AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nate kisses me softly before continuing. "And though I had nothing in the world to give this beautiful soul, she still found it in her heart to offer me everything she had in the form of kind words and friendship. Even after my father tried to tear us apart by throwing those words into the fire, that little bond of friendship survived. Like some kind of phoenix from the ashes, this small friendship bracelet survived too. It was broken and damaged, but still worth saving, just like me. So, while the word friendship may have been destroyed, I carry it next to my heart to remind me that what started as friendship would hopefully one day become forever."
I pull him to me and kiss him with more passion than I ever have before. "I love you, Nathaniel Scott," I exclaim as a tear runs down my face, no longer worrying about holding back the words I’ve wanted to say for weeks.
"And I love you too, Isabella Scott."
"That's not even my name, you idiot," I reply, smiling and gently smacking his chest for ruining our romantic moment.
"Oh, believe me, one day it's going to be!" retorts Nate, kissing me again.
I climb onto his lap, wanting to be closer as our kiss deepens. I don’t miss the obvious bulge pressed against me. Or the way his hands grip my waist, holding me against it. Part of me wants to just give in, allow him to take me here and now. But the other part of me knows I'm still not ready. Nate must sense my hesitation as we both pull away in a hot, sweaty, panting mess, knowing that if we don't stop soon, we won't stop at all.
"Sorry," I murmured as I attempted to climb off him, and stand.
"Why? This was the greatest night of my life," Nate purrs as his eyes rack over my almost naked body one last time.
Nate helps me clean up, and I find a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting cami top to wear. Before we rejoin the party together.
"What took you so long?" Tucker asks with a cheeky grin. "Yeah, what took so long? You've been gone ages" Ava quizzes. "On second thought, I don't even want to know," Ava adds, covering her ears playfully.
"It's okay, Mom, we were just talking... and maybe kissing a little," I add with a laugh. "Sure, sure. It’s taken you this long just to kiss," Tucker teases, eyeing us both suspiciously.
"Well, whatever you did, girl, you owe me a dance. Riley abandoned me to meet a guy who texted her. Tucker's about to go play beer pong with the soccer team, and Gabe has fucked off and left. Then to top it all off, I just spent the last half hour holding Harper's hair while she puked," she explains dramatically.
"Where's Harper now?" Nate says possessively. Honestly, only Nate could listen to Ava’s whole dramatic speech and manage to pick up on the fact that someone’s alone and unwell and feel the need to take care of them.
It’s one of the things I love most about him. The fact that he’s got such a loving heart and is always taking care of us all. Even if he doesn't always do it in the best way.
Ava and I dance and laugh until our feet hurt. Nate has been by a few times to check on us but has spent most of the night taking care of Harper, who has either been sleeping or throwing up for the last few hours. She's usually good at handling her alcohol, but something's obviously wrong with her tonight. She looked so bad when Ava and I went to bring her a fresh bottle of water and some aspirin. Tucker offered to cut the party short. But she made him promise not to do that because she didn't want to ruin his birthday just because she caught some kind of sickness, bug, or something.
So, after sitting with her for a while longer, we decide to rejoin the party and have a good time. We even join Tucker and his friends for agirls versus boysbeer pong tournament.
By the time we get tired of dancing and think about going back to see Harper, the party is already winding down. Most of the guests have gone home since it's past midnight. Even Danny has left us after getting a better offer from one of Ava's teammates.
"I think I’m going to bed now, guys. I'm beyond tired," I mutter, trying my hardest to stifle my yawn.
"Me too; I'm dead tired," Ava agrees.
"You two head to bed. We'll lock up and join you soon," suggests Tucker, signaling Nate to help him.
Ava and I stumble drunkenly to the summer house and put on our pajamas. As I walk into the room where Nate and I always sleep, I spot Harper fast asleep in the middle of the bed. "Oh shit, I forgot she was in here," I whisper to Ava.
"It's okay, Danny's not sleeping here now, so you two can just sleep on the pull-out couch. I could use some privacy to give Tucker his birthday presents anyway." Ava winks, lifting her pajama top to show me she's wearing something red and lacy underneath.I've never been into girls, but I swear to God if I was going to convert, it would be for Ava because she looks gorgeous.Her strawberry blond hair is curled to perfection, and her red lace thing makes her already large chest and small waist look even more defined. She looks like a pin-up girl. It definitely puts the cute little matching bra set she took me to buy a few months ago to shame.
"Wow, Ava, you look HOT!" I announce and laugh. All the alcohol has obviously made me braver because that's the sort of thing I meant to think and not say out loud.
"Yeah, I do." Ava winks as she swishes her hair like she's in some sort of shampoo ad before she takes me by the hand and leads me out of the bedroom. We tiptoe out of the room and almost scream as we bump into the boys coming through the door.
"So, change of plans, guys. Harper is fast asleep in the bedroom. Nate and I are going to sleep on the pull-out sofa," I begin to explain.
"And you and I are going to sleep in your bedroom in the house," Ava adds, before leaning up to whisper something in Tucker's ear.
"Sounds good, night," Tucker replies quickly, before practically dragging Ava out the door and towards the main house.
"Looks like someone's ready for bed," Nate jokes.
"If Ava has her way, there won't be much sleeping." I chuckle back, wishing that I had half as much confidence as she does. I know Nate cares about me, and says he’s happy to wait until I’m ready to take our relationship further. We’ve never really had the talk. He knows I'm a virgin and says it's new to him too, but I don’t know whether he's telling the truth or just trying to make me feel less embarrassed.
After setting up the sofa bed, we turn on a movie. I climb in next to Nate and snuggle up against him. I barely make it through the opening scenes before I feel my eyelids get heavy and I fall asleep with my head on his bare chest, listening to the soft beating of his heart.
