AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nathan’s glare has me cackling, and I can’t help teasing him the rest of the walk. He takes all my good-natured ribbing with fake scowls that do little to hide the involuntary curve of his lips.
We’re almost to my dorm when I have to stop, a nagging pain in my foot growing to a point that I can’t ignore it anymore.
“Wait a second. There’s a rock in my shoe.” I hobble over to a half-wall meant to keep students off the pristine grass, hopping up to sit on it while I reach for my sneaker.
Nathan beats me there. Kneeling in front of me, he clasps my heel with one of his long-fingered hands and uses the other to untie my halfheartedly tied bow.
The gesture is intimate, and in my panic, I do what comes naturally—make a joke.
“Are you trying to Cinderella me?”
Probably my turning a fairy-tale character into a verb is what has him pausing in the act of sliding off my purple Converse.
Through his unfairly thick lashes, he stares up at me for a moment before answering, “If you mean, force you to marry me and serve as my queen if this shoe fits, then yes. Yes, I am.” His playful grin sets the same hot tingles shooting through me that his mysterious Italian words did earlier.
Nathan is flirting with me.
My sister says I’m dense when it comes to recognizing it, but this time, I’m almost certain.
Why else would he invite me out on a Friday? Joke with me? Touch me?
This has to be flirting.
Right?
“Well, we both know what I’ll demand as my throne if I’m to serve as queen.” I give him my haughtiest look. I don’t know if he finds my joking response equally as flirtatious, but it’s all I’ve got in my arsenal, so he’ll have to take it or leave it.
“Ah, yes. The coveted chair. Well, if you are my true queen, you may have whatever your heart desires.” He upends my shoe, a pebble—too small to rightfully cause the amount of pain it was—tumbling free. “The moment of truth.”
I can’t help my eye roll, even as his antics delight me.
And of course, my shoe slides on. Perfect fit.
“Amazing! It’s fate!” Nathan even goes so far as to tie my shoe for me before standing. His boyish grin is almost too adorable to handle. “You know what this means, right?”
“Uh, my car is going to turn into a pumpkin?” I move to stand up, but he leans over me, bracketing me in by bracing his hands beside my hips on the wall.
“Wrong. This means, we are betrothed.” Nathan uses an official-sounding tone, getting way too into this scenario.
I have to admit, the guy commits to a joke.
“Betrothed? That’s some fancy vocabulary. Are you aDownton Abbeyfan? Big reader of historical romances?”
He slowly shakes his head, the brush of his nose against mine showing just how close he’s gotten. Suddenly, the air in my lungs doesn’t seem like enough, and I have to suck in a bit deeper just so I don’t get light-headed.
“I know. It’s intimidating. Meeting Prince Charming face-to-face.” His dark eyes flicker wickedly when I snort. “But I think we need to mark this special occasion.”
“Oh, really?”When did my voice get so breathy?I clear my throat.
His nose brushes mine again as he nods. “A royal engagement isn’t official until …” As his words trail off, I find myself swaying forward in hopes of following them to their conclusion.
“Until?”
My answer is the soft caress of his lips against mine. He’s gentle, briefly pressing his warm kiss to my mouth before retreating to meet my eyes. He smiles down at me, but the joking nature of the exchange is gone, and only a question remains.
I answer back by hooking a finger in the collar of his shirt and tugging him down to me.
This time, he lingers, exploring my mouth, sending happy jitters along my spine as he massages and gently sucks my lower lip.
