Point Of View 2 [*Do not read until you've read the same chapter of ATW]

Chapter 33 Let Me Back In

Staff walks us our separate ways, Jonah and Casey excitedly go with one host while we head in the opposite direction with our host, while Evan follows behind.

But being a couples massage, we are led to one changing room, where the host and Evan wait outside the door.

"You better hope this doesn't crash the internet, Trisha. That's all Julia needs." Nate is worried about this now, too? My God! No wonder his heart is tired.

"It's a massage, Nate. I'm not giving it to you. I'm just going with you.... with Jonah....with Casey.... As a group."

Once we are undressed, we slide on the large white robes and slippers and head back out. We are led to another private room that has two tables side by side that we lay on face down. Our robes are removed, and a towel is draped over our asses.

"I'm glad you decided to come." I smile over at Nate as the two ladies begin our massages with hot oil. "Will you relax? You're as tense as a board."

"Kinda why I'm here, doll."

"You need to shut that brain off of yours. That's what's gonna stop that heart of yours." We stop talking after that and enjoy the massage instead.

An hour later, we are both feeling like Jello and ready to shower off the oil back in the dressing room. Nate begins checking me out while we shower, and I smirk when I see his hard on.

"You're all hot and bothered now, aren't you? I told you - you were.... tense." I laugh a little but then quiet down, drop my hand, and begin stroking him.

"Really, Trisha?" He furrows his brows like he's mad but then closes his eyes. I take that opportunity to get on my knees. I'm going to make sure this guy is as relaxed and stress-free as possible. I take him in my mouth to prove it.

"Shit." Nate groans, and I know my techniques are working.

*****

It takes a while, but Nate finally begins to relax. A good little session with me helped. And we did everything on the itinerary at the spa, even the detoxifying mud bath, which I learned Nate has never done before. Once showered, we wait for Jonah and Casey to be done. We sit in the luxurious lobby sipping mint tea.

"See? That wasn't so bad." I curl up on the comfortable leather couch, completely relaxed, and Nate sits next to me. Evan is in his bodyguard stance near the door. Like Paul, he is a quiet man most of the time.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Nate waves me off, but I smirk, knowing this day was good for him. The doors open, and I turn my head to see ....shit...Mila Giovanni.

"Nate! Ciao!" Mila says excitedly, shoving her purse in her bodyguard's chest and walking towards us. Nate has a panic-stricken look on his face as we both stand up at the same time. I'm invisible, obviously, but Mila pulls Nate in for a hug and then kisses each cheek before backing away, saying something in Italian and smiling at him. Blocking her number and ghosting her apparently doesn't piss her off? Though, from what I've seen. She's always a happy person, and even though she's this big supermodel at like 23 years old, she is not a diva and treats everyone with respect and kindness. I can certainly see why Nate would gravitate to someone like her. They are a perfect fit. But we can NOT go down that road again.

Fortunately, Jonah and Casey both come out right behind her, and we all quickly walk out.

"Of course you'd bump into her here. This is where she lives." I mumble s as we pile into the SUV. Nate is quiet, and I wonder what's going on in that head of his now.

Well, there goes THAT relaxing day. At least he was stress-free for a few hours.

"Hey. I think I'm actually going to skip on the reservations tonight if that's ok with you guys. That massage made me really tired, and I think I'm just gonna go up and rest.

"You sure, playboy?" I am a little surprised. He was looking forward to checking out this authentic Italian restaurant. Maybe he's down because of Julia or now overthinking that Mila encounter.

"Yeah, you guys go without me. Trish, use my card. Evan - take my place and eat enough for both of us."

"Yes, sir." Evan gives Nate a little nod before our driver drops Nate off at the hotel.

Ok, this suddenly feels weird now. Like some double date even though it's not. Fortunately, Evan is a gentleman about it, pulling my seat out for me when we get to our table and sitting next to me so we don't look awkward. I actually don't know if I've ever hung out with Jonah and Casey without Nate before, so at first, we don't really know what to say. Until Casey breaks the silence.

"Trish....check your phone..." She says with a concerned look while glancing at her phone. I pull my phone out of my purse and unlock it to get to the internet.

"No... shit.." I hiss.

"Do you need another minute?" The waiter comes back over to our table with our drinks. No one ordered wine or any kind of alcohol, not even Evan. I don't drink, but I wonder if Casey did it for Jonah and Evan knows about his addiction or something. Regardless, we ordered sparkling waters and fresh unsweetened iced teas.

Once we order food, I excuse myself to clean up this whole Mila mess out in the hall of the Italian Restaurant. Fortunately, Nate's publicist, Elliott, was already on damage control, putting out fires and false rumors left and right, so our conversation was short-lived. 

"Do we need to worry about this thing with Mila Giovanni?" Evan asks as I sit back down.

"Nope. All taken care of. False news. His publicist was already on it." Everyone at the table lets out a little sigh.

"Maybe I should have stayed at the hotel with him." The bodyguard second guesses Nate sending him out to eat with us, now feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Why? Enjoy this food. He's not going anywhere. I can tell you that much. He's exhausted and probably on the phone trying to clear the air with Moretti as we speak. Their relationship is......" I think of a word but can't seem to come up with anything, so Jonah chimes in.

"Exhausting." He blurts out. "Sorry. But it is."

I raise a brow a little shocked because Jonah is always team Nate and Julia, but he also is starting to see the toll it takes on Nate when it comes to stress.

Maybe everyone will finally realize how much Nate and Julia just aren't compatible. They are far from it.