The door handle turns. The sneaky little fucker is trying to be stealthy.
Well, jokes on you, pal.
I let out a war cry loud enough to shatter glass and smash the vase over his head. Only it must be made of plastic because it bounces off his head, and he doesn’t go down.
“Ow! Fucking hell, Hayleigh!” Oh shit.
I flick the light switch on and see Nate rubbing the spot where the vase hit him.
He points at me. “What the hell was that for? You’re making it up to me for that!” He rubs his head again before mumbling. “Breakfast is on the table.”
I call out a feeble apology as he shuts the door. “Sorry.” Then I immediately look at my bed, the opposite side to me definitely hasn’t been slept in, and I’m in my dress from last night. That’s when I spot the note on the nightstand underneath a glass of water and some painkillers.
‘Drink this and take these as soon as you wake up.
I stayed in the living room, didn’t want to leave you drunk and alone.
I’ll wake you up at about 8:00 am.
Nate x’
Whoops. Guess I should’ve read this first.
I throw the pain killers into my mouth and quickly rush a shower, brush my teeth and use the loo because my bladder is about to burst, and in ten minutes I’m feeling a lot fresher.
When I leave the bedroom, Nate is waiting at the breakfast table with a spread in front of him. He looks sheepishly. “I didn’t cook; I can’t cook very well. That’s Archie’s job at home, but I ordered, then I didn’t know what you liked, so I ordered a bit of everything.”
I smile at him and sit, taking a bit of absolutely everything. “Thank you, I’m starved.”
He looks at me, impressed. “How the hell are you going to fit all of that in there?” He waves his fork around in the air and gestures at my body.
I stuff a chocolate pancake into my mouth, then bite into it. “Easy. Like this.” My words mumbled and garbled around the food.
I don’t know why I do it, but I expect him to recoil like Pete did the one time I tried to be funny with him. I expect him to tell me it’s disgusting and not ladylike. What I don’t expect is for him to stuff a chocolate pancake in his mouth, chew for a moment, then smile. Chocolate covers his teeth as he pulls his lips inward and sticks his tongue out. It’s utterly ridiculous and pretty disgusting, but it’s also exactly what I need. We finish our breakfast in almost silence, except for occasionally catching each other's eyes and then bursting out laughing.
When we’re finished, Nate rubs his stomach. “I think a day at the pool is needed, don’t you?” I nod. “Okay, well, I'd best go and make sure Archie’s okay, and then we can head down.”
“Sure. I’ll meet you down there.” Maybe it will give me a bit of time to cool down.
He starts cleaning up the plates, and I give him a hand, so it gets done quicker. Then he walks over to his pad and pen and snatches it up.
He stalks towards me, and I’m frozen in the moment, not sure what he’s doing or which way this is going to go. His hand finds mine, and he squeezes it, then kisses me softly on the cheek before whispering in my ear. “We’ll get to that list later, Shortcake.”
Then he’s gone, and I’m left alone once more.
I snatch up my phone and type a message out to Emmy.
Me
Oh my god, Nate stayed in my apartment last night to make sure I was okay
Nope. I hit delete because there is no way I can say that.
Me
So, I think my lady parts want sex with Nate Peterson!
Fuck sake, Hayleigh. Delete.
