by Chloe Walsh
"It's totally fine," I replied, smiling up at him. "You know I love Callie." I'd often babysat Callie myself down through the years. She was an adorable little girl. Casting a glance towards his little niece, I grinned when I noticed she was hanging on Jackson's every word as he made her a napkin airplane. "I think she's in love."
"Hmm." Nate looked across the table and frowned. "Isn't she a little young to have a crush?"
"Not really," I shot back with a wistful sigh. I had been crushing on her uncle since childhood. "I can remember being her age and having crushes." One crush. Him. "It's natural."
Turning his attention to me, Nate smirked down at me. "Yeah," he whispered gruffly in my ear. "I remember having a crush back then too."
"You did?" I breathed, heart racing. "On who?"
"Who do you think, Andi?" he shot back, tone husky.
"Is Andi your girlfriend now?" Callie piped up, eyes locked on me and Nate, bursting our little bubble of intimate bliss.
"What makes you say that, Callie?" Nate asked, stiffening beside me, as he turned his attention to his niece.
"Because ya'll look like you're in love or something." She squinted her eyes as she studied us. "Ew, do you two kiss now?"
Immediately, Jackson broke into a fit of laughter. "Kid's perceptive." Seemingly delighted, Jackson turned to Callie and said, "No, Callie, sweetheart. Nate and Andi are just pretending to be together."
"Why?" Callie frowned.
"Well, you remember uncle Nate's mean, old girlfriend, Dallas?"
Callie scrunched her nose up. "Unfortunately."
"Damn, Nate," Jackson laughed, mussing Callie's hair. "I love this kid." Smiling down at Callie, Jackson added, "Well, Uncle Nate's having a real hard time making Dallas leave him alone. Andi here is pretending to be his girlfriend so Dallas will stop…trying to kiss him." Jackson looked awfully smug – like he was proud of how he'd explained his twisted plan to a nine-year-old.
"So you guys are faking it?" Callie asked, looking at me and Nate. When we both nodded, she cocked a brow. "That's kind of…dumb."
"Okay, now I love her too," Ivy chuckled. "I agree, Callie. It's really dumb."
"Why's it dumb, Callie?" Nate asked in an amused tone.
"Because you guys love each other," she shot back innocently.
"No, sweetheart," Jackson replied, cackling with laughter. "They don’t love each other like that."
Callie stared hard at Nathan then. "You should. Andi's real pretty and nice and she always smells good."
"Yeah, Cal, she is," he replied thoughtfully.
"Me and your uncle Nate are just friends, Callie," I heard myself say, forcing myself to cover my feelings and blank out my emotions. "That's all."
"You should make Andi your real girlfriend, Uncle Nate," Callie insisted, eyes locked on her uncle.
"Christ…" Climbing out of the booth, Nathan gestured to his niece. "Come on, girl. I'm taking you home to your momma before you end up totally corrupted."
****
"If anyone comes over here bugging you, then you honk," Nate instructed when he pulled his truck up outside his momma's trailer in Riverside on Thursday evening. "And I'll come straight out."
"Okay," I managed to say with a nod, eyes locked on the battered old trailer in front of me. I hadn't been to his home in years, and I had a feeling that the only reason I was here now was because of the emergency call he'd received from his sister Kim when we were leaving the school parking lot.
Apparently Nate's momma was on another one of her bender's and had taken Kim's car from her house. Now it was down to poor Nathan to try and talk some sense into her.
"Hey." I felt Nate's thumb stroke my cheek and I had to force myself not to shiver. "I'll be as fast as I can."
It was so hard being so close to him when all I wanted to do was throw myself on him. "Take your time."
I watched as he climbed out of his truck and jogged up to the trailer with a heavy heart.
Ivy was right.
This was too hard.
It was too much for me.
"Get the hell outta here, you little bastard!"
The screams coming from Nathan's trailer were so loud, I was pretty sure the entire park could hear.
Startled, I sat frozen to my seat and listened.
"For god's sake, Momma. You've gotta stop doing this."
Worried, I kept my eyes locked on the door of the trailer, wondering what the heck I should do.
"Just leave me be, boy. Go and walk on out that door like your sister."
"I'm not leaving you, momma, damn."
"Fine. If you won't leave, I will…"
The trailer door slammed open and out stomped Becky Cole, looking worse for wear. She staggered towards a silver Honda Civic and climbed inside.
I sat, with my heart in my mouth, and watched as Nate's mother started the engine and tore off through the trailer park like a bat out of hell.
When Nathan didn’t reemerge from the trailer after ten minutes, I began to panic.
Slipping out of his truck, I crept up to the trailer and let myself inside, the urge to make sure he was okay driving me forward.
The trailer was a mess. It looked like a hurricane had passed through it, and it reeked of stale cigarettes and beer. Careful not to step on anything, I climbed over the piles of dirty clothes and garbage, making my way down to tiny hallway to where I remembered Nate's bedroom was.
My heart was racing when I pushed his bedroom door open and it stopped altogether in my chest when I saw him lying on his back with his hands covering his face. I couldn’t help but notice his bedroom was immaculate. There wasn’t a thing out of place in here and it made me want to cry to think of him living in this world.
"Nate?" I whispered nervously, taking a step towards him. "Are you okay?"
"I don’t want you in here, Andi," he groaned, keeping his face covered. "Just wait out in the truck for me." Shuddering, he added, "I'll be out in a minute."
Closing his bedroom door behind me, I walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge.
Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek to his chest.
"I told you to go. I don’t want you to see this…shithole." His body trembled, he didn’t return my hug, but he didn’t push me away either. "You need to leave, Andi…"
I didn’t leave.
I remained exactly where I was, with my hands wrapped around him.
I was in his bed. It was small and clean and smelled just like him.
He never spoke a word and neither did I. I just stayed right there in his bed with him, holding onto him, praying I could somehow make him feel better. I laid with him, barely breathing, and with my heart hammering in my chest. I loved him that much.
Finally, when the sun had gone down, and the room was in complete darkness, I felt the mattress dip and then his arm came around me, pulling me closer.
Butterflies flapped around in my stomach like crazy as I compliantly lay beside him. Rolling onto my side, I snuggled into his side, wanting nothing more than to disappear inside this moment and never come back out.
One moment I was snuggling into his chest, and the next I was waking up to the feel of a steady rise and fall of a male chest. Nathan's chest, I realized and shivered.
I was lying on top of Nathan. We were chest to chest and I could feel his penis, hard and erect, pressing against my inner thigh.
Unable to stop myself, I gently rolled my hips and moaned loudly when a delicious shock jolted through my core. Desperate to feel it again, I rolled my hips again, biting down on my lip when the same jolt of pleasure shot through me. "Hmm…" Feeling flustered and aroused, I rocked my hips again and this time, Nathan's hip thrusted up to meet me. "Uh…"
Clenching the fabric of his shirt in my hand, I continued to roll my hips against him, moaning loudly every time his erection pressed against my aching clit.
I knew he was awake and he knew I was awake, we were both fully clothed and yet,
neither of us were stopping. We continued to thrust our bodies against the other, with me whimpering and Nate breathing hard.
An urgency began to build inside me then, so overwhelming that I cried out in unsated frustration. That cry was all it took to make Nathan lose his mind.
Letting out a low growl, Nate flipped me onto my back in one swift move before dropping his hands to my waist. Without a word, he roughly dragged my jeans and panties down my thighs before burying his face between my legs.
"Omigod," I cried out, bucking and jolting as sensations I'd never experienced in my life flooded me. "Oh god…Nathan…please!" Shamelessly, I tugged on Nate's hair and thrusted my pussy into his face as I rode out this extraordinary feeling of bliss. "I'm…omigod…yessss…"
"Shh," he chuckled before pressing his thumb against my clit. That move alone was enough to make me scream at the top of lungs. "You're so fucking tight, Andi," he groaned as he pressed his finger inside me. "I can barely get one finger inside you."
"Don’t stop," I cried out. With one hand roughly yanking on Nate's hair, I moved the other between my legs and shoved his finger harder into me. "Please…" I whimpered, thrashing with need. "Give me more…"
"Fuck," he hissed before shoving another finger inside me. The feeling of fullness was overwhelming. The moment Nathan pulled my clit into his mouth and suckled, it all became too much to bear. I felt like I was shattering into a million pieces as my pussy convulsed almost violently around Nate's fingers.
My body continued to tremble long after the feeling of pleasure passed. My bones felt like jelly as I continued to lay there with Nathan Cole between my legs. I didn’t think either of us knew what to do then. We just stared at each other in a state of mutual shock and arousal until the sound of Nate's phone ringing broke the moment.
Pulling back on his knees, Nate dragged his phone out of his pocket and groaned when he looked at the screen. "It's Jackson."
Frozen on his bed, I watched Nate stand up and put his phone to his ear. "Jackson, hey." He looked at me and exhaled a pained sigh. "Andi, yeah, she's with me." He ran a hand through his hand then and opened his bedroom door before slipping out. "We went for dinner," I heard him say. "Caught a movie afterwards."
Unsure of what to do, I dragged my panties and jeans up my legs and readjusted myself before shakily climbing to my feet.
When I walked back into the kitchen area of the trailer, Nate was leaning over the sink with his back to me, still on the phone to my brother."
"I'll bring her home now…Yeah, the movie's just over…I don’t know, man, some chick flick she wanted to see…yeah. I'll see you in twenty."
When he hung up the call, Nate turned around slowly. "I…uh…" his voice broke off and he cleared his throat before speaking again. "Jackson wants you home now."
My eyes landed on the noticeably large bulge in Nathan's jeans and I licked my lips. I wanted more of him. "I don’t want to go home yet," I whispered, cheeks flushed.
"Andi…" Nate let out a pained groan. "I need to take you home. Now, girl, before I do something you'll regret."
"I won't." Shaking my head, I moved towards him, unable to keep away. "I promise I won't regret anything you do to me." I wouldn’t regret it. My body was screaming at him to take me. To stop making me suffer. I needed him like I needed the air in my lungs. I honest to god felt like I would burst into flames if he didn’t take me right here and now…
Nathan stood frozen to the spot for what felt like forever, with his eyes locked on my face.
Finally, he released a breath and shook his head. "Get in my truck, Andi."
****
Chapter Six
"He went down on you"
"God, Ivy. Can you say it any louder?" I hissed. "I doubt the people at the back of the line heard you." We were standing in line for lunch and I was seriously regretting opening my mouth and telling Ivy about last night.
"Answer my question, woman!" she shot back, oblivious to the stares we were receiving.
I cast a glance to Jackson and Nate's table. A jolt shot through me when my eyes landed on Nathan. "Yes," I whispered, thinking back to what we'd done in his bedroom last night. Biting down on my lip, I averted my eyes from him, unable to look at him without melting into a puddle.
"With his mouth?"
How many other ways was there to go down on someone?
"Yes with his mouth, Ivy." And his tongue. And his fingers…
How was it?"
"Ivy!"
"Come on," she pleaded, when we paid for our food. "Tell me."
I struggled to balance my tray as I thought about how I had felt when Nathan had his mouth on me. "It was… achy."
"Achy." Ivy sighed dreamily. "Damn."
"I came," I admitted, blushing again. "Loudly."
"Damn," she repeated, this time with an impressed glint in her eyes. "Boy must have some mad skills with his mouth."
"Why?"
"You're a virgin," Ivy said, like stating my sexual status somehow explained everything.
It didn’t, or not to me at least, but I didn’t ask her to explain because we had reached the boys' table.
Almost instantly, Ivy made a beeline for my brother. Sinking down on Jackson's lap, Ivy didn’t hesitate to place her lips on his. If this had happened a couple of weeks ago, I would have felt nauseated, but not anymore. Not since her affections for my brother provided the perfect distraction. I was able to enjoy staring and gawking at my brother's best friend without having to worry about being caught.
Even though it was Jackson's idea for Nate and I to pose as girlfriend and boyfriend, I was worried that one of these days he was going to see right through my façade and realize that I was actually in love with his best friend. The thought of what Jackson would do if he knew was the only thing that kept me from declaring my feelings to Nathan.
Placing my tray down on the table in front of me, my eyes immediately went to Nate, who was watching me with a hooded gaze. "Hey," I whispered, biting down on my lip, unsure of what to do next. Usually, I would just sit on his lap, but today I felt awkward an unsure.
Nate stared hard at me for a long moment before pushing his chair back from the table with his foot. "Come here," he ordered, eyes heated, as he patted his thigh.
Feeling weak at the knees, I eased myself onto Nathan's lap, my breath hitching in my throat when I felt his hand clamp down on my waist, melding me to him.
Unable to stop myself I sagged against his chest, breathing quickly, feeling that delicious tingle deep in my core again.
"Are you okay?" he whispered, lips brushing against my ear.
Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded slowly, leaning further into him, wishing I could mold my body to his and have him never let me go.
Battling my inner nerves, I forced myself to look at Nate and ask, "You don’t regret me, do you?" It was the question I'd been burning to ask him since he hauled me into his truck last night and delivered me home to Jackson without a word. "Last night," I added, blushing. "Did I…" biting down on my lip, I forced myself to be brave and say it. "Was it okay…did I…you know, taste okay?"
"What?" Nate lifted his chin and gaped at me. "Tell me this isn’t a serious question."
I was being very serious, but I didn’t have a chance to continue my conversation with Nathan because my brother chose this exact moment in time to spray us with water.
"Get a room, you two," he said loudly with a devilish wink and nod of his head.
Only then did I notice Dallas standing a few feet away from our table, glaring daggers at me and Nate.
Jackson trusted Nathan so much that he didn’t have a doubt in his mind that there wasn’t anything going on between us.
In that moment, when I looked at my brother, I felt a sudden pang of guilt.
They had been best friends their entire lives. I could only pray that my feelings for my brother's best friend didn’t ruin their lifelong friendship…
When lunch was over and I was walking
towards my next class, I felt a hand grab my arm from behind, pulling me to an abrupt stop.
Swinging around, I locked eyes on Nate who was looking down at me with a heated expression.
"I never got to answer your question," he growled, voice low and thick as he took a step closer, backing me up against the cool metal lockers. "You asked me if you tasted okay." He pinned me to the lockers with his hips, surrounding me with his huge frame, making me weak from his touch. "And I've been going out of my mind ever since."
"I'm sorry," I breathed, unsure of what to say. He was pressed so close to me, his breath was fanning my face, and I honestly reckoned that if Nate took a step back from me in this moment, I was sure to collapse in a heap on the floor. "I've never…had a boy do that to me." Exhaling a shaky breath, I pressed my hand against his chest and sagged. "And I know you've been a lot of girls…so I was just wondering…"
"You taste just like you look," he rasped, pressing his brow to mine. "Like fucking perfection."
Exhaling a heavy sigh, Nate pressed a hard kiss to my forehead before stepping away and striding off down the hallway, leaving me reeling after him.
****
Chapter Seven
As soon as I got home from school on Friday, I retreated to my room where I proceeded to complete some much needed revisions. I managed to catch up on my homework and even complete three assignments that weren't due to be handed in until next week. It was late in the evening when I finally came downstairs and fixed myself dinner.
When I was done, I checked my sugar levels before brewing myself a cup of black coffee and retreating to the couch with a paperback by one of my favorite authors; Hope Carter.
I had just gotten comfortable when my father's voice flooded my ears and I cringed, immediately on edge.
Seconds later, he entered my peripheral vision as he hurried down the stairs, clad in a well-fitting tuxedo, followed by my mother who was dressed to the nines and draped in diamonds.