Teach me to trust

37. Game time

Its been around a week since mine and Nate's sleepover and much to my frustration, we still haven't had sex.

I slumped off to the bathroom after he'd fallen asleep, sliding out carefully from underneath his head, and looking over myself in the mirror for longer than I'd care to admit. I wondered if maybe there was something he didn't like about me? Or if I wasn't making it obvious enough that I wanted it.

Either way, I'm still just as confused as I stand behind the bar on Friday night.

I've seen Nate briefly during the last week but we've both been busy with work, me looking for something else with better hours and him having more cars in than usual. I try not to convince myself that he's avoiding me. I try and fail.

"That'll be 15.20 please" I tell the woman opposite me, who fishes around in her bag and triumphantly lifts her phone up, grinning at me with a drunken haze across her eyes.

"Thanks babe! Can I just say you're like, so pretty" she slurs at me, and I'm reminded of why I love most drunk women, they're great confidence boosters.

"Thank you, so are you" I tell her and smile at the way her face lights up at my response, waving slightly to me before she wanders away with her drink in hand. I watch her as she goes to make sure she finds her friends, relaxing and turning to put the bottles back on the shelf when I see her find them.

It's pretty quiet tonight and I pull my phone out of my pocket, glancing over my screen and frowning when I see that I haven't heard anything from Nate since this afternoon, just before my shift started.

"What's a guy got to do to get served around here?" I hear a taunting voice behind me and turn my head slightly to see Marc leant on top of the bar, eyes trained on me and a grin on his lips.

"Well hi Marc. Nice to see you too" I respond, pocketing my phone and leaning on the bar across from him. His grin is contagious and he chuckles at my response, nodding his head,

"Apologies. May I please get two JD's and coke, vodka lemonade and a water" he asks and I tilt my head in question,

"Water? Who's designated driver?" I ask, mixing his drinks as I wait for his response.

"Nate" he responds, and I falter slightly. He's here and didn't say anything? he didn't even bother to come up to the bar himself. Odd.

I ignore the confused look Marc is sending me and pass him his drinks, ignoring him when he offers his card to pay and telling him to enjoy, making sure to avoid his eyes so I can't see the obvious question in them at my strange reaction.

I wave to Violet at the end of the bar that I'm going for a quick break and she nods in response, I'm not too worried about leaving her out here for a minute, it's quieter than normal and Ryan is due to start his shift soon.

I sit in the staff room, tapping my phone against my leg and wondering why things between me and Nate feel so weird this week. Maybe after Alistair showed up he feels like I'm keeping something from him, but I told him there was nothing weird going on.

In all my pondering I barely register that I've been sat here for 30 minutes, and Ryan has probably started his shift. I stand quickly and hurry back out to the bar, feeling guilty for having left the two of them out here for so long.

"Sorry guys I lost track of time. You all good out here?" I ask, slightly breathless from my fast movements and I stumble slightly when I see the two of them chatting with Nate across the bar.

I try to turn and avoid his eyes but I'm too slow in my reaction as he turns his head toward me and catches my eye, sending me a bright smile and nodding his head to the other two bar staff. He stands and makes his way to my end of the bar, leaning his forearms on the counter and my fingers itch to move the hair that's just fallen lightly across his face.

"Hey there" he says, eyes roaming over me, and I bite my lip to refrain from saying something stupid. I know he senses my apprehension as he frowns, tilting his head slightly as he tries to figure out what's going on in my head.

"Sorry I didn't text. My phone died this afternoon and I've not had a chance to charge it" and he places it down on the bar top, sliding it towards me slightly as though to prove he isn't lying. I feel the tension in my chest ease as the obvious explanation, once again running away with the theories my brain seems to make up.

"No problem. What's up?" I ask him, trying to act nonchalant, like my mind hasn't been driving me insane with all the endless possibilities of him hating me now for absolutely no reason.

"As a matter of fact, I was just chatting to your friends over there" he nods his head in the direction of Violet and Ryan, both stood chatting as they wait for someone to serve, "and I managed to convince them to let you leave early with me" he grins, and I see him tense as he waits for my response.

I pull my phone out and check the time, ten thirty and I look around the bar at the thinning crowd, even fewer people in than before and I turn to look at Violet to make sure she's okay with me leaving. I don't even open my mouth before she's handing my jacket to me with my car keys and hurrying me out from behind the bar.

"Go, don't even worry about it. Enjoy" she whispers the last part at me and pats me on the backside, smiling at me and Nate and wandering back over to talk to Ryan, who sends me a polite wave.

"What about the guys? Wont they be expecting you to give them a lift home?" we reach their regular booth and I'm surprised to see the three of them with their jackets on and empty glasses in front of them, smiling at me and shuffling out of the booth to greet me.

Lily pulls me into a hug,

"We only came because Nate wanted to see if he could get you off shift early and was too much of a wuss to come alone in case you said no" she whispers to me, pulling back and giggling as Marc wraps his arm around her shoulder, sending her a disapproving look at the fact she's spilled the beans.

I fight the rising heat across my skin at the notion that he made his friends come here just so he could see me, even at the risk I might say no. I catch his eyes as he stands next to JD, hands in his pockets as he waits, smile across his lips as he watches me.

My heart thuds in my chest at the look in his eyes and I step up to him,

"Should we go?" I ask and he nods, picking my hand up and walking with me out the front door. I stop when we get outside and jerk my thumb to where my car is parked, telling our friends goodbye as they bombard me with tight hugs and they tell me they're heading to a bar around the corner.

We say goodbye and me and Nate are left stood outside, eyes roaming over each other and he steps closer to me, wrapping his arms around my back and pulling me into his chest.

"My place or yours?" he murmurs, forehead pressed to mine, and I shrug my shoulders. I couldn't care less where end up.

"Mine?" I ask and he nods instantly, pecking me on the cheek and pulling back from me, somewhat reluctantly before we both head to our cars.

We pull up outside of mine within about five minutes, there is hardly and traffic and there's a calmness in my mind when he steps out of his car and laces his fingers through mine, waiting patiently beside me as I struggle to unlock the door with one hand. Judging by the happy smile on his face he doesn't seem to mind much.

We take our shoes off at the door and I tell him I'm going for a shower, receiving a peck from him and a gentle nudge, watching as he walks into the living room and I hear the TV turn on.

I get upstairs in record time and fling open my underwear drawer, sighing in relief when I realise I washed the good set I planned on putting to use last time, carrying it into the bathroom with me and hyping myself up as I shave my legs. I tell myself I am more than ready to finally have sex with this man as I moisturise the skin of my legs and slide the underwear on, releasing my hair from the bobble and letting it hang messily over my shoulders.

Game time.