His to Steal

Ch. 23: The Truth (Part One)

Sutton

The week following move-in day was tense. Hell, who am I kidding? It is still tense around here. Jason and Nicolai are at each other's throats constantly; if they are in the same room, they're either shooting daggers at each other or flat-out trading insults. Dominique has had to break them up at least three times to save all our sanity.

Things between me and Jason are tense. He keeps trying to talk to me about the kiss, and I keep putting him off. Every time I'm in a room alone with him, he sidles up next to me and the first words out of his mouth are, "Sutton, we really need to talk about—" But I immediately find a reason to end the conversation. I know I need to face it, especially living in the same house as him. But I can't. I don't want it to start a fight between us. Not when I'm living here and don't really have another choice.

Especially when Nicolai is here. Because the tension with Nicolai is this volatile mixture of irritation and pure lust. Every time he walks in a room, I go between wanting to rip his head off and rip his clothes off.

Something has to give here, and I don't think it's going to be Nicolai's head. As irritated as I am at him, I don't want to kill him. So that leaves the lust part. And I'm not sure that's the best idea either.

So now I'm sitting in my room on Friday night after playing at the club, and I haven't even bothered to change out of my dress and stilettos yet. Jason stayed behind to close up, and Dom is about to leave...and I'll be alone with Nicolai for the first time since we all started this fucking twisted Brady Bunch situation.

"Sutton, I'm about to leave, you need anything?" Dominique says from my doorway.

I look over and shrug. "I don't know. How about some nerve?"

She laughs and plops down on my bed. "What do you mean?"

"I need to talk to Nicolai about everything and I just can't seem to get up the courage to do it. Like, what if he doesn't even care? What if he doesn't believe me? What if he doesn't give two shits if I really kissed Jason or not?"

Dominique stares at me and heaves a sigh. "Sutton, I love you, but you're really dense sometimes."

"Hey, I resent that."

"You know what I mean. You're smart. We all know that. But you get in your own way more often than anyone I know. Except maybe Nicolai himself. That boy most definitely cares about anything and everything to do with you. Especially to do with your lips on another man. Why do you think he's here, Sutton?"

"I—"

"Didn't think of it that way, I know. But trust me. He cares. You should talk to him," she says, hopping up off my bed and looking over her shoulder on the way out. "Like, now. While you have the chance to be alone." And with a wink, she's gone.

I look across the hall after her into Nicolai's room. It's empty, and his door is open. He must still be in the kitchen getting a snack. I've noticed he does that every night about the same time I do. Maybe, if I go by Dominique's theory, that's not a coincidence.

I get to my feet and pace in front of my bookshelf. Maybe I should go in there and—

"Planning on going back out?"

Nicolai's voice startles me from my thoughts. "Oh, no, I was just sitting here thinking and got distracted."

He steps into my room and leans against my dresser. "What were you thinking about?"

"About how tense it's been around here over the past few days."

His eyes roam up and down my body as his lips lift in a smirk that I feel everywhere. "Oh, has it been tense? I hadn't noticed."