Page 45 of Want You

She heard his deep intake of breath. “Fuck, it’s hot when you’re bossy. I’ll do whatever you tell me to, baby.”

“Good boy,” she murmured.

“Fuck, Octavia, I’m going to need you to agree to the date or finish what you started earlier.”

She sighed. “I wish I could. I’ll see you tonight for our date.”

“Good girl.” He laughed. “Have a good rest of your day, beautiful.”

“A game café?” Octavia said as she stopped and looked up at the sign.

“Is it corny? Shit, it’s corny.” Nathan rubbed his neck, his face scrunching as if he was prepared for her to confirm.

“What? No, this is great! I’ve heard of them but I’ve never been.” She watched him relax, dropping his hand, and reaching for hers before pushing through the door.

They found a quiet spot off to the side and, after ordering burgers, they wandered around the room looking for a game to play.

“Boggle?” Nathan asked, pulling it down from one of the higher shelves. “Don’t look at me like that, Octavia, I can spell just fine.”

She threw her hands up. “I never said you couldn’t spell, I just expected you to pick something a bit more high stakes.”

“Speed spelling is pretty high stakes.”

She laughed as she turned and walked back to their table. “If you say so, honey!”

“I like that you call me that.” He smiled shyly at her.

“What? Honey?”

He nodded.

“Really? I don’t even know why, I’ve never called anyone honey before.”

“Good.” He smirked, sitting back to make room for the server to put his plate down. “Thank you,” he said, glancing quickly up at him before looking back at Octavia. “I’m glad I’m the only one who gets it.”

“Why do you call me Autumn?” she asked, glancing up at him while squirting ketchup onto her plate.

He smirked back, his eyes sweeping across her face. “You fell, that first night.”

“Yes, I recall.”

“You’ve got red hair.”

“Oh, good, you’ve noticed. I was worried you didn’t know despite all the time you’ve got it wrapped around your fist.” It was her turn to smirk.

“Fall and red, Autumn.” He laughed. “It’s silly but it just came out so it stuck.”

“It’s a little silly but I like it.”

They played two rounds of Boggle, each winning one—Nathan once again proving he was much more intelligent than she had expected—before moving onto Guess Who. By the time they left they were both wiping tears out of their eyes from laughing, and Octavia felt like she’d gotten to know a new side of Nathan. He applied literary stereotypes when asking his questions. “Do they look like they would really enjoy a walk through Middle Earth?” or “Would they quote Shakespeare so much that you would need a dictionary of Old English to understand them?” Octavia, on the other hand, suddenly couldn’t think of questions beyond the basics like “Do they have a beard?”

Regardless of the outcome of the games they played, getting to know Nathan more felt like an entirely different kind of winning. Especially since she had lost Guess Who soundly.

He’d insisted she grab some clothes so she could stay the night. He had an early morning, but he didn’t want their night to end, so she agreed. He helped her pack a bag, reaching for seconds and then thirds of everything like a greedy child.

By the time they fell asleep they had both drained each other of energy, and Octavia drifted off wondering how much longer these good days would last. Because they never did. Storm clouds blew in, tides shifted, and things that felt this good, always ended.

CHAPTER 23