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The strangest thing happened. Inside of her, she felt as though she had been filled with something warm and sustaining, sure as if she had taken his vein. It was such a transformative sensation that all she could do was just breathe and feel it.
“You’ve changed me, too,” she whispered.
“Not possible. You were already perfect.”
As her eyes threatened to tear up, she distracted herself by tracing one of the vines as it wound around his biceps—and she was amazed at how touching him felt so natural now.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked her softly.
“I, ah, I want to pretend that I’m sophisticated with you. That this”—she motioned between them—“is something that happens all the time for me. Or at least, every once in a while. Maybe because I want to fake it so I can make it. But the truth is, this has never happened to me before. Ever.”
“Well, you’re the first female I’ve had here,” he said. “If that makes you feel more comfortable.”
“Really?”
“Well, other than my adoptive mother.”
“I’m honored.” She smiled and tried not to dwell on how happy she was becoming—as if the buzzy rush was a bubble that might burst if she focused on it too much. “And by the way, I really do like it here.”
“I like you here.”
“Aren’t we a matched set.”
“We are.” He brushed her nose. Touched her mouth with his thumb. “Nalla, I didn’t expect this.”
“Neither did I.” She kissed his fingertips one by one. “And man, I’m glad I went to the club instead of stayed home that night.”
“I hadn’t seen you out in a long time. Not that I’m a Shuli type.”
She thought about her love life. “Yeah, I’m not a big partier—or dater. I’ve only had two lovers, and neither lasted long. The first one I tried to like, I really did. But you can’t fake what you feel, even if you’re trying to put yourself out there.”
“Is it okay if I hate him,” came the growl.
Nalla chuckled. “He can’t compete with you. No way.”
“Okay, that’s what I want to hear. And in another twenty minutes, I’ll make sure you remember why.” Nate kissed her mouth. “What about the second one? And FYI, no matter what you say about him, I’m going to hate him also.”
“Duly noted, and that one… I think I’m going to let you hate him. He was just doing it on a bet, as it turned out.”
Nate’s brows got good and low. “A bet?”
“You must have heard it before. Like at Bathe the other night? A bunch of males trying to one-up themselves playing chicken with my father—and using me as the bait.”
That heavy jaw worked like Nate was trying to turn his molars into powder. “I shoulda shut that down instead of just not playing that stupid game.”
“Those males asked you to join in the fun, huh.”
Nate nodded, his face going downright nasty. “Just so we’re clear, that’s not right. You don’t deserve to be some fucked-up trophy.”
“I agree, and when it comes to number two, I was also the goal line. He scored, and then never called me again. I thought it was because I was a bad lay.” Even though the sex she’d just had with the very naked, very tattooed fighter next to her proved that was not the case—as long as she had the right partner. “But the next time I saw him, he was looking ashamed of himself as his buddies all high-fived him and tried to pretend they weren’t. I knew what had gone down then.”
“What’s his name.”
At the nasty rush of words, she shook her head. “I think it’s best for everybody that I keep that to myself. He was young and stupid, so was I. But I learned my lesson and there’s been no one since then—until you.”
Nate ran his forefinger up and down her collarbone. “Yeah, probably better I don’t know who it is.”
“It’s not anybody in Shuli’s group, don’t worry. How about you? Have you ever been in love?”
