Nathan was back just as quickly as the first time with two wine glasses and a small bottle of wine. “Don’t worry. My brothers and I call these little bottles, girl bottles. I’ll pour you a glass and I’ll handle the rest just fine.
He opened the bottle and poured her a glass. Just as he was pouring himself one, her phone rang, and Aiyanna frowned when she saw who it was. “Shoot,” she said, picking it up from her lap. “I totally forgot.” She hit the answer button and began apologizing immediately. “Scotty, I’m sorry. I completely forgot to check in. We’ve only been here about fifteen minutes, though.”
“I don’t mean to nag, Anna,” Scott said with a mixture of remorse and maybe irritation. Though she couldn’t be sure if the irritation was for her or himself. “But you know I worry.”
“No, I know. I know. I’m the same way. I’ll check in again tomorrow and let you know where I’m at.”
“Alright, Anna Banana, enjoy your evening. I can’t wait to hear about it.”
“Thanks,” she said with a smile, and only then did she notice the strange way Nathan was staring at her.
The moment she was off the phone Nathan was on it. “You always check in with him?”
“Yes.” She nodded, feeling even worse now for how easily she’d done something she never did before. “Losing his brother and father the way he did really did a number on him,” she explained. “He was in therapy for a long time after and now has this crippling fear of losing someone so close to him again. My going missing last week didn’t help that fear.” She frowned, glancing down at her phone again, her heart aching for her best friend suddenly. “Sam said he was a mess,” she whispered.
“That’s gotta suck,” Nathan said, scooting in next to her under the blanket. “I guess I kind of know the feeling. After I lost my mom then my dad just a year later, I was paranoid for a while there. I don’t think I was ever as bad as you say Scott is, but I can relate.”
Her phone dinged and she glanced down at the screen. It was a text from Scott. Aiyanna hesitated to click on it since Nathan was sitting so close to her there was no way he hadn’t seen who it was from. Not that she had anything to hide from Nathan, she was just afraid it might say something silly or embarrassing that was meant for her eyes only. But she didn’t want Nathan to think she might have anything to hide, given the telling expression on his face when he asked about her checking in with him, especially not after his near outburst at the cabin when he’d first met Scott.
Fortunately, while Nathan had admitted to being one of those guys, he showed a little class. Instead of hanging over her shoulder and reading the text she’d been sent, he sipped his wine and glanced out to the ocean when she tapped her screen to read the text.
Just wanted to say thank you for understanding about my worrying and me interrupting your night. I promise this is the last you’ll hear of me tonight. Just remember. Baby steps, Anna. Good night. I love you!
She read it quickly and set the phone down. Scott would understand if she didn’t respond until tomorrow. It’d be rude to be texting during this much anticipated romantic evening with her new boyfriend.
“Everything cool?” Nathan asked, taking another sip of his wine.
“Yeah.” She nodded, taking a very small sip of her own wine. “Scott felt bad about interrupting my evening with you, so he just wanted to thank me for not being mad.”
She left the rest out. She knew there was nothing Nathan had to worry about Scott and eventually he might even hear Scott tell her he loved her. He said it enough. She just didn’t want to risk ruining the mood.
“I’m curious now,” Nathan said, bringing his arm around her shoulder and kissing her head. “Obviously, you and Scott are very close. Tell me about it. How’d you two become best friends?”
Aiyanna glanced up at him, surprised by the question. She’d already told him a little bit more about her relationship with Scott during their phone calls and FaceTime during the week. He wanted to know more? She smiled nervously, pretending to ponder the question when she was really pondering just how much she should disclose about her long past with Scott.
Chapter 15: Answers
Nathan
It wasn’t that Nathan was having second thoughts about Anna’s relationship with Scott. It was just different. Scott was obviously gay. The biggest proof of that wasn’t even that he was openly gay and had been in a relationship with another guy for over two years. For Nathan, the bigger confirmation was that it’d taken him under a week to fall for Anna. If, after all these years of being around Anna, Scott wasn’t hopelessly in love with her, then the guy had to be gay. But Nathan was still curious. He just wanted to understand the relationship a little better.
“I met him my last year of middle school when he first moved here, and I’ll be honest with you.” She hesitated for a moment then smiled and went on. “Like all the other girls in our school, I had a huge crush on the new boy.”
The sip of wine Nathan had just taken went down a little harder that time. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear. But he faked a smile anyway. “Did you?”
Anna shrugged. “He was tall even back then, and I don’t know when you stretched, but in my middle school, most of the boys still hadn’t, so Scott stood out for that alone. He was also adorable with his red hair and blue eyes, so of course, he was the novelty and what all the girls were whispering and giggling about that first semester of the eighth grade. It got around fast that there was an older even bigger and better-looking version of him in high school. My sister had a huge crush on his brother back then too.” Her smile seemed to wane a bit at the thought, but then she continued, a bit more somber. “Since he enrolled late in the first semester, he got stuck with Home Ec for his elective, and I was the lucky one who he sat next to. I told you I was heavy. As if being a zit-faced, braces-wearing thirteen-year-old wasn’t awkward enough, I didn’t have any really close friends. So I was beyond thrilled when, as the semester rolled on, we paired up a lot on projects and started to get to know each other. He shared about moving down here from Sacramento when his mom died so his aunt could help his dad raise him and his siblings. My dad had just passed the year prior also, so we instantly had something very profound in common.”
Nathan listened without interrupting much about how they’d become friends, and Aiyanna even admitted her disappointment about Scott not asking her to the winter formal that year. “By the time we were in the ninth grade, I was beginning to wonder if he might be gay. We spent so much time together, and he even started coming over to my house to hang out. While I’d admit to having crushes on guys and what not, he never once mentioned being into any girls. Everyone in school thought we were secretly dating. That’s when he shared his secret with me. I was the first person he told; though he says when he later told his siblings and dad when he’d nearly graduated college, they all said they’d known since he was very young. Which totally shocked me because the only reason I wondered was because he’d never once spoken of girls the way most guys were doing at that age. I mean, seriously, does he seem gay to you?”
“Nope,” Nathan answered immediately, shaking his head, and took the slight break in the conversation to pour himself another glass of wine.
“Thank you!” she said, taking another tiny sip of her wine. “For the longest time, I thought maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part because I held out hope that he was crushing on me like I was on him. He was this big tough football player for crying out loud.” She laughed but shook her head. “I got over it pretty quickly and then felt honored that I was the first one he came out to. Heidi and I kept his secret all through high school. And I did end up going to prom with him. Everyone still thought we were secretly in love, so no surprise no one dared ask the big football player’s girl to the prom. He felt bad because he knew he was the reason no one asked me, and since there was no way he was asking who he really wanted to go with, we went together. But that’s pretty much it. Heidi and I went with him to a few gay clubs. It was
so much fun. He met and dated plenty of guys for a while there, but it wasn’t until Josh that he fell completely in love. They were so perfect together, and I really liked Josh.” She pouted then sipped her wine again. “And then that jerk broke his heart.”
Nathan leaned in and kissed her pouty lip. “That sucks for Scott. He does seem like a really nice guy.”
For a moment, he wondered if he should ask about what he’d been curious about before, Scott being genuinely blindsided or not, but then Anna suddenly giggled. “I teased him for years after I found out he was gay that the first semester in eighth grade he probably requested to be in Home Ec.”
Nathan laughed, remembering how Scott, the high school football coach, had already cleared that part up. He wasn’t that kind of a gay guy. He leaned in and kissed Anna’s beautiful smiling face. Despite knowing she’d had a crush on this guy for over a year, he felt much better now that he knew the origin of their relationship. The kiss got a little heavier as he inhaled, glad they’d gotten this out of the way. He hated having that niggling worry that maybe there was more to her and Scott.
After putting his wine glass down, he took the one she’d been babying from her and set it down as well. He stared into her beautiful hazel eyes, still unable to believe he’d known her less than two weeks. “How’s it even possible to feel like I’ve known you forever. I mean, hell, even hanging out with your friends tonight wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it might be.”
She nudged him with a smirk. “Painful?”
Nathan laughed. “You know what I mean. Having to hang around a group of people you hardly know can get awkward, but it never did, not even when you left me alone with Scott. I’ve been around a few of my own friends’ friends or family members who I just met, and making small talk has been kind of weird, but not with your friends. They’re all as down-to-earth as you are.”
“Well, that makes me feel a little better. Because saying I’m nervous about meeting yours is a laughable understatement.”
“Why?”
“Why?” Her big eyes went exaggeratingly wide, making him smile even bigger. “Okay, first of all, I mentioned Jace was my first serious boyfriend like—ever. He only has one brother, who I met the day I met Jace. They were raised by their grandmother, so I didn’t have a whole lot of family to anticipate meeting. You have all these siblings and from what you told me a huge extended family, and your brother is a superstar famous athlete!”
Nathan kissed her again softly. “They’re gonna love you. I already know it. And I’m pretty sure you’ll like them too.” He smirked. “Well, most of them. There’s a few loudmouth jokesters among the crowd. But I’ll take care of them.” Her worried expression made him smile again. “I’m kidding. The loud ones are the ones you’ll probably like most.”
“If you say so,” she said with a wince.
“I do say so,” he whispered against her lips, pulling her closer in his arms then kissing her even deeper.
They lay there under the stars for nearly a half hour just cuddling and making out until the lightning started far out in the ocean. “Oh wow,” she whispered, pulling her lips away from him to watch.
She sat up again as the silent lightning continued to shoot across the sky, putting on a show for them. It was far enough away they couldn’t hear it or needed to be alarmed, but it was a sight to see. “You think it’ll get closer?”
“It might,” Nathan said. “Just depends on which direction the storm is headed. I can turn on the TV in my room. Watching the weather is kind of our thing now.”
Anna turned to him with a smile then slid her legs off the lounger. “That’s okay. You can hold off on the weather channel, but I do want to check out your view a little better.”
She stood up and walked over to the patio’s rail, glancing out at his backyard and private beach area. Nathan walked up from behind her, placed his hands on the rail at either side of her, and pressed his body against her warm body. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, still glancing in every direction.
Nathan rubbed himself against her ass. “It sure is.”
His cock had been hard and ready to go for a while now. Rubbing it against her ass only made the need to get inside her even more pressing.
Anna turned her face to him with a nervous smile. “I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing, Nathan.”
“I know we’re not, but I won’t ruin the romantic moment by asking you to come inside with me so I can show you what I’m talking about.”
He kissed her temple then had a thought that made him even harder. He brought his hand around the front of her pants and undid her button, smiling when he felt her breathing hitch. “Nathan, what if someone sees us?”
“Impossible,” he whispered against her ear as he slid his hand inside her pants and panties. “This is a private beach, and this patio is not visible from any angle except up there.” He glanced up into the sky and so did she. “Coast looks pretty clear from here.” Feeling how wet she was only made him groan more and he undid his own pants. He tugged at her pants then reached for his wallet and pulled out a condom. “Pull ’em down, baby. I promise you no one can see us.”
Her willingness to oblige only made him hungrier for her. The moment her beautiful bare ass was his for the taking, he brought his hand around front of her, pulling her up a bit, then plunged in with a groan. Nathan wasn’t lying when he’d mentioned tonight it was on. He loved making gentle love to his beautiful girlfriend, but tonight he wanted to show her the fun side of lovemaking. All week he’d thought of this. He planned on fucking her senseless until she was screaming his name.
Chapter 16: Block Him
Aiyanna
The moment Aiyanna was able to focus her blissfully tired eyes, she had confirmation of what she’d begun to think in her still not-quite-awake state. She’d woken, glad what she thought was one of the best dreams she’d ever had was actually real. She glanced around Nathan’s bedroom again. It was even more awe-inspiring in the daytime. Despite the gloomy skies, the entire wall of windows lit up the whole room.
She smiled, remembering Nathan had warned her of the bright morning sunlight and offered to close the built-in state-of-the-art shutters. Aiyanna had told him she wanted to wake to the beautiful view. And what a view it was. She stared out into the serene ocean for a moment before wondering about the obvious: where Nathan was. The bathroom door was open, so she doubted he was in there. Then she heard his hushed voice. It was coming from outside the bedroom, but not from the bathroom. He was in the front room. On his phone maybe?
Then she heard the female voice, only she couldn’t make out what she was saying. For an unnerving moment, she was assaulted with the memory of the night Irma showed up at Jace’s. Nathan’s anxious tone had Aiyanna sitting up and her heart beginning to pump. She waited silently, the unease growing with every word she couldn’t make out. Then Nathan raised his voice slightly and Aiyanna made out the tail end of his statement.
“. . . we’ll get together another time. I promise. Just not now.”
It had her rushing out of bed and grabbing her clothes. “This cannot be happening again,” she muttered under her breath as she scurried around, picking up her clothes.
She slipped on her jeans without her panties because she couldn’t find them then started to pull the sweatshirt she borrowed last night over her head, until she realized it might belong to whomever was out there with him. She threw it aside and grabbed her blouse, slipping it on in record time as the boulder at her throat began to suffocate her. The giggling had Aiyanna freezing in place. Unlike Irma, whoever was out there with Nathan obviously wasn’t upset. Still, Aiyanna’s heart thundered away. She took a few steps toward the bedroom door to try and hear what they were saying. Maybe she was way off. Maybe this was one of his sisters. He did say they popped in all the time. Aiyanna could only pray.
“Come on, Nathan,” the girl said playfully. “How can you say no to this?”
Nathan let out a gro
an, making the hair on the back of Aiyanna’s neck stand. “You’re not playing fair.” He groaned again. “Baby,” he said as his voice went all sugary sweet. “You know I could never say no to your angel face.”
Hearing the kissing noises lit something inside Aiyanna, and she flung the door open, ready to unleash her jealous fury. Except the words she’d been so ready to spew stuck in her throat when she saw Nathan standing face-to-face with a curvy woman. The woman held a baby girl in pink pajamas in her arms, and those kissing noises were Nathan kissing the baby’s hand.
All three turned at the sound of the door opening. The woman smiled pleasantly enough while Nathan appeared a bit uneasy. “Sorry, I was trying not to wake you,” he said then turned and gave the woman a look. “I was doing my best to get rid of my sister here, but she’s pretty damn persistent, especially when she plays dirty.” He turned to the cooing baby and smiled. “She does, doesn’t she? Auntie knows I can never say no to you.”
As Aiyanna’s heart calmed, she felt the heat of shame and embarrassment make its way up her neck and onto her face. “You must be Anna,” his sister said, handing Nathan the baby. “I’m Liv.”
Liv walked over and shook Aiyanna’s hand as she explained about coming by to Isaiah’s place to drop off muffins their other sister Emi made the night before. “Very nice to meet you. I never know when my brother is home or not, since he’s always switching shifts then picking up random overtime days. So I thought I’d stop and see if he was here.” She smiled a bit ruefully. “I really didn’t mean for us to wake you. I was just teasing Nate because he mentioned he had company and he was being all weird about it.”
“Not true,” Nathan said, kissing the baby on the head. “She was insisting on sticking around to have coffee and muffins so she could no doubt interrogate me about you.”
Aiyanna stood there, smiling nervously after shaking his sister’s hand. She felt like a complete idiot now. With the sudden realization that she was standing there braless, she crossed her arms in front of herself, feeling even more ridiculous.