"You think?" she asked.
As they were messin' around on the court, Nick pulled up in his vette. "Hey Frick, Dani, whats up?"
"Hey check out my three pointer Nick!" she cried while preparing to shoot.
While she was getting ready for the shot, Nick leaned over to Brian to whisper something to him. "Frick, could you ah leave us alone for a while man?"
"No prob." Brian said with a smile.
Nick then turned back to watch Dani shoot. "Nice shot Dani! Good coachin Frick."
"Well ah I gotta go see if Mick is watchin ESPN. See ya."
"Thanks for your help Bri!" Danielle exclaimed. "So you wanna play some one on one?" she said to Nick.
He smiled as he went to grab the ball from her. "Well we are pretty good at one on one, huh?"
Danielle realized what he meant and rolled her eyes."Ah hello b-ball you freak. Ready to play or what?"
Nick just stared at her and didn’t reply. Never in his life had asking a girl out been so hard. He'd been all over the world, dated all kinds of girls, but Danielle was different. She made him feel different. Maybe it was the fact that she knew him and treated him like a regular guy not a superstar.
"We could watch T.V. or something." she said as she bonce passed the ball to Nick.
Still contemplating what he was gonna say, he dribbled the ball. "What are you and Mick doin' tonight?"
Danielle shrugged her shoulders not knowing what they were doing. "Oh my God Nick guess what?"
"What?" Nick asked in curiosity.
Still dribbling and taking shots, Dani said, "I met this guy who was friends with you in middle school." she explained. "His name was Paul Reed."
Nick had to think for a minute. "Paul Reed, I hardly spoke to the kid in school. He's lying 'cause he wanted to sound like he knew me to impress you. You know 'cause of the Backstreet Boys and all." Nick said in jealosy.
"Well he did give me his phone number and I was gonna call him and hangout. I just wanted you to approve since you kinda know him. I mean he is sixteen."
"Age doesn’t matter!" Nick cried with rage.
Danielle dropped the ball and walked over to him. "What is your problem? I'd thought mabye you'd be happy for me. Guess not." she said as she turned to go inside.
"Wait!" he said running after her. He caught her wrist just before she reached the front steps. "I'm sorry. I just don’t want anyone to hurt you. Trust me, I did a good enough job of that myself. Tonight I wanted to make it up to you though." he said sincerely.
She looked up at him in confusion. "Nick its over. That was last year. I think I'm a little more mature than that."
Nick then released her wrist. "I know you are. I was just hopin' that we could hangout tonight."
"Well all you had to do was ask." she said still wondering why he was acting so weird. Never in his life had a girl been so easy going and cool. It turned him on in the biggest way and he couldn’t help but want to be with her. Just then it began to drizzle as the walked in the house.
"Give me the remote Mick!" Brian cried. "I am not watching Barney!"
All Mick could do was laugh as she hid the remote. "B-rok, tickle her anywhere!" yelled Dani to him.
As soon as he touched her, she laughed and released the remote. "Thanks a lot Dani. Tell him my weaknesses." she yelled to her sister.
"You have weaknesses? No?" Brian teased.
"Yeah lets go." she said as they both stood up and headed for the door. "Come on guys, you have to come with us."
Brian stood behind her and was shakin' his head no, trying to give Nick alittle message. Nick saw this and got the hint that Brian wanted to be alone with her. Michelle saw him look over her shoulder at Brian, so she quickly turned around. Brian waved at her like nothing was going on.
"Um, nah we're gonna hang tonight, but thanks anyway." When they stepped outside the rain let up, but it was still coming down.
"Here." Brian said. "Take my jacket."
Michelle looked at him in disgust. "Um, no I can handle it." she said as she headed for the car.
While they went off, Danielle got her shower as Nick watched T.V. "I'm ready." Dani said as she walked into the living room where Nick was sitting.
Danielle was wearing a cute little summer dress. There were two thin staps holding it up and it came just above her knees. Her hair was down with two little clips holding it back. Nick's heart melted as he tried to find the words to express what he was feeling. That little thirteen year old girl he met last year had now matured into a mature fourteen year old girl in every way. "You look great Dani. Let's go."
The rain had completely stopped as Brian and Mick arrived at the Canyon.This place was so beautiful and secluded. To get there you had to go down many windy roads and hills. Brian knew how much she loved that so he took her here. It was all worth it when he saw the look on her face as she stepped up to the railing. "I guess if you fell you'd be a pancake huh?" she laughed.
"Yeah.",Brian said with a smile.
Mick turned to him and smiled. "Thanks Brian. I love it here.",she said then turned back to look out onto the beautiful mountains.
Brian was wearing his blue Kentucky hat with a white t-shirt tht had a nike symbol and jeans. Michelle on the other hand was wearing addidas pants and sneakers with a tank top. There was something about her that made him want to be more than friends, but there was something holding him back and that was Michelle. "It looks like it goes on forever." she said breaking the silence.
"Yeah." he agreed putting his hand on her shoulder.
"If you look way back there you can see a river.",he added coming closer to her.
In discomfort, she moved away and continued to stare out towards the canyon. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothin'. You wanna go back now?" she asked uncomfortably.
Brian knew he, in her mind, had crossed the line,but he didn’t think he did anything wrong. He then walked closer to her and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "We just got here, whats the matter with you?"
Michelle turned away in embarrasement. "Why are you acting like this?"
"Like what Mick?" he asked knowing what she ment, but still wanting her to say it. "I took you out here because I care about you and I wanted to show you this. What's the big deal?" he asked.
"I just want to go back now ok?" she said with a frown.
He could see the hurt in her eyes and he couldn’t bare the thought that he had caused it all. "Why do you always, even in the beginning, push me away?"
Michelle couldn’t believe what he was asking. He wanted to know why she was the way she was. There was no way she was talking, no way.
"Are you scared of me Mick? Do you think I brought you out here to hurt you? Come on Mick, you're one of my best friends."
"Well friends don't touch each other." she replied.
"Mick, I put my arm around you and that’s it. Why are you so uptight?" he asked in confusion.
Michelle didn’t like this interegation one bit. Letting her emotions out wasn’t one of her favorite things and Brian knew it, but that didn’t stop him. She then walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Brian followed her and sat down beside her. "Whatever I did I'm sorry Mick. It means a lot to me that you forgive me.",he said sincerely.
She tried to hold the tears back, but they came out anyhow.
"Oh don’t cry darlin'. I am so sorry." he said softly.
"Talk to me Michelle."
"It's nothing. I just thought that we were good friends." she replied.
"Maybe that's why I brought you out here." he said nervously.
Michelle whiped her tears away and looked over at him in confusion. "Huh?"
"I was thinkin' maybe..well…we could be more than friends."
Michelle could not believe what she was hearing. Never in her life had anyone said that to her and she felt her stomach drop in nervousness.
"Look we don’t have to rush into it, ya know? We could maybe like go on a few dates and see what happenes. What do ya say?"
"I cant…I just cant." she blurted out quickly.
He didn’t want to say this, but he had to. "Look, if you don’t like me in that way I"ll understand."
Right then she wanted to tell him just how much he meant to her and how badly she's love to be with him. Instead she got up and walked to the car.
"If you need time, I understand. Did you break up with someone recently? Whatever it is I"ll wait for you." he explained.
How could she tell him that before was the first time in her life that she had never been touched by a man in that way. "No, trust me its not that."
"Tell me please.",he begged. "I want us to be together darlin'.",he said as he put his hands on her cheek and carressed it.
"Look she said, moving away. I've never been with anyone. Okay?",she said trying to get him off her back.
"So, you're a virgin? Big deal, you think that's why I'm doing this?" he exclaimed.
"No, I mean I've never been with anyone before.",she said again hoping he would get it.
He didn’t understand her until he realized what she meant. "Did you ever have a boyfirend?" he asked with hesitation.
"No." she said in shame.
With any other girl it would have turned him off, but not Mick. She was special to him and he wanted to be her first everything. First kiss and all,but he didn’t understand how she had managed to stay away from men for eighteen years. Some how she had done it,but he was gonna change all of that even if it killed him. "I don’t want to sound shallow, but how is that possible? You're so pretty." he told her.
"Guys just usually did what we did. You know, play sports and talk about how they wanted all of my friends. They usually would ask me for advice on it and I guess I gave some pretty good advice." she laughed.
Brian was in complete awe of her. She was the woman of his dreams and he didn’t even know it until now. He wanted to take her in his arms and show her what it was to love someone, but she wasn’t ready. "Hey why don’t we hangout tomorrow night?" he asked.
"You mean a date? I cant..I just cant.",she replied. "Listen girl.",he laughed. "It won't be a date technically. It'll be like a friend date. Come on?" he begged.
She agreed and they got into the car and drove back to the apartment. That drive home was the most uncomfortable experience of both their lives. Their relationship had taken a huge turn and hopefully it would remain as strong as it was before.
Chapter Seventeen
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