looked at me to say something I just said he wasn’t worth it, or that she’d find someone else better.
When Emma’s tears had finally dried up, I breathed a sigh of relief. This was the reason I didn’t have very many girls as friends, the emotional drama was too much for me to cope with. I wasn’t mentally able to cope with things like this happening.
“You sure you aren’t up for a little one night stand? I could really do with a pick-me-up,” Emma joked, laughing.
“You’ll find someone, Emma. Go watch sad movies, and eat ice cream until you throw up. Don’t do random guys in bathrooms, that’s not going to help you get over him,” I advised.
She smiled sadly. “You’re a good guy, Nate.”
“I’m the best,” I joked, making her laugh and roll her eyes. “Come on then. Let’s go get wasted. This has sobered me up a little,” I suggested, holding out my arm for her to take. She smiled and looped her arm through mine as I flicked the lock on the door and headed out to spend some more cash on drink that was sure to come back up before morning.
~ Rosie ~
When I woke in the morning, I squeezed my eyes shut again, wanting more sleep. The trouble was, the little thing that was jumping on the foot of the bed, singing Hotdog Hotdog Hot-diggedy-dog, had no intention of letting me sleep more. I groaned a little and turned my head, looking for Nate’s handsome face. Immediately, disappointment settled in the pit of my stomach because his side of the bed was empty. I sighed when I remembered that he’d gone out with his friends and sister last night. He was working today too, so I wouldn’t even get to see him until tomorrow.
I pushed myself up to sitting, smiling at DJ. “Morning, Baby,” I mumbled, yawning. I was tired because Nate had called me during the night, drunk off his face, singing down the phone that I was the best girlfriend ever, and that he couldn’t wait to see me. He’d then proceeded to list all the dirty things that he would do to my body next time he saw me, which, of course, made it hard for me to fall back to sleep because I was overexcited. The phone call was worth a little tiredness today though. My favourite part was when he’d started musing about how funny it would be to have sex on bubble wrap. I smiled to myself just at the thought of him alone. I really was in trouble. The player had completely won me over. I was completely at his mercy, and he seemed to have no idea about it.
“I’m starving, Momma,” DJ whined, rubbing his stomach, giving me the pouty lip.
“Come on then, let’s get breakfast.” I swung my legs off the bed as he jumped down and shook his head.
“I’m not hungry for breakfast,” he countered. “I’m starving for those candies that Nate broughted me last night.”
I smiled. “Oh really? Well I ate those when you were in bed, so it looks like you’re stuck with Cheerios,” I joked, sticking my tongue out at him.
“You ate my candy? I’m telling Nate on you,” he scolded, frowning.
I smiled, wondering if I would get a spanking for that. Deep down I hoped so.
Setting my hands on DJ’s shoulders, I guided him out of my bedroom. “I didn’t really eat them, but you’re not having that for breakfast.”
He huffed and squared his shoulders. “Nate would let me. Where is he anyways? Is he coming over today?” His face lit up at the thought. DJ adored Nate, probably almost as much as I did, which kind of made Nate all the more special to me. In four and a half months he had completely changed our lives, making everything seem better, easier and happier. I never thought I would ever be this happy. I never wanted a man after what Josh did, but now that I had Nate, I couldn’t imagine life without him.
“He’s working, Baby. We’ll see him tomorrow night.” I smiled and headed into the kitchen, making him some cereal and flicking on the coffeemaker. I had a feeling I would need quite a few cups to get through the day without falling asleep.
He sighed and nodded, obviously missing Nate as much as I was. Everyday just seemed to drag when I didn’t see Nate’s smile, or hear his laugh. Things were moving pretty fast between us. We were still waiting for the L word to be exchanged before he would let me ravage him, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t completely satisfied though. Nate just seemed to have some sort of magic over my body and what the man could do with his hands and his tongue made my eyes roll back in ecstasy.
But it wasn’t just the sex that my body needed him for. I actually just missed cuddling up to him or holding his hand. I missed the rhythmic breathing that blew down my neck while we slept; I missed waking up to his smile. I just missed every part of Nate Peters, and it had only been fourteen hours since I last saw him. I really was pathetic. It was like he’d turned me into some sort of lovesick puppy. Me, Rosie York, the girl who vowed never to let a man have power over her again, had completely let down her barriers and let a player into her life.
I set a bowl of cereal down in front of DJ and sat opposite him, nursing a cup of strong coffee. “Want to go to the park this morning?” I offered, needing the fresh air to wake me up.
He nodded eagerly. “Can I call Auntie Paige and see if she wants to play at the park with us?” DJ asked, speaking with his mouthful and dribbling milk down his chin.
I grimaced and nodded. “Sure, but swallow the mouthful before speaking next time, okay?” I requested, watching as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his pyjamas. He smiled sheepishly and carried on shovelling the food in his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. Clearly he was going through some sort of growth spurt – either that or he had worms. He just didn’t stop eating lately, and I was seriously starting to struggle with money because of it.
On top of that, he’d grown about two inches in the last two months, meaning I’d had to shell out for new clothes. Josh hadn’t paid my child support either, so this month was an extremely hard one. I had already borrowed money from my parents just to tide me over until Josh’s ‘overtime payment’ came through from work, but I was down to my last fifty dollars to buy food for almost two weeks. Soon we’d be eating from tin cans and frozen packets.
Josh seriously was a waste of air sometimes, but I couldn’t just dismiss him, even though I wanted to. I couldn’t cut off that money altogether, because I literally wouldn’t have enough money to survive if I did that. I was now at the point where I needed to start looking for a second job. If Josh carried on missing his payments, DJ and I would find ourselves out on the streets if I missed my rent. I’d worked two jobs before; it was hard, but something that I had to do to get us through. I’d already decided to ask the Principal of my school on Monday if they needed any extra cleaning staff. An extra hour every day would make all the difference.
I always pretended to Nate that everything was fine because I didn’t want him to know how hard I struggled to make ends meet. Nate would help me, I knew he would, but I couldn’t lay this burden at his door. Secretly, I was glad that Josh had let me down for this weekend so that I hadn’t had to go out with Nate and his friends last night – I was drowning in debt and my credit card would bottom out soon. Sometimes I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. It seemed like no matter how hard I worked, how much I strived to be a great mom, there was always something in the way making it feel like an uphill battle with me pulling a ten ton rock behind me.
DJ smiled and pushed his empty bowl to the middle of the table. “I’m still hungry, Momma. Can I have more?” he asked, eyeing the box that I’d left on the side.
I sighed and closed my eyes before putting on a fake smile and grabbing the box. “Sure, Baby.”
By the time we were dressed and ready, it was after ten in the morning, so I let DJ call Paige and invite her to the park with us. After a minute of talking to her, his expression changed and a big grin broke out on his face.
“Hey, Nate!” he chirped.
I smiled, grabbing his jacket from the hook, holding it out for him to put his arms in. He stood there chatting down the phone, telling Nate about us going to the park and about me not letting him eat candy for br
eakfast. DJ pouted at me when he told Nate that he wanted to take his scooter to the park but that I’d said no because I didn’t want to carry it all the way there when he got tired of riding it. I couldn’t hear Nate’s answers, but judging by the dissatisfied look on DJ’s face, my adorable boyfriend was backing me up. I chewed on my lip, holding my hand out for the phone, just wanting to hear his voice a little before he went to work.
DJ pouted. “Momma wants you,” he grumbled, obviously not pleased about having to share the phone. “Nate saided I could take my scooter to the park,” he said, putting the phone in my hand.
As I put it to my ear, I could hear Nate laughing. “Good morning. You hungover today?” I asked, grinning.
“Momma wants me, does she?” he replied, not answering my question.
I sighed dreamily. Heck yes I did actually! “Definitely,” I confirmed.
“Well I’ll pencil you in for when I get home. If you want, I’ll call you again tonight,” he purred suggestively.
I closed my eyes at the thought. Nate’s pillow talk was one of the sexiest things I’d ever heard in my life. His words could do things to my body that Josh had never managed to do using everything available to him.
“I don’t think I could handle a call like that two nights in a row. I think I’d pretty much go into meltdown,” I confessed.
He sighed. “Me either, actually,” he admitted. “So, my lazy ass of a sister said that she’s too tired to come to the park right now. She said she’ll call you later and meet up for dinner if you want to.”
“Yeah, okay. Tell her to call me when she gets her butt out of bed then,” I suggested. DJ was zipping up his coat, his shoes were already on. His scooter was sitting by the door as if he was going to somehow sneak it out without me noticing. I smiled. “Did you tell DJ that I’d take his scooter to the park?” I asked Nate.
“No. Why?” he replied.
I smiled and shook my head. “No reason. I’d better go. Have a good day at work. Stay safe, and if you get a break then call me, okay? But not at four in the morning.” I added the last part quickly, knowing he would call me when he finished his shift otherwise.
“Okay, Stripes. See ya.”
I closed my phone and raised one eyebrow at DJ. “Nate just told me I had to take your scooter to the park with us. You’re lucky he’s so great, huh?” I teased, deciding to let him get his way.
His eyes widened as he clapped excitedly. “I love Nate!” he practically shouted.
I blinked a couple of times at his words. He’d never said that before. It sounded so sweet coming out of his mouth. I silently wondered what Nate would say about that if he heard those words tumble out of DJ’s mouth. He looked like he meant it too; his lips were pulled up into a big toothy grin as he gripped the handlebars of his scooter for dear life.
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I said nothing, deciding to change the subject quickly. “Come on then, Baby. Let’s get to the park before it gets too busy and you can’t scoot,” I suggested, grabbing my purse and keys and opening the door to leave.
That afternoon Anna came over with Cameron for a visit and girlie catch up. While we had coffee, DJ was busy sorting through his car collection, trying to find one that didn’t have any loose pieces so that Cam could play with him. I was sitting on the sofa, just fussing over the cutest little baby I had seen since DJ was born. Cameron was beautiful; his big hazel eyes just seemed to take everything in as he looked at me and smiled at the funny faces I was pulling.
“So, Ashton’s still grumbling about that boys’ golf day from weeks ago,” Anna said, shaking her head, laughing. “I’ll warn you now that he’s planning a rematch in the very near future, so tell your dad and Nate to expect a call.”
I laughed at that statement. Apparently, the ‘boys’ golfing day’ that was originally supposed to be just Nate, my dad, and DJ turned into some sort of boys’ fun fest. Ashton invited himself along as soon as he heard about it, which then in turn made Seth pout until he was invited as well, and then Anna’s father had gotten wind of it. Before you know it, there were twelve of them playing. Ashton, being not very good at golf, took the hit and lost by a clear mile. Six weeks later and he still hadn’t lived it down. From what I understand, by the end of the eighteen holes, the boys were calling him ‘hole in none’ – started by Nate, of course. Ashton really was a sore loser and didn’t take it lightly when he wasn’t very good at something.
“Ashton’s way too funny,” I chuckled, tickling Cameron at the same time.
Anna sighed and rested her head back on the sofa. “Yeah, but sometimes he whines like a little girl,” she countered, grinning fondly.
I smiled. Anna and Ashton were so in love that it was almost sickening to see. I chewed on my lip as I wondered if I would ever get Nate to look at me the way that Ashton looked at Anna. It had always been plain to see that he was besotted by Anna, even when they were ‘pretending’ to be a couple at college when we all first met. Even then you could see it in his eyes. But Nate, he was just so much harder to read. I desperately wanted to ask Anna for her opinion, but I was scared it would somehow get back to Nate and would ruin everything. I’d seen Nate and Ashton together, sometimes they gossiped like a couple of old ladies standing at a fence.
“Everyone has to have a flaw,” I joked, shrugging, shifting Cameron on my lap because he was chewing fistfuls of my hair.
She nodded. “Yeah but his flaw is the snoring! Rosie, I swear to God, last night it was so loud that he woke himself up,” she said, laughing.
I laughed along with her, and was silently thankful that Nate didn’t snore. Not that I would probably hear him, I slept like the dead. The only thing that woke me up in the night was DJ. It was like I had some kind of sonar when it came to him, but everything else just didn’t get through.
“How do you cope with a snorer?” I asked, looking at her in awe. That was real love; she didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
She shrugged, smiling affectionately. “I like it actually. It reminds me that he’s there. It makes me sleep better when he’s growling in my ear. Cam sleeps through it too. Ashton doesn’t believe me when I tell him he snores; I swear he thinks I’m making it up. When he woke himself up last night, he gave me this quizzical look, so I just pretended that I woke him, and let him keep his dignity,” she chuckled.
“You two are hilarious. It’s almost six years now, right?” I asked, squealing when Cam started biting on my finger.
Anna nodded in confirmation. “Yep,” she replied dreamily, popping the p.
I chewed on my lip and decided to ask the question that I’d been dying to ask for months. “Anna, how do you get him to stay in love with you, even after all that time? I dread the day when I lose Nate’s interest. How do I keep him wanting more like you do with Ashton?” I asked quietly, eyeing DJ, who was still rummaging through his cars. I didn’t really want him to hear this conversation; I didn’t want him to start worrying about the day that Nate got bored. DJ was going to be devastated when it happened.
Anna smiled kindly. “Rosie, Nate’s crazy about you, stop stressing about it. He’s not like the other one,” she assured me, obviously not wanting to say Josh’s name in case DJ heard. “I’ve known Nate a long time and I’ve never once seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.”
I felt slightly better because of her words. I knew I was his only proper girlfriend, and that he’d never been in a serious relationship before, but that knowledge still didn’t stop the freak out that I had practically every day as to whether today would be the day that he finally realised that he could do better than a single mother. I knew that day would come, eventually. I just wasn’t right for him at all, and sooner or later, he’d see that. For now though, I was happy going along for the ride, lapping up his attention and kisses, savouring every one of them in case it was the last one I got.
Anna scooted off the sofa, settling down next to DJ. “So, what are we playing?” she asked, rummaging thr
ough the box along with him.
I smiled and pushed myself up off the sofa, sitting Cam between Anna’s legs. “I’m gonna make more coffee. You want something, Baby?”
“Chocolate milkshake with maple syrup!” he called.
I sighed and shook my head, smiling to myself. That was the little gross combination that Nate had got DJ hooked on a couple of weeks ago. The pair of them were so alike, sometimes it was like they were really father and son. As I pulled open the fridge to get out the milk, my intercom buzzed from downstairs. I frowned, shaking back the sleeve of Nate’s sweater that I was wearing, checking the time. It was only quarter past two. Paige was obviously super early, she wasn’t due here until five.
I headed over to the door, pressing the button on the speaker. “Hello?”
“Hey, bunny.”
I groaned when I heard Josh’s voice. I really didn’t need this today. Whenever Anna and Josh were in the same room, it was like you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. And he wasn’t even supposed to be here today; he was sick and couldn’t have DJ for the weekend. I didn’t answer as I pressed the button for the door downstairs, letting him into the building.
I chewed on my lip as I looked back at Anna, who was still sitting on the floor playing with DJ and Cameron. “DJ, Daddy’s here,” I called, not really wanting to see Anna’s face when I said it. She always tried so hard to keep the look of distaste off her face when he was around or when I mentioned his name, but I knew that she’d secretly love to sucker punch him.
DJ squealed and ran to my side. I opened the door and smiled at Rick, who was waiting outside the door, guarding Anna. “Josh is on his way up,” I told him, shrugging.
He nodded in response. He was in work mode today, so no joking around or anything even though we were friends. There was such a distinct difference in his personality when he was working, it was almost comical.
DJ was just standing patiently by the open door, watching the stairs like Santa Claus was due here any second. The hero worship that Josh got from his son was a little sickening and heart-breaking. Kids forgive and forget so easily. I missed being a kid sometimes.