Page 11 of Waiting Forever
At once, he lets go of my arm. “Fuck. I don’t want to hurt you. Not ever. I’m so sorry.”
Now, he’s upset? A minute ago he was angry, and a minute before that pityingly sad. So confusing. “You weren’t hurting me. I just said that to make you let go.”
He sighs with relief. “If I ever hurt you after what—” He clamps his lips together.
To keep from saying the rest of what he knows?
“After what?” I prompt him and glance around. We’re by the elevators, where people are waiting. “Is there any place private here? You know what?” I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not here and not with you.”
He stabs his fingers through his thick hair, pushing it away from his face. “Explain that to me.”
“I just said I don’t want to talk about it. There are people everywhere and it’s private. You weren’t even supposed to know. I hate that you know.” Traitorous tears burn my eyes. I’m going to lose it and ugly cry in front of everyone. My dad raised me better than this.
I hide my face. “Can we please go? I don’t want to be here.” I shouldn’t have come at all, but because of Nathan, it was the only place Dad felt safe enough for me to be. Otherwise he wouldn’t have left the country. “I can get an Uber if you’d rather—”
He takes my arm again, his grip even softer than before. “Come on. My car is parked this way.”
5
Nathan
WE GET INTO the next available elevator with a few other people. Two younger guys with UCF paraphernalia stand across from us. One of the guys stares at Kensington’s shoes and then follows the length of her legs to her torso and chest, where his gaze lingers.
Does he not see me next to her? I glance at her chest and notice her nipples are still tight and as obvious as before. No wonder he’s staring.
Stepping in front of her, I block his view with my back and bend to her ear. “Are you wearing a bra?”
She flattens against the elevator wall and gasps. Her turquoise eyes connect with mine. Fuck, she’s beautiful.
“What kind of a question is that?” she says, offended and a little breathless.
Like that, I’m at the birthday party again, hyper-aware of her warmth, her scent, and her lips that are a breath away from mine.
“Stop,” she murmurs.
“Stop what?”
“Treating me like a child. I’m almost twenty-one, Nathan, or have you forgotten my birthday like you forgot about me?” Her lips press into a hard line. She gives her head a small shake. “Never mind.” She turns sideways and faces the door, forcing me back a step.
Why does she keep saying that? The last thing I do is look at her in the way I would a child. Unable to resist, I lean to her ear again. “Make no mistake, I am fully aware you are not a child. I was aware at your damn birthday party when you wore that sexy-as-hell dress, and I’m even more aware of it now that you’re legally older. Understand?”
I wait for her to meet my gaze.
Her focus is on the doors as if she’s ignoring me, but her faster breathing says she heard every word. She turns her head and her electric eyes find mine.
She doesn’t nod or respond. She just stares, and the emotions in her gaze are more than enough.
I’ve always been able to read Kensington like a book. She’s too open for her own good. Maybe that’s how she ended up hurt or in trouble. It makes me crazy that I don’t know. But at least I can still get some answers from her eyes. Right now, I see a mix of sadness, desire, confusion, and frustration. It’s the same look she gave me at her party all those years ago when I pushed her away from me.
I thought I’d shoved it from my mind, the way I shoved her from my life. Now I know all I did was bury it with alcohol, partying, and a trail of endless women, with Harper topping the list.
A man clears his throat. “You two getting out?” An older guy, at least sixty, holds the elevator doors open for us.
At once, I straighten. “Yes, sir. Sorry. Thank you for holding the door.”
He gives me and Kensi a soft grin. “No problem. If I had a beauty like her beside me, I’d get distracted, too.”
Kensi returns a sweet if not sad smile to the older man and steps out.
