She stepped back, walking backwards towards her bedroom, her eyes not leaving mine as she tugged on my hand, making me follow her. As I matched my step to hers, the air practically crackled with sexual tension.
I need to be strong. Say no. Just hold her like I planned. Resist, Nate, you can do it.
She pushed the door shut behind me and stepped closer, gripping the bottom of my T-shirt and pulling it over my head. She smiled as she trailed her fingers across my stomach. “I kind of miss the Rosie’s bitch art work,” she teased.
I laughed and kissed her lightly. In the dim light of her bedside lamp, she looked way too special for me. What on earth had I done right to deserve a girl like her? I always knew I was a good-looking guy, I could get any girl that I wanted, but I wasn’t actually man enough to keep a girl like Rosie. She was just too incredible for words, and sooner or later she would realise that I wasn’t good enough for her and she’d dump my ass. The thought was actually painful because I didn’t want to be without her now.
As we kissed, her hands went to the belt of my jeans, her fingers working on it, her hands so close to my crotch that I could barely stand it. I wanted her so much, but I was going to wait. I had to wait. I had to be strong.
Because she seemed to be fumbling nervously, I pushed her hands away and unbuckled it, ripping open my buttons at the same time. I kissed her again and walked her backwards to the bed, stopping when the back of her knees hit the side. She whimpered, and the sound almost drove me crazy.
As she lay down in the bed, I pulled back, turning slightly as I pulled off my jeans, trying to rearrange downstairs so it wasn’t so freaking obvious. I threw my jeans on the chair by the side of her bed and turned back to her.
She’d climbed into the bed and had lifted the cover, looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to get in with her. I smiled as I slipped in next to her, filling the empty space. “So, is this my side of the bed now, Stripes?” I asked, grinning like a fool at the thought of claiming the space in her bed.
She laughed and shrugged. “I guess.”
I groaned appreciatively as she pressed herself against me, I could feel her curves pressed against my body and my mouth actually started to water. I rolled to the side and pulled her impossibly closer to me, my gaze locked on hers as I spoke.
“I’m claiming this side. You don’t ever let another man in your bed,” I stated, trying to come across as playful, but the whole Josh situation had put a hard, possessive edge to my tone so it came across a lot more serious than I’d intended.
She smiled and traced her hands up my chest, her nails scratching gently, before gripping one hand in the back of my hair. “No other men? Not even DJ?” she teased.
I pressed my body to hers, unable to resist grinding my erection against her hip, making her gasp and look at me with wide eyes. “DJ’s allowed, but other than that I’m the only guy you sleep with.”
She nodded, biting her lip, her eyes wide and excited. “I love it when you get all forceful. It’s a total turn-on how masterful you are, Officer Peters,” she whispered, tugging on my hair slightly, making me move closer to her, our lips almost meeting.
Officer Peters. Why does that sound so naughty coming out of her mouth?
“And I love this tiny little outfit you’re wearing, Ms York,” I purred, rolling on top of her more, my mouth brushing against hers as I spoke. I wanted desperately to close the distance and kiss her until we couldn’t breathe, but I wasn’t sure how much teasing my body could take. How long would it be before sexual frustration actually killed me? Would I be the first man in the world to die of it?
She smiled. “Personally, I don’t like these pyjamas; I think maybe you should take them off me.”
Oh, dear God. Strength, Nate! Use the inner strength! I wasn’t actually sure I possessed enough inner strength for this girl. I rolled onto my back, pulling her on top of me, making her squeak from the shock and giggle excitedly.
I opened my mouth to speak, but she sat up, her peachy little behind pressing heavily on my erection making me moan quietly at the feel of it. This really was like torture. She smiled at me wickedly.
“Ooh, someone’s a little excited,” she stated, blushing slightly as she shifted her hips, grinding on me.
“A little excited doesn’t quite cover it,” I admitted, my voice husky and thick with lust.
She grinned and moved, leaning over and grabbing something from her bedside cabinet. She shifted back to me again, sitting on my crotch heavily, the pressure almost driving me out of my mind. She dangled the little candy necklace from one finger. “I have big plans for this.” She trailed it down my chest, and I groaned at the tickling sensation.
What were the reasons that I didn’t want to do this? I scrambled desperately for the reasons that I wanted to wait. There were four of them. I’d listed them earlier, something about wanting to prove myself. Think, Nate, think!
When the material of my boxers moved, my whole body tensed up as I realised what she meant. I sat up and shook my head. I couldn’t let her do that; I couldn’t let her touch me yet. I still couldn’t focus on the reasons why, but I knew that there were reasons, and that was good enough to stop this before it got too far. She frowned, seeming confused as I grabbed her hand that was just about to push down the front of my briefs.
“Stripes, I’ve never wanted a girl to do that to me more than I want you to do that at this moment,” I admitted. “But I told you last night, I want to wait.” My voice said one thing, but my body was screaming at me for the complete opposite.
What am I doing? She’s offering a fucking blow job that includes a candy necklace, and I’m refusing? Something is seriously wrong with me!
She shook her head. “Nate, it’s fine. I want to,” she whispered, her eyes locked on mine.
I kissed her roughly as I laid back down, bringing her with me as I rolled so that I was hovering above her. I pulled out of the kiss and just looked at her, I could see her desire clear across her face, she wasn’t lying, she really did want me in that way – but that just wasn’t enough for me, I wanted more than that.
“I still want to wait and prove to you that I’m not like the ass of an ex that you have. I want to stick to what we agreed,” I said sternly. She pouted, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at her disappointed face. “You don’t think I’m worth waiting for?” I teased.
She pursed her lips, pretended to think. “Well, I’ve only had a few teasers here and there, but you’ve passed the test so far,” she finally answered.
I nodded. “Of course I did, I ace all tests.” I kissed the base of her throat, trailing my tongue along her collarbone, making her breathing speed up.
“Who said you aced? You barely scraped a C,” she joked, giggling when I bit her neck warningly. “Okay, okay, a B?”
I shook my head and pulled back, grinning at her. “Tell me I don’t rock your world. Make it convincing though, I’ll know if you’re lying,” I challenged.
She opened her mouth to speak, and I waited for the witty comeback, but she just looked at me and closed her mouth again. “Fine,” she whispered. “But you don’t just rock my world, Nate, you’re shaking it to the core.” All of her cockiness and confidence was gone now.
I paused at the intensity of the words; clearly, we weren’t just talking about the physical stuff now. I traced my finger across her cheek, even in the dim light in the room I could see that she was blushing.
Okay, Nate, say something nice back. Tell her that she’s making you crazy, that you can’t get enough of her, that you’re totally falling in love with her…
Did I say any of those nice things though? Nope. No, I didn’t.
“Well that’s great, it means that you’ll fall for me pretty soon, and then I won’t have to keep jacking off to a picture of you,” I stated instead.
What the fuck? I slapped my palm on my forehead at my stupidity, and she just burst out laughing. I shook my head in disbelief. Why couldn’t I ever say anything
romantic? She tells me I’m shaking her world, and I make some stupid comment about jacking off? What an idiot.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
She was still laughing underneath me. “Nate, you are too funny for words. I swear I haven’t laughed this much with a guy in,” she shook her head, “actually, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this much with a guy.”
I looked at her apologetically; I really didn’t understand her at all. She just seemed to accept and like everything about me, even my perverted, idiotic side. I was an emotional imbecile; I had no idea what I was doing or what I should be saying to a girl. I had no idea how to actually be in a relationship with a girl and make them feel special or appreciated. Yet she was still smiling and looking at me like I was fucking Superman.
Okay, second chance, Nate. Say something romantic back. Something like, she’s the most incredible girl you’ve ever met, that she brightens your day, or that you think about her all the time when you’re not with her…
Did I say any of those things though? Again, no, I didn’t.
“Well, I’ve never had this much fun with a girl that I wasn’t banging,” I said. She started laughing again, and I immediately realised what I’d said. I groaned loudly. “Can we just pretend I stopped talking right after the word, ‘girl’? That I said, I’ve never had this much fun with a girl, and then I just stopped talking?” I asked, hopefully.
She raised one eyebrow, still grinning. “You should just stop talking all together and kiss me already,” she suggested, tightening her arms around my neck, making me press harder against her.
I sighed contentedly and pressed my lips to hers. We had an intense make out session for a good half an hour and then we broke apart. We just laid there on our sides, our chests pressed against each other’s, talking into the early hours of the morning about everything and anything. When she yawned, I pulled her closer to me, and she snuggled into my chest, her legs tangling in with mine as I wrapped my arms around her.
I kissed the top of her head and fell asleep with a smile on my face. That was easily the best day and night of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I woke to the sound of Britney Spears’ voice blasting near my ear. I winced and flinched away from the sound as Rosie groaned loudly, shifting and pressing her face into the side of my neck. Her hand blindly slapped onto her bedside cabinet, looking for something. I smiled, a little confused, then I realised she was reaching for her cell phone. I laughed as I noticed what the Britney song actually was, ‘Womanizer’ was blasting way too loud for this time of the morning.
Finally, she found it and pressed it to her ear without moving her face away from my neck. She didn’t bother with any hellos. “This had better be important or I’m gonna kick your ass,” she growled into the phone, her voice thick with sleep.
I laughed and wrapped my arms around her tighter, kissing the top of her head as I blinked, trying to get my stinging eyes to adjust to the light in the room.
“Heck yeah you woke me up! What time is it anyway?” she asked, then she groaned again. “Josh, I hardly ever get to sleep in, let alone sleep in with an incredibly hot guy, and you have to wake me up at seven thirty? Seriously, do you not know me at all?”
My muscles tightened unconsciously at the mention of Josh. I closed my eyes as she pushed herself away from me and sat up, rubbing a hand over her face.
“Yeah, he’s here. Why so interested? I don’t think he swings that way, but I’ll ask him, if you want,” she teased, laughing at his response. Suddenly she frowned, looking a little shocked at whatever he’d said.
“What? No! I told you last night that I was busy today. No, I can’t rearrange. Look, just call your mom back and tell her that her son’s an idiot and was obviously too drunk to remember the agreement that we made last night. No, I said that I’d call her for coffee. Josh, you’re supposed to be working today!” she scoffed at something he said.
“Well he’s at Anna’s all day anyway so you can’t. If you wanted to see him today then you should have told me last night and I could have arranged for him to be here for you! Oh, don’t try and blame this on me. I wasn’t the one that cancelled anything, remember?”
She was quiet for a bit, listening to him speak before she sighed and shrugged.
“Look, I don’t care, okay? Let’s just leave it for now. If you want him next weekend then that’s fine with me. Just call me in the week and we’ll arrange it. Okay, well just pick him up Saturday morning then instead of Friday night if you’re working. Yeah, it’s fine. No, he’d love to see you too, just don’t cancel again, please?” she begged, closing her eyes and biting on her lip.
“I know you do, I just hate seeing his face when it happens. I know you have to work. Hold up, I never said it was your fault, I’m just telling you what he sees.”
She looked at me apologetically, and I forced a smile, putting my hand on her knee, rubbing circles in her soft skin with my thumb. She spoke to him for another minute, then disconnected the call and pushed her phone back onto the side, her eyes looking at the clock before she shook her head angrily.
“I hate mornings,” she mumbled, settling herself back down against me, resting her chin on my chest looking up at me with her beautiful brown eyes. “Sorry about that, I think he was still drunk. He was asking what time I was going to his mom’s for dinner today with DJ.”
I stroked the back of her head. Her hair was all messy and tangled – though it still managed to look incredible. “Maybe he was too drunk to remember that you told him you were busy with your new boy toy,” I joked.
She smiled and dipped her head, kissing my chest lightly. “Boy toy, I actually like that almost as much as Rosie’s bitch.”
“Am I ever going to live that down?”
She shifted her body, swinging her leg over mine and hovering above me, her eyes were teasing and playful. “I don’t think so; the image of that black writing is burnt into the back of my eyelids.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled her mouth to mine, ending the conversation.
We spent the day just hanging out, talking and fooling around. We went for a walk in the park because I thought that might be romantic. As it turns out I was right, we ended up making out against a tree for ages, then sitting on a blanket and ‘people watching’. Making up funny stories to fit what they were doing at the time, trying to outdo one another and make the other person laugh. I got the impression that Rosie thought I was a funny guy, at one point she pretty much spat her drink out of her mouth when I made up the reason a man was wearing a trench coat when it clearly wasn’t cold enough for one.
After eating lunch, we arrived at the Taylors’ apartment at just after two. As we stepped into the elevator, I smirked at her as I pretended to run my hand over the buttons. Just as we got near Ashton’s floor, my cell phone started ringing. I smiled apologetically and pulled it out of my pocket, already knowing it was my mother by the ringtone.
“Sorry, it’s my mom,” I muttered.
She smiled and patted my ass as the elevator doors opened. “Are you a secret momma’s boy, Officer Peters?”
I nodded unashamedly. “Sure I am. She does my laundry,” I joked.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? She does your laundry?”
I shrugged, playing along. “What can I say, I can’t be good at everything.”
“So, if I were to do your laundry…” she trailed off, looking at me expectantly.
I wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her against my chest. “If you were to do it, then I’d get that Rosie’s bitch slogan tattooed on my abs for real,” I stated, pretending to be serious.
She laughed and traced her hand down my back and onto my ass as I walked her backwards towards Ashton’s apartment. The phone was still ringing endlessly in my hand. “I’d rather have it tattooed on your ass. It’d look pretty good there,” she flirted, kissing the base of my throat.
I laughed and pushed her against the wall, kissing her softly before
pulling away and nodding at Ashton’s door. “You go in, I’ll just be one minute,” I suggested, holding up the phone.
She grinned and knocked, Ashton answered the door almost immediately, I waved in greeting and answered the phone. “Hey, Mom.”
“Nathaniel, I was starting to get worried, you never let the phone ring for long. I was starting to think bad things had happened!” she scolded.
I smiled and leant back against the wall. “Sorry. I was making out with my girl,” I told her, grinning as she gasped and made a little aww sound.
“Nate, I can’t wait to meet her! When are you going to bring her home and introduce her to everyone?” she asked, her voice taking on that whiney quality it always did when she wanted something really badly.
I laughed cautiously. “When the time’s right, I will. It’s still only been seven weeks.” I shrugged; I didn’t want to take her home yet – not that I was frightened of putting our relationship on that path. It was more like I was scared that she wasn’t ready to go down that track; I didn’t want to scare her away from me by coming on too strong.
“Seven weeks is plenty of time to know how you feel about someone!” my mom rebutted. “How do you feel about her? Is she, you know, the one?” she asked, her voice hopeful.
I sighed and closed my eyes. “Mom, I’m not having this conversation with you.”