Page 43 of The Fake
“Won’t he assume differently if you stay tonight?” I ask with light laughter.
“I always tell them ahead of time there will be no sex. It makes them work harder, swear to God. Take sex off the table and suddenly, you’re a goddess.”
Maybe that’s why things feel so intense with Nathan. We took sex out of the equation and it made both of us want it that much more. Except, it’s not just sex I crave from him. Being in his arms while he plays video games and going out on double dates… I want those things too even if I know the reality is it’s not the right time to get involved.
Nathan and Datson are still playing video games when we emerge. Shaw meets Sydney in the hallway, and I slip past them.
“Damn.” Datson tosses the remote on the coffee table. “I thought I had you that time.”
“Bo knows.” Nathan spots me, stands, and lobs his remote next to Datson’s. “Thanks for the game.”
He reaches me in three long strides, crowding my space as he brushes my hair behind my ear. “Whatcha wanna do?”
I look back where Sydney and Shaw are still standing. She’s leaning against the wall and he’s got one arm on the wall beside her, leaning in close. Nathan follows my gaze and nods.
“Yo, Shaw, water ball?”
Shaw takes his time before turning his head and answering, like he can’t bear to look away, “Hell yeah.”
“You in, princess?”
“Do I even want to know what water ball is?”
He smirks. “You’ll see. First, let’s get you in a suit.”
The four of us head upstairs to change for the pool.
“I don’t have a suit.” This seems like an obvious problem, but no one else seems concerned.
“Got ya covered.” In his room, Nathan pulls out a white one-piece swimsuit from his top-dresser drawer and throws it to me. I catch it by instinct but feel totally weirded out by the fact he has some random girl’s suit in his room that he loans out to whoever might stop by for a dip in the pool.
I hold it out from me by my pinky finger. “I don’t think so. No offense, but sharing suits with your jersey chasers isn’t happening. It’s weird and highly unsanitary.”
He rolls his eyes. “It’s Gabby’s.”
I stay quiet as I stare at the suit with narrowed eyes. A suit that has a name.
“She’s always forgetting to bring her suit when she comes over, so she just leaves it here.”
“Oh.” I still don’t move, and we’re in some weird standoff over a swimsuit.
“It’s clean and, far as I know, no one else has worn it. Gabby and I are just friends so you’re safe from whatever cooties you think I have.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
He levels me with his stunning blue eyes.
“Okay, I did. Sorry.”
A slow smile tips up the corners of his mouth. “You’ll be forgiven when you get changed and meet me in the pool. We’ve got a game to win.”
* * *
“So, water ball is just basketball in the pool?” Sydney pushes at Shaw’s chest and then takes the small Nerf ball from him.
Shaw must not have had a loaner suit on hand because she wears a t-shirt tied up tightly just below her boobs and a pair of shorts rolled at the waist to make them shorter.
“Rules are simple,” Nathan says with a cocky glint in his eye that makes my breaths come quicker. “Two on two. First to ten wins. And, I apologize in advance that I’m gonna make your man look bad.”
