OGOC Groupchat//

081

"How's the magazine?" I look up seeing Nate hovering over me as I sit.

I gulp a tad before answering. "Pretty boring to be honest." I smile.

"Well that sucks, but in a good way."

I question him with a look on my face, making him laugh.

"I just meant that that's good because I came over here to talk to you." He states.

I glance back, seeing the rest of the guys and Jess all still playing pool, not paying us any attention.

"Ok, well what's up?" I close the magazine, giving him my full attention.

"The other night.." he says slowly and softly, trying to find a way to ease into the topic.

"Yeah, about that-" I sigh, sitting forward, ready to get this over with.

"I don't know if you and Hayes are serious or anything but-" he starts.

"But you and Jess are. I completely get it, Nate. There's no need to explain." I say, interrupting him.

"No, that's not where I was going with it."

My brows furrow and I give him a puzzled look.

"I was going to say that I don't know how serious you are with Hayes, but you guys obviously have shit going on and so do
I with my relationship, but that doesn't change how much the other night meant to me." He states, looking me dead in my face the entire time.

My mouth falls open slightly as I just try to take in where he's getting at.

"You have always meant so much to me, bri. Since fucking day one. And the fact that we had another chance at sharing ourselves to each other after nearly a year just made me feel
so vulnerable and self conscious about myself." He continues.

"Vulnerable and self conscious? How?" I ask, more confused than ever.

"About my feelings. I didn't realize how much I still," he stops himself, dropping his head into his hands.

He struggles with continuing, meaning this is getting really intense for him.

He sighs before looking back up at me.

"I just don't understand how I could still be in love with you after all that time." He say shakily.

He stares at me, waiting for my response, obviously not knowing how I'll react.

"Nate." I say, just for reassurance that this is actually happening.

He rubs his temples again.

"Wait, so you're telling me that-" I start but he drops his hand on my thigh, looking past me.

"Let's talk later." He states looking forward.

I turn my head, seeing Jess approaching, making me understand. I guess I should make it seem like we were just talking about something else.

"I really wanna swim with dolphins." I say abruptly.

"What?" He asks and Jess then makes a stop standing next to him.

"Dolphins. I wanna swim with them while we're here along with the other stuff we were just talking about doing." I wink at him quickly, hoping he'll get it.

"Oh yeah, most defiantly. Add that to the list of the other things we have to pitch the the group." He smiles at me.

Jess sits down in his lap, her arm going around his neck as she snuggles up against him.