Fuck. I was afraid he was going to say something else. Panic was already starting to set in at the thought of Nathan caring about me. Because that can’t happen. And I can’t return those feelings.
That’s not what this is about. This is only supposed to be for fun. A summer thing.
Feelings will only make things complicated. I’ve done my best not to fall for anyone. To keep men at a distance because I can’t do complicated. That leads to heartache, and the last thing I want is to leave here with a broken heart. Or worse. A broken soul.
Once was enough. It took two years to get over him. Two years of avoiding everyone I grew up with so I wouldn’t run into him. I lost friends over it. People I thought would stand by my side through anything.
I may be over it now, but I’d rather not have to go through something like that again. Ever.
"Fine isn't an answer, Jade,” Nathan says as my memory of that day fades away. “Good.
"Take it or leave it, Nate."
He hates it when people call him Nate. I know this, and I'm trying to irritate him. What I don't expect is for a sinister smirk, the same fucking smirk he had on the morning I found him naked in my shower, to grace his gorgeous face. For his eyes to begin to smolder and my heart rate to pick up a few notches.
Leaning in close, even though there's no one around to hear what he's about to say, he whispers in my ear. "Call me Nate again and I'll bend you over this table and spank you."
Fuck my life.
The image my brain conjures is both disturbing and hot.
Before I can reply, I'm saved by the sound of Quinn's laughter. Nathan rears back like he's been burned and sits up straight, making eye contact with Gabby as she slaps Quinn's chest, chastising him for whatever smart remark he made this time.
The rest of lunch is uneventful. We reminisce per usual and talk about our plans for summer. Quinn wants us all to go camping for the fourth of July. I'm half listening when I agree, knowing there's no one else I'd rather spend the holiday with than my friends. Even if I was having a hard time controlling my feelings for Nathan right now.
"Are you going to bring your special someone?" Gabby asks, catching me off guard.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe."
"Does this special someone have a name?" Nathan teases.
No, my imaginary boyfriend doesn't have a name. I mentioned him and then refused to tell them any specific details about him. Mainly because I couldn't make any up on the fly.
"Not that I care to share with you." I turn up my sass a little for two reasons. One, because he likes it and I know it gets his engine revved. Also because that's the way we've always been with each other in front of Gabby and Quinn. It's a natural reaction as far as they can see. We banter back and forth, poking and prodding each other like brother and sister.
Not poking and prodding each other like we want to get the other person naked. Which was what it really was most of the summer.
"Bring him," Gabby encourages me. "If you're still together. It's only three months from now. I think you guys can last that long from what you've told me."
Nathan's head whips in Gabby's direction, but I'm the only one who notices his reaction.
"I'll think about it."
Quinn accepts my answer and starts writing down details about our next adventure together. Camping. In tents. At a state park that may or may not have running water. Or bathrooms. He wants our adventure to be rustic. Like the time we camped on the island.
Our campsite was along the edge of the lake and we could rinse the sweat from our bodies before crawling back in our tents. Or in my case, sneak into the water late at night and have a quickie.
It was a clean enough feeling for the night knowing we were able to walk back home the next day and jump in the shower. Wash the sand from between our toes and the campfire smoke from our hair.
"Find one that's on a lake, man. There has to be something for us to do besides sit around the fire and toast marshmallows." The low grumble in his voice makes it clear what’s on his mind. It’s not swimming.
Nathan’s words hit me in a place I wish they wouldn’t, memories overwhelming me. Not the same ones Gabby and Quinn are thinking about right now.
"You love s’mores," Gabby retorts quickly, lifting her eyebrow in challenge.
"Yes, but if we're going to be there for two nights, we need shit to do during the day."
Quinn agrees and scrolls through his phone in search of a campsite that meets Nathan's demands.
And that's how we spend the remainder of lunch together. Discussing campsites. Making reservations. Planning what we're going to do while we're there.
In the back of my mind, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to spend two nights with my friends, and their significant others, when I'm the only one with an imaginary boyfriend.
Yup. Gavin and Heather are invited. Quinn is thinking of inviting Kara, a girl he's been chasing for years. Everyone will have someone to snuggle with except me.
I'm either going to have to find a real boyfriend in the next few months or come clean with my friends. I can't keep lying to them. It's slowly killing me. So is the fact that Nathan's had his arm casually around the back of our booth for the last ten minutes and all I want to do is rest my head in the crook of his shoulder.
Like I used to.
After we'd had sex.
It's my favorite place in the world. In his arms.
Chapter Six
NATHAN
Quinn kept asking me about Heather. I'd reached the point of wanting to punch the motherfucker in the face over an hour ago. My only saving grace was the fact I was driving, and gripping the steering wheel helped relieve the urge to mess up his pretty face.
"Just tell me what happened and I'll drop it."
If I didn't feel like explaining the situation to him the first twenty times he asked, what makes him think I wanted to do it now? After an hour in the car with him and another hour to go.
"Nothing happened," I lie again. "There's nothing to tell."
"Dude, I'd totally buy that if you didn't look like you wanted to murder me for asking. I thought you two were doing good. Last time we saw each other, things were on the up and up."
No, they weren't, but I didn't mention that.
We haven't been together in months. I broke up with her shortly before Christmas for good. Told her I was interested in someone else. I hadn't wanted to fall back into a relationship with her to begin with, but I let it happen anyway. Because I couldn't have Jade.
She was all I thought about. I pictured her beneath me every time I was with Heather. It wasn't fair to her, and it became crystal clear to me that I was using her.
She wasn't happy when I broke it off with her. Hell, I wasn't happy either, but I was relieved.
Then Jade went and announced some mystery guy she was seeing. I wasn't sure if she was omitting details to save me the heartache or because she wasn't comfortable talking about him in front of me. Either way, I didn't want her to see how fucked up I was over the thought of someone else touching her, so I let my friends believe I was still with Heather.
Up until this morning anyway when I picked Quinn up for our little camping trip. I didn't have much of a choice. I made it sound like Heather was coming with us last week when we met for lunch.
"It just wasn't working, that's all. She's a nice girl, but she's not the one for me."
"And you're looking for the one?"
No. I've already found her.
"I'm not looking for anything. I just felt like I was leading her on."
Fuck. He got me talking about it. How the hell did this happen?
"So there is someone else?"
"Not this weekend," I joke, attempting to change the subject. "I'm a free man. I can do as I please with whomever I want. What about you? Any headway with Kara?"
Quinn's been stuck on this chick for as long as I've known him. I have yet to meet her, but she sounds like a piece of work. I've listened to all his sto
ries about her and her loser boyfriend. I don't understand what he sees in her except the fact she's unavailable.
We all want what we can't have, right? The unattainable.
I should know.
And it's our own fault. Letting ourselves yearn for the one we know is out of our league. Self-torture.
"No. She's still with Dipshit. I'll never understand what she sees in him. She deserves so much better. I wish she could see that."
"So why torture yourself by moving in with her?"
Yeah, he's even more of an idiot than I am. He agreed to move in with her and another girl this fall. In my mind, he's fucking himself over even more. He now has a front-row seat to their relationship.
"I don't know, man. They asked and I couldn't say no."
"Thinking with your dick again?"
The car falls silent for a second. At first I think he's pissed at me for my comment. Then I look over and find him smirking at me.
"Good news is she won't put up with his shit forever," I start. "And when the idiot screws up, you'll be there to catch her when she falls."
Quinn nods his head in agreement as his phone chimes in his lap.
“The girls are about half an hour ahead of us. They just arrived at the campgrounds and checked us in. I guess they got an early start."
"Good. Tell them to set up the tents. Put their boyfriends to work starting the campfire."
The irritation in my voice is evident. Thankfully I can explain it away with our late start. We were supposed to leave at the crack of dawn, but Quinn had to work this morning. I picked him up from there, but the girls were impatient and wanted to get our mini-vacation started. They insisted they drive ahead of us instead of carpooling or following each other.
I was hoping to ride down with Jade and her boyfriend. Hoping to get a feel for him and size him up. He is my competition after all. He may not realize it, but I plan to put him in his place over the next two days.
"The guys aren't with them. Gavin had to work, and Jade didn't say why her boyfriend couldn't come."
Damn it!
I should be excited about the fact he won't be in my way. That I'll have her all to myself for the next two days. That I'll be able to make my move.
The problem is I'm not prepared. I spent the last three days thinking of ways to drive a wedge between them. I should have been thinking of ways to sweep her off her feet instead. Had I known, I would have.
"Just the four of us, then," I note, tapping my blinker to exit the highway. It's all backroads from here. Roads I could speed down without the fear of being pulled over. If I drove fast enough, we could be at the campgrounds in a little over thirty minutes.
But that's not enough time for me to formulate a plan. Definitely not a flawless one. I need every second I can get.
Turning up the radio, I focus on the road ahead of me and everything I know about Jade. Every detail she's ever shared with me. Those details just became my ammunition against her. But nothing is going to help me break through the wall she's erected between us since we left the island.
Her favorite color is teal. Favorite food is extra greasy pizza with peppers, bacon, and olives. She thrives on routine and wants to work with the non-profit sector after graduation, helping companies become more organized so they can operate seamlessly.
She has the biggest heart out of anyone I've ever met. A heart I'm afraid I could have destroyed had I not treaded carefully.
I’d been thinking about her since I first saw her. Since the morning I convinced her we should begin our little tryst. I whacked off to visions of the curves of her body in the shower twice, nearly at my breaking point that day. As soon as the house fell silent, Gabby and Quinn both having left for work, I made my move.
I was confident back then. Pushy. I wanted her. Had to have her. And I wasn't walking away until she said yes.
What happened to that guy? I need to summon some of his courage. His boldness. His smooth moves.
Not that my moves were all that smooth.
Hell, I practically had drool dripping from my chin as I stared at her. She was so cute with that damn Pop-Tart hanging from her mouth as she carefully lined her eyes. She was intimidating.
Petite frame with hips that I wanted to grab onto as I bent her over the bed. Breasts I later found out were the perfect size for my hands. A small mole on her collarbone that was begging to be licked.
And those eyes. They penetrated me with her stare. Even when she was looking at me through the reflection in the mirror, I felt her gaze. From head to... well, head. Once the blood rushed to my dick, it didn't attempt to flow any lower.
That's the effect she has on me.
She strips me of comprehendible words.
At first I thought it was because I wanted her so bad, even after I had her. Then I realized that I wasn't just thinking with my dick, I was thinking with my brain. It was conjuring images of her in my arms in my bed at my apartment, not the one we shared almost every night on the island. Of her walking toward me in a white dress. Round and barefoot in my kitchen. Images that scared the shit out of me.
It took me all summer, but I finally admitted to myself I had fallen for her. That wasn't part of our deal. It wasn't supposed to happen. We both went into it promising it would only be for the summer, and that's where we left things.
On the island.
A blinking open sign ahead catches my eye. The first step to winning Jade back slaps me across the face as I slam the brakes, pulling into the parking lot as Quinn grabs the oh-shit handle and grunting.
"Provisions," I explain as I throw the car in park and jump out. "Be right back."
There are groceries in the truck, along with a ton of booze. We have enough firewood for the weekend, and the girls said they were bringing stuff as well. Technically we have everything we need. There's one thing I need to grab, though.
Pop-Tarts.
Chapter Seven
JADE
He brought me Pop-Tarts. And not just any Pop-Tarts. My favorite ones. Frosted cherry.
That bastard.
What he didn't bring with him was his girlfriend. When Gabby told me it was going to be just the four of us this weekend, I tried not to act overly excited. She was upset Gavin backed out at the last minute. Pissed that Kara had flaked on Quinn. And most of all, sad that Heather and Nathan had broken up. It was enough to distract her from immediately asking where my non-existent boyfriend was. I didn't offer anything more than a "he couldn't come" when she finally mentioned him as we were pulling into the campgrounds.
I had been dreading this weekend since we started planning months ago. Sure, I wanted to hang out with my friends. We barely see each other, and after living together and spending all our time attached at the hip, I miss them. Especially Gabby.
She's the first real girlfriend I've ever had. She's not catty like most women are. She doesn't judge. She's a bit pushy when it comes to wanting information but not overly so. I can usually distract her from her inquiries after a few minutes.
I love this girl.
Which makes lying to her so incredibly hard. It weighs on my heart every day. I want to come clean with her, tell her everything, and cry on her shoulder. But I made Nathan promise to keep our fling a secret, and I can't be the one to go back on my word.
"The guys should be here soon. Want to set up the tent or wait for them?" Gabby's pulling all the camping equipment she borrowed from her parents from the back of her SUV, yelling at me as I stare at the lake.
It took some searching, but Quinn was able to find the perfect campsite for us. It's a private campground, in the middle of nowhere, with a limited number of sites. We're secluded from our neighbors and have our own private dock and swimming area. You'd never know it was a campsite if not for the picnic table in the middle of the vacant lot next to the fire pit.
Getting to work on the tents, Gabby and I are still working on the first one when I hear tires crunch against the gravel road. My heart skips a beat whe
n Nathan's car comes into view, slowing to a stop next to where Gabby parked.
Here we go.
Three days and two nights.
Just the four of us.
It's not like we can get in that much trouble. We'll all be together the entire time. Living together gave us the opportunity to sneak around behind closed doors. To shut out the rest of the world and keep our secret just for ourselves.
There are no doors here. Nowhere to hide.
“What are you doing?” I ask Nathan as he traps me between the counter and his half-naked body.
We’ve been awake for less than an hour. Gabby’s in the shower, and Quinn will be up any minute. Not to mention, I made sure he was completely sated before he left my room.
“I just want a kiss,” he gripes, sticking out his bottom lip at the same moment he thrusts his hips against me.
I raise my eyebrow. “Who wants a kiss? You or little man?”
“Little man? I think you need to apologize to him.” Taking a step back, I can hear how serious Nathan is.
“I will not apologize to your dick.”
“Then you will not get to play with him anymore,” he counters, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
“Are you sure about that?” I challenge, stepping forward and taking little man in my hand. “I don’t think he’s offended by my comment.”
“He might not be, but I am. We both know he deserves a better nickname. Something more suiting.”
“Like?” I ask as I squeeze gently, Nathan’s dick growing in the palm of my hand.
“What about Thor or Iron Man?”
“You want to name your dick after a superhero?”
“I think he’s pretty super, don’t you?” A wicked grin appears as he thrusts against my hand.
He has a point. I do think it’s pretty damn super. And it does deserve better than a name with little in it, but before I can reply, heavy footfalls from down the hall startle me. Quinn is up, and we need to separate.
For All The Right Reasons Page 4