Page 21 of Be My Reason

“Everything okay?”Nate asks, looking genuinely concerned.

“It’s fine.Just some sawdust from the dance floor in my eye. I’m good now,” I lie.

He staresat me, runs his hand through his hair and then opens his mouth to speak but then apparently decides to let it go. I hope he doesn’t know why I really freaked out. Surely he doesn’t remember the song. Of course he doesn’t, guys never remember things like that.

Emma and I danceto a few more songs so I can shake it off. Dancing with Emma is great therapy for anything. It is practically a sport. She gets me laughing and back to myself in no time.

We decide to call it a night and head back to the car.We have a long walk since we parked all the way at one end of Fayetteville Street and ended up at the opposite end. Nate is keeping pace with me while Emma and Graham stroll slowly and lag way behind us swinging their entwined hands between them like a couple of little kids. We are not talking but it is a comfortable silence. I feel like I might just be able to let go of this anger I’ve harbored against him all of these years.

We are at least a half-mile from the car when it starts to sprinkle and our steps quicken. Then it starts raining lightly and we share a ‘what-now’ look. Realizing we are nowhere near the car and that all of the shops are closed, there is no place to go but forward so we walk faster. When the rain really starts to come down, Nate removes his jacket and covers our heads as we forge on. We are practically at a full-on run. Well, as much as we can be, considering my heels and the fact that we are practically stuck together like Siamese twins by the coat that is covering our heads. By the time we get to the car we are laughing, smiling and soaking wet.

Almost simultaneously, we look at the car and realize that Graham has the keys and that he is not right behind us.Our eyes grow big and we look at each other for a second before breaking out in hysterics. Thankfully, I hit the bathroom before leaving because I swear I would pee my pants. I think I may have even snorted a few times, but I don’t care because Nate is making some pretty freaky sounds himself. My stomach muscles hurt and my face is about to crack open from smiling so hard.

The raineases up and both of us are trying to catch our breath. He looks at me with his wet, messy hair and glistening face and reaches over to pull a piece of wet hair from my mouth. His fingers touch my face, sending tingles down to my chest. His hand cups my chin and my heart starts beating a thousand miles an hour. I feel like I’m out of my body watching this play out for some other girl.

Kiss her.

Wait, what?That’s not what I want. Then why am I letting him trail his thumb along my lower lip? I’m staring at his mouth. He is staring into my eyes. Oh God, this is really going to happen. He leans in slightly, probably to see if I will pull away.

Pull away.

He grabs my hip with his other hand and draws me to him.With his thumb, he pulls my lower lip out from between my teeth while he smiles and comes closer. I can smell the mint and beer on his hot breath and then I can’t think of anything else except how I want his lips to touch mine. And then—

“Oh my God, you guys are soaked,” Emma squeals and I’m instantly jerked back into my body.

I step away from him and shake my head. I hear the beep-beep of the car unlocking so I run around the back of the car, let myself in and slam the door shut. Emma and Graham get in and don’t seem any worse for wear. They also don’t seem to have any clue of what they interrupted.

Oh, thank the gods of all stupid girls that almost cheated on their perfect fiancés that they interrupted us.

Nate takes a minute to shake the water off and get himself into the car.He is staring a hole into the side of my head but I cannot look at him. I realize I am twisting my hair and counting to five over and over.Calm down, Lyn. Breathe. I don’t know what came over me. Was I actually going to let him kiss me? Am I losing my mind? Of course I wasn’t going to kiss him; he is a philandering man-whore. I’m engaged. I love Michael.

A wave ofnausea washes over me.

“I don’t feel very good,” I say, as Graham pulls up to the hotel curb. “I’m going to head on up. Thanks for a great night and I’ll see you guys later.” I quickly exit the car and go into the hotel, leaving Graham and Emma looking at each other in confusion.

“I’ll be right up!” Emma shouts out the window.

“No.” I turn around briefly. “Take your time. I’m going to shower off and go to bed.” I don’t want her to come after me, yet again, so I can explain what a weak person I am when it comes to Nate Riley. What I need is to get a good night’s sleep and forget about the last fifteen minutes of my life. Chalk it up to alcohol and adrenaline, that’s it.

After my shower I remember I was supposed to call Michael.I can’t call him. I don’t know what I would say. I need time to get some distance from tonight. I type out a quick text to him that says I think I may have gotten food poisoning from dinner so I can’t call. He, of course, immediately texts me back instructions on how to manage the food poisoning and to call him if I can’t keep any water down after eight hours. I type out another message to thank him and tell him I’ll call him tomorrow.

Ilie in bed and try to sleep. Then I lie in bed and fake sleep when Emma cracks my door a half an hour later. Then I lie in bed and eventually watch the sun rise through the heavy curtains.

In the morning,I tell Emma that I don’t feel well, feigning food poisoning. I tell her that she shouldn’t count on me for tonight. She says she will send my apologies to the guys and check on me later.

I finally manage to get a few hours of sleep.It clears my head and I decide that I shouldn’t see Nate again. It is a disaster waiting to happen and I will only end up hurt. Why risk ruining what Michael and I have together? It’s the right thing to do. But I don’t want Emma to miss out on seeing Graham the last night she is here so I’ve got to keep up this whole sickness charade.

I spend the morning studying.Then after a quick nap and a light lunch I head down to the hotel gym to hit the treadmill. No way am I going to risk the running trail and Nate.

When I return to the suite, there is a new bouquet of flowers on the coffee table with a note sticking out of the vase.I’m nosey so I peek at the card. Oh, not for Emma. For me. My heart beats a little faster. I open the card.

Brooklyn, I missed you this morning. I hope you are feeling better. Nate

He sent me flowers? I throw away the card so I don’t have to explain anything to Emma. After all, we are in a suite and they have provided fresh flowers every day, what is another bunch?

The rest of my afternoon is spent returning texts from Kaitlyn, my mom and Emma.Thankfully when I call Michael, I get his voice mail so I leave a nice message for him telling him how I can’t wait to see him tomorrow and that I’m feeling much better.

Before Emma gets back, I hide the evidence of lunch and my run and climb into bed hoping she’ll leave me alone and go out with Graham.I must be a better actress than I thought because she buys it without so much as an ‘are you sure?’ That or she is glad to finally be alone with him without us tagging along.

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