Federal Affair

Chapter 21

"This is the worst pizza I've ever had," Nick chuckled with his mouth full.

"There is nothing wrong with spinach, onions and vegan cheese," Monica said matter-of-factly, pointing her finger at him as she happily took another bite.

"Actually I have to side with Nick on this one," I giggled, enjoying my double cheese and black olive pizza, which everyone thought I was crazy for liking so much.

Ten minutes into a heated make out with Nick in my Honda, Monica had called, interrupting us. She offered to order a pizza and have me stay the night watching movies, but since I was with Nick, I asked if the three of us could all go out and get pizza together. An hour later, here we were at Monty's on the north side of downtown.

Monty Finny was a strange, enthusiastic Italian man. Monica had dated him off and on when we'd first started working at the firm together. He was a nice guy but he sure could wear on your nerves quickly. Monica and I used to joke that he belonged in a circus with that personality of his. She told me she'd only dated him because he was really good in bed but I found that hard to believe.

The perk of Monica and Monty having been together was that we always got free pizza when we went to his parlor. He seemed to think free pizza was the key to winning Monica's heart back.

"You're just biased with your olives and lack of pizza versatility," Monica mumbled through bites of pizza, coughing slightly when she laughed.

"I don't know," Nick chuckled, pushing away his half eaten slice of Monica's pizza. "I'm pretty sure I'd pick olives over spinach any day, too. This ain't cutting it for me."

"See," I said, raising my eyebrows to Monica. "There are people who favor my lack of pizza versatility."

Monica scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Mine's still the best though," Nick claimed and puffed out his chest with a grin.

I pulled a piece of pepperoni off and stuck it to his cheek with a light slap. "Yours can kiss mine's ass."

"I'm offended," he gasped, flashing me his award-winning smile as he peeled it off his face and tossed it onto Monica's spinach, causing her to make a gagging noise.

I stared at Nick, admiring the way his hair flopped to the side in different lengths. It looked like he'd had his hair layered. It suited him well. Looking at him made me want to run my hands through his hair and tug at the ends softly while kissing him.

We continued to sit there, eating and laughing for another forty-five minutes until Monty came out from the kitchen and asked Monica if she wanted to go do something - which I knew meant they were going to go back to her place because his was the equivalent of a dumpster - and get it on all night. I loved Monica but her choice in men really worried me sometimes.

"Do you need to be anywhere?" Nick asked as we got up to leave.

"No. I'll probably just go home and watch a movie or something until I get tired."

"Or..." Nick smirked suggestively, opening the door for me.

I cocked an eyebrow, feeling a smile tug at the corners of my lips. "What are you getting at?"

He smiled, putting his arm around my waist as we walked down the sidewalk to our vehicles. Since we'd arrived at the firm separately, we drove to the parlor separately so one of us wouldn't have to take the other back to get our car.

"How about you take me back to your place," Nick suggested, retrieving his keys from his back pocket. "And we can just make a night of hanging out. You can tell me about all the pictures on your walls or something."