When I climbedinto Nathan’s car earlier, bursting with too much adrenaline, I asked him if he felt like doing something irresponsible.
Throwing a party the week before finals start is my version of irresponsible, as is playing drinking games with a man a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than me. To even our odds, Nate’s drink is twice as strong as mine, not that he’s noticed. Luckily for me, the game of choice is Never Have I Ever, and it turns out Nate has spent quite a lot of his time at college gaining new experiences.
Mattie clears his throat to get everyone’s attention for his turn. “Never have I ever…accidentally called Faulkner while I was having sex.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Nate mutters, lifting his drink to his lips. He doesn’t bother looking at me. “You don’t wanna know.”
“Okay, okay.” JJ rubs his hands together. “Never have I ever…left the club with an older woman,” several of the guys lift their cups, stopping when JJ asks them to wait, “then found out I’d also hooked up with her daughter when I saw the family pictures on the wall the next morning.”
Nathan curses under his breath, shaking his head at his best friend as he lifts his cup to his mouth again.
“Oh my God!” My jaw might as well be on the floor, Sabrina is cackling beside me, and Jaiden looks incredibly happy with himself. It’s my turn, and I can’t think of anything as outrageous as the guys have, but I have one thing that I know will make him drink. “Never have I ever…fallen out of a ski lift.”
Nate snorts, lifting his cup straight away. Beside him, Robbie drinks too.
“You as well?” I laugh when he nods, wincing as he swallows his drink. Sabrina made that one, so God knows how strong it is.
“Yeah, the little shit dragged me with him.”
The game continues, and naturally, the guys use it as a way to air each other’s indiscretions. Sabrina and I move away to catch up on the day’s events, and after an hour of us swapping theories and basically straight-up bitching about Aaron, I track Nate down.
I find him in the den, totally ignoring two girls trying to talk to him. As soon as I approach, he pulls me into his lap and buries his head in my neck. “Where have you been? I’ve missed you.”
“With Brin. How can you miss me? You see me every day.”
Not bothering to answer my question, I feel him nibble my ear. “I can’t remember why I’m not allowed to kiss you anymore, but I really, really want to.” He’s so drunk his words are slurring, but I can’t remember either. “You’re so pretty, Stassie.”
Spinning in his lap to face him, his groan lets me know that wasn’t the best decision. He places his hand on my face and pouts. “We do sex so well. Come on, I’ll remind you.”
I’m taking him to bed, but it’s certainly not going to be for that. “Come on, drunk boy.”
It’s like trying to control a very rowdy toddler as I navigate him up the stairs. Crashing into his room, Nathan instantly strips off, throwing his clothes around haphazardly. While I’m picking up his clothes, I hear the shower start, and moments later, a very loud, off-key rendition of “Last Christmas” echoes over the sound of running water.
He appears minutes later, smelling strongly of honey and strawberry, so I know he’s used my shampoo. The towel is hanging loosely from his hips, droplets of water running down his solid chest.
Jesus Christ.
Not caring that he’s dripping wet, he stomps across the room, stopping in front of me. “Wanna do the no-pants dance with me?”
“No. I want you to get into bed and go to sleep.”
He looks genuinely shocked. “Why not?”
Pushing him to the bed, he flops down, not landing anywhere that even resembles a normal sleeping position. “Why do you think?”
Thinking on it, the realization kicks in. “You’re drunk, and I’m sober, so that means…” he sings, making an X with his arms. “No naked sleepover.”
Not fully accurate, but the important parts are right. “Bingo. Lie properly, please.”
Ignoring me, he yawns and closes his eyes. “Drunk people can’t give consent, Stas.”
“That’s right, bub,” I pant, lifting his alarmingly heavy legs to try to maneuver him. “Nate, can you he—okay, you’re asleep. Great.”
Brin’s nose scrunches when I rejoin her downstairs. “Why do you look so sweaty?”
“Nathan’s drunk and heavy.”
“Have you realized you’re falling in love with him yet?”
“I’ve known him two minutes, Sabrina. I’m not falling in love, we’re not even dating,” I say back, looking over my shoulder to make sure nobody is around listening.
“It’s been nearly three months and you’ve lived together for nearly one of them. I think that sorta makes the dating thing redundant.”
It’s been an hour of Sabrina giving me shit and making wedding suggestions, and she suddenly squeaks, making me jump. “I forgot to tell you because I was rushing! Aaron is hooking up with Kitty Vincent!”
I feel like one of those cartoon characters when their eyes spring out of their head. “Say you’re joking right now.”
“I would never joke about something so horrific. I saw it with my own eyes. Unrelated, but when you move home, we need to burn the couch. Rosie is still the sweetest, but Kitty is worse. So, so much worse.”
Kitty was our friend freshman year, and we were getting to know Rosie, her roommate too. Rosie is the daughter of Simone, my boss, and it was Rosie who recommended me for the job.
As Sabrina said, Rosie was sweet, but Kitty was a nasty, conceited bitch, and that’s not something I call another woman lightly. Scientists should study their friendship because it’s been two years and I still don’t understand it.
Annoyingly, they live in our building, so we see them sometimes, and we can’t get to know Rosie better and avoid Kitty because they’re inseparable.
Before I can process the information thrown at me by Brin, cheers erupt around us. Sabrina’s eyes widen, and her hand flies to her mouth as she does what can only be described as a scoff-snort hybrid.
Turning to search out the source of the chaos, I immediately spot Nathan pushing through the crowd in his boxers. His friends appear from the den, also searching for the cause of the noise, and all reach for their phones.
Nate is stomping across the room with purpose and I wish he were headed toward his friends.
I really, really wish he was going to them.
But he doesn’t; he stops right in front of me, lip pouting with sleepy, half-lidded eyes. “You weren’t there when I woke up.”
“Oh my God. Where are your clothes?”
“Come back to bed,” he whines loud enough for other people to hear. “No funny business. Just cuddle with me.”
“This is gold,” Sabrina says behind me and when I look over my shoulder, she has her phone out too.
The guys are all watching, and several are bent over laughing. One of them looks like they’re hyperventilating. Reluctantly letting Nathan drag me toward the stairs, I shoot them all the evils. “Thanks for your help, guys.”
“But you’re doing such a good job,” Robbie shouts back.
When we reach his room, Nate flops onto the bed, and I can see that he has decided to demolish our pillow barricade. He’s already snoring when I’m ready to crawl in beside him, but he still senses me there and pulls me closer to him.
After three weeks of pillow separation, being flush against him feels so freaking good. I don’t bother fighting to keep my eyes open.