♡ ♡

I looked at my hair in the mirror, smiling widely. I turned around and told him, "You did so good!"

Nico straightened my hair, and even though it usually only takes me 30 minutes, it took him an hour. He was very adamant about not wanting to mess up.

"You made me look beautiful," I did a final spin in the mirror, making my dress rise a little.

"You look beautiful on your own," he said before kissing my cheek.

Butterflies. A smile. My heart warming in my chest.

This is what falling in love feels like.

"What are you going to do while I'm at work?" I asked him while we walked back out into the bedroom. "Do you wanna come?"

"I can't. I have to learn how to do something," he cleared his throat and was quick to follow up. "For work."

I nodded. He's probably learning a new tattoo technique or something.

I sat down on the bed, sprawling my legs out in front of me. Nico is taking me to work in about a half-hour, so I had some time to sit and mentally prepare myself for work. Even though it's not that hard.

"You okay?" Nico asked while pulling a shirt over his head in front of the closet.

I did a dramatic sigh, making the corners of his mouth turn up. I nodded, "I'm just trying to prepare myself for work."

"Just relax, baby. Want me to make you something to eat first?" he offered while walking over to me, his frame towering over mine since he remained standing.

I shook my head, "I'm still full from eating earlier."

He nodded, his fingertips grazing up and down my leg. I watched his arm move, tracing the tattoos on his veiny arm with my eyes.

"You want me to do something else that'll help you relax?" his raspy voice spoke.

I moved my eyes to meet his, his words making my heart skip a beat.

He quickly followed up with, "You know, like make you a smoothie?"

But both of my heartbeats were still beating wildly.

I shook my head, "You don't need to make me anything else, Nico."

Both of his hands wrapped around my calves, making my dark eyebrows lower. I opened my mouth, but was cut off by him dragging me out of bed.

"Nico!" I laughed while my clothing slid against the floor.

I heard him laugh slightly as he dragged me, my stomach moving against the flooring quickly and my brown hair now covered my eyes until I moved it out of the way.

I grabbed onto the doorway, my grip stopping him from pulling me any further. I turned my head around and smirked, "Ha-ha."

He gave me a look that told me maybe I shouldn't have said that so soon. He put his other hand around my ankle and pulled harder, making my grip slip as he was now pulling me towards the stairs.

"Nico!" I laughed, but the blood rushed to my face since the wooden floor made my dress go up and my butt become visible to him.

He released my leg once we were at the stairs, and I turned around so that I was laying on my back. He stared down at me with a smirk, "Need me to throw you over my shoulder?"

I sat up, my brown hair messy as I shook my head. He stood on one of the first steps in front of me, and I sat on the very first one. He suddenly bent down and nearly whispered, "No need to blush over me seeing what's mine."

My teeth tugged on my bottom lip, and I felt like his gaze could make me melt against the floor.

He put his hands under my arms and lifted me to my feet. All of the blood in my body rushed to my cheeks as he pulled my dress down for me, the fabric now covering my bare skin. His hand stayed on my back after, and goosebumps covered my skin as he slowly moved it to my hip, and my brown eyes locked on his green ones.

His free hand cupped the side of my face while the front of his body pressed against mine. His warm hand moved from my cheek to my chin, and tilted my head up to him while he pressed his lips against mine.

The taste of coffee still lingered in his mouth, and if I didn't know myself well enough I'd say that my heart starting to pound in my chest was from the caffeine and not from Nico. His smooth lips move easily against mine, but he goes slowly, allowing for me to breathe.

After he pulled away, he kept his forehead pressed against mine. My lips wanted to move back to his for more, but his hands cupping my face stopped me from moving.

"If you won't let me make you a smoothie, then I'll help you relax in a different way. Hmm?" his deep voice suggested, my legs immediately feeling weak.

His lips slowly turned up in a smirk, "I can see it in your eyes that your answer is yes, but I need to hear you say it first."

"Yes," the words flowed out of my mouth without hesitation.

He didn't let another second pass before putting his lips back onto mine. Our lips continued to move with each others as I walked backward into the bedroom, his hands on my hips guiding my steps.

The back of my legs was eventually met with the feeling of the bed, and I sat down on it. Between my legs was a warmth that seemed to intensify when I looked at him. His dark black hair and his green eyes matched so well, and his facial features didn't have a single flaw to me.

His muscular arms, covered in tattoos, with veins popping out of them. The way his warm hands feel against my skin makes me question if this is real, or just a dream.

But as his hands creep up underneath my dress and pull down my underwear, I know that it's very real.

My bareness was met with the air, yet it felt like I only grew warmer.

Even though my thong was now around my ankles, he leaned up on his knees and pressed his lips against my cheek. He followed this by kissing my jawline, then my neck, then my collarbone, and left a trail of kisses until he stopped at the bottom of my stomach.

Nico used his hands to spread my thighs apart more, giving him enough room to kneel in between them. His face leaned forward, and my legs trembled for a second when his tongue first made contact. But he used his tongue to lick around my clit, building up my want to feel him against me.

I tilted my head up to the ceiling and shut my eyes, a soft sigh coming from my throat as his tongue finally pressed against my clit. My teeth captured my bottom lip as the pressure of his tongue grew stronger.

I gasped slightly as his finger slipped inside of me, and my hands gripped the bedsheets beneath me.

His finger moved up, massaging around as a moan came out of me. His finger massaged my g-spot as I gripped his black hair, my inner thigh warm from his other hand moving up and down it. It slowly moved up, rubbing my boob as his tongue still moved in circles and his finger moved in and out of me.

His soft hair was in my hands while it also grazed my legs. It was so pleasureful that I wanted to push him away, but when I tried, he didn't move an inch.

He removed his mouth for a moment. He looked up at me as I released his hair, and he said matter-of-factly, "I'm not stopping until you finish."

His tongue instantly went back to moving in circles while his finger would massage inside of me before going out, then back in again.

My toes curled in my socks against the wooden flooring, the muscles in my legs shaking occasionally.

I moaned as I felt myself building up. The movement of his tongue and fingers were so calculated, making sure that I was getting pleased the best that I could be.

He continued to finger me, but his thumb replaced where his tongue was as he started kissing my inner thighs. My skin felt hot, and I was positive that my cheeks were a shade of red or pink.

His thumb moved in circles against my clit as his finger hit my g-spot.

He put his tongue back where his thumb was, my heart beating wildly.

"Nico, I'm gonna..." I spoke breathlessly, but I couldn't finish my sentence as I felt myself about to release.

He moved his mouth down slightly as I finished, finishing in his mouth. My breathing was at its peak, my chest rising and falling quickly as my heart pounded in my chest.

He licked his lips as he removed his face from me, pulling my underwear back up before standing to his full height.

I stared up at him through my brown eyes, and at that moment, all of my thoughts came together at once.

I love Nico.

"Now you can go to work," he smirked at me before leaning down and kissing my hairline.

He held his hand out for me to grab, which I did instantly. I followed behind him down the stairs, but he would look over his shoulder to make sure that I wasn't going to fall.

The sun was going to start to set soon, so I smiled while my skin soaked up the sun until we got into his car.

Even though one of my favorite artists was playing on the radio, I couldn't even sing along since my brain was so occupied with something else.

How do I tell Nico that I love him?

What if he doesn't love me back?

From the way he treats me, I think he does. But I still can't turn off the anxiety that fills my mind.

His car slowly came to a stop in front of the flower shop, and I blinked harshly to try and stop myself from continuing to overthink.

"I'll be back here to pick you up at 10:00 pm on the dot," his deep voice spoke. "And I'll have food with me, because you haven't eaten enough today."

"Nico. For breakfast, I had bacon, eggs, and toast. Then for lunch, you made me steak, potatoes, and vegetables. Then a little bit ago, I ate an entire bag of chips and drank a Gatorade. Plus, you also made me eat an apple at one point," I listed off everything I had to eat today. "So I promise you don't need to spend your money on more food for me."

The look on his face didn't change as he replied, "Shut up."

His lips pressed against mine, preventing the laugh that I was about to do from coming out of my throat. The feeling of his lips on mine still lingered as I pulled away, needing to go inside to start my shift.

"I'm gonna have a surprise at home for you after," he told me. "Now go, I don't want your grandparents to hate me for making you be late."

I opened the car door, holding my dress down with my hands to stop the wind from blowing it up. I turned around to look at him over my shoulder as I opened the glass door.

And just like when I was nine, he was sticking the finger at me.

--------

The customers came and went, and almost every single interaction went the same way. I smiled at them, they smiled at me, and then they paid. I don't like to ask customers questions about their life because it makes some people uncomfortable, but I don't mind at all when they share. I think it's interesting to learn what's going on in a different persons life.

The sky went from blue, to orange, to black. The white lights lit up the shop, and I let out a deep breath. My eyes glanced at the clock, and I did a small smile seeing that I only had 30 minutes until my shift ended.

Then I'd get to see Nico again.

I bit my bottom lip while I smiled widely. I walked over to connect my phone to the speaker, deciding that I had gone long enough listening to the overplayed pop music on the radio.

I stared at my phone, my thumb hovering over the glowing screen while I thought about which artists' music I should play.

Snoop Dogg?

Tupac?

Eminem?

I felt too overwhelmed trying to decide, so I just put the radio on a different station so I didn't have to listen to pop. Luckily, it was a song that I knew.

I collected all of the wrapping papers from underneath the counter, wanting to organize them on the table behind me since no customers had been coming in. Which wasn't a shocker, since the sky outside was now dark, the only light being from streetlamps and stores.

I placed them down on the table, getting a little dizzy for a moment with all of the turning back and forth I needed to do.

I hummed to myself while I organized the wrapping paper. I moved it to be in the order of the rainbow, my brain feeling itched from how good it was starting to look.

The bell on the door behind me went, 'Ding.'

"One second!" I said nicely as I put the last wrapping paper in place. I looked at it with a smile, proud of the aesthetic look that it now had.

I turned around with a big smile, "How may I help-"

My voice shrunk in my throat until it was no longer there and my throat felt tight. My heart dropped to my stomach, and the store fell silent besides the quiet radio playing in the corner of the room.

There stood the guy that had been in here - twice. First time with a knife, and maybe even the second time, too.

But this time, he was holding a gun.

I gulped. It felt like I had the chills. Goosebumps covered my arms and legs, and I could feel my hands trembling slightly and my knees wanted to buckle.

The fluorescent lights lit up his face, which had nothing but a smirk on it. His finger rested on the trigger, which was pointed directly at my head.

I felt sick. If I weren't so nervous he'd pull the trigger if I moved, I would've gotten sick.

He licked his lips, amusement covering his face. I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but it felt as if there were hands wrapped around my throat.

He did an overly sweet smile, "Hey, Elle."

I barely managed to swallow my saliva. Him saying my name made me forget to breathe for a moment.

He took a step forward, but the counter was still between us. The gun now grazed my skin, making my heart skip a beat in a bad way.

"Lets see what you do without your little boyfriend here," he smirked.