Page 80 of A Lot Like Forever
“You can’t just say things like that.” Her voice sounded weak, like she wasn’t sure of what she was saying, and she was. Only hearing him say it . . . She cleared her throat. “Is that what this is about? You trying to tell me I need to move back into your place so we can keep having crazy-good sex.”
He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the sides as he pushed his too-long hair from his face. It was so at odds with his suit, the hair that should have been cut a little shorter but was instead left to be unruly.
“Sweetheart, I’ll take you in my bedanytime;that’s a given. But I want a whole lot more from you than your bedroom skills.”
* * *
Nate liked flirting with Faith. Hell, he liked doing almost anything with Faith, especially after not seeing her for so long.
“You know how to play backgammon?” he asked.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”
He passed her a bottle of water. They were about to take off and he was happy to get in the air. It was going to take a few hours, and the sooner they got there the better.
“I was thinking we could play. Or I could teach you.”
“Teach me?” she asked, a wicked smile curving her mouth. “I think I’m just about done with you teaching me things, Nathaniel.”
“I love it when you call me that,” he teased.
It was strange how they could go so long without seeing each other and then slot straight back into talking shit and having fun. Which was why he liked her so damn much.
“Yes, I can play backgammon, Nate. You don’t think that Sam was able to play so well against you without having someone to practice with, do you?”
He sat back. “You’ve got to be kidding me? I wondered how the hell he got so damn good. Son of a bitch!”
Faith was smiling. “He taught me, but I haven’t played in years. I’m game if you are, though.”
“Let’s do it,” Nate said, reaching for the board he had stashed away. His brothers hated playing, so he was damn happy to have someone to spar with. “And while we’re playing, we can discuss all those reasons you claim we couldn’t work.”
“Ha,” she said, clicking her seat belt on as they started down the runway. “So this is actually some kind of therapy session where I get so distracted playing backgammon that I end up telling you my life’s secrets?”
He shrugged. “Could be. Or maybe I just really like playing backgammon and I actually give a shit about why you’re so scared to commit to anything but work.”
He set the board out, fingers moving fast to place the counters in their rightful places. His counters were magnetic, not like the expensive leather set he kept in the library at home; he took all games seriously, which meant he had no intention of risking the counters flying off the board in turbulence.
“So tell me again why you left me?” he asked.
She sighed, rolling a dice in one hand. “Nate, you know I think you’re a great guy, but this was never going to work. We’ve been through this. I’m not going to . . .”
“Make the same mistake your mom did. I know that,” he finished for her.
“So why are you covering old ground when we could just be . . .”--she paused--“I don’t know, enjoying each other as friends?”
Nate glared at her, trying to stay calm and failing. “Because you and I know that we’re never going to be just friends again, not even friends with benefits. It might have started out like that, but it sure as hell ain’t ending like it.”
Her eyes were damp when she looked up. “I don’t want to argue with you, Nate.” She threw her dice, took the move when hers was the higher of the two. “It doesn’t matter how I feel or how you think you feel right now. We can’t be together as anything more than . . .”
“Fuck buddies?” he suggested.
“I wouldn’t have put it so crudely, but yeah.”
“Well, screw that,” Nate said, staring at her and wishing he could just take her right there on the goddamn plane, kiss some sense into her, and just tell her how it was going to be, whether she liked it or not. “And by the end of the day, maybe you’ll realize that I’m not the same asshole who broke your mom’s heart. Okay?”
She swallowed; he watched the movement of her throat, the way she glanced from him to the board. “How about we just start with playing the game?”
He threw the dice. “Deal.”
