Page 71 of Be My Reason

He smiles at me sweetly as he walks by but doesn’t say a word.I follow him into the back. “Nate?” I say, silently asking him a thousand questions with that one word.

He turns back to meright before he reaches the stairs and says, “It sucks, doesn’t it, being on the other side of things?” And then he walks away.

What just happened?

Kaitlyn relieves me after her break and I get up to the apartment as he is getting out of the shower. I throw my phone down on the bed just to emphasize how mad I am. I’ve had a few minutes to stew over this. I understand that he is jealous of Ryan, but I have never given him a reason to be. Ryan doesn’t want me like Miss Sweaty-pants wanted Nate. I don’t flirt with Ryan—he is a business partner and a friend. Huge difference.

“Listen, Nate.” I sit down and cross my arms over my chest. “I know what you are doing. You are trying to make me jealous.”

“Is it working?” He raises his eyebrows at me and I try to ignore the drops of water running down the lines of his torso.

“Of course it is, you idiot!” I yell at him. “That girl was pretty and she obviously wants you. And it didn’t much look like you were discouraging her.” I hesitate before asking him, “Do you want her?”

He quickly answers, “No, Brooklyn, I don’t want her. But I wanted you to feel what it’s like to have someone else want me.”

I roll my eyes at him. I’m not ready for another fight about Ryan. “Nate, I don’t know what else I can do to show you that I don’t want Ryan and he doesn’t want me.Why don’t you go talk to him? Lethimtell you.”

He laughs. “Oh, and you think he will come right out and tell me he’s after my girl? Yeah, right. Besides, I already tried that once before and if I recall, it resulted in you telling me to ‘fuck off’ before you had your little beach holiday,” he provokes.

“Oh my God, Nate, you are so frustrating.” I stomp my foot.“I loveyou. I wantyou. It doesn’t matter if other men may want me—which they don’t—I’m with you and nothing else matters.”

“Apparentlyhematters.” He looks at the floor and his lower lip comes out. He is pouting. I pull my lips into my mouth to stifle a smile that wants to creep up my face.

“Yes, of course he matters.As my partner and my friend. But I don’t love him.” I get up and walk over to him and take his face into my hands. “Nate, I love you. And you matter more. You matter the most,” I say.

He grabs me hard, putting our bodies in perfect alignmentso that I can feel every ridge and ripple of his tight abs. Then he whispers into my hair, “God, I love you.”

“Not any more than I love you,” I assure him.

And with that he lets his towel fall to the floor and we proceed to finish what we couldn’t in bed this morning.

Nate and I spent the rest of the weekend in bed aside from the time we had sex on the couch.And in the kitchen. Oh, and the shower. We took a small break so that he could make dinner for us. By the time he left, our bubble was fully intact and we couldn’t have been happier.

It is only Monday and he hasn’t even been gone twenty-four hours but I miss him like crazy. It’s a good thing Missy was able to start work so quickly because I can stay busy training her this week. I hope the time will fly by.

After work Ryan asks if I want to go rock climbing with him. “Of course, it’s just at the climbing gym,” he says, rolling his eyes, “not even close to the real thing, but I have to do something to get my blood pumping.”

It sounds exciting and I could use something to pass the time until my Skype date with Nate. “Sure,” I tell him, “as long as I’m back by nine.” I grin sheepishly. He knows all about my nightly Skyping with Nate. Well, notallabout it.

~~ ~

I can barely contain my excitement driving upthe Interstate. In a few minutes, I will get to see Nate. I know it’s only been five days since I’ve seen him. Well, actually only eighteen hours since I’ve seen him, but five days since I’vetouchedhim and that is what matters. His touch, his kiss, his scent. Those are the things I can’t get through a computer. It’s only been three weeks and sometimes I wonder how long we will be able to keep this up. I go crazy without him near me every day. He goes crazy knowing Ryan is around me even though I reassure him every chance I get.

My phone chirps.

Nate:Can’t wait to see you baby. Hurry up and get here. Be safe. But hurry. And don’t text and drive. xoxo

I laugh.I really want to text him back and say ‘then quit texting me’. But I have the feeling he wouldn’t find it so funny. When it comes to my safety, Nate is vigilant. He insisted on adding a security system to my building and had extra deadbolts installed on the apartment doors before he moved. My safety is definitely something that he and Michael have in common. Like Michael, he insists that I have provisions and my phone with me at all times while running.

Itake a quick peek at my bracelet and think of the only two men I have loved. I shake my head, still not believing that he designed this for me. Michael’s diamond sparkles brightly when the afternoon sun hits it and I think how much I love Nate for having it made for me.

Minutes later, I honk my horn as I pull up to Nate’s building. The door to his apartment swings open and he runs down the stairs to meet me at my car before I can even turn the engine off. He opens the door for me and reaches down to pick me up out of the car. I grab my purse before he has me completely out. I’m laughing. He’s kissing my neck. I’m locking the car from my key fob. “Guess we’ll get my stuff later.” I giggle.

“Damn right we will,” he whispers in my ear. I lean into his chest and take a deep breath and bask in the scent that is fresh laundry and pure Nate. I’ve missed the smell. Ieven refused to launder his pillowcase this week because I didn’t want his scent to wash off. But I will never admit that to anyone.

~~ ~

This morning I’m once again doing my favorite thing—enjoying being draped in Nathan Riley.

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