Page 46 of Our Hearts to Break

The house smells of turkey and herbs. My nose tips up as my stomach growls. I love my mom’s cooking. She’s not just a pretty face.

I lift my suitcase and rush up the grand staircase to the second floor with Nate. “What were you guys arguing about?”

“Dumb shit,” Nate hisses. “You know my parents. The usual.”

“We can hide upstairs until dinner.”

Much like the rest of the house, the walls are a simple cream, decorated with expensive art. The floors are white oak and don’t show any wear. You can only see the scuff near my door from playing hockey as a kid. My dad whooped my ass for that one.

“Thanks for the save,” Nate says once we’re alone and walking toward my childhood bedroom. “I doubt I will last the weekend in this house with them.”

“Come to Manhattan with me tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you going with your dad?”

I nod.

He shakes his head as we enter my room. “Pass. Less is more with your dad.”

I shut the door and roll my suitcase near the dresser. Nate drops his bag on the floor and walks around the space to look at my pictures. A few framed images of me with my parents are on the dresser. In some, I’m dressed in my peewee hockey uniform, Remington Academy’s royal blue and yellow, and Kingston University’s black and gold.

My jersey number has stayed the same. Twenty-three is inked onto my chest between crisscrossed hockey sticks, directly over my heart. I plan to add Nate’s name to the same place one day.

He’s the reason my heart beats. Until I met him, I only had hockey, but he has since become the love of my life.

Nate sits on my bed and runs his hand over the dark blue comforter. “Leave your car keys before you go tomorrow. I might do some Christmas shopping.”

“Shopping for me?” I lean in for a kiss. “Hmm?”

“Duh.” Nate smirks. “I’m thinking a chest full of sex toys. Gallons of lube. All the sex you can handle.”

My cock likes his present ideas and responds accordingly. “Stop turning me on. We can’t have sex again until Sunday.”

“You’re so cute.” Nate’s lips graze mine as our eyes meet. “I’ll bend you over the table during dinner and fuck you on top of the turkey just to piss off our dads. Don’t tempt me, Riv. I will do it.”

“My boyfriend is a psycho.”

“You like it when I get all crazy and do things like this…”

Nate tackles me to the bed, holding me down with his weight, and slips his tongue into my mouth. His fingers dig into my jaw as he pulls me closer, deepening the kiss. This is what I needed, a brief distraction from the madness.

Wrapped up in his possessive touch, I hear a creak to my right but can’t bring myself to peel my lips from his. A gasp followed by shattered glass sends my heart racing into overdrive. Liquid splashes my arm and the bed, the scent of bourbon filling my nostrils. When I look down at the floor, shards of glass are scattered across the wood.

My eyes land on my dad.

“What the fuck are you doing, River?”

Oh, shit.

Spencer stands beside him. He maintains his grip on a glass of scotch and doesn’t look surprised.

“Dad,” I choke out. “I?—”

He pushes out his palm to silence me. “I don’t want to hear it. You lied to my face. You told me nothing was going on with Nate.”

I shrink into myself, feeling small and childish. Like I’m still the little boy who grew up in this room.

“It wasn’t… At the time you asked me, I wasn’t with Nate.”

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