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Chapter Thirty Two
*****
Katie
As I walked into Nate’s new apartment, I felt out of place. It was much bigger than his last place. If I had to guess who lived here, I would have never thought two guys lived in such a clean and white apartment. The dark grey couch and armchairs sat perfectly positioned around a modern coffee table. Artwork on the walls, all landscapes, each one more stunning than the one it was next to. There wasn’t a single item out of place, unlike the other apartment I had visited that Nate and Nolan lived in.
“Hey, you must be Katie. I’m Nolan.”
Nodding at me from the comfort of the couch, beer in hand, he didn’t move from his lounging position. He reminded me of a less fit version of Nate. From what I knew, he spent most of his time tinkering with computers.
“It’s nice to meet you and finally put a face to the name.”
I knew it probably sounded stupid to say, but besides the stalking I had done on Nate’s social media, I didn’t know anyone he hung out with anymore.
Nate’s hand landed on the small of my back, causing me to jump. His physical affection caught me off guard when we were around others. Our relationship was still private, so we kept our distance, and I maintained my bitchy attitude toward him if others were near us.
“My room is down the hall, unless you want to watch whatever nonsense he put on for the night. House rules. Whoever grabs the remote first gets to pick what is on for the night.”
He held his hand up, motioning toward the television. A part of me wanted to stay out in the living room for fear of what Nolan would think of me going right into Nate’s room. Smiling uncomfortably, I followed Nate down the hall.
Closing the door behind us and flipping the lock, he collapsed onto the bed, knocking his hat onto the floor. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. Most of the time we had spent together lately, we would grab a quick lunch somewhere and head our separate ways. There wasn’t time to do much more than a simple kiss, hello and goodbye. Heat was pooling between my legs, seeing him splayed on his bed, relaxed and available.
Running my hand through my hair, my fingers landed on my locket. I twirled it between my fingers as I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath to steady myself. My heartbeat was pulsing in my neck as I stood, unsure what exactly I should do right now. There was a small desk with a chair in the room's corner. I could go sit there. His bed looked much more comfortable, but did he want me to sit next to him? I questioned every tiny thing about being in this room with him.
My parents thought I was visiting Ryder for the weekend. Maybe I should have just visited her. At least then I wouldn’t be dealing with the internal pulling I felt right now about what I should do with my body.
“You okay over there?”
Nate propped himself up on his elbows. I hadn’t even noticed that he was staring at me.
“You can come sit down, you know. Unless you planned to sleep standing up tonight, that’s totally your decision.”
Laughing nervously, I crossed the room and sat down next to him, smoothing out my dress.
“Sorry I just... I don’t know... Never mind. Your place is nice.”
Rolling his eyes, he let out a sarcastic laugh before speaking.
“This place has turned into Sam’s place, and she just lets Nolan and I live here. It’s been hell honestly; I wish I could afford to move out on my own.”
Placing my hand on his knee, I smiled at him. My body was still rigid beside him, but I was trying my best to relax.
“I’m sorry, that sounds terrible. Didn’t your mom offer to pay for a place? Why don’t you just let her help you?”
I didn’t understand the relationship he had with his mother. He didn’t like to take handouts, even from her. They were close, but for whatever reason, he hated when she tried to help him with anything. Maybe it was a male- I need to be the provider thing since his dad was gone.
“It doesn’t feel right to take more of her money. She already paid for me to go through school. I don’t want her paying for a place of my own, too. The site manager I’m working for now has a couple of properties he’s been putting bids on that he wants me to help him with. There is this one. It’s off the grid. It’s just a vacant lot right now, but he showed me the plans for the house he’s putting up there. I would love to save up enough to put in an offer once he has it ready. It has the most amazing view of the mountains.”
His entire face lit up as he told me about the property. It had been a while since I saw him that passionate about something. When he talked about school, he zoned out half the time. Flying gave him the same spark that this construction job did.
“That sounds amazing. I hope you get it, Nate. You deserve everything that you want.”
Sometimes I hated being younger than him. He was making these plans for his future, and I felt like I was just a kid again, begging for attention. Without warning, his hands had pulled me closer on the bed, his hands cupping my face as he kissed me.
“What if I said I want you?”
His eyes had that same want in them as they did the first time he saw me naked. Drawing my lip in between my teeth, I could feel my face heating. My heart began to race when I thought of seeing him without his clothes. The insecurity of his plans, including me or not, washed away in an instant. The warmth between my legs was already causing a wet spot in my underwear. Hearing him say he wanted me only made me that much more nervous, knowing his roommate could very well hear us.
