Page 62 of If This Was a Movie

“Hello?” I ask.

“Hey,” he says, his voice low and sweet.

“Hey. You get Sophie to bed, okay?” I miss her, and I kind of regret not going to the main house after our little date, but I am also so nervous about pushing my luck.

“Yeah, she told me to say hi to you. She’s super excited for tomorrow.”

“I am, too,” I say with a smile. I spent my time waiting for Nate to call me, looking up recipes, and thinking of what fun stuff I can do on our girls' day.

“So, are you watching a movie?” Nate asks, and I sigh into my bed, cuddling in.

“No.”

“Why not? I thought you watched one every night? Do you need me to set it up?” He sounds concerned, and it’s cute.

“No, no,” I say with a giggle. “I just…” A blush burns over my cheeks as I spit it out. “I just knew you were calling, and I didn’t want to get distracted.”

“I like that, Jules,” he says quietly. “I like this, actually. I never did this in high school, sitting on my phone for hours with a girl.”

“No?”

“Hell no. I had three nosy little sisters, and the house wasn’t big. They would have eavesdropped for sure, tattled on everything. So I’m not really sure what we are supposed to do,” he says with a laugh, and I groan inside, fighting the all-consuming urge to just hang up, feeling nervous and a bit silly. But I don’t, because I want this, chatting with Nate.

“We just…we talk,” I say. “Nothing crazy. Get to know each other.”

“Without the temptation. I get it. All right, I can do that,” he says. “So, what’s your favorite color?” he asks, and I laugh before answering, asking him for his.

“You make the cutest fucking noises,” Nate says an hour later when I laugh at something stupid he said.

I’m cuddled up in my bed, listening to him talk and laugh, and it’s been everything. Just like high school when you’d get that rush and want to stay up all night, except more, better, because Nate’s using it as an opportunity to learn anything he can about me and vice versa.

From favorite foods to childhood vacations to first kisses, we’ve covered it all.

“Makes me wish I was there.”

“What’s that?” I ask, a smile in the words.

“Jules, when you make those noises, it makes me want to kiss you. I mean, I wanna kiss you all the fucking time, but especially then.”

My smile grows, and I’m not sure if it’s the endorphins or the late hour or what, but I don’t think before the next words leave my lips.

“So you’d kiss me if you were here?”

“Hell yeah,” he says immediately.

“What else would you do?” I ask, my voice husky even to my own ears. I should be embarrassed, but in the dark like this, I can’t find it in me.

“What?”

“If you were here. What would you do to me?” I clench at the mere idea, my belly twisting and my panties going wet.

“I don’t think this is what you meant when you said talking all night to court you, Jules.” I smile despite myself. “Not exactly PG.”

“You’ve seen me naked, Nate. I think we’re okay to have phone sex. It won’t push any boundaries beyond what we haven’t already toppled over.”

“Jesus fuck,“ he groans, and it sends a thrill through me. “This is a terrible idea.”

Silence fills the line alongside my embarrassment, and I fight the urge to hang up and throw the phone across the room.

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