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“Sasha!”
“I’m serious! I’ve always wanted to know. It’s the whole mysterious and broody thing.” She fans her face with her hand and swoons dramatically. “Makes you want to tame him… you know?”
I unfortunately do know, but I don’t say as much. “He’s good.”
“Just good?”
“I don’t want to talk about my sex life,” I hiss, turning away from her slightly.
She only laughs in response, a high pitched cackle that pierces my ears. “So you finally did it? I knew it!”
“Did what?” Tommy hands Sasha her drink as Nathan hands me mine and sits beside me.
“Nothing.” I slap my hand over Sasha’s mouth and turn to Nathan. “You’re not drinking?” I whisper in his ear when I notice his gloved hands are empty.
He shakes his head, glancing around. “I’m not much of a drinker.”
I already knew this, but everybody buys a drink when they go to a pub, be it a coke or an alcoholic beverage. “Do you want to share mine?”
“No thank you.” He folds his arms over his chest and leans back, his narrowed eyes on nothing in particular.
“Shall we play on the bandits?”
He glances at the flashing machine and gives me a look that says ‘Really?’
“Okay, okay,” I sigh, turning back to my friends.
It doesn’t take him long to pull me back to his side, but he still looks bored and annoyed. I think it’s mostly discomfort, though. He’s not a fan of crowds and never frequents the local pubs. I just need to get him out of his shell.
Tommy notices Nathan’s lack of participation and quickly engages him in a not so thrilling conversation about money, business and politics. Fortunately they agree on most things and when Tommy winks at me, I know Nathan has won his stamp of approval. Not that it’s needed. My friends vanished from my life for who knows how long. They don’t get to judge me or pick and choose my partners with me.
“Shots!” Sasha squeals.
I look to Nathan. He shakes his head and gives me a different look this time. It’s one that says ‘No.’
Bugger.
“But…”
“You almost killed yourself last time,” he complains, a beautiful frown on his face. “Take it steady tonight.”
Sigh. “Fine. But you’re doing the dishes tomorrow as apology.”
He snorts and mutters, “Yeah right.”
“Aww.” Sasha smiles, leaning into Tommy as she wipes an invisible tear from under her eye. “It’s like you’re married already.”
I tense in response and give her a wide eyed stare. I can’t believe she just said that.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Overall the night went pretty well. It’s nice being able to see ourselves in a normal setting. We’re so used to being cooped up together in one house with no visitors other than the housekeeper. It’s going to be tough suddenly trying to be together in the real world.
I know that if I gave Nathan the chance, he’d whisk me back to the village in a heartbeat and keep me there for as long as he wants me. But that’s not me. As much as I loved being there with him, even through the bad times, I need to be in the real world. I need to be around real people, with a real job of my own.
We get home just after eleven and I’m feeling a light buzz. I’m actually kind of glad that I didn’t drink more. I’m not a huge fan of drinking. It always seems like a good idea at the time, until it no longer is.
“Did you have fun?” My mum yawns and stretches on the couch. Dillan is across her chest, his fist tucked against his pudgy cheek.
“It was actually really boring.” I shrug. “Until Sasha fell over the bar stool and accidentally threw her drinks at some poor bloke sitting with his friends.”
Nathan shudders. “It was horrendous. Why anybody goes to a pub for fun is beyond me.”
“Nathan,” I laugh, arching a brow. “You don’t do anything for fun. Your idea of fun is SpongeBob in a dark…” His hand covers my mouth, but this only makes me laugh harder.
Shaking her head, she sits up, being careful not to wake the baby.
“I’ll take him; don’t trust her sobriety,” Nathan states, pointing at me with his thumb. He steps over to my mum and reaches his hands out as she manoeuvres Dillan into a safe position to transfer him in. “Come to Daddy.”
The room stills; none of us breathe. Nathan takes Dillan, but his eyes close as if he can’t believe what he just let slip. When they open, he keeps them down and moves past me without uttering a word.
“Close your mouth, Gwen, or are you catching flies?” Mum stands and stretches again. She must see the look of total horror on my face as she tells me, “He is raising him and he has always been there. In my opinion, he’s earned that title.”
