Page 70 of Let’s Be Real

“A break they have never given you.” He reached across and cupped the side of my face. “You’re allowed to be pissed off. It’s just you and me. I’m not going to fault you for having feelings.”

“I don’t know. Seems like you’re judging me a little right now for not being pissed off.”

“Not judging. Never judging. I’m far from perfect and have no space for that. I guess I’m trying to understand at what point you’ll get angry.”

“Anger is useless,” I said softly. “I don’t want to carry that around with me.”

“Samantha, come on. You carry a whole hell of a lot. Getting mad once in a while might unburden you.”

I poked at his shoulder. “You’re one to talk. Do you ever get mad?”

“I’m heavily medicated.”

I laughed, even though it wasn’t funny. “Oh, Nate. We’re a fine pair, aren’t we?”

He grinned at me in the dark and rolled to his side. “Yeah. I guess we are.”

The front of my body aligned with his as I brought my hand to his face, tracing the line of his jaw, the curve of his bottom lip, the slightly crooked bridge of his nose, the hood of his brow.

“I like your face,” I whispered.

He smiled as he kissed me. “Yours is pretty nice too.”

Why did that make me beam? Thank goodness it was too dark for him to see how irrationally pleased that made me. “That’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

His chuckle was light and vibrated my chest. “Glad it came from me.”

I touched his smile with my fingertips. Maybe I hadn’t noticed before, but I swore he’d been smiling a lot more lately. Not that I would dare give myself credit for it. I was certain the alpine slide had shaken something loose in him.

Whatever the reason, I liked it.

“Thank you for being here tonight and putting up with my drama.”

“Sam…” He sighed like he was disappointed in me. “There’s nothing to put up with. I like being around you. I’m not so great at the whole…being human thing, but I’m glad I was here tonight. If I made anything better—”

“You did. You did, Nate. You’re a lot more adept at being human than you think. You made everything better.”

“Good.” I felt him nod, his forehead lightly tapping mine. “I wanted to.”

He’d wanted to. Not had to. Not because he felt sorry for me. Not because he was trapped in an obligatory relationship with me. He’d wanted to be here.

For a moment, neither of us said anything.

“I wasn’t even surprised.” The confession came out quietly, but Nate heard every word I said and probably the hundreds I bit back.

“My brother has a baby,” I murmured. “A baby girl. And nobody thought to tell me.”

“Sam—”

“It hurts, but I’m not surprised,” I repeated. “I think that’s what bothers me most. Not that they kept it from me, but that finding out tonight felt...normal. Like, of course no one thought to tell me.”

Nate shifted closer, fingers threaded with mine, his other hand stroking my hair.

“They’re idiots.”

A startled laugh burst out of me.

“That simple?”