Page 72 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“No. Alice is William’s personal assistant. Remember the two girls we saw outside his apartment after CJ’s party? One of them was Alice. The other one, Luna, is Alice’s girlfriend,” I explained.
His eyebrows moved up and down. “I thought that was something totally different,” he replied with a frown. At least I wasn’t the only one. I was relieved when I found out Alice was just his assistant, while Nathan seemed disappointed that she was just that.
“Why don’t you two get along? It’s just weird that being Joel’s best friend and so close in age with William that you wouldn’t get along.”
“I do like him. But I feel like he’s always been jealous of my relationship with Joel. He’s always had this—wall. And then Joel and William became famous, which is the oddest thing ever. And I never saw William much after that,” he said, resting his head on my lap and placing my hand on his head. He loved it when I played around with his hair. He was so spoiled.
“Besides, you said it was just a quick fling. I don’t see any issues with us all being civil. We’re almost thirty years old, for God’s sake.”
The only problem was that William had made it clear he didn’t want to be friends with me. Ever. And I assumed that included Nathan. I couldn’t see a scenario where we all got along. It was never going to happen, and I don’t think it had anything to do with age.
Nathan probably wanted reassurance that William living next to me wasn’t going to be a problem or a threat to our relationship. It wasn’t. I couldn’t be. I didn’t know ifquick flingwas the correct word to define my relationship with William. Heck, I didn’t even know what it’d been or how to describe it myself. So, sure, quick fling, final answer.
But what was I to say? No, we cannot be civil?
“I don’t care if William lives next door, upstairs, or wherever he wants to live. You’re the one I want to be with, and today couldn’t have been any more perfect,” I said, twirling his hair around my fingers.
It was best to change the subject and not give it much importance. We all knew what we were doing.
“I’m so happy aboutus.I was hoping my boyfriend would take me out for dinner tonight. Just the two of us.” Nathan sat up straight to face me. He placed his hand behind my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. This is what I needed—to refocus my attention on him and remind myself of how good we were together.
“I’d love to,” he replied. I hugged him and rested my face on his chest, listening to the strong and steady beat of his heart, thinking about how much I cared for it and how I wanted to protect it. It was the least I could do when he was helping put mine back together.
Nathan loved sushi. We went to his favorite spot on Bleecker St. He knew some employees who still worked there from a few years back. He was so excited to take me there, knowing I was a foodie and loved sushi as much as he did.
The restaurant looked like a traditional Japanese place. Very minimalistic. The walls were covered with wooden panels of the same natural color as the furniture. There were only a few tables and eight spots on the sushi bar, where we sat.
We had just ordered our drinks when two girls walked into the restaurant. They seemed to be around Nathan’s age. He acknowledged them and turned to look at me, clearing his throat.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He was about to reply when one girl squinted in our direction and said, “Nate?”
Nathan sprung from his seat and clutched one of my shoulders with his hand.
“Hi, Hannah, how are you doing?”
“I’m good, thanks. It’s been a while,” she said, readjusting her bag’s strap on her shoulder. The other girl waved hello to Nathan from afar and took a seat at one of the tables.
“Hannah, this is my girlfriend, Billie,” he said to her. “Billie, this is Hannah.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hannah said, eyes wide, brows closing up, no smile. She seemed startled. I could tell she was trying to act normal, but she couldn’t hide her surprise.
Why?
“Say hi to Nikki for me,” Nathan said, taking a seat.
“She’s actually joining us for dinner in a few minutes,” Hannah replied to him. I didn’t know who Nikki was, but something told me I didn’t want her to join them for dinner. “It was nice seeing you, Nate.” Hannah nodded once my way and turned around to join her friend at their table.
“That was tense,” I said to Nathan. “Who’s Nikki?”
“Dominique. My ex. I haven’t seen her in a while. Since we broke up, that is. Hannah is her best friend.” He seemed uncomfortable while ordering a few things from the chef stationed behind the sushi bar.
“Do you want to leave?” I asked in barely a whisper. “She said your ex’s going to join them for dinner.”Let’s go!
“No, of course not. This ismyplace. It’s always been my place,” he said as if trying to convince himself of that. But after three years of dating, it was probably Dominique’s place too. “I’ve wanted to bring you here for a while now. I’ve already ordered.” He met my gaze and smiled. I smiled back.
“Why don’t we take the food to my apartment? We can come back some other time and sit right here on the bar again. This place is tiny. Don’t you think it will be—awkward?” I kept whispering. I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to talk to Nathan freely about anything if we stayed. Their table was a few feet away from where we sat.
