Nickels (11 page)

Kyle smiled to himself.  It was a brilliant idea that formed
as he spoke the words.  Niki needed to learn how to have fun.  Appointing
himself as her teacher would guarantee him a few opportunities to spend time
with her outside of work.

“I don’t know,” Niki said as he stood holding her car door
open.

“It’s just a movie.  It’ll be fun.  I’ll even buy you a
bucket o’ popcorn for dinner.”

She pulled down the visor on the passenger side and checked
her face.  He reached over and pushed the visor up.

“You look lovely.  Come on.”

He held out his hand.  When she placed her hand in his, she
sat still in the car.  He gave a gentle tug and she finally stood.

As she stood in front of him, he caught a whiff of her
perfume.  His heart raced in double time.  She looked lovely even in the dim
light of the parking lot lamp as it highlighted the features of her face.

His gaze dropped to her lips.  He immediately regretted it
because now the only thing he could think of was kissing her.

She cleared her throat and stepped away from the car.  The
movement jarred his brain back to reality.  He knew enough about women to
understand that she was far from being ready for him to make that sort of move.

Who am I kidding?
 He wasn’t ready either.  He still
had too many things to fix in his own life before he could think about a
relationship with her.  This intense desire to be close to her was nothing more
than remnants of his infatuation from high school.

He kept a light hold on her hand as he led her through the
parking lot and to the ticket counter.

“Anything look good?”  He dropped his head back to gaze up
at the digital board of movie titles.

She shrugged her shoulders.

He led her to the ticket window, still not sure what movie
they would see.  He slid his arm around her shoulders and asked the ticket
clerk, “Can you recommend a movie that will earn me points with her?”

She stiffened under his hold.  He squeezed her closer for a
second, before releasing her.  Immediately he wished he hadn’t.  He liked
holding her close.

The clerk suggested a romantic comedy.  Of course.  He
should have thought of that.

Niki watched as Kyle paid for the tickets.  She wasn’t sure
this was such a good idea.  So far, it didn’t seem like much fun—whatever that
was.

And the way he looked at her as she stepped from the car… 
Her stomach fluttered at the thought.  He had her senses all turned upside
down.  At least he dropped his arm from its resting place on her shoulders. 
She wasn’t sure she could take much more of his touchy-feely behavior right
now.

After handing over the tickets to the dude who takes
tickets—she wondered what he was called—Kyle led her to the concession stand.

“Bucket o’ popcorn and two diet sodas, please.”  Turning
toward her, he confirmed, “Diet, right?”

She nodded.

“You go ahead and save us some seats.  I’ll get all this.”

Niki walked down to theater number eight through the propped
open door.  When she turned the corner to look at the seats, the place looked
pretty full.  The only seats she found were way in the back at the top of the
stadium seating.  She sighed and climbed the stairs, disappointed she wouldn’t
be able to leave an empty seat between her and Kyle.

A few minutes later, Kyle climbed the stairs slowly,
struggling with the two sodas and giant bucket of popcorn.  She felt bad as she
watched him keep his left leg mostly straight, inching up one step at a time. 
He leaned his elbow against the railing and took a brief respite.  When she
stood to go help him, he shook his head.

By now, his posture and slowness drew the attention of
others.  A young kid bounded over towards him.  “Hey, mister, can I carry your
popcorn?”

Niki held her breath.  Kyle looked at the boy and then over
at his parents who were oblivious to the whole scene.

“I promise I won’t drop it.”

“Sure.”

The young boy eased the popcorn from Kyle’s arm, careful not
to spill any or bump the sodas.  Then he matched each of Kyle’s labored steps
until they reached the last row at the top.  Niki scooted over so he could sit
on the end.  Once the sodas were in the cup holders, he sat down and the boy
handed him the popcorn.

“Thanks,” Kyle said.

“Daddy said you’re one of those veterans.  Saw your picture
in the news last fall.  He says you saved a bunch of people’s lives and that we
should always help the veterans.”

Her breath caught as Kyle swallowed hard.

“That’s right.  What’s your name?”

“Jack.”

The air
whooshed
from her lungs at the eerie
coincidence.

“Well, thank you very much, Jack.  My name is Kyle, and this
is Niki.”

The boy waved.  “You let me know if you need any more help,
Mr. Kyle.  I’ll be right down there,” he said pointing to where his parents
sat, craning their necks up at them.  They both smiled as their little Jack
bounded down the stairs.

Kyle sat completely still for a good minute.  His jaw
twitched and his eyes remained focused straight ahead.  Then he rubbed his hand
over his face as if it would help wipe away the pain she saw there.  He sighed,
followed by a nervous laugh.

Just as she took a big gulp of her soda, he asked, “Make out
section, huh?”

Niki choked on her soda, some of it threatening to come out
her nose.  She managed to keep it all contained and swallowed it.  Then a
coughing fit overtook her.

He patted her on the back.  “See, now isn’t this fun?”

She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

“So you mean you didn’t want to make out?”  He flashed her
that insanely charming smile, melting her heart this time.

“No,” she whispered.  For the first time she noticed the
charming smile hid the sadness in his eyes.  For several seconds, she had a
hard time tearing her gaze away.

Snapping out of it, she reached for the popcorn.  “I thought
that was my bucket o’ popcorn.  Where’s yours?”

Kyle chuckled, a deep sound that warmed her all the way to
her toes.  “I thought you might be willing to share.”

She eyed him skeptically and took the bucket from his
reluctant grasp.  She held it up, acting like she was inspecting it.  She
sniffed at it.  She even held it up to her ear pretending to listen for some
hidden sound.

“Niki Turner.  You don’t trust me?”  He put a hand over his
heart, feigning a wound.

“I don’t trust the Kyle Jacobs that I went to high school
with.”

“Will it ease your mind if I eat some first?” He reached for
the bucket to pull it back to his side.

“No.”  She swatted his hand away.

She took a few bites, protecting the bucket from him.  He
drummed his fingers on the arm rest between them.  Then he sipped his soda. 
Then he turned and gave her the cutest puppy dog look.

“Fine.”  She handed it back.

He smiled and settled the bucket on the arm rest between
them just as the movie previews lit up the big screen.  She smiled as she
shifted in the chair to get more comfortable.

By the end of the movie, Niki had completely forgotten the
dramatic dinner attempt earlier in the evening.  When she started to rise as
the credits rolled, Kyle placed his hand on her arm.

“Can we wait for it to clear out a bit?”

She nodded, smiling.  Was she having…
Fun?

When the theater was almost empty, he stood stiffly.  He moved
over and rested his weight heavily against the hand rail.  She matched his
pace.  By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, the cleaning crew had
half of the theater tidied.

Stepping into the brighter light of the hallway, she glanced
up at Kyle.  His face looked pale and perspiration dotted his forehead.  He
stopped for a moment, looking desperate for a break.  She pretended to need to
use the restroom so he could have a minute.

As she stood in line inside the restroom she was certain he
must have been discharged for medical reasons.  The pain on his face looked
pretty intense even though he tried to hide it.  Then the kid said his dad had
seen Kyle’s picture in the news.  She didn’t recall anything, but she didn’t
stay up on current events.

Slowly the line inched forward.  After ten minutes of
standing in line, she turned around and walked out.  She quickly spotted Kyle
on a bench.  His color looked better and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ready?”

He nodded, smiling.  He held out his hands for her.  Then he
pulled himself up from the bench, keeping hold of one of her hands.

As they walked back to her car, he asked, “So, how was our
first lesson?”

“First lesson?”

“In learning how to have fun?  Did you have fun?”

She smiled.  “I would say you are a good teacher.  And yes,
I had fun.”

She dug in her purse for her keys.  Her smile faded. 
“Where—”

“I drove last, remember?”

Kyle took her hand and placed the keys in them.  His fingers
lingered against the palm of her hand.  Tingles traveled up her arm, matching
the strange fluttering in her stomach again.

“Um… Yes, that’s right.”  When he moved his hand back to his
side, she almost dropped the keys from nervousness.  She managed to keep a hold
of them and disarm the car.

The ride back to her house took only a few minutes.  She
pulled the car into the garage, not able to stop her smiling.  When they
entered the house they were greeted by an upset Marcy.

“Where have you two been?” she said with hands on her hips.

“Having fun,” Niki answered.

“I’ve been texting.  I even left you a voicemail.”  Then Marcy
turned on Kyle.  “When you didn’t come back, I got worried.  I thought
something bad happened. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“I was busy with my pupil.  I thought instead of cutting
Niki down, I would help her learn to have fun.”

Marcy blinked and her mouth hung open.

Kyle wasn’t done.  “You owe Niki an apology.  What you did
at dinner was completely uncalled for.”

Marcy looked at Niki.  Her shoulders slumped.  “I’m so
sorry.  I didn’t mean to say all those things.  I just want you to be happy.”

Though she appreciated the apology, it would have meant more
if Kyle hadn’t forced it from her.  But, she couldn’t stay mad at Marcy—she was
the only one left who cared about her.

“I forgive you, Marcella.”

Marcy engulfed her in hug.

“Since my work here is done, I thought I might head home.”

Marcy turned back on him.  “You are not riding that bike
home.  I’ll take you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Look at you.  You look like you’re ready to drop.  What did
you do, try to run a marathon?”

Kyle didn’t answer.

“Come on,” Marcy said, grabbing her keys.  “You can wheel
the bike into the garage and we’ll see that you get it back later.”

“Ha!  I’m sure.  You’ll probably hold it hostage.”

“Whatever it takes, big brother, to keep you safe.”

Niki smiled at the exchange.  Their banter reminded her of
how she and Jack used to go back and forth.

“Goodnight, Niki.  I’m glad you had a fun time.”

“Goodnight, Kyle,” she said as Marcy dragged him out the
door.

Kyle climbed in Marcy’s car and closed the door.  He leaned
his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes.  The searing pain
shooting through his leg overwhelmed him.  She was right.  It was stupid to
ride the bike.  Honestly, he would not have been able to drive home.

The sound of her door shutting caused him to open his eyes.

“What was that all about?”

“What was what about?” he countered.

She said with a nasally voice, “Goodnight, Niki.  I hope you
had a good time.”

She stared at him for a minute before starting the car.

“Nothing.  I just thought our little date was fun and I
wanted to make sure she did too.”

“Hmm.”