Sam smiled after them, her heart full of love and happiness for Pavel—but then she remembered what Nikolai had said in answer to Pavel’s question about going to the Children’s Museum.
“Wait, did you say we were going on a plane tonight?” she asked Nikolai.
32
Yes, he did say that. As it turned out, they’d be flying overnight to Nikolai’s event on Thursday, spending the whole weekend wherever it was, and arriving back in Indianapolis late Sunday night. That meant she’d be spending two whole nights and two whole days with Nikolai. The man she’d sworn to stay as far away from as possible now that her pregnancy hormones were out of control and practically begging her to do things she really shouldn’t. With a man who’d straight up told her he didn’t believe in love.
With true dread in her heart, she stepped out on the porch of Ruth’s House after wrapping things up at work, awaiting the arrival of Nikolai who’d said he’d be picking her up himself.
To her surprise, though, when she got outside, she found Marco walking up the sidewalk towards the house instead of Nikolai.
She frowned. She’d gotten use to seeing Marco on rotation again—Nikolai had kept his promise. But ever since the news of her and Nikolai’s marriage and impending baby had hit the wires, things between them had been—well, awkward to say the least.
But here he was now, coming up the walk in his civilian clothes, nice slacks, and polo shirt. And he had flowers in his hand. Even more unexpected, he was walking in from the street and not from the side of the house.
“You parked on the street?” she asked him.
“Yeah,” he answered, stopping at the bottom of the steps. “Nyla kept giving me a hard time about parking behind Ruth’s House, so…”
He didn’t finish, just held up the flowers. “Um, is she here?”
Sam blinked. “Who? Nyla?”
“Yeah,” Marco answered, suddenly taking a huge interest in the sidewalk. “Last time I was here, she said she had finals coming up and I thought I’d bring her these. Like, you know, to say good luck.”
Normally Sam would have treated this news with extreme sensitivity, but this was Marco. And Nyla.
“Wait, you’re bringing Nyla flowers? Nyla Weathers? The one with all the piercings in her ears—and face?”
Marco looked everywhere but at her, and Sam had a feeling he’d be beet red if not for his olive skin tone. “Yeah, it’s not a big deal, Sam. The earrings come out. I think.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “But we have some things in common.”
“Things like what?” Sam asked, honestly curious.
Marco shifted. “Things like Death Buddha,” he answered, referencing the weird metal band Nyla had spent a year following around the country before she’d decided to be a grown up and go to grad school. “We’re both big fans and they’ve got a show coming up. I was thinking we could go together. I was thinking maybe I’d ask her about that tonight.”
He peeked up at her, “Think I should?”
Sam had to fight hard to control her laughter. Yes, she thought. This made a certain kind of sense. Marco, so loyal to his hood he insisted on staying on his beat after Nikolai had tried to get him kicked off of it. And Nyla, who Sam had complete trust would run the shelter well while she was away on maternity leave.
Suddenly Nyla’s generous offers to deal with Marco’s daily visits so Sam wouldn’t have to didn’t seem quite as altruistic as they had before.
“Actually, I think you should,” she said to Marco, happy to give the new couple her blessing. “But Nyla’s not here. She’s studying. Her last final is tomorrow, then she’s babysitting for me on Friday.”
Marco grimaced. “Oh…”
It was easy to tell in that moment that Marco had spent some time working up the courage to come over here and ask Nyla out.
“I guess I’ll try again on Monday,” he said.
“Yeah, Monday.”
In the distance, Nikolai’s Escalade pulled up and Sam said, “I’ve gotta go.”
Marco looked over his shoulder at the Escalade. “Yeah, I guess you do. Thanks for the talk, Sammy.”
“No problem,” she said. She came down the steps, prepared to walk past him, but at the last minute she said, “I can’t give you Nyla’s address…”
“I know,” he answered. “I can always look her up in the database—”
“No, you can’t, because girls like us consider guys showing up unannounced stressful and creepy,” she said. “I should have told you that before.”
And Marco looked down again. “Yeah. I guess that could come off kind of wrong.”
“But I can text you her number,” Sam told him. “And maybe you can text her, offer to bring her by something to eat. I remember being where she is right now, and getting food was a total hassle.”
Marco smiled. “That’s a great idea.”
“If she takes you up on your invitation, then you’ve got a green light to ask her out. If not, you should probably back down. So, do you still want her number?”
Marco looked from side to side like he was trying to decide between the blue and the red pill. “Yeah,” he said finally. “Yeah, I do.”
So that was how Sam ended up keeping her fake husband waiting while she sent her ex-almost boyfriend her soon-to-be assistant director’s number. Then of course she had to wait to see how it turned out.
Marco sent the text and less than a minute later, he grinned as he read out loud. “’Dude, you’re saving my life. How soon can you get over here with a burger?’”
Sam clapped her hands, truly happy for him and for Nyla.
Marco shook his head. “I’m just happy she asked for a burger. I was worried she’d be one of those vegetarians, and I’m already going to have a hard time explaining all the face jewelry to my mom if we start dating.”
Marco escorted Sam to the Escalade where Nikolai still sat, waiting.
“Hey, Mount Nik,” he said, acknowledging Nikolai with a small wave before continuing on down the street towards his own car.
Nikolai didn’t return the greeting and Sam noticed that his hands were gripped so tight around the Escalade’s wheel, his knuckles were white. But he hadn’t gotten out of the car, hadn’t yanked her out of the conversation with Marco. And Nikolai didn’t make any attempt to follow Marco as he climbed into his vintage Mustang.