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Tully wished for Kimmy to hit Tricia again so she would drop it, but that didn’t happen, and they all waited with wide, curious expressions, for her to answer.
She bit her cheek in panic and wracked her brain for something. Technically, they didn’t meet until the party, and then suddenly they were “dating” on the following Tuesday. But it didn’t work for the timeline they’d told so far. They were supposedly already dating when the party happened.
And she can’t forget what she told Erik one week before the party—she’d said she was “having fun”. By now, anyone who knew that would assume that meant “having fun” with Nathan.
So summer seemed like a good time to have met, right? But how? Where?
If Nathan was there, he’d have already had their backstory written and told like it was breathing. But he wasn’t, and she was about to cost them the whole charade.
twenty-three
nathan
Nathan did arrive in the area at noon on the dot, just like they agreed. But then he couldn’t find a spot near the park since apparently a nice day like today brings in lots of visitors, so he was forced to park down the street.
He was only a couple minutes late, but by the time he found her, sitting at a table, he realized that he was already too late. Tommy, Kimmy and Tricia were all standing around her, saying something that he was close enough to see but too far to hear. Tricia talked, and he saw Tully staring at her with a blank look, then it looked like they were waiting for her to say something, and he couldn’t tell what.
He picked up his pace, closing in on them.
“Hey guys!” he called out, and they all spun at the sound of his voice. He smiled easily, but now that he was closer he could tell that Tully was tense, agitated. When she saw him, and no one but him was paying her any mind, she visibly relaxed and exhaled deeply. What the hell did he interrupt that she seemed so off-put? Tommy beamed, Kimmy smiled, but Tricia looked peeved at his interruption. He raised a brow, then turned back to Tully. “Sorry I’m late, angel. All the parking spots around here are taken.”
He started to raise his arm to put it around her shoulder, then caught himself and dropped it back down. No touching. He almost forgot. No touching without permission.
Instead of grabbing her shoulder, he just stood next to her, close enough to be intimate, but not so close that any part of him touched her.
She looked at him and smiled, bringing out those dimples, but it didn’t reach her eyes or settle her stiff face. “It’s okay. I was just talking to your friends.” she said it with enough clip that he could tell it must not have been going well.
“Yo, Rondeau. There you are!” Tommy seemed delighted to see him. “When you said you were busy, I thought you meant with something important. Not sneaking around with your girl,” he laughed.
“Not sneaking, but I do think a date with my girlfriend is pretty important.”
Tommy oohed and Kimmy giggled, both of them getting absurd ideas without much of a push. They had enough of an imagination that he could say just about anything and they would let their assumptions take them the rest of the way.
“Where are you guys going anyways?” It was Tricia this time, who had been abnormally quiet with her arms crossed over her chest. Nathan tilted his head, taking in her twisted expression. She never acted like that, but based on the look on Tully’s face when he had first arrived, and the fact that Tricia was friends with Joliet, that must have something to do with it.
He shook out the urge to place an arm over Tully again and smiled. Tully didn’t answer Tricia, so the responsibility was on his shoulders now. “The movies, obviously,” he pointed across the park toward the local theater. It was lucky that the next movie started in ten minutes. They’d probably believe him no matter what, but it would be suspicious if the movie wasn’t for another hour or so, which was often the case in a theater with a single screen.
Tricia hummed in acknowledgement of his excuse, but her smile was insincere and unsatisfied. It rubbed him wrong, and he knew he needed to get them out of there. “Speaking of which, we should get going. Come on, angel. See you guys later,” he motioned Tully forward and she reacted without delay, passing the group and going towards the theater.
“You’ve got to be careful, Rondeau. Never put your girlfriend before your friends—they’re not worth it!” Tommy yelled through cupped hands. Kimmy smacked Tommy’s arm and berated him for saying that in front of her, his girlfriend.
“Nice to meet you, Tully!” Kimmy called out, and both Nathan and Tully turned to look at her. She waved, and Tully, caught off guard, raised her hand and gave a limp wave back. Nathan snickered, and Tully was back to her senses instantly.
“What?” she snapped, and Nathan beamed at her dark glare.
“You handled that like a champ,” he said, and her cheeks pinked as she turned back around to walk towards the theater and crossed the green lawn. Nathan followed her now.
The theater wasn’t very far, but he would imagine that his friends would get the hint by now and leave. But a small glance over his shoulder proved him wrong. They all still sat there, saying something but unmoving as they watched the couple move further away like a flock of birds hungry for something worth snatching up.
Now would be the perfect time to grab her waist or hold her shoulder. But he’d made a promise to her.
“Can I touch you?” he looked at her from the corner of his eye. Her shoulders set, so he offered an explanation and hoped it would help her relax. “They’re still watching.”
“Okay.”
Nathan would have slung his arm over her shoulder, but something in her voice made him falter. Nathan took her in, trying to gauge her covert expression.
Now that he was aware she hated being touched, the signs were glaringly obvious. She bit her lip, her hands gripped at the side of her jeans, and he immediately knew that “okay” didn’t necessarily mean “yes” when someone does all that. A guilty pang bogged his chest. He should have noticed this all before, but he had brushed it off as stage fright.
