I woke up for the second time today to the inescapable sound of footsteps clamoring down the wooden floorboards of the hallway. The sound was so loud that it lulled me out of my most recent nap, but I squeezed my eyes shut in a lame attempt at ignoring the sound, which was only coming nearer.
Seconds later, the door swung open with a force so strong that it hit that wall with a resounding thud. I sink deeper into my bed and shield myself with my sheets, but my comfort is only temporary before someone rips the blanket out of my grasp. A load groan of protest escapes my lips as my eyes finally peel open.
“Wake up!” I hear Asher cry, very near to my face, and I sit up in slight alarm. When the haziness in my vision passes, I see a grinning Asher and Nathan staring at me in amusement. “It’s fun time.”
I stare at them blankly before I glance back at the digital clock resting on the bedside table. The neon letters indicate that it’s 8:26 at night and I managed to sleep for two hours despite the nap I took in the car ride. What can I say? I value sleep.
“You have spent entirely too much of the day sleeping,” Nathan tells me in a mock disappointed tone, but the dimple on his cheek as a result of his half smirk half smile gives him away.
“I’d have to agree,” Asher adds with a boyish grin. “Drink this and you’ll wake right up.”
With a wicked smile, Asher shoves a red cup in my face. I lean back hastily to examine it and shortly realize that there’s about a shot worth of something brown in the bottom of the cup. Slowly, I lean forward to get a whiff of the mixture, and my nostrils are filled with the sweet smell of cinnamon whiskey.
“Whiskey?” I ask in slight skepticism of his preferred method of waking up. “Is it fireball?”
“Yep,” Asher grins and repeats: “It’s fun time, remember?”
Because of his compelling argument, I pull myself up into a sitting position and tip back the cup to let the whiskey trickle down my throat as a trail of fire follows. When the initial burn fades, I look up at the boys and give them a sleepy smile.
“Okay,” I announce as I run a hand through my surely messy bedhead. “I’m ready now.”
Asher chuckles a little and turns to shoot Nathan his famous grin. “You got yourself a keeper, man.”
The residual sleepiness that fogs the corners of my mind keeps me from overanalyze the sentiment behind Asher’s words. Instead, I glance out the window and see that the sky hung low in the blue green sky, near where the horizon was glowing an orange color.
“I just turned the grill on,” Asher informs me, effectively taking my attention off the remnants of the sunset. “We’re going to go swimming after we eat.”
I raise my eyebrows slightly. “Isn’t it going to be cold at this time of night?”
Asher and Nathan share a look and a grin before they settle their gazes back on me and Asher repeats, just as confidently, “It’s fun time.”
I can’t help but laugh at the excuse of an argument before I concede. “Okay, fine. Get out of my room so I can change. I’ll meet you guys downstairs.”
Asher nods and promptly walks to the door to exit my room, but Nathan lingers by the door with a mischievous smirk planted on his lips to match the playful sheen in his eyes. Even though merely being close to him makes my body stand at attention, I can’t help but feel slightly relaxed by the playfulness in his expression, because that meant he wasn’t acting like a cold bad boy.
“How do I know you’re not going to jump right back into bed when I leave?” Nathan asks with a cautious grin.
I shake my head at him with a hint of a smile on my lips. “I guess you’re just going to have to trust me.”
“I’m not so sure I can do that,” He declares casually and instead redirects himself to stroll toward my unopened suitcase lying in the middle of the floor. “I think I’ll stay.”
I watch him in interest as I try not to get lost in his never ending sea blue eyes, but it’s difficult not to get lost in Nathan.
And of course by difficult, I mean impossible. My heart rate picked up as he drew closer and I try to replace my awestruck expression with a teasing smirk.
“Don’t be a perv,” I reprimand in mock seriousness.
Of course, Nathan only smirks wider and tosses me a wink. His voice is heavily coated with amusement as he assures me, “I’m only a perv for you, baby.”
I laugh, half out of confusion and half out of amusement, and ask, “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
He bends down to lift my suitcase onto my bed with ease as his shoulders shake from laughter. I watch in confusion as he trifles through the poorly packed contents of my suitcase until a wicked smirk spreads across his lips and he produces a tiny piece of black fabric.
Judging by the smirk on his lips, I knew exactly what the foreign item was, and my cheeks warmed up immediately. The tiny piece of black fabric was a very revealing and very skimpy bikini top that Stephanie insisted I bring to the lake when she helped me pack.
I thought I conceded that I wouldn’t bring it, but apparently she managed to sneak it into my bag anyway. I stared at the bikini top hanging from his hands in mortification as he simply glances between me and the fabric with a boyish smirk firmly on his lips.
“I’ll leave,” Nathan says conditionally. “If you wear this.”
I glare at him in an attempt to hide my rosy cheeks and embarrassment that he found that in my bag. “Just get out of my room.”
“Not unless-” He starts stubbornly.
“Okay, fine, I will wear it! Just get out,” I interrupt immediately upon realizing Nathan was serious.
His threats were not to be taken lightly. Nathan could be as stubborn as I could be sometimes, and I knew fairly well that he would lay down on my bed and stare at me until I put that suit on. So, ushering him out of my room, I shut the door behind him and turn around to face the bikini top lying on my bed. It stared back at me, taunting me, and I eventually had to move forward and grab it.
I grabbed a colorful pair of mismatched bottoms because the matching bottoms to this suit would likely involve my entire butt clear for viewing pleasure. Hesitantly, I undress and then replace my clothing with the skimpy top and semi acceptable bottoms. I catch my reflection in the mirror and widen my eyes at what I see. The top was shaped more like a bra than a bathing suit, and the small cups left little to imagination.
But then I looked at my body and actually kind of liked what I saw. I mean, I never really had a problem with my figure, but I used to cover it in baggy band tee shirts and jeans- nothing like this. Even when I changed my wardrobe to include more tight clothing, I hadn’t been exposed to my full figure. But now, staring at my body in the mirror, I no longer felt indifferent. I felt confident.
I almost wanted to rip the bathing suit off of my body and replace it with a more appropriate top, but I stopped myself. Not for Nathan, but for myself. Okay, maybe a little bit for Nathan. I mean, didn’t every girl want her crush to see her when she looked good?
Looking away from the mirror, I begin walking to my bed to pick up one of Luke’s tee shirts that I had packed, oversized and falling below my butt. I threw it over my bathing suit and then decided I was good, choosing to hurry out of my bedroom before I rethought the decision to wear that bikini top. When I get downstairs, Vincent is collecting meat from the freezer and Tess is making herself a drink.
“Hey sleepyhead,” Vincent greets when he sees me near the kitchen.
Tess looks up from her drink making process and smiles at me too. “Hey Lauren. Do you want a drink?”
I glance at the ingredients set up on the counter: vodka, cranberry juice, tonic water, and ice. Quickly I concede that these ingredients were safe enough, so I look back at Tess and shoot her a smile.
“That’d be great,” I accept her offer.
She pulls another red solo cup off of the stack beside the fridge, and then sets it on the table. “I’ll bring it out to you. The guys are all outside grilling, so head through the den and you’ll see them.”
The prospect of hamburgers and hot dogs were too enticing to stand inside any longer, so I nodded and thanked Tess before following her instructions. I walk through the tiny hallway and into the den, seeing the guys lounging on the picnic tables outside from the screen door. Immediately, the aroma floated to my nose, and I sighed contentedly the second I smelt the fire underneath the grill.
Asher is now standing at the grill tending to the juicy burgers, while Nathan is spread out on the picnic table, sitting on the bench while leaning comfortably against the table, his arms resting on the top. When I opened the screen door to come outside, Nathan glanced at me instantly and looked me up and down, probably trying to see if I had the bathing suit on or not.
“It smells amazing, Asher,” I compliment, taking my eyes off of Nathan before I blushed from his watchful gaze.
He glances at me and grins boyishly. “They’ll taste even more amazing.”
I eye the burgers and hot dogs on the grill, noticing Asher still hadn’t put the cheese on the burgers or flipped the dogs. “How much longer until they’re ready?”
“Ten minutes maybe,” Asher estimates, poking the burger with the spatula. “Sit down and learn the virtue of patience.”
I roll my eyes at this, seeing as Asher is one of the most impatient people I’ve ever met. But he’s in charge of the food and I want him to finish as soon as possible, so I turn to face my only other option: Nathan and the picnic table. He smirks at me as I begin to walk over, deciding to sit down on the table top and rest my feet on the bench beside Nathan.
“What’s under the shirt, babe?” Nathan asks me casually, but the smirk on his lips suggests anything but causality.
I tried to force my blush away as I thought about how quick he was to make comments.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I tease, a small smirk of my own beginning to form on my lips.
Nathan leans forward, catching me by surprise, and stops only a few inches from my face. We were so close that I could feel his breath on my cheeks, which were tingling from the contact. His eyes were alight with mischief, gazing into mine, which were big with surprise.
“I do,” He confirms, his voice low and surprisingly husky. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll find out myself.”
My heart was suddenly pounding so hard I could hear it in my eardrums, overwhelmed by the way his voice made my body react. It took a great amount of energy and focus to respond at all, and even more so to keep my voice even.
“And how do you think you’ll do that?” I question him, half teasing, half deadly serious.
It was as if a switch went off when I said this. I saw the undeniable flash of boyish mischief glint in his eyes as his smirk widened and then suddenly, Nathan was standing up. He grabbed me by my waist and hoisted me up over his shoulder before I had time to catch my breath. I could hear Asher’s laughter retreating as Nathan begins walking towards the lake, carrying me as if I were as light as a feather.
My brain finally understood everything that was about to happen when we were mere feet away from the shoreline, and I blurted, “Nathan, don’t you dare!”
But he just laughed as a response, and I knew the end result wouldn’t be good, so I held onto his shirt tightly, deciding that if I were going down then he was going down with me. And just seconds later, that’s where we were heading: down. Nathan waded into the water by way of running until he was up to his thighs, and then he fell down, pulling me with him.
The water wasn’t as cold as I was expecting, but damn, it was still cold enough to knock my breath out of me. I let go of Nathan when I was fully submerged under the water, and kicked until my head was above the water. My hands smoothed my hair back and then wiped my eyes as I heard the water break again, signaling Nathan’s arrival back to air.
I turned to yell at him or splash him or hit him but when I looked at him, his gaze wasn’t on mine. His eyes were locked on my chest, and I glanced down to see the tight shirt clinging to my body. One thing I had failed to think through about this shirt was the color: white, but as of right now, transparent. You could see the tiny bikini top through the soaking white tee shirt, exposing the stupid top Nathan threw me in the lake to see.
“My eyes are up here,” I reprimand immediately, snapping in front of Nathan’s face.
He looks up at me and I no longer have any inclination to yell at him. Instead, I have the strongest urge to grab his face and kiss him until I couldn’t breathe. Not only did Nathan’s expression remain completely unguarded, but I could see the one thing in his eyes that made tingles shoot down my spine, that made shivers roll down my arms, that made my knees weak: lust.
It was there, filling his eyes the way paint fills a canvas: beautifully, vibrantly, and precisely. My lips parted when I looked at him, and I swear his eyes dipped to look at them before meeting my gaze again. If I thought my heart was beating like crazy before, I was surely mistaken. My heart was kicked so far into overdrive that I thought it would just explode altogether if he looked at me any longer.
“Lauren,” Nathan says, my name rolling off his tongue, like he was made to say it.
I blinked at him, unsure if I tried to speak, words would come out. His eyes were searching my face, and I got the feeling he wanted to say something else, but he was holding back. Fueled by curiosity, I forced myself to attempt to speak, uncaring of the likely outcome that real words wouldn’t leave my mouth.
“Yes, Nate?” I somehow choke out, my voice light and unsure.
We were a foot or so away, but I felt like we were drifting closer. We were both being pulled toward each other, just staring in silence, my heart racing in my chest, my mind completely silent. Ten inches. Eight. Six. We were getting closer and closer, and the closer we got the harder it became to look away from his sea blue eyes.
Our silence is cut through abruptly by Asher as he called from the grill, “Dinner’s ready!”
I gasp, the sound almost inaudible, and take an involuntary step backward. I had been so close to kissing him, right here in the lake, with all our friends mere yards away. What was wrong with me? Nathan blinks a few times and then slowly raises a hand to his hair, running it through his wet locks.
“Let’s go eat,” Nathan says after a moment, his voice still deep and husky and sexy.
“Wait,” I stop him before he turns around. “What were you going to say?”
My eyes are big and full of curiosity but also wonder; my lips were slightly parted in anticipation of my unruly mind urging me to kiss the life out of him; my body felt on fire. Nathan’s eyes fall on my eyes, and then travel across my nose and my lips, ending back up to meet my gaze.
He smiles, a small smile but still one at all, and says, “I’ll tell you later. Come on.”
I was almost afraid he was going to close up again, regain his hard exterior and shut me out, but instead Nathan reaches his arm out and grabs my hand in his. With his fingers locked with mine, Nathan begins to walk back out of the water, pulling me behind him. I smile a little, over the moon about the small amount of affection he was sharing with me.
When we get out of the water, Tess and Vincent are sitting at the picnic table we were previously lounging on, and Asher was turning the grill off. They all watched us approach with similar expressions, which happened to be some kind of knowing smirk that made me blush. Could they all tell that I had a huge crush on him?
Nathan dropped my hand and, before I could get upset about it, turned to me and held up a finger. “Stay here, I’ll grab you a towel.”
I smiled widely and nodded, my heart warming at the gesture. He disappeared into the den, and I turned to the picnic table to see all of them staring at me with large smirks. I tried to stop smiling so they would stop looking at me like that, but it was to no avail, so I simply told them instead.
“Stop it,” I mumbled.
Asher smirked wider. “Stop what, Lauren?”
“Stop staring at me like that,” I mumble again, too embarrassed to raise my voice higher.
“You are just so cute!” Asher squeals girlishly, leaning forward to pinch my cheeks. I frown at him but he simply chuckles and then sits down at the picnic table. “I can’t help it.”
Nathan emerges from the den with two towels dangling over his arm. I hold my hand out to catch it when he tosses one to me, and then smile graciously as I wrap it around myself. “Thanks, Nate.”
He shoots me a grin and replies casually, “Anytime, kitten.”
We sat down with everyone and began to eat. I hadn’t known before, but now I was well aware of Asher’s skills as a cook. Or maybe it was just the way he knew how to grill meat. Whatever it was, I owed my delicious dinner to him, and everyone else paid their thanks to the chef.
Even though it was dark by the time we were finished eating, everyone still wanted to go in the lake. Vincent flicked on the porch lights to give us some kind of guidance, and Asher grabbed towels that he then hung on the drying line. Once we were all set, drinks in hand, we head down to the lake.
I peel off my still damp tee shirt and take confident steps back into the water that I had been thrown into about a half hour ago. I pass Tess as she cringes from the temperature of the water from behind Vincent, and Nathan was following steadily behind me.
There was a floating raft a few years out into the lake, anchored down and big enough for all of us to fit. The raft was my final destination, but when I saw Asher surface and look over at me with a mischievous glint, I could tell that he had his own agenda. The look on his face mirrored the very one that Nathan had before he picked me up and threw me into the water.
I narrow my eyes at him and say, “No, Asher,” but he starts to lunge at me, so I decide I can’t give him the satisfaction and dive under myself. I kick away from where I sank, running my hands through my hair from underneath the water, gliding closer to the dock. When I can no longer hold my breath, I resurface and look back at Asher, who is some distance away from me.
“I was not about to get thrown in twice in one hour,” I defend quickly, my eyes still narrowed at Asher, and this time Nathan, too.
Nathan smirks his dumb smirk, and I continue to glare until I turn back around in the water to keep approaching the dock. I was only a few feet away now, and after a few kicks, I made it to the edge. I grabbed the edge of the dock and hauled myself up, which was embarrassingly difficult to do, but I finally made it and sat cross-legged near the edge.
Everyone else was still a little ways away, and from here I could see the harsh glow of the porch lights and hear the faint hum of Joe Walsh. One by one, everyone climbs on the dock, and one by one, everyone gets pushed off the dock. Vincent pushes Tess, and then Asher and Nathan push Vincent, and Vincent drags me down with him. Then Tess and I get back on and push Nathan off, but we eventually all end up in the water again.
Even though I was being pushed off the dock into the cold water, the only emotion I felt was happiness. I was a bubbly mess of laughter and smiles, joking around with my friends and creating alliances in this pushing war. Eventually we all settled down, and I was able to lie back on the dock without being rolled into the water.
Vincent and Tess were a few yards away in the shallow water, while Asher and Nathan were throwing a tennis ball back and forth. I rest my hands under my head comfortably and look up at the sky, pleased to see an abundance of stars resting against the slab of dark blue sky. I don’t know how long I stayed like that, just looking at the stars, until the dock shifted from under me.
Before I can sit up to explore the disturbance, I hear and feel someone lay down beside me. I turn my head so my cheek is pressing against the dock and look into Nathan’s blue eyes, which were suddenly inches away from mine. And even though it usually ended with me being flustered, I really did love Nathan’s company.
“Hey,” I greet him with a smile, and then look back up at the sky, not without feeling a tiny spark of giddy excitement explode in the pit of my stomach.
“Hey,” Nathan replies casually and I can still feel his gaze on me. He wastes absolutely no time in joking, “I feel like I was cheated out of your bikini experience.”
I raised my eyebrows and hummed amusedly, “How so?”
“You covered it in a shirt the first time and then waited until it was dark out,” Nathan defends jokingly. “I never got a good look.”
“Oh, poor you,” I respond, my voice flat and emotionless.
“Just saying,” Nathan continues obnoxiously, purely seeing how far he could push my buttons.
I turn my head to face him and nudge his hand with mine. “You’re a hormonal boy who needs to learn self control,” I try to joke along, but then suddenly I think about what he was about to tell me earlier, and curiosity overwhelms my capacity to joke. “So, what were you going to tell me earlier?”
Nathan continues to look into my eyes for a moment, and opens his mouth, but ends up closing it again. I stare silently, waiting for him to speak, and while I waited, a breeze rolled by. My hands slide across my chest and I cover my arms, shielding them from the cool air. Instead of giving me an answer, Nathan stands up on top of the dock and holds his hands out to let me up.
“Let’s go inside,” He insists, almost as if he had never heard my question. “It’s getting late, anyway.”
I want to be stubborn, but I actually am pretty cold, so I grab his hands and let him pull me up without a fight. Unfortunately, returning to shore requires us to get back in the water, so we cautiously lower ourselves back into the lake. We waded through the moonlit water silently, the only sound our breathing and trickling water.
There was no one outside, so I assumed everyone had moved the party inside; however, no one was in the living room when we got there. I glanced at Nathan and said, “Everyone must’ve gone to sleep.”
“I’m pretty tired,” He says in a strangled voice, as if he didn’t want to be saying it at all, and I tried to ignore the tiny bit of disappointment that bit at me. “I think I’m going to head to bed too.”
The few ounces of disappointment kept me from making a joke about how he was going to have to cuddle up to Asher tonight, and instead I just nod and give him a mumbled goodnight. I went up the stairs to change while Nathan stood at the base of the couch. When I got to my room, I peeled off my wet bathing suit immediately and hung it on the doorknob.
I rummaged through my duffel bag, my fingers skimming across a familiar material that I didn’t think I packed. I pulled it out and confirmed that it was indeed Nathan’s blue hoodie that he lent to me so long ago. I must’ve packed it out of habit without considering the consequences of sharing a house with its owner.
I bit my lip and stared at the sweatshirt. It was so comfortable, and I wanted to sleep in it, and Nathan wouldn’t even see me in it, so I eventually tugged it over myself instead of putting it back away. Then I slipped on pajama shorts, washed my face, and called it a night. Or, at least, I tried to. I laid down in bed with the lights off just staring at the dark ceiling, thinking about the boy downstairs.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get Nathan off my mind. I laid there thinking about whether or not I should go downstairs and talk to him. My mind was wide awake, and it was screaming at me to go talk to Nathan. Eventually, some ten minutes later, I finally worked up the courage and got out of bed. I tiptoed to my bedroom door and opened it slowly, hoping not to wake anyone up.
I looked up from the floor and froze immediately because there stood Nathan, changed into basketball shorts and a cut off that showed his muscles. His eyes were electric and dark hair was messy, and he seemed as surprised as I felt. He was just standing in front of my room with his mouth slightly ajar, staring at me like I was a foreign creature. But, to be fair, I was doing the same to him.
“Hi,” I say a little breathlessly, once I’m fairly positive I can speak.
“Hi,” Nathan shuts his mouth and his eyes dip lower to examine my outfit, leaving him and I to both realize I’m wearing his sweatshirt. His eyes trail back up to my gaze, and he smirks a little. “Of course you’re wearing my sweatshirt.”
He says this under his breath, like the comment was only made for himself. I don’t know what to say, so I settle for the first thing that comes to my head.
“I was coming to talk to you,” My voice is still kind of quiet, light, unsure.
Nathan looks at me again, the corners of his lips pulling upward into tiny traces of a smile that made my heart beat quicken. “Really?”
Heart commencing over drive.
“Yeah,” I confirm, a little more confidently. “What are you doing here?”
He looks at me cautiously, and then hesitantly says, “You first. What were you coming to talk to me about?”
Honesty, I didn’t know. I just wanted to see him. But I couldn’t exactly tell him that, so instead I somehow came up with,
“Well,” I start, and then look anywhere but his face. “I wanted to know if you still needed a room to stay in, you know, if you and Asher got in a fight and he made you sleep on the couch.”
I thought it was a lame joke, but Nathan seemed to enjoy this thoroughly. He chuckles and immediately, his eyes alive with happiness, but I quickly speak again.
“Your turn,” My voice finally had a confident edge to it.
Nathan’s smiling at me, and it’s this kind of smile that he smiles when he’s content; it’s warm, unguarded, genuine, and beautiful. His eyes are a sparkling blue, and I feel like the color reflects his mood. My breath catches in my throat when he gives me his full attention, his eyes floating over my face thoughtfully, ending on my lips.
“Fuck it,” Nathan mutters, and then he closes the gap between us.
One of his hands holds my waist at the curve of my waist to my hips, drawing me closer to him, while the other gingerly rests on the side of my face, tilting my lips to him. The familiarity of his lips on mine made tingles race up my spine, and it felt like my lips were on fire. My eyes slid shut easily, like I was under Nathan’s spell, unable to think of anything other than getting closer to him.
Our bodies molded together in such a way that made me think that if bodies were puzzle pieces, ours would’ve been made to fit each other. There was no space between us, yet I needed to be closer. Nathan kissed me with so much passion, and yet the kiss was the farthest thing from sloppy. I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair, and heard a low moan emit from Nathan’s mouth.
The sound was so sexy that I was more than happy when he moved us to push my back against the wall, giving us more stability. I didn’t care about anything other than Nathan’s lips. We kissed until my lips felt swollen and I couldn’t breathe, and Nathan finally pulled away to let out a quick breath. We were both panting, and Nathan moved forward to hit his forehead against mine, out chests heaving together.
“I wanted to tell you,” Nathan says in between breaths, his blue eyes piercing mine in the darkness of the room. “That I really fucking like you, kitten.”