Page 37 of Catch Me

He looks at me through brown eyes, lighter than usual. “She just asked how I was and if I was seeing anyone.”

“And, did you tell her you were?” I swallow hard, my throat razor sharp.

“Of course I did.” Nick’s expression twists into confusion. “Why would I lie about you? I don’t want to keep this a secret, I want to scream it from the fucking rooftops, but I know I can’t right now.” His hand flattens against my lower back and he scoots me closer to him. “Harriet was happy for me, she said she hopes everything works out for us.”

“Ok,” I say quietly, keeping my eyes down in my lap. “I don’t mind you talking to her, I just wanted to check that you don’t want to get back together with her.” I glance up for a beat, locking eyes with him. “Because if you do I would understand, I—”

Nick shakes his head with a smile and cuts off my rambling. He presses his mouth to mine without even checking who’s watching, taking the back of my neck in his hand and sealing our lips together. I catch the breath in my throat and sink into the kiss, forgetting for a moment that we’re in public and that our entire group of friends could be watching. But right now I find myself not caring, I let Nick kiss me like I'm the only girl in the entire world. When our lips part he holds my gaze with his and like a magnet I can’t look away.

“It’s bothering you and I'm sorry, I would never have spoken to her if I’d have known it would upset you.”

I shrug once, the people pleaser in me choosing my next words. “It’s not bothering me.”

Nick smiles softly. “You’ve brought it up, so it’s bothering you.”

“Well, ok, yeah maybe a little bit.” I sigh heavily and feel instant guilt weighing on my shoulders. I wish it didn’t bother me to see another woman touching Nick like that, but it does and I know it’s because I love him. “I know you two have history and feelings are complicated. So if you still have feelings for her, I get it.”

Nick barks a laugh and scrapes a hand through my hair, tucking it behind one ear. “Lo, I don’t want her or anyone else for that matter. I chose you, I had other options, but I never needed to even consider them because I loveyou. It’s been you since the moment we kissed in the kitchen that night.”

My legs are jelly, tingling and numb from his words. The most perfect words just fall off his lips so effortlessly as always. And when he grins at me with that megawatt smile, I feel my heart galloping at 100 miles per hour.

Sometimes I can’t believe this is my reality. I spent so long crushing on Nick from a distance whilst he walked past me like I was a ghost and now I'm all he wants in life.

I meet his soft gaze, the one that holds everything I care about. I peak over my shoulder towards the bar and the dance floor, our friends spread around the club with drinks in hands, none the wiser to Nick and I’s close proximity over here.

“It's like I was always there in the background while you fucked other girls and pretended I didn’t exist.” I half whisper, sort of hoping he doesn’t hear me, even though this is something I’ve wanted to say to him for a while. I have to get these feelings off my chest, the rejection I felt from him for so long before he finally noticed me.

His face softens with guilt and a hand lands on my bare thigh, squeezing comfortingly. “It wasn’t like that Lo, I—”

“I know,” I interrupt with a finger on his lips, one that he kisses gently. “You didn’t know I had a crush on you.”

“No, I didn’t. But to be honest, even if I had known I never would have tried anything because of Sean.”

“I know, you’re scared of him.” I roll my eyes and Nick scoffs loudly, straightening his back.

“I’m not scared of that stupid fucker, he should be scared of me.” He runs a hand down his chest, puffing it out to maximum capacity.

I titter a laugh under my breath and smack a playful hand towards him, which he catches and grips tightly, dipping his face to mine.

His breath is warm against my lips when he speaks. “I’m sorry I never noticed you. I guess I was looking for what I wanted everywhere but the exact place it was waiting for me.” He pauses, taking my chin between his thick, tattooed fingers. “You were right there all along and I'm a fucking idiot for not seeing you.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” I drop a kiss to his lips and sit up straight. “I’m sorry I even said that, I just needed to get it off my chest.”

“I get it, I bet it’s been eating you up since we started seeing each other.”

I shrug. “A little, yeah.”

Nick’s eyes catch something over my shoulder and he shuffles away from me, nodding at somebody that I can’t see. I don’t turn around because I don’t need to, I can hear my brother’s deep, bellowing voice echoing behind me as he approaches.

“I think we should head off guys, Lewis just dropped three shot glasses and they smashed all over the floor. If we don’t leave now I think they’ll kick us out anyway.” Sean glances over one shoulder, Callie tucked under his other arm.

Lewis appears from behind Sean and rolls his eyes dramatically. “That’s all true, except the part where I smashed three shot glasses and ran away from the scene of the crime.” He jabs a fist into my brother’s ribs. “This dickhead was the one who trashed the place and now he’s shitting his pants that he’s going to get banned.”

A silent sigh of relief leaves my lungs and I stand up, nudging Nick out of my way. “Good, I'm ready to go anyway, I need my bed.”

Molly and Kyle lead the way out of the club, which is now just about starting to die down. The music has mellowed and the last few drunken stragglers begin to stagger towards the exit with us. Nick is at the back of the group, just behind me. He stays close, very close in fact and I feel his fingers gently dancing along my bare lower back. They trail down lower and he takes a fistful of my ass in one hand, squeezing once and making me jump forwards. When I throw him a loaded glare, he simply smiles like a kid on Christmas morning.

Fuck, I wish I didn’t love him sometimes.

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