Feeling This

Chapter Seventeen

Mark felt like a dick. He had been on Tom's case for weeks about how he shouldn't flirt with Nicolette, and now here Mark was, doing the exact damn thing. Granted, all they had done was kiss, once, but they were still sneaking around, right this very second even.

Okay, technically they weren't sneaking around since everyone knew that the two of them were at the beach together. Travis had wanted to check out the mall while Nic had wanted to go to the beach, so Mark had offered to go with her. But what Travis didn't know was that Mark was holding Nicolette's hand as they walked across the sand.

It was so wrong; Mark knew it was. He was twenty-six years old. She was still in high school. There was no way he was going to be able to take her to prom. All the shit he had been yelling at Tom was even more applicable to Mark, considering he was almost nine years older than Nic rather than a mere five. So Mark felt a little guilty for giving Tom such a hard time...

But Tom had been an asshole, so that made Mark feel less guilty. Tom had done exactly what Mark had told him not to do: he had hurt Nicolette. Mark had told him to break up with her, not break her heart. And Mark had just so happened to be there to help pick up the pieces. Which totally made him the rebound this time, but Mark couldn't bring himself to care.

He had just hated seeing her so sad. He hated hearing all those things she had told him yesterday, how she felt like it was her fault, that she hadn't been good enough. Because it just wasn't true. Mark had known Nicolette for less than a month (though it felt like it was longer thanks to all the stories Travis had told about his niece throughout their friendship) and he already knew that she was one of a kind.

And that made him feel like an even bigger dick. Because even if Tom was an asshole to her, Nic was still his ex, and Mark couldn't help but feel like it was partially his fault. Granted it was Tom who had cheated on Nic, but Mark had a feeling that his argument with Tom back in Washington D.C. had been a factor in Tom's decision. He shouldn't have yelled at Tom; maybe then Nicolette wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Mark was such a shitty friend. Not only did he probably influence his best friend to make a horrible decision, but then he also violated the bro code by kissing his friend's ex-girlfriend after convincing his friend to break up with her in the first place. And his friend didn't even know about it. Not to mention that he was also going behind his other best friend's back in order to date said ex-girlfriend. So Mark was really just stabbing everyone in the back.

"It's really beautiful down here," Nicolette said, taking Mark's attention away from his negative thoughts.

Mark looked out at the ocean. It was nice, but he preferred the beaches back home. "Have you ever been to Florida before?" he asked. His eyes trained on Nicolette instead of the water; it was a better view.

She shook her head. "I've never gotten to do much traveling before, what with my mom always working. This tour has been full of new experiences." Nicolette laughed lightly, one that was more a release of air than a real laugh.

Mark frowned at the sound, knowing she was probably thinking about Tom. He brushed his thumb against hers. Nicolette looked up at him and gave a small smile, squeezing Mark's hand in response.

"What about you?" she asked, noticeably shifting the conversation away from herself.

"Yeah, we've come down here for Warped Tour a few times," Mark answered. "We actually played in Jacksonville on our first tour back in '95. The same bar that we're playing at tonight and everything."