Bet my Life (EDITING!!) #BOOK1

8. I like me better when I'm with you

A/n: Here's the 9th chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Vote, comment, and share.

Lots of hugs,

Illusionist

I bit down hard on the hand that is covering my mouth.

"What the fuck Zoe?! Remind me to never help you," shouted Nate. Wait, what? My eyes did a double-take, and I found Nate standing in front of me, looking quite tensed.

"Did you seriously bite me though?" he looked at me with an amused expression.

"I thought you were the drunk hobo chasing me," I told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I looked around to see where the said hobos were.

"They ran off once they saw me," he answered, following my gaze.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" I questioned, suddenly remembering that he was here alone.

"You know Hart, most people just say thank you," he looked at me with a raised brow.

"Thank you," I mumbled, bushing like crazy, not taking my eyes off of him.

"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" he teased. "And to answer your question, Isabella called you a couple of times but you didn't pick up your phone. So she sent me to find you because it was getting late and all," he replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Now my turn. Are you crazy? Do you know how unsafe that was? Wandering off like that, without telling us," he asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

Feeling embarrassed, I looked at my phone to see 10 missed calls, 5 from Izz, and the remaining from unknown numbers. I had a couple of messages too, that I was too scared to open.

"Ya, she's safe. We're coming back" I turned to see Nate talking to someone on the phone.

"No, I won't. Why don't you tell her that?" he spoke on the phone, getting more annoyed.

I bit my lip and tried to get myself ready to face the wrath.

"I've got to go. See you in a bit." He put his phone inside his pocket and offered me his hand. "Let's go. Isabella is waiting for you. Pretty sure she'll have my head if something happens to you," he joked lightly.

I liked this side of him. The playful, hot side. Damn it, Zoe! Control your thirst.

Shaking my head to get rid of the thoughts, I went to take his hand, when a pain shot through my left leg, making me lose my balance.

Thanks to his quick reflexes, Nate managed to catch me in time, thereby avoiding any further injuries. I could feel something wet and sticky dripping from my left leg. Groaning, I sat on the footpath and rolled my jeans up. I was aware of his eyes on me, but I just wasn't ready to answer his questions yet. My stitches had opened while I was running. Great, that's what I get for trying to be Usain Bolt. Nate took off his shirt and gave it to me.

My eyes bulged out of my socket. He was fricking shirtless! In the middle of the road! And he looked damn fine!

His abs were visible, guess he has football to thank for that. The muscles on his chest and arms were flexed. McHottie! Scratch that. He should be McSteamy.

Seeing as how I wasn't making any efforts to divert my attention from his half-naked body, he sighed and kneeled in front of me. He tied his shirt to my wound, trying his best to be as gentle as possible. I winced at the contact and gripped his shoulder. He looked up at me and held my gaze, while he tried to fix my wound. His blue eyes, his perfectly kissable lips.

All of a sudden, he stood up and picked me up in his arms. His jaw was clenched and his eyes gave me a warning look as if daring me to protest. I decided that it would be better to shut my mouth, seeing as how I was in no condition to walk. My stitches from the accident were opened. I shut my eyes, not wanting to relive the whole thing again. I needed to divert my mind, and it was only at that moment that I realized that Nathan Walker was carrying me and that I had made contact with his half-naked skin.

Someone give me some ice asap, it's getting hot here. I could feel his body radiating warm and comforting heat, or maybe I was feeling flushed. Subconsciously, my fingers traced his jaw and made their way to his face. It was like they had a map of their own. My eyes and fingers stopped at his lips.

"Don't," he dangerously whispered. We were no longer moving, and I realized that we were outside my dorm. I felt embarrassed. Of course, he didn't want me. Silly me. Why would he want anything to do with me? He wasn't interested. I got down from his arms and turned away from him.

Was I imagining the whole thing in my head? Didn't he want to kiss on more than one occasion? I was about to knock at my door when he turned me around. Not wanting to look into his gorgeous face, I looked at my shoes stubbornly. He lifted my chin with his finger to get me to look at him. Nuh-uh, not gonna happen, buddy.

"Sweetheart, look at me," he said in a soft voice. My eyes involuntarily locked onto his.

"If you had continued with that, I would have kissed you. Because that is something I really want to do. But unless you're sure, I don't want to manipulate you in any way," he trailed off. He looked so genuine that I couldn't help but feel good. His reply warmed my heart. So before I could change my mind, I did what I never imagined I would do, in a thousand years.

I threw my hands on his neck, brought him closer, and crashed my lips onto his. He was shocked at first but immediately reacted, taking control of the kiss. He flipped us, so my back was against the wall and I was trapped between him and the wall. After what felt like an eternity, we broke apart and he rested his forehead against mine.

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" he said, his breath fanning mine.

"Isn't this cozy!"