Vote if you had major feels in this chapter and comment what you think about Nathan and Lauren's alone time... Enjoy!
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Stephanie twirls in front of me and the mirror before she glances back at me. "What about this one?" She asks hopefully. "It's new."
"That one is good," I answer halfheartedly.
I blink at Steph as she puts her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at me. It was kind of hard to take her serious when she just wore a skimpy black bikini. "You said that about the last three. Are you even paying attention?"
In my defense, how could I possibly pay attention to something as trivial as which bathing suit she should wear to the pool when Nathan had kissed me like that earlier? Feeling his lips on mine shocked me to the core until I was absolutely delirious and all I wanted was more.
On more than one occasion, I had to remind myself that the kiss was a product of our fake relationship. It was just so hard to think rationally when the thought of Nathan made my mind melt into a puddle.
"I'm sorry," I sigh as I run an exhausted hand down my face. "That one looks the best, though. Wear that."
Stephanie drops her hands from her hips as she eyes me cautiously, as if she were on the verge of discovering something. Slowly, she walks over to me, and sits beside me on the bed. "What's on your mind, Lauren?"
I almost thought to lie about it so I didn't have to actually voice my embarrassing thoughts, but I eventually ended up caving. "That kiss."
"Ah," I don't have to glance at Steph to see that she's smirking. "I figured."
When she doesn't offer me any other words of encouragement, I end up rambling to defend myself. "I mean, he was just being my fake boyfriend in front of Brett. But... wow, are all kisses like that?"
Stephanie smiles broadly at me when she spots the slight glimmer that sat like dew in my eyes. "Did you ever have a kiss with Thomas like that?"
"God no," And thusly, I answered my own question. The reality of how much I liked him sat in the pit of my stomach like a weight that I could never rid myself of. I tried to blink away my daze and straightened up a little. "Okay, that's good to know."
She gives me a knowing look and shakes her head. "You could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife."
"Let's talk about something else," I abruptly redirect the conversation and look at her seriously. "When are you going down to the pool to meet up with Justin?"
Luckily, my attempt to divert attention from my extreme crush on Nathan worked, because Steph suddenly checked her phone with widened eyes. "I should probably go soon. I told him I was coming down ten minutes ago. I think I'm officially fashionably late."
I let a relieved smile stretch onto my lips. "Yeah, you should go. Should I be expecting you back tonight?"
Steph stands up from the bed and tosses me a confident grin over her shoulder. "Probably not." I laugh wholeheartedly as she tugs on a long tee shirt and winks at me. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Wish me luck."
"Good luck!" I chirp from the bed.
With her hand on the door handle, Stephanie turns back to look at me with a smug smirk. "Try not to kiss Nathan again."
Before I could get remotely embarrassed or throw something at her, Steph snickered and escaped out the door. I let out a breath and tried not to think of how much I really did want to kiss Nathan again. Instead, with a shake of my head, I rid myself of those thoughts.
In an effort to distract myself from the ever growing pit in my stomach, I climb further onto the bed and lean against the headboard. I eagerly pick up the remote and flick through the channels until I discover that the hotel has Netflix.
Before I can delve into the Netflix selection, I feel my phone vibrate from somewhere on the bed. I scour the comforter for it until I find the device half stuffed underneath a pillow. When I grabbed it and looked at the screen, the devil's name was printed above a message notification.
Curiously, I opened my phone and went to my inbox.
Nathan: Are you going to the pool?
The thought of hanging with a bunch of meathead football players in my bikini so I could be ogled at was extremely dissatisfying. So I sent a quick text back.
Lauren: No, I'm not in the mood to go on a late night swim with Thomas
He replied seconds later.
Nathan: Wanna hang out, then?
I leaned back into the pillows against the headboard as a craving for ice cream began to gnaw at me again. We had fast food for dinner on the way to the stadium and I definitely had room for dessert.
I smile to myself as I begin typing out a response while the craving set in.
Lauren: Depends. Do you have ice cream?
As I looked through some of the movies on the TV, I felt my phone buzz beside my leg.
Nathan: No...
I snicker to myself as I text him once more.
Lauren: Then no thanks
After cheekily rejecting him, I reached over on the bedside table to slide a menu out from the drawer. My eyes scanned the room service menu and I found ice cream priced at the bottom. Before I could reach for the room phone, my cell buzzed again.
Nathan: Ouch
I smile slightly at his message before I grab the room phone and began dialing the number for room service. It only rang twice before a worker greeted me.
"Can I have a bowl of chocolate ice cream please?" I chirp happily into the receiver.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we're out of chocolate ice cream in the kitchen," The worker apologizes and I feel my smile drop. "We can bring you a bowl of vanilla, if you'd so please."
My heart sinks childishly. The impossibility of attaining my craving crushed me as the words we're out of chocolate ice cream were spoken. With a heavy heart, I sigh and mutter, "No thank you."
While I'm wallowing in my disappointment, my cell phone vibrates once more, and I see Nathan's name appear on the screen again.
Nathan: You would seriously have ice cream instead of me?
No, my mind shouted, but I pushed the voice back. Instead, as I tend to do whenever the topic of me preferring Nathan over anyone- or anything- else comes up, I lie.
Lauren: Either accept the terms or hang out alone
As an afterthought, I add:
Lauren: If you decide to play by the rules, find me in room 406
Even though the chances of Nathan coming were slim to none, I still felt a jolt of energy when I sent the text. Things felt so different here in a hotel instead of back at home. Especially after that kiss. I push my nerves back with my forbidden thoughts and let out a breath.
I decide to contemplate my ice cream options to busy my mind. I could always just get vanilla, but that would mean settling for the second best. I could also check the general store that I thought I spotted downstairs in the hopes they had ice cream there.
A knock from the door surprises me a few minutes later. My heart skips a beat when I realize that it's probably Nathan. After all, I did give him my room number and Stephanie was a little preoccupied with Justin.
Quickly, I scramble up and toward the door. My heart knocks on my chest harder and harder as I approach the door and I force my expression to straighten into one of nonchalance. I have to get a hold on my erratic feelings so Nathan doesn't see right through me.
I open the door and the moment I see Nathan, I think of our kiss earlier, and my lips begin to tingle. It takes a lot more willpower than I thought to keep my fingers from grazing over my lips where his had been and I instead force myself to look away.
My gaze lands on the plastic bag in his hand and I perk up a little. "What's in the bag?"
Nathan smirks a little and reaches in the bag to pull an entire tub of chocolate ice cream out. "I hope you don't like vanilla."
A large grin stretches on my face. "Vanilla? Who likes vanilla?"
His smirk widens slowly as I usher him inside the hotel room. Of course, he strolls in casually with his usual air of confidence surrounding him like an devilish glow.
I shut the door behind him and say ridiculously, "You know room service ran out of chocolate ice cream, right? How messed up is that?"
Nathan turns and smirks a little. "They said they were out?"
"Yeah," I nod dramatically and feign sadness. "Isn't that horrible?"
He holds up the bag in his left hand and explains, "I got this from their store downstairs." When he lowers the bag onto the bedside table, Nathan's smirk turns wicked. "But I came here to tell you that isn't for you. I'm just going to eat it in front of you while you watch."
I return his teasing expression with a blank stare. "Don't joke about that."
"You brought it on yourself when you said ice cream was better than me," He raises his eyebrows and smirks a little when I maintain a blank stare at him. Nathans resolve breaks with a chuckle and he hands me a spoon. "Note to self: Collins is overly attached to chocolate ice cream."
I snatch the spoon from his hand and stick my tongue out at him childishly. He chuckles as I climb onto my bed and cross my legs while consciously leaving enough room for Nathan. I picked up the remote again and continued flicking through the movies while the bed dips from beside me.
I sneak a glance at Nathan from the corner of my eye when his leg lightly brushes against mine before he straightens them out. He leans against the headboard and I suddenly realize that the bed isn't as big as I thought it was, after all. There were less than two feet between our shoulders and yet our proximity made my heart jump.
"Here," Nathan murmurs as he unceremoniously unlids the tub of ice cream and places it between us.
I grin at him while I dip my spoon into the soft ice cream. "You're the best, Nate."
He shoots me a grin that makes my breath catch in my throat. "Didn't we always know that?"
The sight of Nathan's genuine grin puts me in a slight daze and all I have in me is to nod back at him. I abruptly tear my gaze away from his and look back to the screen, which hesitated on the movie selection that I had been scrolling through.
"So," I let out a breath. "What movie do you want to watch?"
He shrugs and grabs the remote from me. "Let me see what we've got here."
As he scrolls through the movies, I lean back against the bed frame and get in a more comfortable position. I scan the names on the screen beside him until my eyes widen.
"Lilo and Stitch!" I shout when I see the Disney movie pop up on the screen. "That's definitely the one."
Nahan glances at me, half surprised and half amused by my outburst. "Seriously?"
"Yes!" I grin exaggeratedly and point my spoon at the movie. "Lilo and Stitch was my favorite movie as a kid. We have to watch it."
His grey blue eyes study me for a moment, and for once, the feeling of his gaze appraising me didn't make me blush. As I said, things felt different here. Here I was with Nathan, holed up in a hotel room on the couch as we shared an entire carton of ice cream and picked out a Disney movie to watch.
He nods once and turns back to the screen. "Alright, we'll watch it."
I grin in success as he presses the play button and drops the remote on the bedside table. While my eyes are trained on the screen, I can see Nathan's gaze shift to me instead of the movie. After a moment, I turn to look at him.
"What?" I ask curiously, and my usually false confidence seems more natural as I tilt my head at him in question.
"You're hard to read, Collins." Nathan's eyes lock with mine in an intense and thoughtful stare. "I can't figure you out."
"Are you kidding? I feel like I'm transparent," I admit honestly without a second thought.
He looks genuinely surprised when I tell him this and shakes his head in disbelief. "Yeah right." When I continue to look at him curiously, Nathan sighs. "I generally have a good handle on figuring people out, but you're impossible. You're not like other girls."
It was weird listening to Nathan Rhodes say I was the confusing one when his whole life was a mystery. I was constantly asking questions to get the slightest reading on what he was feeling. I spent far too much time masking my emotions in desperate attempts for Nathan not to see how big my pathetic crush was.
"Well," I say evenly as genuine curiosity bites at me. "What are you confused about?"
His grey blue eyes meet mine in a masked cloud and his brow furrows. "You changed after you and Thomas broke up. Why?"
My stoic expression wavers even as I think, why would I expect anything less than a straightforward inquire from Nathan? He studies my face closely to gauge my reaction, as if presupposing that I was going to lie, but this time it felt more difficult to be dishonest. Before, I didn't trust Nathan, so I didn't tell him anything.
But things changed. He grew to be one of my closest friends. Someone I actually talked about things with. I break my gaze from his and look down as I contemplate whether I should tell him the truth or force out a lie, but I couldn't do it. I trusted him now.
"When Thomas and I broke up, he told me that I was invisible," I divulge cautiously. He was the only other person besides Stephanie who knew this. "I guess I thought it would be nice to prove to him that I wasn't."
I still stared at the floor as I heard Nathan say in a voice much softer than I expected, "Thomas treated you like shit and you didn't deserve it. You don't have to prove anything to that asshole."
My gaze lifts to meet his and I'm struck by the intensity in his stare, like he truly wanted me to believe what he was telling me. And I did. I felt an invisible weight lift until things felt bearable, but it was dropped back onto my shoulders as I thought about the heaviness of the social experiment.
But Nathan's presence somehow managed to calm me and make the weight of my thoughts lessen. "Thank you," I say slowly, with absolute conviction.
A faint smile crosses Nathan's lips as he leans forward the slightest bit and I can suddenly feel the lightness of his breath on my cheeks. "You're welcome," He says throatily with his sexy deep voice. "I mean it, Lauren. You don't need to change a thing about you."
With a light heart, I tell him, "My change made you notice me. I guess it did something good, you know?" I blush a little and add quickly, "I mean, we are friends, and all."
Nathan's slight smile fades as his brow twitches to crease together. He straightens a little and I let myself breathe in relief when he puts a little more space between us. "I noticed you before."
I point out, "The first time we spoke was after I changed."
"Just because we didn't speak before doesn't mean that I didn't notice you," Nathan remarks casually, his voice so calm yet firm with finality that it sent my mind in spirals.
This time, I don't counter his words. This time, he gets my full attention. I'm unable to mask the surprise on my face or stifle the questions that bubbled in my throat as I ask dumbly, "Really?"
"Don't look so surprised," A slow smirk stretches on Nathan's lips and his eyes light up in boyishness. "Did you have a big crush on me when you were dating Thomas, or something?"
After a beat of shock, I force myself to roll my eyes and look at him like he was an idiot. I lean into him to nudge his shoulder and tease, "Shut up, Nathan. It sounds like you're the one who had a crush on me." I look at him and- is that a blush? I gasp, "Nathan, are you blushing?"
He scowls at me before I can overthink it. "I'm thinking of the awful story you told Stephanie and Justin about me outside your window."
This catches me off guard and I don't have the time to stop the laughter from bubbling from my chest. I fall against the bed frame and double over on my bed in laughter. "Your face," I gasp through my laughs. "Was priceless!"
I somehow regain composure and notice Nathan smirking at me. "I'll get you back for that one," He promises. "Don't worry."
"Sure," I mock him. "Now shut up and watch the movie."
He chuckles as I turn to face the television screen and realize we got farther through the movie than I originally thought. Sometimes talking to Nathan came so easy and I became lost in conversation. Lost in him.
It proved to be harder than anticipated to force my gaze to stay glued to the screen instead of glancing at Nathan beside me. Eventually, I became more enveloped into the movie, and I started giggling in my seat and aw-ing at how cute Stitch was.
We finished the rest of the ice cream carton almost embarrassingly quickly and I spent the rest of the movie with a well earned stomach ache. But as I lay in bed beside Nathan with Lilo and Stitch filling the comfortable silence between us, I felt extremely content.
When the movie ended, Nathan sat still for a long moment before he finally got up. He stretched his back out and not ogling at the muscles that flexed underneath his tee shirt proved to be impossible. I tore my gaze away before he turned around and got up, too.
"Thanks for keeping me company," I say with a genuine smile. "Not only tonight, but during the car ride, too. I don't think I could've done this trip alone with Stephanie."
Nathan scans my face before he smiles a little too, and the sight of his dimple melted my heart. "No problem, kitten." His smile cracks into a grin to show his white teeth. "It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be."
"I'm glad it wasn't horrific," I mutter with a breathy laugh.
Nathan chuckles too as I walk him closer to the hotel room door. He opens the door and takes a step into the hallway, but turns around to say goodbye. My left hand drapes on the side of the door as I lean into the hall and try to read his unusual expression. He wasn't guarding his emotions, but rather looked... Gentle.
I didn't know what it was, exactly, but it drew me to him. Nathan looked down at me and his big blue eyes looked bright and electric as they lock with mine. It felt like my breath was stolen from me when he looked at me like that. And then, in one swift movement, he lifts his hand and it slides to the back of my neck.
Everything next happened too fast. Nathan leans down as he brings his lips down to mine, guiding me closer to him with his hand cupping my neck. My heart stutters in my chest the second I feel his lips brush against mine and there's a whisper of hesitance before I kiss him back instinctually.
I try to think about what was happening, but whenever Nathan kissed me, my mind turned to absolute mush. I couldn't form a coherent thought if my life depended on it. Instead, I just let my body sink deeper into him. Kiss him harder. Remember the feel of his lips on mine. Feel the wake of fire that his fingertips left when they grazed my skin.
And then his lips were gone before I could do any of these things. I open my eyes and blink up at Nathan breathlessly, my lips parted, my eyes big and dazed. Adrenaline pumped through my veins from the awareness of his eyes floating over my face with that beautiful half smile on his lips and his dimple indenting his cheek.
"Goodnight kitten," Nathan's husky voice sent ice through my veins and made my entire body stand at attention.
I stare at him and somehow manage an airy, "Goodnight Nate."
His smile widens a little before he retreats down the hallway and toward the elevator. I watch him in a daze with labored breathing as I try to make sense of what just happened. What I should have been working out in my head was why he kissed me if we were the only two here and there was nobody to pretend for.
But all I could think was about how that was definitely the boyfriend kiss.