Surrender to Love (Sequel to A Fighting Chance- Nemi)

Chapter 11

Demi

"You never said Nick could be the one." My mom said, smugly, like she had me in a tight spot that I couldn't get out of.

I sighed, not sure of what to say for a few minutes, but she kept watching me, getting more smug by the minute. "You know I don't like to think about the future like that. I have no idea if he's the one. That kind of revelation will come over time. Now, can you stop talking about Carter & respect the fact that I am with a guy I love, who loves me?"

"Did you ask him to stop fighting?" Mom asked me, her eyes watching me, carefully.

I looked away, quickly & inhaled, impatiently. "I can't ask him to do that, but I did express my concern."

"Well, if he loved you, he'd stop doing it, if he knew it bothered you so much." Mom grabbed the dessert & nodded toward the stack of plates on the counter behind me. "Grab those plates & take them into the dining room. I'm done talking about your love life. You obviously know what is best for you." She gave me a look that let me know she was done talking about all of this, then she left the kitchen. I took a deep breath before I headed into the dining room.

When I sat the stack of plates on the table, I noticed Nick was gone, so I looked at my dad. "Where's Nick?"

"He went to get the dessert, but maybe he went to the bathroom first." Eddie said, eyeing the dessert mom placed in front of him.

I turned to go find Nick, when he appeared, suddenly. "Hey." I smiled. "I was just gonna come find you."

"Went to use the restroom." He stated, his gaze downward, as he sat back in his chair.

I sat next to Nick & put my hand on his leg, giving it a slight squeeze, but Nick acted as if I wasn't touching him. He took the plate my mom offered him & thanked her, flashing her a smile. He started eating his pie, still acting as if I didn't exist. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him, if there even was anything wrong. Maybe I was just being paranoid. As we ate our dessert, if Nick glanced at me, he'd flash a tiny smile, but only if I smiled at him.

My mom lightened up on Nick, thankfully & Eddie even started talking to Nick about baseball, which delighted Eddie, even if Nick was probably bored. Nick was being a good sport & seemed, genuinely, interested in what Eddie was talking about. I tried to engage my mother in some idle chatter, but she was short with me in all her responses. I was giving up on her for the evening.

Nick & I left around 8:30, which wasn't soon enough for me, since my mom was annoying me. On the ride home, Nick didn't talk too much, even though I tried to get him to. His parts of the conversation were meager, so eventually, I gave up on him too. When we got to my house, he turned the car off & walked with me to the door. I went in & he came inside, looked around, then as I closed the door, he sighed, running his hand over the top of his head. "I'm gonna go to my house. I'm tired & I have to get up early to do some training with Joe, then I have my final doctor appointment so I can be completely cleared to fight..."