And every wall I had up, every reason or excuse why this wouldn’t work, every single thing I tried to convince myself of comes crumbling down.
Because in this moment, I know I want him too.
I’m leading with my heart for once in my damn life. I’m choosing my happiness. I’m choosing Nate.
I lift onto my tippy toes, pulling his face down to mine and wrapping my arms around his neck as I fuse my mouth with his. Nate picks me up and brings our bodies to the couch. My legs straddle over his as we sit there and my body naturally grinds against his. He groans as I pull my mouth away from him.
“Sorry,” I say, covering my lips with my fingers just as the timer for the banana bread goes off. I reluctantly hop off him to go grab it. If I wasn’t afraid that leaving it in there wouldn’t start a fire, I’d just ignore it.
“Extra walnuts and chocolate chips?” he asks.
I laugh. “Like there’s any other way to make it?” When I take the loaf out, I place it on the hot plate on the counter before turning off the oven and going back into the living room.
“Is it stupid and immature to say I really just want to sit and make out with you for hours?” I ask, standing in front of him. I’m not good at this part, but I do know that Nate’s lips are literally my favorite thing I’ve ever tasted.
“Mia, you can do whatever you want with me.” He smirks and crooks his middle fingers at me from the couch and I don’t even hide my smile as I lean forward and let my lips collide with his for the rest of the night.
Did I wake up this morning and immediately replay the events of last night?
You bet your ass I did.
I kissed my best friend. And I liked it. And I want to keep doing it.
Liam
Boat leaves in 30. If you’re not at the dock, guess you’re swimming.
Today is technically the last day before Nate is supposed to return to the facility and check in with the team. It was Liam’s idea to take the boat and jet ski out on the water today, and it’s rare that any of us pass up an invite.
“Hi,” Nate says as he grabs my hand and kisses it before he helps me onto the boat. I blush at his simple gesture as I take a seat next to Chase and Kristen. I’m actually shocked to see Kristen on this boat, but I know Chase, and he wants to dowhatever he can to make this whole situation work—for the sake of the baby. Summer, Abby and Ford hop onto the boat just as Liam is untying the rope.
Liam cruises us out to Bottle Island as Nate follows closely behind on the jet ski. I watch as his hair blows in the wind while he whips it around and speeds up close to us. I try to bite back a smile as I watch him, but it’s no use. He looks hot on that thing.
There's a strip of island that sits out here and everyone pulls their boats right up onto it. I guess from a bird’s eye view it looks like it’s in the shape of a beer bottle, hence the name. The water is pretty shallow and you can usually see to the bottom which is nice, considering if I can’t see the bottom, I’m not going in. The guys all get up and head to the bow of the boat. A term I’ve learned coming out here with all of these seasoned professionals.
Abby, Summer and I all jump out and head up to the island to set up a sheet to sit down on the sand.
“Kristen,” I call out. “Do you want to sit with us?”
“Really, Mia?” Summer gives me a disgusted look.
“What? She’s by herself… and if she and Chase are trying to make this work, shouldn’t we try to be friends with her?”
“No,” Summer says with a flat and annoyed tone as she moves her towel further away. Abby just rolls her eyes and moves her bag to make room for Kristen who is walking towards us.
“Thanks,” she says while placing her bag down, and I smile at her.
“So, how’s the baby, Kristen?” I ask, trying to make small talk.
“Ugh. Never sleeps. Thankfully, Diane is over this week so hopefully she can do the middle of the night wake ups.” Kristen pulls out her phone and opens the camera, checking her appearance. I want to ask more, but I’m getting the impressionthat Kristen doesn’t want to chat so I just leave it at that. I lean over to look at Summer and she gives me a ‘see, she sucks’ look.
Nate walks over and tosses me his hat before he runs back over to the boat. I place the hat backwards on my head as I lean on my elbows, waiting to see what they’re all congregating about.
Nate looks so happy. I know the true test will be seeing how he is on the field, but I swear he looks lighter. He looks relaxed and rejuvenated. His eyes don’t look sad or broken anymore. He stands tall and confident, instead of hesitant.
The guys pull out a football from the boat and Liam tosses it to Ford who makes a dash down the sand. I guess Chase and Nate are on a team because they both seem to be trying to defend Ford.
“Oh my God.” Summer comes and sits between Abby and I. “Are we living in aTop Gunbeach scene right now or what?”
