Page 56 of Seal the Deal
“I told you I’m not moving in with you. Also, maybe you haven’t noticed yet, but the word relax isn’t really in my vocabulary.”
“Well, add it to that impressive vocabulary of yours, princess.Relax.”
“That’s not how that works. You can’t just tell someone to relax and they do it,” Andrew objects. “Besides I—” but he trails off when he takes notice of the direction Nicki is driving.
“Besides what,” Nicki prompts.
Apparently, he’s actually paying attention to Andrew, which is new. This is the point at which most people, even his brothers, start to tune him out.
“I forgot what else I was going to say,” Andrew admits, noting the way Nicki’s speed begins to slow.
“Okay.”
“Nicki.”
“Yeah?”
“Where do you live?”
“End of this road,” Nicki answers, following the curve of the street which runs parallel to the massive ocean front properties on Andrew’s righthand side.
Back when he and Charlie were still toddlers and both their parents were working seventy to eighty hours a week trying to make it for their family, hisabuelawould drive them down this exact road on the way to the nice park on this side of town and say“Mira mijos, one day you’ll have a house like that.”
It’s always been a pipe dream for Andrew. Even his parents, as successful as they are, could never afford one of these homes. Not in the current market, with the way most of the smaller properties were bought up over the last decade and built up, skyrocketing the prices.
“Which house is yours?” Andrew questions, pretty sure any of them would set you back an easy twenty million, if not more.
“The big white one,” Nicki answers as he slows down further, pulling up to a massive gated home. The security cameras turn toward his car before the gates open to reveal a curved driveway, leading to a stunning home on a corner lot.
The house is sleek and modern, with an expanse of windows that Andrew can tell would afford a perfect view for sunrise or sunset from almost anywhere in the home. Without stepping out of the car, he can tell the view is magnificent, the home’s position at the end of the lot affording it a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean.
Nicki is talking, but Andrew hardly hears him, stepping out of the car and inhaling the sea air. Immediately, his chest loosens as he follows the sounds of crashing waves. He crosses the driveway and the small side yard to stand at the edge of the cliffside, staring out at miles of sparkling blue.
It’sbeautiful.
Moving out of Charlie’s house a few years ago had been one of the hardest things he ever did, both because it was the first time he lived without him, and also because he missed the view of the sea from Charlie’s backyard. He’d ended up moving out and renting an apartment downtown when he’d accepted that no matter how much he loved Charlie, his chaotic hours weren’t conducive to Andrew having any peace.
While his current apartment is a closer drive to the beach than Charlie’s place, it doesn’t have a view. As someone soothed by both the sight and sound of the ocean, it’s inconceivable to Andrew that there are people who can live this close. Being able to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of crashing waves, to an endless blue horizon, would be a dream come true for Andrew. That there are people who get to wake up and fall asleep to this kind of beauty makes him unimaginably jealous. Knowing Nicki, the inside of the house is probably as fancy as the car he drives, but as far as Andrew is concerned nothing can surpass this.
“If you could create the perfect date, would you pick a night out on the town or a walk on the beach?” Nicki asks, appearing beside Andrew.
The question takes him by surprise, as does the realization that Nicki must’ve finally read his compatibility quiz—this question is plucked from the first page. He assumed Nicki threw it in the trash or something since he never mentioned it again. Apparently not.
“You took the quiz,” Andrew muses, turning his gaze on Nicki. The wind is blowing hard enough that it’s dislodged some of the hair slicked back on top, framing his handsome face.
“I did.”
“And?”
“I don’t think a piece of paper is going to be able to tell me if someone is compatible with me.”
Andrew tries and fails to smile. He should’ve known they wouldn’t have similar tastes.
“Night on the town then?”
“I love a night on the town. Wining and dining, or hitting a rage room,” Nicki says, “but?—”
“But,” Andrew prompts, unsure why his heart swells with hope.
