Page 85 of Operation Annulment
His eyes, like the color of his favorite whiskey, narrow in concern. “Katy, if you’d just come with me—I can’t talk to you with Lucky Charms here looking over your shoulder.”
Jeremy puts a hand on my shoulder. “You’re drunk, Nate. Why don’t you leave before you embarrass her any further?”
Nate shakes his head like a belligerent child. “You embarrass her?—”
I grab Jeremy and walk toward the exit. “Let’s go.”
Nate follows closely behind. “You’re my wife…just talk to me.”
I turn around, and he slams right into me. His cologne hits my nostrils, and I fight to regain my balance. It’s because he just ran into me, not because his cologne brings back memories or anything.
It’s not like I’m picturing the face he would make before pushing into me, the way his eyes would fixate on mine as if he were spellbound. I’m not thinking of the secrets we shared while lying in bed at night.
I shake my head and try to regain focus. “Now you want to talk. What about a few weeks ago when I tried to explain myself to you?”
He tries to touch me, and I take a step back. “Don’t—you threw me out. You don’t get to pick up like nothing happened. If you’ll excuse me, Jeremy and I are going home together—and we’re going to have sex.”
Jeremy immediately jumps in. “Jesus. That is absolutely not true. At all. I haven’t touched her.”
He glances around wildly before shooting me a death glare.
Oh, right, Grey has ears everywhere. Almost forgot about that.
“We’ve had sex before, though—we might do it again. Just sex… all night long.”
“Fucking hell,” Jeremy hisses. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
Nate starts laughing to the point that he has tears in his eyes. “Did you just use sex as a verb? Now I know you’re lying.” He sways again and has to brace himself on a pillar. Once he’s steady, he pulls his car keys from his pocket. “Guess I’ll just drive myself home then. I hope I make it in one piece.”
“How much did you have to drink?” I change lanes to avoid a car before glancing over at him.
He rubs his temple. “Not enough—I’m running on two hours of sleep here. Whiskey just added insult to injury.”
“Did you work last night?”
Nate shakes his head and shifts closer to me. “Nope. I was in Colorado. I needed to see you, so I drove back.”
Don’t you do it, heart. You stay right there and keep beating as though this means nothing.
“Oh…so you came back yesterday?”
You’ve got this, Kate.
Nate’s hand reaches across the console and rests on my thigh. “I drove all night. So, why’d you lie about Jeremy?”
His hand finds the hem of my dress and begins inching the material upward.
“I—I don’t know. Can you not do that while I’m driving? It makes it hard to focus.”
He ignores me and begins stroking the front of my panties. “Have you let him touch you like this?”
I fight the urge to throw my head back and moan, instead focusing on street signs.
22ndStreet…
23rdStreet…
He pulls my underwear to the side and pushes a finger inside of me.
