His Unexpected Baby by Jamie Knight
Chapter Seventeen - Chad
There were several feelings I only really knew about by description. For most of my life, confusion was one of these. Even when my mom left dad and me in the lurch, I understood why. I didn’t like it, or really her very much, but I understood it. She wanted more money, and Dad was never going to be able to provide that. I was a bit baffled as to why she married him in the first place if all she wanted with money, but that question had its own set of answers — none of them very nice.
Nina was a puzzle I couldn’t even begin to solve. Not by myself. It seemed like such a contradiction yet still existed nonetheless. What was more, I was starting to have feelings for her, feelings I’d never had for anyone before. It was becoming clear I was going to need an outside opinion, or I might go mad trying to figure it out.
“Hey, man,” John said, picking up on the first ring.
“Feel like going out tonight?” I asked.
“Of course, Lay Muerte Grande?”
“La Muerte Grande,” I agreed.
The old little Mexican pace with the possibly mistranslated name had become our favorite spot. It helped that I didn’t get hassled there. It wasn’t on the map of my new and ever-lengthening list of enemies.
I spotted John’s Camaro as I pulled into the lot. Sparking suspicions that he had been there all along. He was in the throes of planning a wedding and was likely looking for any reason to escape. No matter how much he loved his future wife.
“Well, aren’t you pleased as punch,” John teased, sliding a beer toward me.
I was about to protest when I realized that he was right and to deny it would be an outright lie. Something I tried to never do with anyone. I’d seen the pain that could be caused by dishonesty.
“Shelly’s here,” John offered.
“Who?”
“The cute skeleton with the nice chest you were making predator eyes at.”
“Predator is a bit much,” I muttered, without much conviction, but when I didn’t look around, John frowned.
“What’s up?” he asked, looking very perplexed.
There really was no way to get anything past him. Not that I minded too much. I was desperate to tell someone about what was happening with Nina, and he’d given me a perfect opening.
“I’m in a jam, man.”
“Go on.”
Okay, this was more difficult. There really was no easy way to admit I’d take the virginity of my 21-year-old trainee and was continuing to be with her.
“It’s a girl,” I said.
John’s face didn’t change. “Notice my complete lack of shock.””
“Okay, that’s fair. This is serious, though.”
“How serious? Near-death serious or going to jail serious?”
“Nothing that bad. I’ve decided to try an intern program at the garage. Pick up the slack now that I’m short-staffed.”
“Bet Will loved that,” John smirked.
“Not really, not at first anyway, but that is part of the problem.”
“What’s the rest of the problem?”
“Nina,” I said, in a way that could be described as dreamy.
John raised his eyebrows. “A female intern?”
“A 21-year-old trainee,” I corrected, “and I took her virginity. She was gone in the morning.”
“Isn’t that what you prefer?” John asked, not unfairly.
I shrugged. “Usually, yes, but Nina is different. I like being with her, and the biggest concern I had about seeing her at work was if she was okay with what happened.”
“Sounds like you’re in love,” John said with a wink.
“I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean. Up until last week, I was fine with a girl fucking and fleeing. Preferred it, actually. When Nina wasn’t there, I thought something had gone wrong, that I’d hurt her, or she regretted her decision or something.”
“Almost like you care about her,” John teased.
“Yeah, I do,” I admitted, to myself as much as my old friend, “but that’s not all of it.”
“Interesting, do tell.” He sat back and took a swig of his beer.
“Well, she speaks French.”
He laughed. “Scandalous. Dump her immediately.”
“I’m serious. Besides, it’s not that she was speaking French. It was the context.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Was it dirty French?”
“No, that I wouldn’t have minded. Not that I would know anyway. It was the sort of trick Mom used to pull before she left, and I recently found out that Nina was born rich.”
“I’m still confused as to what the problem is. She’s not your mom, and she wasn’t born with two heads.”
Well, damn, if he was going to put it that way, I didn’t see what the problem was either. Not that I could put my finger on, anyway. There seemed to be more to Nina than met the eye, and I wondered what it was. She said she wasn’t rich herself, but I wondered if I could separate her from her family money. Dunn was a big name in Texas and one that came with a lot of baggage.
“I think something is going on with her but can’t figure out what. I care about her more than anyone before, but it seems like she is hiding something.”
“Ask her,” John said, as though it was the easiest thing in the world. “The worst thing you can do is keep things bottled up. You should know that better than anyone.”
He was right, of course. He was usually, particularly in terms of human relationships. I vowed to have it out with Nina and clear the air. It was the only way we could really move forward.
