Always & Forever (Nick & Bailey #2)

16. Ian

Unfortunately, V's household was all out of sulfuric acid. Which means that Ian is stuck with the image of Nick and Bailey having sex being ingrained into his mind forever. He doesn't know if they were having sex technically, but it was definitely close enough.

He wanted to help V clean up from the party, but he had to get out of that house as soon as possible. The incident was way too fresh.

Driving home, he decides to take the long way across town, stopping at McDonald's for a vanilla milkshake and cheeseburger. Nick and he had perfected the best meal to cure a hangover years ago, and it was definitely needed today.

In the past, he would have ordered three meals and brought them home for Bailey, Nick and him—but he couldn't do that now. Right? Wait...or could he?

When he saw Bailey and Nick this morning, it wasn't as bizarre as he would have imagined—disgusting, nauseating, or revolting, yes—but for some reason, kind of...acceptable. It's not the first time he's caught Bailey in the act, and he feels the same icky feeling in his gut as he did then. It was no more icky because it was Nick.

That fact is fucking him up more than anything else has.

After talking to Bailey yesterday, he had a couple of revelations. One: this is obviously not some fling that will be over in a month—at least not in Bailey's eyes. And two: it actually seems like they tried to stop it from happening for a long time. This wasn't some evil plot against him. It was actually closer to the opposite.

Ian knew Nick liked Bailey when they were all younger but assumed that he had outgrown it at some point. Now it seems like he never did. And if Ian is the reason that Nick always refused to get close to any other girl, that just makes him feel like shit.

By the time Ian gets home, he sees that Nick and Bailey are back from V's. He takes a deep breath, grabs the paper bag full of cheeseburgers and the three milkshakes and heads inside.

When he enters the kitchen he sees Bailey, alone, searching for food in the refrigerator.

"Hey," he says.

She turns around looking confused, like she isn't sure who would be saying hi to her in her own kitchen. She shuts the refrigerator without having grabbed anything and just looks at him. "Hi."

"I got you some breakfast," Ian says, grabbing a burger out of the bag and sliding a shake across the counter toward her.

She looks at the food. "Oh, okay. Thanks."

When she lifts her eyes back to him, she's smiling. She walks across the kitchen and pulls him into a hug. "Really, Ian. Thank you."

He returns the hug. "It's only breakfast. I was in the drive thru anyway."

When she pulls away, she's still smiling. "I know. And Nick is upstairs if you want to give him his."

Ian nods. "Wipe that ridiculous smile off your face. You're starting to look possessed."

She rolls her eyes but doesn't lose the grin as she opens the straw and sticks it into plastic lid. Ian grabs the remaining food and leaves her in her state of bliss.

As he knocks on Nick's door, a wave of nervousness threatens to consume him, but he brushes it aside. This is Nick— best friend since middle school.

"Yeah, come in," he hears from the room.

Ian opens the door and finds Nick rummaging through his closet, looking for something. "Have you seen my—"

He stops when he sees Ian at the door. "Oh. Sorry, I thought you were..." He trails off, not finishing the sentence.

Ian sets the food down on the dresser and chuckles. "I think it's okay if you say her name in front of me."