Unconditional Love (Journey of Love #1)
Author: Kelly Elliott

I watched as Nikki drove away in her red Mustang convertible with her two best friends. As she lifted her hand and waved, I shook my head and tried to smile. I was still a bit upset she chose to go to the coast with her friends rather than my parents’ place in New Mexico with me. I stood there until the red car was no longer in my sight.

I turned and made my way back into the frat house. “Damn Williams, I can’t believe you’re letting your girl go to the coast with her hotter-than-hell friends. Three blonde hot chicks at the beach like that—I don’t know,” said Rob, the resident man-whore, as he raised his eyebrows. “You want to go get some ass tonight now that you’re girlfriend-free for a bit?”

I shook my head and laughed. “Damn, Rob. You ever get tired of sleeping with a different girl all the time? Don’t you want to just settle down with one?”

He looked at me like I was nuts. “You’re kidding, right? Dude, you’ve got money, you’ve got the looks…you could be hooking up night after night.”

I raised my hands as I started to walk by him and head to the staircase. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m perfectly happy with Nikki.”

I heard him utter something about never being with just one girl as I made my way upstairs. I opened the door that led to my bedroom. I was going to be getting a new roommate next semester. His name was Scott and we met once. Seemed like a nice guy and someone I would for sure get along with. Country boy and liked to shoot.

I collapsed onto the bed and let out a sigh. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. Was I jealous about Nikki leaving for a week and hanging with her friends? Nah, I trusted her just like she trusted me. I would never think of even looking at another girl. I loved her and planned on asking her to marry me this Christmas. She was the perfect girl to marry. My parents liked her. She had a good head on her shoulders and I knew I could trust her. It was a perfect match.

The next few days passed by and I somehow managed to keep myself busy and not think about Nikki. I had gone for a run and was exhausted, so I headed up to my room.

As I closed my eyes to drift off to sleep, I dreamed of a brunette with shoulder-length hair, walking along the beach. As I walked up to her, she turned around. Just as I was about to see her face, I woke up.

“Michael, dude…wake up. Come on man, you’ve been holed up in this room for the last week. Come play volleyball with us. Nikki’s coming back tomorrow, so snap the hell out of it.”

I looked up and saw my older brother Tristan standing over me, throwing a volleyball up in the air. I looked around for a second and ran my hand through my hair. What in the hell? Why am I dreaming about a brunette girl? I smiled and said, “Tell me again why I pledged to the same frat house as you?”

He smiled and said, “’Cause I promised Mom I’d look after your pansy ass.”

I jumped up and snatched the ball out of his hands and took off running. I was surprised I hadn’t busted my ass running down the stairs I was moving so fast.

“Bastard!” Tristan called out from behind me.

After four games, all of which my team won, Tristan walked up to me while nodding his head. “I think you need to be on my team, little brother.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “You had your chance and you picked poorly.”

I was about to start yelling out for the next game to start when I got a glimpse of Mr. and Mrs. Russell. Why are Nikki’s parents here?

I smiled as I walked up to them and held out my hand to shake Nikki’s father’s hand. One look at Nikki’s mother and I knew she had been crying. When I turned and looked at Mr. Russell my heart started pounding in my chest.

“Michael, may we please go inside and talk to you?” Mr. Russell asked.

“What’s wrong? Is Nikki okay? Did she get hurt down at the coast? I haven’t heard from her all day but I figured they were just having fun before they left tomorrow.”

“Michael, let’s head on inside so we can talk in private,” Nikki’s father said again. Tristan walked up next to me and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Russell, is everything okay?”

I balled up my fists and the first thing I thought of was that some asshole hurt my girl. I was going to kill whoever it was.

“Please, just tell me what’s going on?” I pleaded.

Mr. Russell looked over at Tristan and said, “Tristan, I really think we need to move this inside.”

“Tell me!” I screamed out.

Mrs. Russell jumped and then began crying. My heart was beating faster and harder. I could hear it pounding in my ears.

Mr. Russell shook his head and said, “Okay, Michael. Nikki was in a car accident today about fifty miles outside of Austin.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s impossible, she’s not coming back until tomorrow.”

Mr. Russell cleared his throat and swallowed hard. “She called us last night and said she was coming home a day early to surprise you. They left early this morning so that she could be here by noon.”

I grabbed my cell out of my back pocket and looked at the time. It was almost six.

“What? She’s coming home early?” I asked. I felt Tristan put his hand on my shoulder.

Mrs. Russell began crying harder.

“What in the hell is going on? Where is Nikki?” I shouted.

Mr. Russell looked down and then looked back up. His eyes met mine and I felt as if I couldn’t get air in when I saw the tears in his eyes.

“Nikki was in a car accident earlier today, Michael. A drunk driver hit her car going over ninety miles an hour and all three girls…they all…” his voice trailed off and I felt sick to my stomach.

Please don’t say she died. Please God no. Please don’t say she died.

Mr. Russell wiped the tears from his face and took a deep breath as he looked me in the eyes again.

“Our Nikki is gone, Michael. She and the girls all died instantly.”

I started to take a few steps backward.

“No.” I shook my head. “No. She can’t…she would never leave me…no. God, please no!” I screamed out. I felt my legs give out and my knees hit the ground.

Tristan was next to me trying to help me stand up. All I could hear was Mrs. Russell crying and Nikki’s father attempting to comfort her. I looked at Tristan. “No…she’s my whole world, Tristan…she’s my whole world.” I broke down crying as my brother quickly ushered me back inside and up to his room, the whole time telling me everything was going to be okay.