“Yeah, Nat.” I cleared my throat because my words were barely decipherable. “Of course, I am.” I crouched beside her, squeezing her hand in an attempt to prove my point.
Nat looked into my eyes with a serious gaze. “I was surrounded by people, and the guy was harmless. I don’t always have that luxury, but I’m not that famous. I think you’re blowing my status up in your head.”
I’d seen it a dozen times, Nat downplaying her reach, but even my nephew knew who she was. I hadn’t used social media up until now, but her account sounded like something I’d be interested in.
“You have over a million followers,” I admitted. She probably didn’t have a clue that I’d seen her posts. I’d done a deep dive on her account after Jordy told me she followed him back.
“A million friends that aren’t actually friends,” she said wistfully, rolling onto her side with a pillow in her arms. “Just like in real life.”
Ah, so I was getting downcast drunk Nat. I didn’t like it. “People love you.”
She rolled onto her back and stared at the bunk above her. “Until they get to know me. That’s the kind of friendships I make. Short, sweet, and superficial. I know I’m a good time. ButI don’t have an inner circle, let alone a group of friends. It’s rare to find people who like me for me.”
I thought back to the way I’d treated her, and it stung.
After too long a pause, I got my shit together. “Nat, I?—”
“Don’t worry about it. No more depressing Nat tonight.” She closed her eyes as if that were the end of it, and it had me wondering, did she often mask her feelings to make herself more likable? “Maybe I liked that you showed up at my side.” She spoke softly, as if it were a secret. “But that’s probably just the residual crush talking. I know better now.”
The sound of a record scratching went through my head.
“Wait, what?” Did I hear that right? Nat had a crush on me? Was that what she’d meant? “Nat, hey.”
I waited a long moment, but her answering snore told me what I already knew: that was the end of our conversation for the night. She also didn’t respond when I poked her shoulder three times. Dammit.
I turned out the light and went to the kitchen to fill up two glasses of water and get some medicine we’d both need if being in our thirties had anything to say about it.
Nat looked beautiful, bathed in the light from the hallway, but that didn’t stop me from poking her shoulder one last time, hoping to resume our conversation. I knew she’d be back to being closed off with me in the morning.
I set down medicine and water on her nightstand and turned my back on her, pausing as she spoke, her words garbled. I made out something abouttoo many marshmallowsand grinned at her.
“What was that?”
A warm smile spread across her lips. “Okay, if you really wanna cuddle, I’ll be your teddy bear.”
I choked on my laughter, my body shaking from holding it back.
By the time I got undressed and climbed into bed, my brain was wired. I couldn’t get her unfiltered words out of my head. Nat Breckenridge used to have a crush on me? It had to have been last year, back when I’d been someone else’s boyfriend—which she knew. We hadn’t interacted all that much, but she might have been interested in me. How was I supposed to sleep on that?
NINETEEN
Jack
“Ouch.”I lifted the hammer off my thumb and cringed. I hadn’t hit the nail too hard. Actually, I hadn’t hit the nail at all, and it hurt. Luckily, I had my work gloves on, so it was just a sharp pain that would be gone in a minute. My distracted brain, however, was another problem altogether.
Two days had passed since Nat’s drunken confession, and I was having a hard time concentrating. What would happen if I brought it up? Would she deny it? Would she fill me in on what I’d clearly missed?
Whether or not she remembered it, she acted as if nothing had happened.
She’d told me she’d had a crush. And she might still have a little one, if I was understanding correctly. That blew my mind. I knew she had hatred for me, but it didn’t seem that strong lately. Living together was still a struggle, but was that because we liked getting under each other’s skin? And fuck it, I had to acknowledge I was very attracted to her.
It was finally time for me to admit I wasn’t indifferent to her, and I was having a hard time with that.
Two knocks sounded on the frame of Nat’s door, and I happily put the hammer in my tool bag, tilting my head in confusion when Nat and Leo entered. What could this be about?
Nat’s eyes darted to me, then to the side, where a buoyant Leo filled me with worry. Earlier this week, he’d been incredibly frustrated with us. So why was he so happy?
Leo cut to the chase. “I wanted to talk to you two. Together.”
