Nibble part 22

"That was," I said as we left the recording studio a few hours later. He didn't say anything, leaving my trail-off to float in the air as I tried to think of the perfect adjective. "Amazing," I finished, not able to think of anything else. He shook his head, scrunching up his eyebrows and looking at the ground, "No." I rose an eyebrow at him, in disbelief. Humble. Of course he was. Not about the way he could catch me off-guard, sweep me off my feet in the way that left me sitting on my butt in the middle of the road, dazed and confused- but when it came to his singing, a real talent, something that could actually be used- humble. Why hadn't I seen that coming? "Um, yea," I replied, and as he started to protest again, I interrupted him, changing the subject. I would have the last word here. "So," I said, "Is that all you do in the night? Do you just wait for me outside the department store after that?" He shook his head, grinning. "Nope," he said, "Sorry to disappoint."

"What?"

"I know you like the mental image of me sitting on the stairs, waiting for hours on end for you to come outside."

"Wha-"

"Don't argue it, I know it's true. Well, sorry, but that's not the reality of it." I gaped at him, stopping in my tracks as he stopped slightly ahead of me and turned to grin at me. "You," I said, "Are...just..."

"Let's leave it at that," he said, grinning as he tucked his hands into his pockets and walked ahead of me, "Do you want to see what else I do?" I bit my lip but couldn't resist the curiosity, so I followed him as he took me down another street.

A bar. I hadn't really been expecting that. I couldn't help but grin, though,

as the audience that clearly knew Nick cheered as he stepped up onto the

stage. As he sang another originally female song, All the Same To Me by Anya

Marina, I was entranced again, as if I hadn't just heard him singing a few minutes

ago. He performed for about 45 minutes before he stepped off the stage, waving

to the audience with is half-smile and walking back to me. When he approached

me, I was smiling widely. He seemed to be caught slightly off guard by my smile,

and he said, "Well, enough about me. How about you show me your poetry?" I

laughed, rolled my eyes, and shook my head, "I should have known this was

coming." He shrugged and half-grinned. "Well," I said, "I think I will, actually-"

this made his grin grow- "but it has to be in context. So we're going to the

department store." He shrugged, "Fine by me." We had to slip by a crowd of drunk

older men in order to get out. One of them reached out and pinched my butt. I

squealed and jumped away, and he winked at me. I winced and moved away, and

Nick, noticing, gave the guy a look of marked territory as he placed his hand on

the small of my back, which was bare, surrounded by my low-cut shirt. His hand

on my skin sent a chill through my body, and I glanced back at him for a moment-

a mistake. He glanced at me, too, just as I did, and we both blushed, looking away

from each other. He kept his hand on my back, though, until we were out of the bar.

© 2010