Once Upon A Half-Time 2(52)
Besides, I had planned to find a home once I met the man of my dreams. We’d save for a house, have a small wedding, and then start a family.
Happily ever after, right?
My life was just a little out-of-order.
“You okay?” Nate asked.
He eyed the bed in the corner—miraculously made this morning without laundry stacked over the comforter.
“I can run to the bar, get us a six pack if you want to drink it away.”
The closer we got to the wedding, the harder it was to refuse a drink. Apparently, the only way people survived the last few weeks of planning was to write the toasts while toasted.
“I’ll survive.” I plunked onto the couch. “I just didn’t expect to walk in on that.”
“Front row show too.”
I gave an awkward laugh. “At least it wasn’t a role reversal. Had we been in there a couple minutes earlier—”
“I don’t know what you saw, but from my angle it looked like they had been going for a while.”
“Oh gross!” I smacked him with a throw pillow. Nate grinned, seizing it from me to retaliate. I ducked away. “Haven’t I suffered enough?”
He shrugged. “The ladies’ room was occupied. Nothing stopped us from using the men’s.”
“Do I look that depraved?”
“Like mother, like daughter.”
I huffed, grabbing the rest of the pillows on the couch to pitch at his head. Nate laughed, blocking the shots. He smiled, and that damn grin fluttered me into quiet confusion. It was sexy enough to make sneaking into bathrooms in public places seem…fun.
Something about Nate made me wild, but even at his most wicked, he seemed so gentle and passionate and so easy to…
I sucked in a breath.
Well, that was a trap I set for myself, and I nearly fell in head first.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d keep tumbling around Nate, perpetually off-balance and trembling and aching to touch him.
I tugged a pillow back and clutched it to my chest. It wasn’t the best defense against him, but I wanted to be cautious. If Nate hadn’t noticed a difference in my body at the cabin, I doubted he’d randomly guess about the baby now.
His baby.
I liked the sound of it.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
Nate smirked. “About what? Dangerous question, baby. You might want to be more specific.”
True. I had too many questions and not enough courage to ask them.
What do you want to do about the baby? How do we handle having a child? Would you like to be involved? Do you think it’s okay that we aren’t together?
...Should we get together?
Like that wouldn’t create a mess of complications. I’d stick to the stickiest issue at the moment.
“What do we do about my mom and Bryce’s dad?”
Nate answered immediately with a decisive wave of his hand. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Not our problem.”
“But he’s married—”
“You can’t save everyone’s relationship,” Nate said. “Hell, most people can’t save their own. He knew what he did, and so did your mom.”
I squeezed the pillow. “Just feels…crummy.”
“It shouldn’t. You’re too fixated on everyone else’s relationships.”
He stretched out against the couch, arms on the back as if baiting me to scooch close and snuggle against his chest. That was the type of thinking that got me in trouble in the beginning.
“Hell, you’re too obsessed with relationships in general,” he said.
“At least I’m giving them some thought, unlike you who runs at the first sign of commitment.”
“I’m not afraid of commitment.”
“Then why haven’t you found someone yet?”
“Who says I haven’t?”
My throat closed. “Have you?”
“There you go again.” Nate teased. “Always thinking of other people’s love lives instead of your own.”
“Believe me, I’m focused on mine.”
“Are you?”
I answered honestly. “Why do you think I keep pushing you away?”
“I’d love to know.”
He curled a finger for me to come closer, but there was only one way that game would end. I shook my head and dug into my side of the couch.
That only baited him.
I should have stopped him.
I should have pushed him away.
Nate crawled over me, pinning me in the corner with a hand on the couch’s arm and back. The pillow was a good choice. It kept a solid four inches between us, enough room that I’d have to lean forward to take a kiss.
And that was a dangerous and foolish thing to do.
“You were saying, baby?” Nate shifted, knocking my legs open so he could get even closer. “Why do you keep pushing me away?”