I was falling for him.
And it was the worst and best thing that might have happened to me.
10
Nate
Some men said chivalry is its own reward.
I always thought they were full of shit.
I told myself I was in it for the reward. That I left my bed at one in the morning to help a group of stranded girls on the off-chance that Mandy would make it worth my while.
Christ, was I an idiot.
I raced to their car because the thought of them trapped on a deserted highway in the middle of nowhere made my skin crawl. I wasn’t leaving Mandy to be rescued by a sketchy midnight tow-truck driver.
It didn’t matter if she sat or spat on my face, I wanted to make sure she was safe.
That wasn’t like me.
But…chivalry did get me a night wrapped in the arms of the most beautiful girl in the world. Maybe there was something to it.
It worked once, so I tried again. I woke the Barbie Hangover House with breakfast.
Mandy, ever the responsible one, had packed a cooler with sausages, bacon, eggs, English muffins, and orange juice. I hated to wake her. She’d finally collapsed at five AM, and she snuck into the house to sleep on the couch. I still had her sock in my pocket, but we lost her panties in the lake.
If it were up to me, she wouldn’t have gotten dressed. Probably would’ve been an awkward breakfast with her fellow bridesmaids, but hell, they were women. They understood what it was like to get fucked every which way from Sunday.
Unfortunately, most of them learned from me.
Mandy rolled off the couch, plopping onto the floor. She groaned, stood, and bolted to the bathroom, nearly tripping over herself to close the door.
Why was she so insecure? I’d have fucked the hell out of her, bedhead and all.
She emerged a few minutes later looking exhausted. Probably my fault.
Entirely my fault.
I kicked the dining room chair out for her and sat a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon on the table. She shook her head.
“Not a breakfast person. Thank you though.” She scooted the plate away with the edge of her finger and didn’t look at me. “I figured you’d have left by now.”
Maybe, if she had been any other girl. “I wouldn’t miss a chance to butter your muffin.”
Her eyebrow arched. “What?”
I offered her a plate with the toasted English muffins. “What’d you think I meant?”
“God only knows.”
“Want to find out?”
“You should behave.”
“Why? There’s no fun in behaving.”
I leaned close. She stilled as I brushed my lips against hers, but a thud from one of the rooms spooked the hell out of her. Mandy jumped away.
“Nate—last night…I don’t know what happened, but…”
“Greatest night of my life.”
I reached for her again. She avoided me and lowered her voice, watching for the other bridesmaids.
So we were doing this on the sly? Fine by me, but the thought of getting caught just got me more excited.
“I know it was fun for you,” I said. “Hate to say I outdid myself, but…”
“I’m not sure what happened.”
“We had sex.”
“Well…I know that much, but…” Mandy twisted her fingers in a napkin. “I shouldn’t have asked you to stay. It was selfish, and I wasn’t thinking—”
“What part of greatest night of my life don’t you get?” I edged closer. “I would have asked to stay anyway, and you would have said yes. We both knew what we wanted.”
“I know. I wanted it then. But now? You know I’m not the simple pleasure type.”
But I was. That much was true.
Mandy bit her lip. What the hell was it was about her that made her seem so soft, so vulnerable, so utterly irresistible.
I could be honest. “I don’t think it’s ever gonna be simple with you.”
“I don’t think it is either,” she said.
“I’m not afraid of complicated.”
She didn’t believe me. “That’s not you, Nate.”
“How do you know what’s me?” Hell if I even knew what I wanted. “Maybe I like complicated with you.”
“You have no idea how complicated it could get.”
“Try me.”
The doors to the spare bedrooms opened. Mandy flinched away from me like she was caught with my cock in her mouth.
A man could dream.
Hungry, cranky, hungover bridesmaids spilled into the living room and kitchen, swearing off liquor and men and everything but chocolate. The bathrooms crowded with them throwing up memories of last night, and only Lindsey seemed halfway normal.
Then again, she stumbled into the fridge and giggled.
Still tipsy. That explained it.
The Bloody Mary would stem her headache until after breakfast at least. Mandy stepped aside as Lindsey unloaded a second cooler full of beer, mixers, and liquor.