A woman’s shriek.
“Oh my god! Put it away,pervert!”
I look at Archie as he desperately tries to swim away, one-handed, as he shouts. “Nate! Help me! My junk is out, I repeat – my junk is out!”
I grab Hayleigh’s hand. “Last chance?”
She bursts out laughing, the first real, free laugh I’ve heard in a long time, and we run.
**********
“Nate, we have to go back and get changed.” Hayleigh slows us down, and we come to a stop. We’re still holding hands, but it’s short-lived as she snatches her hand back, her cheeks tinging pink.
I paste on a smile, holding my arms wide. “This is Vegas, literally no one cares if we’re half-dressed!”
She does not look amused as she folds her arms. I can’t help but zero in on what’s underneath that long dress type thingy she has on over her bikini. “Hey! Eyes up here.” She gestures to her face and rolls her eyes at me. “I amnotwalking around Vegas like this.”
“If we go back, then we have to face Archie’s wrath.”
She tries to hide the smile that’s fighting to get through. “Archie’s a puppy dog, but fine.” She looks around, and her eyes light up as she sees a store. Grabbing my hand, she drags me along. “We’ll both get something from here because there is no way I’m looking at your bare chest for the rest of the day.”
“Oh yeah, because we wouldn’t want that, Miss oh-but-I-wasn’t-looking-at-you.” She gives me the evil eye and walks into the store.
I look around, eyes widening. “Absolutely not, you’re right. Let’s go back and get changed.” I shake my head and try to pull her along.
She digs her feet in, and for someone so tiny, she’s actually quite strong. “Oh no, Nate Peterson.Youwanted to go out, so now we’re out, and you’re going to get a shirt and maybe a nice hat…” She trails off, picking things up, and I follow her blindly.
After fifteen minutes of shopping, I’m now sporting a lovely ‘I heart Vegas’ pink t-shirt with a matching hat and sunglasses, and my poor bank balance is paying the price, but the look on Hayleigh’s face when I walk out of there is priceless.
She doubles over laughing. “Oh-my-Nate!” She wheezes, sounding like a broken tea kettle.
“Laugh it up, Shortcake. I notice you got yourself a matching hoodie and shorts.”
She straightens up, wiping under her eyes. “Yep! You paid, it was very nice of you. Now, where are you taking me?”
I link my arm through hers as we walk. “I was thinking we could go for food, your choice, and then the world's our oyster. Unless there is something specific you want to do?”
She leaves her arm linked with mine, a win for me, and she nods. “Food sounds amazing. Can we get burgers?”
**********
After walking for what felt like close to an hour, we find a nice-looking burger bar that isn’t too crowded and looks relaxed enough that a couple of tourists wearing ‘I heart Vegas’ clothes won't be looked at too much. I open the door and let Hayleigh walk through, putting my hand on the small of Hayleigh’s back and ushering her gently forward to where we wait to be seated.
Our server greets us with a smile and takes us to our seats, where I grab a menu and hand one to Hayleigh. This is the first time the silence is deafening, so much so that I look up from my menu, and she’s watching me, her brow creases. “What are we doing here, Nate?”
Now it’s my turn to feel confused. “Uh, I thought we were getting burgers?”
She tuts, rolling her eyes. “Well, thank you for clearing that up, Captain Obvious.” She reaches over and hits the side of my arm. “What I meant was, what arewedoing?” She gestures back and forth between us.
I put my menu down and look her square in the eyes. “I’m not going to pretend that I don’t like you or find you insanely hot, because I do, or that I wouldn’t love to take things further with you and see where this could go, because I do. I also know, Hayleigh, that you aren’t ready for any of those things, so, right now? We’re getting burgers, and then we’re going to have a drinksomewhere, and if you feel like opening up to me and talking, then great, if you don’t, then great.” I pick the menu back up. “Is that okay?”
I look back up in time to see her smile and nod. “That’s okay.”
Chapter 5
Hayleigh
All night I’ve waited for Nate to ask me about the phone call with my mother, how I feel about Pete, or what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, but he hasn’t. He doesn’t look at me with pity in his eyes; he doesn’t push any questions or ultimatums on me. So when he asked if I wanted to continue the night with some karaoke, I couldn’t find a reason to say no, and now I’m glad I didn’t because wow, the guy is making me swoon, and that’s very hard to do nowadays.
