Double Dating

Chapter Eleven

It's weird... I smelled them before I saw them.

My most acute sense right now was smell. Everything else was blurry because of the car accident. I picked up on the smell of cologne amongst it all. A familiar scent coming from a familiar person.

Persons.

"Mia? Nelly?" Nico's voice cut through the ringing in my ears.

He peeked into the impaired vehicle and I could see his calculating eyes all over my body, checking every inch of me. Cole came behind him and did likewise, then gingerly opened the back passenger side door that Nelly was leaning against for support.

Cole grabbed her out of the car and walked over to their black car that had a massive dent in the front hood.

They.... they were the ones that crashed into us?

"You—" A man's finger landed over my mouth and I stared into Nico's eyes, just daring him to tell me to shut up.

He opted for much better words. "You've had a busy night. Let's get Nelly somewhere safe and then we can answer all of your questions. We need you to remain calm."

While he was talking, he was also multi-tasking by trying to pick me up out of the car. I dodged his every attempt and won in the end because he eventually moved aside for me to get out by myself.

Only because there were no other options, I accepted their offer for a ride to my house. My car was still parked outside of Devil's. At this time of night I wouldn't be able to get a taxi or an Uber; at least not one I'd trust to bring me home safely.

I briefly worried about Chris, not because I cared for him particularly, but he was a human being. Leaving him behind felt wrong. And then my mind recalled all of his friends in that skyscraper and I convinced myself that they would find him. So I turned away with a glimmer of guilt in my subconscious.

No words were exchanged as we drove out of the downtown area to where my apartment was located- Just on the outskirts of this ginormous city.

Nelly had fallen asleep almost instantly. She looked so peaceful in her slumber and I nearly forgot about all the bruises masking her body. Nico must've caught me looking at her in his rearview mirror because he let out a lengthy, over dramatic sigh. As if that would catch my attention and I would speak to them.

I did something I knew I would regret- I met his gaze in the mirror and the comfort of having them around settled in. It was too good, too perfect... I should've never made eye contact with him. Nico nudged his brother and Cole glanced in the mirror as well. My heart deceived my mind and forced me to remain looking at them.

Cole nearly missed a stop light. It would've been my fault. Mostly my hormone's fault though. I laughed when he had to slam on the brakes just to stop in time. He blushed at my laughter and Nico joined in on the fun. It didn't take long until the three of us were laughing at something that wasn't even that funny. It just made things less awkward.

Nelly remained sleeping even though conversation had picked up, despite my best efforts, believe me. And by picked up, I meant they started berating me with questions on what happened. For the third time tonight, I was answering questions faster than my mind could comprehend what I was saying. First, Christopher wanted to know everything about me, and then Mr. Young interviewed me as if I was applying to work for him, and now my boys were taking their turn.

After a dozen or so questions, my brain was done. "Can... Can we stop for tonight and continue this tomorrow morning?" I yawned and looked over at Nelly. I wanted nothing more than to have the ability to sleep anywhere like she can.