“Don’t run away from me this time,” I whisper in her ear.
She gives a slight nod of approval, prompting me to smile.
“Good.” I kiss her forehead without shame this time, tucking her under the sheets before heading back for my second cold shower of the day.
CHAPTER 23
VIVIENNE
I’m starving, my stomach has rumbled approximately four times in the past minute, and I can’t move to devour the overpriced chocolates on the hotel dresser because I’m stuck.
Not in my head, or in my thoughts, like I usually find myself. The equivalent of a huge boulder weighs me down, and the large hand wrapped around my waist holds me close to his chest.
There’s no way out. Not without waking him up.
I make another attempt at getting this caveman off me when he buries his face into the crook of my neck and tightens his already firm grip.
“What did I say about leaving?”
Nate’s raspy voice is laced with sadness, and the thought just about breaks my heart. He was serious yesterday when he said he didn’t want me running from him—and judging by my actions, it’s probably coming off that way.
It’s the post-road-trip hunger, I swear, but now that I can clearly think about what we did, I’m not all too sure if staying is the right move.
This thing between us has an expiration date. To fall would be to inevitably hurt myself—that’s what my brain is telling me. But my heart, who may or may not have feelings for the man I once hated, wants to see where this goes. No matter what the outcome is. So, I settle for the truth.
“I was hungry,” I confess, and like a paid actor, my stomach rumbles.
Nate loosens his grip on me, though hesitantly, and I seize the opportunity to turn around. I land on my side, looking at the sleepy man. His eyelids flutter open and close, but from the slight downturn of his lips, I’m not sure he fully believes me.
“What would get you to turn that frown upside down?” I ask, an index finger probing at the corner to push it up. His half smile drops when I retract.
Note taken: Nate isn’t a happy camper when first waking up. But I can’t help but want to see him smile. To see the version of the man I’ve gotten so used to. The past few weeks between us have been tense, and I’m ready to put it all behind us.
“If you smile,just a little,I’ll do you the favor of making up for yesterday,” I try to convince him with my honeyed voice.
He grumbles in response. “Making up how?”
“I’ll suck you off.”
“Goddammit, woman.” Nate’s hands fly toward his face, rubbing the tiredness away from his eyes before dragging themselves down his clean-shaven skin. “That’s the last thing I needed to hear.”
I crack a smile at his response, one that widens when the shake of his head is accompanied by a special appearance from his pearly whites.
Gotcha.
“Good morning,” he whispers, green eyes boring into mine. The deep lines that were once around the corners of his mouth now find themselves around his eyes.
I probe at the dimple I’ve come to enjoy looking at. “Good morning,” I whisper back.
We stay like this, looking at each other for however long, but deep down, I know it’s so much more than that.
Nate isn’t looking at me. He’s lookingintome—the deepest parts of me I haven’t shared with anyone, the insecurities I try to hide from the light, the stories and experiences that bind us together.
Images of the blood running down his neck come back to me. I grasp the lower half of his face, turning it to the side to reveal the dried dark-red streak along his jaw. My fingers trace along the cut while Nate sucks in a breath.
“Does it hurt?” I ask as I pass over the scab.
“I’m not sure it ever did,” he admits quietly, his confession from yesterday still at the forefront of my mind.
