Page 66 of Heartstruck at Dawn
Paul was deeply hurt, but she wouldn’t have been able to deal with the guilt for long if she kept it to herself.
I opened the door and saw Nathan wearing his gym clothes and holding a single red rose. We were going out for a morning run to Central Park.
“I’ll have to call you back,” I said to Cecile with the biggest smile on my face.
“Hey, you.” I extended my hand to him, pulled him inside, and shut the door behind him.
“I feel like I’ve known you for way longer than a few weeks,” he said, dropping a small duffel bag on the floor. “It’s like, I’ve known you forever, but I just hadn’t seen you in a while, and then I found you again. Am I making any sense?”
“You are.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and he echoed my move. It had all happened so fast with Nathan. When I met him, I felt exactly the same—like I already knew him. I immediately trusted him and felt like I could talk to him about anything. I knew he would never judge me, and that made me feel safe around him.
“This is for you,” he said, giving the rose to me. This was my firstno reasonrose.And I loved it more than all of Thomas’s hugeforgive meflower arrangements.
Nathan and I were still playing our game of pretending. He’d taken me out on a few dinner dates, we hung out with Lily and Joel a lot too, and he’d come over to my place a few times to watch a movie.
We actually watched one of Joel’s films once. It was so surreal. I understood why Lily was so jealous now. All that kissing on screen—must be hard to stomach.
Nathan’s job was demanding, but so was school. We both felt this energy drawing us together, and we didn’t fight it. We gave in to it.
And he wasn’t lying when he said he’d be nearby. His apartment was four blocks down on 3rd Avenue on a thirtieth-something floor. It had a fantastic view. He’d already given me a quick tour. His office was also nearby, right on Park, so it was convenient for him to live in Midtown East.
I brought the flower to my nose and smelled it. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” I looked up into his eyes and smiled at him.
He grabbed my waist and pulled me near him. “I love that smile. And I love how you crease up when I say something stupid, which is more often than not. I love the smell of you,” he said, drawing his nose closer to my neck and inhaling. He gently kissed it afterward. “You’re the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last before going to bed at night. I swear it.”
Nathan brushed his lips against mine and said, “I don’t want to pretend anymore.” I could feel his fresh, sweet, minty breath merging with mine.
“Me neither,” I said with a sigh. His fingers unzipped my running jacket and pulled it off my back.
“Thank God,” he whispered.
Nathan kissed my neck, and I could already feel my body aching for him. His lips traveled from my neck to my jawline as he took a few slow steps until my back was pressed against the empty gallery wall.
Finally, his lips met mine, and for the first time, I felt him unleash himself upon me. That raw and intense energy I felt the day I met him had been reigned in for the past weeks, and now it was finally set free.
He gently pulled on my hair tie, releasing my hair from my ponytail, making it fall over my shoulders.
Shit.Focus.
“I love your hair,” he whispered, “and I can’t stop thinking about how bad I want you.”
He pulled my long-sleeved running shirt in a swift move over my head. His right hand wandered up my thigh slowly, making me gasp. Higher and higher. This time I didn’t stop him. I wanted him to keep going.
His fingers teased me for a second, but he carried me, wrapped my legs around his waist, and took me to my room as I held on tightly to his neck—our lips unwilling to break apart. He dropped me gently on my back and took his shirt off.
Damn.
I’d only imagined his body until now. He was perfect. He removed his shorts, and I could see how eager he was to be with me.
He thrust himself at me and kissed me like the world was going to end in three minutes.
“Do I need to use this, or are you—”
“On the pill, yes,” I muttered in between subtle pants. “And are you—”
“Clean and healthy,” he said with a smile, tossing the condom to the side. I trusted him blindly.
I was ready for him, but I wasn’t prepared for what came next. He was something else. The way he looked at me. The way he touched me with both gentleness and despair.
