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Nico shook his handsome blonde head. “You are the only woman I know that actually eats her food instead of throwing it up. I have no idea how you manage to keep such an excellent body.”
I huffed. “I run a shit load of miles to try and atone for my lazy life here. Sometimes I feel like I am going to wake up again in my trailer and this will all be a dream.”
Nico laid a hand on my arm, “You are an amazing girl, Sutton.”
I leaned my head on his broad shoulder, “You are an amazing friend, Nico.”
He chuckled. “Let’s get out of here before I tear up and you starve to death.”
I followed Nico out of the restaurant and onto the street. The driver that Mark had assigned to me pulled forward and I got in when Nico opened the door. He was just about to follow me in when he heard someone calling his name.
Nico looked up and down the street and paled when he noticed a tall man with curly brown hair and chocolate colored eyes. He was wearing paint-spattered jeans and a t-shirt that looked like it was painted on his muscular chest.
“Antonio.” The usual warmth in Nico’s voice wasn’t present as he greeted the other man.
“Nico, I have called a dozen times. Why haven’t you answered?”
Nico glanced down at where I was sitting.
“You can go if you need to,” I said softly.
Nico’s hands tightened on the door, “I said that I would help you, Sutton.”
He sounded angry almost.
“Nico, you can’t ignore me forever,” Antonio continued. “Just talk to me. I thought we had something good together.”
A car behind ours honked and Nico flinched. Without answering the other man, he swiftly sat down and shut the door. I could see Antonio’s shoulders slump a little. His brown eyes were so expressive! I could tell that he had deep feelings for Nico. But I wasn’t sure if I could pry into Nico’s affairs. I really liked him as a friend and didn’t want to lose him.
“Go ahead and say it. I know you are dying to.” His dry rasp caught me off guard. Nico sounded—haunted.
“Who is he?” I whispered as gently as I could.
Nico’s jaw was like granite. “He is an old boyfriend.”
“Did he cheat on you?” I had to ask. I couldn’t imagine what would have made Nico so upset unless it was infidelity.
“No.” Nico’s lips pursed. “He left me.”
“You broke up?” I asked.
Nico shook his head. “No, one morning he was just—gone. I was terrified that something terrible had happened. I called all of the hospitals and morgues. I contacted the police thinking that someone had hurt him. Come to find out, he had left for Spain. A painting master had offered him an internship and he took it.”
“He didn’t even leave a note?” I asked incredulously.
“No fucking note, no goodbye, no explanation. Now he is back in town after a year of nothing and he wants to talk to me. I can’t do it, Sutton. I fucking loved him, and he left me. I am not something he can put on a shelf and play with when it suits him. I have feelings, and I deserve more than that.”
I slipped my hand into his larger one, “You deserve so much more than that. I am so very sorry.”
He took a deep breath and then another. I noticed that his lips weren’t as tight and saw the muscle in his jaw start to relax.
“Thank, Sutton,” he said finally.
I wrinkled my brow. “For what?”
He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, “For being you.”
Chapter Fifteen