AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twelve
*****
Nate
“Who the hell is that?”
My voice lowered, as I twisted my body as nonchalantly as I could, toward Asher.
“Brandon Flynn. Katie’s new boyfriend. They’ve been dating for like two months or something. He didn’t have anywhere to go apparently, and you know my mom. Always ready to take everyone in.”
It felt like a red-hot poker was being plunged into my heart as I watched her looking at him with that glorious smile of hers. That explained why she slapped me in the face and why she looked so happy when we got back until she saw me.
“Is it serious?”
Asher shoved a handful of cheese and crackers in his mouth, spewing bits of food at me as he answered.
“The hell if I know. He seems like a good guy. Must be if he puts up with her, right?”
I smiled and let out a chuckle. It was hard to mask the feeling of drowning in my own blood around him. I hadn’t seen her or talked to her in months, and she had clearly moved on quickly. Despite her insistence, she wanted to just have fun with Collin over the summer. That had to have been why she pushed me away the other day. She was with him now.
Shoving my fists into my pockets, I debated going over to them and introducing myself, but halted the minute I saw my mother walk over and hug Katie. There was zero chance I was going to be civil talking to Brandon, which I knew my mother wouldn’t approve of.
Regardless of if she was happy with him, I was still protective of her and would want to make sure he was treating her right. The same as I had done when I watched over her during the summer. Brandon’s arm drifted over Katie’s waist as he pulled her closer, kissing her cheek. Her head craned back, reciprocating the affection, the smile never leaving her face. I hadn’t seen her smile this much since she was a toddler.
This is what I get for not following up after I kissed her. It was my own damn fault. I told her we shouldn’t have done it in the first place, but she pushed me into it. Why the fuck did I have to kiss her? I knew better.
Trudging over to where my mom and Evie were now taking turns stirring pots and taking food out of the oven, I hesitated before opening my mouth.
“You’re going to kill me.”
They both looked up, not knowing which one of them I was talking to. Granted, I didn’t know either, in retrospect.
“I realized I forgot my laptop at my apartment and there’s an assignment due the day after tomorrow. No, I haven’t finished it yet. You can yell at me for leaving it until the last minute, too. I need to head out and get it.”
I smiled as smoothly as I could, hoping they bought it.
“Nathan Theodore King, you have got to be kidding me right now. I did not raise you to leave things till the last minute, nor did I raise you to leave a family gathering like this.”
Evie tried to diffuse the situation as she continued to stir her pot.
“Oh Grace, it's okay. You go Nate. We will save you food. Do you think you could get back before we open our Christmas Eve presents?”
I shook my head no, knowing full well I would not subject myself to watching her any longer than I needed to.
“I’ll try. I’m really sorry it all smells great. Asher can eat my portion.”
I tried laughing to ease the tension on my mother’s face. She pointed the spoon in her hand at me, still covered in mashed sweet potatoes.
“You are going to make it up to this family. You understand me?”
I nodded, “yes ma’am.”
Climbing into my truck, the little neatly wrapped silver package on the passenger seat taunted me. I didn’t have the courage to bring it in before and figured I’d have a minute to sneak it to her, somehow. Now the entire plan seemed like the stupidest idea I’d ever had. The plan had been to give her the present, do my best to apologize, and make things right. Of course, I had to do all of that, raising no red flags or drawing attention to us in front of everyone. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to do it, but seeing her happily leaning on Brandon, my entire makeshift plan flew out the window. I couldn’t compete with that.
My foot pressed harder on the gas pedal as I merged onto the highway. I didn’t know where to go. Going back to my apartment felt extreme, and I wasn’t sure I felt like making the drive. Pulling over to the side of the road, I dug my phone out of my pocket. Scrolling through the numbers, my thumb paused before clicking on the name. A big part of me told me calling on Christmas Eve probably wasn’t the best move, but as I clicked the button, I figured what the hell else did I have to lose? Tonight already sucked enough. There was nothing she could say to make it worse.
*****
