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She expected him to bid her farewell and get back to his party, but after a solid ten seconds of silence and the both of them waiting for the other to move, he didn’t give her any indication of his plans. She raised a brow. “What are you doing?”
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
He pointed again, this time at her arm. He glanced down at it, expecting to see something wrong, but it looked perfectly fine. “Your boyfriend. It looked like he grabbed you pretty hard.”
His concern clicked in her head, and her mouth opened in a silent note of understanding. “Ah, yeah, I’m fine. Erik is weaker than he looks. Also, he’s not my boyfriend.”
Nathan nodded, his mouth forming a small ‘o.’ “That’s a relief. If he was, I was planning on convincing you to go break up with him.”
Tully’s head tilted, and her brow squished together. “You were?”
“I mean, yeah,” he shrugged like it was the obvious answer. “You could do much better than a dickhead like him.”
She blinked, then blinked again.
Slowly, her eyes dipped and studied Nathan from top to bottom and back to top. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him, obviously, but he looked . . . different.
Maybe it was the alcohol still lingering in her system, or maybe it was that this isn’t what she expected from Nathan Rondeau.
Dare she say he seemed . . . thoughtful? Kind? Caring even?
Not exactly the picture she’d painted in her mind of someone who hangs out with the crowd he associated with. You are the company you keep, as the saying goes, but Nathan seemed removed from the company he kept. Right then, that is.
She cleared her throat and averted her gaze to the bedsheet, his eyes burning into her. Her finger picked at a thread on his shorts to distract herself from looking back up.
A chorus of whoops outside the door offered her an out.
“Don’t delay on my account. It sounds like you have a party to get back to hosting.”
She held her breath, waiting for him to get back to the excitement that was anywhere but in this room with this mess of a girl. Yet, he didn’t excuse himself. He didn’t even move.
Tully looked up, and furrowed her brows. He saw her confusion and forced a sheepish laugh while shrugging.
“Honestly, it feels a bit weird to leave you in here alone.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “What? Are you scared I’ll find the stack of Playboys hidden under your bed or something?”
It was meant to be a joke. Something to lighten the new unfamiliar acquaintanceship growing between them and ease any discomfort. It ended up being the wrong move.
Nathan’s eyes bugged from his head and his mouth dropped open.
Like always, it took time for his reaction to process in Tully’s mind but when it did the awkward smile on Tully’s face morphed into abject horror. “Oh my God.”
“Were you looking under my bed?”
“No!” She hopped off the mattress so fast, waving her hands in front of her in objection. Nathan’s face grew red, and Tully scrambled to backtrack. “No, no I promise I didn’t. I was just kidding. I had no idea—”
Oh God. She couldn’t do anything right could she?
Embarrassing herself, getting saved by Nathan, and now embarrassinghimwhile he was being a good, thoughtful host.
Tully’s hand flew to her mouth, half expecting Nathan to abandon his hospitality and kick her out right then and there. He looked as shameful as she felt, and her stomach dropped.
Their first ever interaction andthisis how it was going to play out?
There was no coming back from it.
