out.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes as she shut her front door.

The whole run felt like eternity. Gabe made them take the long way around and Nicolette felt like she’d been running for more than an hour. She couldn’t wait to get back in her house and just soak in the bathtub. She was super sore for some odd reason. This run was a good idea though, because she got her mind off everything that had happened the night before, including the terrible, disturbing dream she’d had. As if she’d be dumb enough to marry Andrew. God, that was seriously something to laugh about.

Gabriel snapped her out of her thoughts, as they were finishing up their stretching. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and decided to send her on her way.

“Okay Nico, go shower now and we will all meet up at my parents’ house for Christmas.”

“Oh yeah, how could I forget?” Nico replied with a suck of her teeth. “Plus it’s like next door from my parents’ house, idiot. My present better be there.”

“It is. See you then and make sure you come with happiness.”

“Screw you, Gabriel. Goodbye!”

Finally, Nicolette was able to soak in her bathtub. The bathroom was a large cream-colored room. The isolated bathtub was in the middle between his and hers sink vanities. The vanities were both cream colored with mirrors, mini lamps on the walls, and white towels on display. The bathtub faced a window which brought in sunshine. Closer to the door on the left was a shower stall with a tinted glass door and wall-to-wall marble. On the right, a door led to the restroom. The marble tiles in the bathroom made everything feel so serene that Nicolette completely forgot that she wasn’t alone in the house.

Nicolette hated to get out of the bathtub, but she really needed to hurry and not be late for Christmas brunch today. Plus, she and Matty really needed to have that talk. Speaking of which, Nicolette thought,
Is he still sleeping? It’s like 9am now. Aren’t businessmen awake by now?
As if things couldn’t get worse, Nicolette opened the door and there Matty stood looking like an Adonis god again. My God, how could Nicolette marry this guy and keep her eyes to herself? He looked exquisite in fitted jeans, black T-shirt, and black boat shoes. He looked so much more relaxed than when he wore suits; it reminded Nicolette of when they were younger and he didn’t wear suits all the time.

Matty couldn’t take his eyes off Nicolette. Jesus, how could he live with her without thinking of her? God, this was going to be harder than he thought. There she was just standing there, not realizing how short her towel really was, the way it wrapped around her perfect, curvy body. Matty tried his best not to steal a glance at her thighs but they were just calling out to him. This was too much for him. She had to put something on because she was still wet from her bath and she really wasn’t helping Matty at all.

“So…,” Matty broke the silence while trying desperately not to stare at Nico’s wet, dripping skin. “…want to get dressed so that we can talk?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry, sorry…” Nico was still forcing herself not to focus on how amazing Marry looked. “…I’ll go get dressed then be right out.”

“Okay. I bought breakfast. You still like white hot chocolate?”

“Yes sir. Be right out.”

As soon as Nicolette left, Matty felt like he could breathe. He didn’t realize she had this kind of effect on him. He thought, could he really let her be with someone else? It was hard enough to do that when he beat up her first boyfriend for making her cry. That’s when he found out that it was more than just childhood memories for him when Nicolette was concerned. He knew everything that she liked. They used to be best friends and he threw it all away just to try to get over her.

“How do I look? Sorry, I don’t have time to straighten my hair today. The curls will just have to do.”

Nicolette came out in a skintight leopard print bustier dress that stopped just above her knees. She had on red stilettos, her hair was all curly and bouncy, the way Matty liked it, and her makeup was light as always but she wore red lipstick, which bothered Matty because it made him want to kiss her.

“Matty, say something. Is it bad? I added the red pearl earrings that your mom got me last Christmas.”

“Oh, you clean up nice, Miss Nico.”

“Aha!” she chuckled. “Thank you. Now grab our breakfast and let’s go sit on my beautiful, comfortable couch.”

After settling on the couch with their breakfast in front of them, Matty began.

“Okay, so I’ll just come out and say it; I thought about it all night and I say let’s do it. I mean, I can’t think of another way and we can have ground rules, you know for the both of us. And if you don’t want to do it, then it’s okay. I’m sorry for speaking so fast but I don’t know what other way I could say this.”

“Don’t worry, Matty. I don’t mind getting married to you for your grandma. She means a lot to me and I’m weirdly okay with it. But honestly, I just don’t want to keep you away from your happiness. What if the girl that you’ve been looking for shows up? What then?”

“That’ll never happen, Nico.”

“Why not?” Matty hated that question because he didn’t know how to properly answer it and not give anything away.

“Because she already showed up, and I’m not brave enough to say something to her.”

Nicolette wasn’t sure how to feel when Matty told her that the girl he was looking for had already shown up. Even if she was plastering a smile on her face, her insides were fuming. She wanted to smack whoever that girl was. She automatically hated her.

“Wow, what? You only get to be with someone you love once. What are you doing trying to marry me? Oh God, Matty. I’m going to mess all this up for you, just think about it. If you decide you want her to know how you feel, she will freak out because you’ll be married to me.”

Nicolette knew that this was a bunch of lies. It hurt her to even be this rational, but in that moment she realized that her love for Matty was unconditional. She loved him too much to be the one that kept him from true happiness.

“Nico, it’s okay. I know it’ll all work out, but what about you? Won’t your ex or still-boyfriend mind?”

Matty wanted her to desperately say that she didn’t want Andrew or any other man but him. He wanted to just sweep her off her feet and show her how much he loved her. He tried to look at anything else but her so that she wouldn’t see his reaction to her answer.

“Andrew isn’t my boyfriend anymore and I personally don’t care what he thinks. Love just isn’t for me, I guess. If it was, it would’ve happened a long time ago, but it didn’t. It just wasn’t meant to happen.”

“A long time ago? With who?”

“Oh, wow. Would you look at the time...” she replied with a smirk, avoiding his question. “So I’m game if you’re game. I know it’s an irrational decision but Matthew, let’s be serious for once. We are doing this to make sure your family doesn’t suffer something terrible and I’d do anything to prevent that. So let’s get down to the ground rules, babe.”

Matty decided to allow her to change the subject. “Hmm. Well first, the house situation. Where is your business?” he asked.

“Miami.”

“So then why were you arguing with me about where to move? It’ll be easier for you too.”

“I just can’t leave my house, Matty. I love this house.”

“Okay we’ll keep it for vacations then. How about that?”

“Ugh, fine! What else?”

“Those dresses. The skintight ones have to go.”

“Not going to happen. So you’re trying to change me because I’ll be your pretend wife? That, my friend, is never going to work with me.”

“No, that’s not what I’m doing here. I’m just saying, they are beautiful but I don’t know.”

“Look, the dresses, my wardrobe stays or else we are living here.”

“Okay fine, wardrobe is not my department then. What else?”

“No cheating, Matty. I mean it!”

“I’m not a cheater.”

“Look, I’m not saying you are, but if we are going to pretend to do this, it has to be done the right way, understood?”

“Yes ma’am. So we’re to live like husband and wife then?”

“Yes.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, Matty. Why do you keep asking?”

“Because husband and wife are different from what we are now.”

“And that is?”

“Single for the next half hour.”

“What exactly are you trying to get at, Matty?” she asked.

“Meaning when we marry, we do what married people do. Eat together, go places together, and go to work together, sleep together, bathe together.”

“Yeah.” Then she paused as the thought sunk in. “Wait, what? Bathe together? Sleep together? In the same room—you and me?”

“What’s so hard about that? I’m not sleeping in a separate room from my wife.”

“Ahaha, you’re hilarious. Stop joking around.”

“I’m not.”

Matty caught Nicolette’s eyes and she couldn’t look away. She understood what he was getting at, but if she did that then she was definitely done for. Ruined forever. No one else would be good enough for her like Matty. Bathe together? As she thought of that, Matty began eyeing her whole body, which made her very conscious of herself. He studied her like she was some kind of unknown object. The way he was looking at her so intensely made her feel sexy instead of insulted.

Wow
. She couldn’t believe it.

“Nico.”

“Matty.”

“We’re staying in the same room, same bed.”

Nicolette couldn’t talk. Her mouth was too dry and she didn’t understand how she was so mesmerized by Matty right now. She was just watching his mouth move as he talked some more about the arrangements. All she wanted to do right now was take his glasses off his face and kiss him senseless, but she had a feeling that she would be senseless after attempting a kiss like that. Did he really want to share a room or was he kidding? Sharing a room was definitely a bad idea. Nicolette thought that she might end up attacking the poor guy if he didn’t leave her alone but then again, he did say do as the married people do, right?

“Nico, are you listening to me?”

“Yes, now…Let’s get going, shall we?”

“Sure, so when do we pick out a ring?”

“Doesn’t matter to me, Matty,” she said.

“Okay. So, ready to go, future Mrs. Di’Maggio?”

“Sure thing, Mr. Di’Maggio.”