| Chapter Five |
| JC chuckled as he sat with Nikki on the couch, each nursing a mug of coffee. “You know, Nikki, you’ve been laying around this house for 2 weeks. How’re you feeling?” “Alright. Still a little tired.” Her eyes closed for a moment as if to prove her statement. “You wouldn’t be feeling awake enough fo maybe, say, that vacation we talked about?” Nikki’s eyes widened as she placed her mug on the table. “Nu-uh!” She squealed and jumped on top of JC. “Aah, I love you, I love you!” She leaned back onto her haunches. “So, where’re we going?” He smiled at her and pulled a travel guide out of his pocket. “How does a cabin in the Rockies sound?” He held up a finger to silence her. “Do you mind spending Christmas there?” She shook her head emphatically, “Not a bit. Wow… this is so cool!” She grabbed the brochure and layed back, flipping through it. ~ “Do you realize this place has a hot tub? On the porch?” Nikki asked as she settled herself across from JC on his bed. “Its 28 degrees out, and we have an outside hot tub.” She delt out a quick game of cards. “I wanna live here.” JC visably rolled his eyes, “You say that everywhere. One of these days you’ll have a house in every state.” He threw her a three, “An expensive hobby; house collecting.” She punched his arm and lay down her cards, “I win.” He stared at her cards. “You must have been cheating. There’s no way…” Nikki giggled and stretched herself out next to him, ‘I love being your best friend.” “The feeling’s mutual.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Tired?” “Yeah.” She murmmered. “I think I’ll take a nap on my b-“ She silently fell asleep. JC smiled warmly and pulled a quilt over her, “Night sweetie.” ~ The next morning, Nikki awoke to the sound of a crackling fire. Sitting up, she stumbled into the living room and saw JC spread out in front of the fireplace, reading a newspaper. “Anything interesting?” She asked, taking a seat on the ottoman. He smiled a good morning and shook his head. “Not a thing. How’d you sleep?” “Great. But something’s bothering me.” She furrowed her eyebrows and sighed in frustration. He immediately scooted over to her and put an arm around her. “What’s the matter?” “The hot tub looks lonely.” She stood and ran out of the room to find her bathing suit, laughing. “You’re such an actress Nikki!” He yelled down the empty hallway after her. |