I want You Deeper

Nicholas stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance. It was the last morning with Charlie. After brunch-followed by dropping her off at her place-he would have no reason to spend time with her again. He could drop by Justin’s office, sure, but if she didn’t want to see him after this, he certainly wasn’t going to push it.

His phone buzzed. He didn’t even have to pull it out of his pocket to know that it was his mom again, this time reminding him they were waiting for him. He wanted to reply that they should get started without him. It wasn’t like he couldn’t order his brunch when he arrived.

But his mother wouldn’t start without him. He had to be there so she could show him off to whomever would be at this brunch. That was what it was all about, anyway.

Sighing, Nicholas grabbed his hotel room key and headed for the door to his room. He supposed if he was really pressured to talk about it, he’d have to admit he was delaying because he didn’t want this morning to end. He wanted to prolong his time under the same roof with Charlie as long as possible.

They were all in the dining room and seated around a ridiculously long table when he entered. His mother had rented the same room they’d had for the dinner Friday night, so it felt like it was a repeat, only the wedding was over now. A couple more hours and they’d be free and clear.

Nicholas tried not to think about that as he sat down next to Charlie. She was deep in conversation with one of his mother’s friends. Betsy or Bitsy or Mitzi-he couldn’t remember the woman’s name. Didn’t matter anyway. “You will have to join us. I know it sounds like something only older people do, but if you start now, you’ll be positioned for a leadership role by the time you’re in your fifties.”RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

He realized then that Charlie wasn’t deep in conversation with the woman. She was having her ear talked off. In fact, she turned to look at him and widened her eyes so briefly it was barely noticeable, as if to say help me!

“Sorry I’m late,” Nicholas said loudly, hoping that would stop the conversation next to him. It didn’t. In fact, conversation continued all around the table, making him wonder if anyone had even noticed his absence.

He sat down, eyeing the coffee cup in front of his plate. He’d used the one-cup coffeemaker in the room to get his caffeine fix that morning, but it had been far from satisfactory. Right now, if he could just get some coffee in his system, he could tackle any challenge this table would bring.

“Good morning, everyone,” his mother, apparently noticing at some point that Nicholas had arrived, called out as she stood to address the group.

Nicholas groaned inwardly. Still no coffee. He looked around and saw, sure enough, other people had their coffee cups filled. What were the odds they’d completely skipped him?

The odds increased as a group of servers arrived with plates full of food. They began setting them in front of people as Nicholas’s mom began her typical “Thanks for coming this weekend” speech. Nicholas didn’t want to interrupt, but coffee was pretty important. Besides, it wasn’t like she was saying anything all that urgent.

“Excuse me,” he whispered to the woman who sat a plate filled with scrambled eggs, fruit, and a croissant in front of him. No meat. If he couldn’t have caffeine, he at least needed some bacon or sausage.

Whether she hadn’t heard him or chose to ignore him, he wasn’t sure. But the server turned and headed back out the door. Shifting to one of the other servers, he tried to make eye contact, even lifting his hand slightly as she passed. It wasn’t easy to flag someone down when you couldn’t even speak.

“Excuse me!” he said much louder as a third server raced past him without noting his mostly quiet attempts to get attention. If he didn’t speak up now, he may not get coffee until well into his meal. He wasn’t even sure the servers would check back then.

But the two words seemed to fill the room, bouncing off the walls and making it impossible not to notice. Nicholas winced. He hadn’t meant to be that loud.

“Could I get some coffee?” he whispered to the server who had doubled back and leaned over to see his face. Whispering now would make it all better, wouldn’t it?

The server nodded and rushed out the door. He realized then, even after doing that, there was no guarantee she’d return with a pot of coffee. It was his fault. He shouldn’t have been late.

Donna, frown on her face, waited until all eyes returned to her again, then continued. “I learned this weekend that my other son, Nicholas, will be getting married very soon. I’ll be planning yet another wedding. Can you believe it?”

Attention turned to Nicholas. That was the last thing he wanted. He looked over at Charlie, hoping to divert some of that attention to her.

“Are you sure about that?” Caroline asked, seated halfway between Nicholas and his mother. He got his wish at that point. All eyes turned to Caroline. But he had a feeling whatever was about to happen was far worse than people watching him.