Brayden sat at the kitchen table, a coloring book full of G.I. Joe figures sat in front of him while tons of crayons were spilt around him. He held onto a navy crayon tightly, his tongue slightly sticking out of his mouth as he concentrated on coloring one of the many soldiers.
He looked up as his dad skidded across the kitchen floor in his socks, looking frazzled. Brayden laughed silently and looked back down at his artwork. Nick grumbled something and put his hands on his hips. Brayden looked up again, "Daddy? What's wrong?"
Nick looked over his shoulder and shook his head, "Nothin' kiddo."
"Is Granma comin' today?"
"She should be here in about ten minutes...wanna put a movie in?"
"Yea!"
"Ok..what movie??"
Brayden looked thoughtful for a moment before he exclaimed, "POKEMON!!"
Nick just shook his head with a rueful smile on his face, that kid loved Pokemon. Brayden ran for the living room yelling, "I put it in! I put it in!"
Nick walked into the living room where he found his shoes he'd been looking for. He sat down on the couch, reaching for them, "Alright..put it in and get comfortable."
Brayden did so and sat back in his chair. Nick stood up just as the doorbell rang and he walked down the hall to get it.
He opened the door to see Brian standing there, "Hey man, you ready?"
Nick nodded, the guys had persuaded him to go out again, "Yea..come on in, I gotta find my jacket.."
"We're supposed to meet everyone there...where's Brayden?"
"Living room..I gotta go call my mom too..I'll be right back."
Brian nodded and continued his way through the hallway and to the living room. Brayden had moved off his chair and sat Indian-style on the floor in front of the tv. Brian ruffled the child's hair, "Hey you..whatcha watching?"
"Pokemon!"
"Cool..how you doin'?"
"I'm good! Are you and daddy going out?"
Brian nodded and sat on the couch, "Yeah, we sure are. Your grandmother is supposed to watch you."
"Yea..she not here yet though."
"She'll be here in about five minutes.," Nick said coming into the room with his jacket in hand.
"So..we gonna meet this Jordyn chick you been talkin' about?," AJ asked over the music later that evening.
"She's not here AJ.," Nick replied, taking a swig of his beer.
"No shit sherlock. I'm beginning to think she's a figment of your imagination..any of the guys ever met her?"
Nick shook his head, "No. They haven't. She's busy dude....you all'll meet her soon."
AJ nodded and looked up as Sarah (his girlfriend) came back from the bathroom, "Hey baby..wanna dance?"
She nodded, "Sure..come on."
Nick sighed as the two made their way onto the dancefloor. All the guys had come with their girlfriends or wives..and once more, he was the odd man out without a woman. He felt a small vibration come from his pocket and looked down to see the green light on his cell phone light up the screen. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the number..it was one he recognized vaguely. He got up and left the table, looking for a quiet corner so he could actually hear himself and the other person.
He walked outside the club and around the corner, "hello?"
"Nick?"
"Jordyn? Hey, what are you up to?"
"Driving downtown..what are you doing?"
"At a club with the guys..where are you at exactly?"
"Comin' down 5th street right now...what club you all at?"
"Ummm...the one on the corner of 8th and Main."
"Mind if I join you? I just had the crappiest blind date of my life."
Nick cracked a smile, "Sure..the guys wanna meet you anyways."
"Awww man, and I would look like shit too.."
"I'm sure you look fine..I'll wait outside for you."
"Alright, I'll be there in like a minute."
"Okay..see you then."
"Bye Nick."
He waited outside for a few more minutes before he spotted her walking from the direction of the parking lot. His jaw dropped and his mouth went dry while his hands got all cold and clammy...the girl was looking good. Jordyn pushed a strand of hair from her face as she reached him, "Hi."
"Hey...you said you looked like shit..how the hell do you look like shit wearin' something like that?"
She smiled, "Well...lets just say, I feel like I look like shit.."
"What happened?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed, "One of my co-workers set me up with this guy she knows...he lives in her building or something like that. Anyways, the guys' name is James, he seemed like an okay guy at first but then he started to namedrop all the celebrities he knows and talk about himself and his 'really cool' SUV. So then, he was just annoying. I swear..some guys are just...immature forever, they never grow up."
Nick chuckled, "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too.."
"Come on, I'm sure the guys are wonderin' what happened to me."
"Do I really look okay?," She asked, pulling on Nick's arm to make him pause.
He looked at her, the knee-length skirt and the long-sleeved, dark purple tight shirt, "You look fine."
"OKay..if you say so."
He nodded, "I do..now c'mon."
Jordyn got a little more nervous as she spotted Nick's groupmates, and some women she guessed were their girlfriends/wives, at a table not far from them now. She pushed the nervous feeling away and took the hand he offered her to 'help' her up the steps that led up to to the table.
AJ looked up as he spotted Nick come in the door followed by a fairly tall brunette. He smiled and leaned over to nudge Howie, who in turn nudged Kevin and so it went around the table till they were all staring at Nick and the woman.
Nick caught all their eyes and glared at them, silently pleading for them not to totally embarrass him.
"Who's your friend, Nick?," LeighAnne asked as the two finally reached their group.
"Guys, this is Jordyn. Jord, that's Brian, Kevin, AJ, Howie, Kristen, Sarah, LeighAnne and Stephanie."
Jordyn gave a small wave to them all, "It's nice to meet you all, I've heard great things about everyone."
"So this is the infamous Jordyn, it's about damn time Nick.," AJ said.
Sarah punched him in the arm, "AJ.."
"What??"
She leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Don't embarass him."
AJ shrugged, "Whatever, I won't."
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