Page 31 of A Lot Like Forever
“No one controls me, Faith. Make no mistake about that.” Nate’s voice had gone from smooth and sexy to deep and gravelly now. “But Sam and I have been buddies since pre-K. He’s the only friend I’ve ever trusted, and I’m not going to throw that away for--”
“A night between the sheets with me?” Faith interrupted.
“Anything,” Nate corrected. “I was going to say that I wouldn’t throw away our friendship for anything.”
Faith wrapped her arms around herself again, suddenly feeling a chill even though it probably wasn’t even remotely cold where they were standing.
“You need to let him calm down before you go after him,” she said, wishing things could be different between them but not wanting to ruin their friendship, either. “He’ll need some time to himself; otherwise he’ll just try to kill you again.”
“I let him have that first punch,” Nate muttered.
She stepped closer to him and put her hand to his chest, palm flat as she pushed him back into the light to see how bad the bruise was.
“Damn!” she swore softly under her breath.
“Does it look bad?” he asked, staring down at her.
“Yeah. It’s gonna be a serious black eye.” Faith traced gently around the skin of his eye with one soft fingertip. “Sorry.”
She looked up at him, no longer focused on the purple bruise, and her breath caught in her throat at the look on his face, at the desire so evident in the way he was looking at her. He was a different kind of hurt than she’d been, but it still wasn’t nice to see.
“We can’t.” Nate’s voice was guttural and it only made her want him more.
“He already hates you right now, Nate,” she said, her eyes fixed on his lips now, her breath coming in fast pants. “What harm could it do if he never finds out?”
