She was debating with herself whether she should ask him what was wrong, or just throw herself at him, when there was a knock on the door.
Nicole got up to answer it, but not before she noticed the look of relief that crossed Kent’s face. She felt her stomach jitter with disappointment.
Had he changed his mind about dating her?
She opened the door and Kara came bounding in.
“Road trip!” Kara yelled.
Nicole laughed as she watched Kara dance around the room with excitement.
Roni came out of her room and said, “Hey Kara, don’t you look cute.”
Kara had a teal blue tank top on with a long white skirt that was twirling as she spun around.
“Thanks, Roni,” Kara said, stopping to give the other girl a hug. “I so wish you didn’t have to work and were coming with.”
“Me too,” Roni said with regret. “But I do have a hot date with my brother to look forward to.”
“Best date in town,” Kent chimed in, as he came over to give Kara a hug hello.
“I’ll say,” Kara said with a wink. “Hey, Kent, I was going to ask if you wouldn’t mind giving Pete a call to hang out one night while I’m gone. I want my man to have some fun and not just sit around missing me.”
Kent chuckled at that.
“Sure, we could probably get a poker night together or something. No worries, I’ll take care of him.”
Kara beamed at him.
“Thanks.”
She turned to Nicole, “You ready?”
Nicole nodded and walked over to pick up her bag.
They all walked down to Kara’s car and Nicole put her bag in the backseat, opening the front zipper and pulling out a water to keep in the front with her.
She walked over to the curb where Roni and Kent were saying goodbye to Kara.
“Tell Bree and Colin we say “Hi”,” Roni was saying to Kara.
Kent didn’t say anything about Briana or Colin. He hadn’t since she’d brought up the trip, which made Nicole wonder if he still had feelings for Bree.
“I have to get going too,” Kent said, looking briefly at his watch. “You girls have fun,” he said to Nicole and Kara, then turned to Roni and said, “I’ll give you a call to set something up.”
He turned to each of the girls and gave them a kiss on the cheek before he walked away and got into his mustang. Nicole was left staring after him, as the other two girls looked on.
“What was that?” Roni asked Nicole.
“I’m not sure,” Nicole replied. “Ready, Kara?”
“Sure thing, girl,” Kara replied with one more smile for Roni before she got into the car.
“See ya,” Nicole said as she got into the car, then waved as the pulled out of the parking lot.
Nicole looked out the window and thought briefly that getting away for a few days might be the best thing for all of them.
Chapter Ten
It only took about two hours for them to arrive at Briana and Colin’s apartment in downtown Austin.
When they pulled up to the apartment complex, Briana noticed Kara’s car and started jumping up and down. Kara pulled up alongside her and rolled down the window.
“Hey, pretty lady, can you put us up for the night?” Kara asked, followed by a booming laugh.
Briana jumped in the backseat and told Kara how to get into the parking garage.
“I’m so excited that you guys are here,” Briana squealed with delight.
“Me too!” Nicole said, turning around in her seat to look at Bree while she spoke.
Briana looked as pretty as ever, her long chestnut hair was pulled back in a fat braid and her brown eyes sparkled with excitement.
When Kara parked they all jumped out of the car and gave each other a round of hugs. When Kara and Nicole hugged each other, they all laughed at their exuberance.
“Do you need help with any of your bags?” Bree asked.
“No, we each only brought one bag,” Kara assured her as they got their bags out of the car and followed her to the elevator.
“This is a beautiful complex,” Nicole observed.
“Oh, my gosh, we love it!” Briana gushed. “We looked around a lot, and decided to go with a loft, just so we could have the other amenities that this building offers. It has a gym and a pool, there is a Trader Joe’s next door, a hiking trail nearby, and we are within walking distance to 6th street.”
“What’s 6th street?” Nicole asked.
“You’ll see,” Kara and Bree said with a laugh.
When they reached her floor, Briana walked them down the hall and let them into the apartment. It was a large open space with wood floors. Briana and Colin had decorated it in country style, and managed to reflect their personalities. There were sports memorabilia scattered amongst the pictures and wall hangings, and the kitchen looked like a chef’s dream.
“I hope you don’t mind, the sofa is a sleeper, so the two of you will share that.” Briana mentioned as they set their bags in the corner.
“That’ll be fine,” Nicole responded.
“Where’s Colin?” Kara asked Briana.
“He’s at work. They had evening practice, but he’ll catch up with us later. I have to admit, with him working and me going to school, we don’t get much chance to socialize, so I’m really looking forward to going out tonight. He’s going to meet up with us later.”
“Let’s get ready then,” Kara exclaimed, unzipping her bag and pulling out her make-up case.
“Yay,” Briana said happily.
They all put on fresh make-up and fixed their hair, then set out for a night on the town.
Nicole hadn’t been in a city since she’d left Dallas, so she was looking forward to hanging out somewhere other than
