by Chloe Walsh
"Me either." Stepping back, I looked her up and down and grinned. "Wow." Ivy looked stunning. Dressed in a simple white summer dress that fell mid-thigh, she looked like an angel.
I immediately cast a glare at Nathan who was still hovering beside me – and still holding my hand. It was his fault I looked like a granny in a full-length, light blue maxi dress, and a chunky knit cardigan. The only part of my body on display were my toes as they peeked out of my flip-flops.
Jerk…
"Are you two…" Ivy's eyes widened as she waggled her brows. "Together now?" she squealed. "Like together, together?"
Nathan looked at Jackson and then back at Ivy. "What can I say," he said in a tone laced with sarcasm. The hand that had been holding mine slipped to my waistline. "I’ve always had a thing for blondes."
"Well, good!" Ivy gleamed. "Because she's been in –"
"It's an act," I reminded her, forcing the misery out of my voice.
"In need of a decent man in her life," Ivy filled in smoothly.
I sagged in relief.
No need to humiliate me twice in one night.
Wrapping his arm around Ivy's waist, Jackson pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Come and take a walk with me," he coaxed, tugging my best friend off in the opposite direction. "Let's leave these lovebirds to it."
"You're off the hook now," I said brightly when Jackson and Ivy were out of sight, releasing his hand. "Knowing Jackson, he'll be gone for a while." Shrugging, I added, "I know this isn’t your idea, Nate. I'm not expecting you to spend your night with me." Not when I knew he could hardly stand to spend a twenty-minute car ride together…
Nate cocked a brow. "You think I'm gonna leave you here on your own?"
"Well…yeah." He'd made his feelings on me attending this party perfectly clear. I expected Nathan to abandon me the moment Jackson was out of sight.
I was wrong.
Doing the opposite of what I expected, Nate reclaimed my hand and this time he entwined our fingers. "Well, you obviously don’t know me as well as I thought."
"I just thought…" I wasn’t sure what I thought, but when Nate tightened his hold on my hand, and pulled me in front of his chest it felt better in real life than it had in any of my dreams.
He walked us into the kitchen, keeping me close. Having him this close to me, touching me intimately like this, well, it caused my body to tremble.
When we reached a quiet area by the sink, Nate stood with his back to the counter and pulled me into his chest.
"What are you doing?" I heard myself say when he wrapped his arms around my midsection.
"What do you think I'm doing?" His voice was low, gruff, and making me weak. "You're my girlfriend, aren’t you? At least for tonight," he added, tone bitter now. "Look, I don’t know how to do…fake," he said in a low tone, mouth close to my ear. "So, I'm just gonna do me."
"Okay." Tentatively, I covered the hand Nate had pressed to my stomach with my own and let out a shudder. This was almost too much.
Music was blasting from the amplifiers that were stacked up outside. The music was loud, the bass was vibrating through me, and still I could hear my pulse hammering like a drum.
"You're shaking," Nate stated, ducking his mouth to my ear once more.
"I'm nervous," I replied honestly. I could feel several pairs on eyes on us and my body temperature had spiked.
"Because of me?" he asked, tone husky and raw.
"Because of everything."
"Come on, then." Stepping around me, Nate caught hold of my hand and led me through the crowds over to a table laden down with alcohol. "Steer clear of any of these," he instructed, pointing to several different branded bottles of beer. "Stick with vodka." Reaching for a Dixie cup, Nate poured some vodka into the cup and then added a large dollop of tonic water. "Here." He handed me the cup before retrieving a bottle of beer for himself. "Shouldn’t mess with your blood sugars."
"How do you know this, Nate?" I asked, taken aback by his thoughtfulness, cup frozen in my hand.
"Because I know you," he replied gruffly before taking a swig of from his bottle.
With my hand still firmly grasping the cup, I watched Nathan watch me, completely unsure of what to say or do.
My throat felt so tight I didn’t think I could swallow a sip, so I simply stood there, staring up at the boy who I'd been fantasizing my whole life about. Nate drank another three whole bottles of beer before he spoke again.
"You wanna dance?" Slamming his empty beer bottle down on the table, he took a step towards me. "I think we should dance," he added thickly. "You know…keep up appearances and all that."
Selena Gomez's Come and Get it was playing and I found myself looking into Nathan's dark brown eyes and nodding wordlessly.
Reaching out, Nate placed his hands on my hips and tugged me so that I was flush against him. Instantly, my body began to tremble with want. I felt myself go pliant in his arms and had to force myself not to close my eyes when his hand moved to my lower back, fingers brushing dangerously close to the curve of my butt.
He was so close, his smell, his hands, his body…
"How am I doing?" he asked with a gruff voice. Turning me in his arms, Nate pulled me up against his chest, thrusting his hips against my ass as his hands clamped down on my hips. "Do I make a good fake boyfriend?" he asked before dropping a kiss to the base of my neck.
"You're a good actor," I heard myself whisper, leaning backwards and into his strong arms. I had no idea how this had escalated or if Nate was kissing my neck just to make our act look believable, but he was staking a claim on me right here in the middle of the party. "A really good actor." I didn’t care if it was pretend or not; it made me feel more wanted than I had in my entire life. I wasn’t acting. I was enjoying every second of being in his arms and having his lips on my skin.
"Can I speak to you for minute, Nate?" Dallas Holloway stood in front of us, and being in the presence of her beauty immediately made me retract into my shell.
With hair as black as night, a tall, lean figure, and legs that went on for days, Dallas was painfully beautiful. She had an exotic look and everything about her made me feel inferior. Knowing that she had been screwing the object of my affections for the past two years didn’t help matters either.
"Nope," Nate sneered, tightening his hold on me. "Run along now."
"For real?" she laughed, but it didn’t disguise the hurt in her voice. "We had two years together and you won't give me a minute of your time?"
"Why would I?" he shot back, slurring slightly. "So you could fuck me over again?" Nate shook his head. "No. I don’t think so."
"So it's going to be like that, is it?" she demanded. "Two years for nothing?"
"Exactly," Nate shot back. "You got it in one. Now, if you don’t mind. Please fuck off out of my life."
"You honestly think I believe you're screwing Clive Davis's daughter?" Dallas cocked a brow in distaste. "Even you aren’t that stupid."
"I'm not screwing her," Nate shot back, almost squeezing me to death. "I’m dating her."
"Dating her," Dallas deadpanned before bursting into a fit of laughter. "She's not allowed to date and you don’t date, Nathan Cole. You –"
"Things change," Nathan shot back coolly.
We weren't dancing anymore.
In fact, I didn’t think anyone was dancing.
All eyes were on us.
"Oh, my god," Dallas chimed. "This is classic." Turning her attention to me, she smiled as she looked me up and down. "You might have him fooled honey, with your big blue eyes and blonde pig tails, but once he realizes there's an impenetrable fortress blocking what's between your legs, he'll get bored."
"Leave us alone, Dallas," I muttered. I wasn’t the fighting type. I was allergic to drama and tried to avoid it at all costs. "I'm not going to argue with you." And I didn’t have pig tails. I had a braid. Those were two very different hair styles.
I felt self-conscious now. Really self-cons
cious.
Did I look like a child?
Was Dallas right?
Was that why Nathan had never looked at me the way I had always wanted him to?
"He might think you're the shit right now, honey," she continued to taunt. "Pretty little fresh-faced virgin, but once he gets what he wants, he'll come back to me."
"Never gonna happen," Nathan growled. "Now walk away."
I watched nervously as Dallas scowled at us once more before turning around and disappearing back into the crowd.
"Damn," Nate muttered, letting out a sigh. "That girl is like a fucking bad penny."
"Will you?" I asked, turning in his arms to look up at his face.
He frowned. "Will I what?" His hands moved to my waist automatically.
"Go back to her?" I held my breath and waited for his answer.
Confusion was etched all over Nate's face. "Andi, I'm not following you."
Feeling brazen and wildly reckless, I reached up on my tiptoes. With trembling hands, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
Immediately, Nate jerked his face away from me. "What the hell are you doing?" he growled, voice low, as he held my hands in his.
"I'm sorry, I just thought that after the other night…" I searched my brain and came up empty. "I'm sorry," I repeated lamely. "I thought you wanted to make sure Dallas left you alone." Shame crept through me and my conscience screamed liar. I hadn't done that for any other reason than I wanted to. I needed to.
"Andi," Nate's voice was strained when he spoke. "You can't do that again." A vein in his neck ticked as he stared down at me. "I mean it," he added, jaw clenched. "I'm not kissing you for a fucking game."
A tsunami of rejection coursed through me.
Nathan, noticing the hurt in my eyes, let out a string of curse words. "Andi, shit. Wait. I didn’t mean that the way it came out…"
"No, it's totally fine." Holding my hand up in front of Nate to keep him at bay, I shook my head before quickly rushing out of the room, desperate to get away. "I need the restroom."
Spotting Ivy in the foyer with Jackson, I made a beeline for her and snatched her away from my brother. "You need to help me," I muttered as I took her arm and dragged her down the corridor towards the bathroom.
"What the hell?" Ivy looked at me like I was a crazy woman. "Are you okay?"
"He doesn't want me," I whispered once we were inside.
"Who?" Ivy demanded. "Nathan?" When I nodded glumly, Ivy made pshhing noise. "Girl, please. That boy has been looking at you like he wants to eat you up – again."
"Then why hasn’t he?" I heard myself whine.
"I knew this fake girlfriend shit was a bad idea," Ivy growled. "It's too hard on you. You should have said no, Andi."
"I didn’t want to say no, Ives." Banging the back of my head against the door, I let out a frustrated growl. "I want Nate so badly," I admitted. "Every time I'm near him I feel like I'm going to explode!"
"Then make the first move," she suggested.
"I tried," I muttered dejectedly. "He stopped me."
"Then try harder," she urged with a wink. "Use what god gave you and woman up, dammit!"
"Then make me look like a woman," I blurted out. I gestured to my attire and sighed. "I need to look sexy."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Newsflash, Andi. You are sexy."
"No, I'm cute. I need to look sexy," I corrected. "Please, Ivy. I'll beg if I have to."
****
Chapter Nine
When I returned to the kitchen, I moved with a spring in my step, feeling better than when I'd run in there. With my braid undone, my hair fell to my waist, long and slightly wavy. Ivy applied some of her makeup on my face, painting my lips a plush red and I'd removed my chunky knit cardigan, leaving it in the bathroom, daring to bare a little skin in my strapless maxi-dress.
I had a swagger in my step after my pep talk with Ivy.
I wasn’t about to let Dallas Holloway bully me around tonight.
Not when I was on my very first date with Nathan, albeit a fake date, but a date all the same.
When I walked back into the room, I didn’t let the stares bother me.
Walking with purpose, I moved through the crowds, eyes set on one person.
When Nate noticed me, his brows shot up in surprise. The bottle of beer he'd been sipping remained pressed to his lower lip as his eyes raked over me.
He was frowning, like he couldn’t figure me out.
Before I had a chance to chicken out, I forced my legs to move towards him.
I was halfway there when I realized he wasn’t alone. Dallas was standing to his left with her arms crossed and her face set in a deep pout. They were obviously arguing about something.
Me, I thought to myself, and instantly my courage evaporated.
A multitude of confusing emotions were what led me over to the table laden down with alcohol, but it was the need to forget that made me drink. I browsed through the many bottles before settling on vodka. Even though I'd never drank so much as a drop of wine in my life, I trusted Nathan when he said vodka was a safe bet for my diabetes. Grabbing a Dixie cup, I filled it up and added a splash of tonic water.
The moment the alcohol touched the back of my throat, I spluttered and gagged. "Oh my god," I choked out, glaring at my cup like it was the devil in disguise. "Why do people do this to themselves?"
"Because we're gluttons for punishment," a familiar voice said from behind me and I jumped.
I swung around and smiled when I recognized the brown haired boy who was smiling at me. "Oh, hey, Brad," I acknowledged with a smile and a tip of my cup.
"It's weird to see you here," he said with a smile as he knocked back his drink. "Thought you didn’t come to these things?"
"Oh, well," I chuckled. "Things change, I guess." Feeling nervous, I finished off my drink and quickly poured another. As the alcohol flooded my veins, I felt my body loosen up as I fell into conversation with Brad. Usually, I was socially awkward, but I found it refreshingly easy to talk to Brad. He was funny and familiar and kept a respectable distance from me at all times.
My eyes glazed over, the room began to spin, and I quickly realized that I was drunk.
"Here," Brad chuckled, several drinks later, as he thrust a red Dixie cup into my hand and smiled. "Try this."
I raised the cup to my nose and sniffed. "Oh my god," I slurred, laughing. "What the heck is in that?"
"It's my own personal invention," Brad slurred back, laughing.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," a familiar voice came from behind me just as I was about to take a sip. A large tanned arm came around me and swiped the cup from my hand. Nathan raised the cup to his lips and took a sip before shoving the cup back at Brad. "She's diabetic, asshole," he snarled. "This is loaded with rum and coke. What the fuck are you trying to do – put her in a coma?"
Brad paled, sobering quickly. "I didn’t think." Holding his hands up in retreat, he took a wobbly step back from us. "I'm sorry." His eyes flickered to me. "Andi, I'm so sorry."
"Her name is Adriana," Nathan corrected, standing almost entirely in front of me. He reeked of cigarettes and booze. "And you will be fucking sorry," Nate hiccupped, pointing a finger at Brad. "If you don’t back the fuck up from my girlfriend."
"Why did you do that?" I hissed when Brad had scampered off into the crowd. "He was only being nice to me."
"Nice," Nathan sneered, pressing himself close to me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It was making me dizzy. "His niceness could have landed you in the ICU."
"Are you drunk?" I asked, feeling dizzy from the stench of alcohol wafting from his breath. I was drunk. I could feel it in my bones, but Nathan was three sheets to the wind.
"I don't know," Nate drawled. He was definitely slurring his words. "Why don’t you ask that crazy bitch, Tequila." Exhaling heavily, he added, "Forced herself down my throat." Frowning he added, "Wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"God, Nate, "I w
hispered. "You're wasted."
"S'all your fault," he mumbled.
"How's it my fault?"
"It's always your fault," he grumbled, stunning me when he picked up a strand of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers. "Soft," he muttered, releasing my hair. "Why'd you have to be so fucking soft, Andi?"
"You need to stop doing this," I whispered, feeling confused and embarrassed. I couldn’t handle this. These signals he was sending me were messing with my head
"Stop doing what?" he demanded, suddenly angry. "Looking out for you? If you want a drink, I will get you a drink," he added. "You don’t accept it from some strange guy, Andi."
"Brad's in my History class," I replied. "And he's my lab partner in bio. He's hardly a stranger, and he's always been kind to me at school."
"Oh, that's alright then," Nate shot back sourly. Taking my hand, he all but dragged me through the crowd in the direction of the booze.
When we reached the table, he grabbed a fresh cup and filled it with vodka. "Here," he slurred. Thrusting the cup into my hand, he grabbed a bottle of tonic water and poured that in too, spilling it over the sides. "You wanna get buzzed, then you do it on my watch."
Unsure of what to do, I stood there with the cup in my hand, looking up at Nathan's scowling face. "Is this a trick?" I heard myself ask.
"A trick?" Nathan cocked a brow. "Why would this be a trick?"
"Because you were just mad at me for drinking and now you're giving me more…" Hiccupping, I looked up at Nate. "I don’t get it."
"No," Nate slurred. Dropping a hand to my hip, he drew me close to him. "I was mad at that prick for almost poisoning you. I don’t have a problem with you drinking. I have a problem with you doing it when I'm not around." Ducking his face low, he whispered in my ear, "I can keep you safe." He was rubbing my back. His hand was moving dangerously low…almost cupping my butt. "You're too good for him, Andi," he added. Oh yeah, he was cupping my butt now…with his hand!
Carly Rae Jepson's I Really Like You was blasting from one of the amps set up in the house and I felt like crying. She was singing the words of my life right now.