Chapter 30: Chapter Thirty

Alec

I was officially breaking the law. I climbed into Nat's window and stumbled a bit before catching my balance. Everything was blanketed in black.

Making it from the window to her bed was like trying to walk through a minefield.

Note to self, hide bear in Demetri's room.

If he ever comes back.

Emotion clogged my throat. He was right about way too many things. How was it fair that I came out smelling like roses and he was stuck?

I just, I didn't know how to unstick him.

With a muffled curse, I finally sat on Nat's bed. She didn't say anything; she barely even stirred. I wrapped my arms around her and lay down.

My eyes were so heavy with sleep that I didn't even realize I'd fallen asleep until the sun started piercing through the window.

Nat moaned next to me.

I kissed her cheek, then her mouth, then her eyes.

“Hey,” I mumbled.

“Hey yourself.” She blinked her eyes a few times as if trying to focus. I smiled at her confusion… and inability to fully wake up.

After a few minutes of silence I cleared my throat. “He's sorry.”

“I don't care if he's sorry. Sorry means he realizes what he did was wrong. Sorry means he wasn't lying to me the entire time we were together. How the hell can you defend him?”

I cursed. “He's my brother. It's my job to protect him. Even if it's from himself. You don't understand. It's complicated.”

“And me? What about me?” She tried to wriggle away from me, but my arms braced her shoulders as I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“I'm pretty sure my only job from here on out is to show you how much I love you.” I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but… keeping it in? Was damn near impossible.

“Alec?” Her voice cracked. “Was he lying the whole time?”

I jerked back the covers and got underneath them, pulling Nat's warm body into mine. “No, Nat. He really did care about you. I think in his own twisted way he thought he was doing us a favor.”

“By being a bastard?”

“Come on, take his age into account, he's immature.”

“He's a year younger than you,” she pointed out. “Besides, how is him being a complete ass helping anyone?”

“It's com—”

“I swear if you say it's complicated one more time I'm going to throw you out the window.”

I laughed and nuzzled her neck, “I'd like to see you try.”

“You doubt me?”

My tongue slipped past my lips, drawing circles down her neck. “Absolutely.”

A little moan escaped her lips and then a hiss of air.

I pulled her body against mine, then dipped my hands behind her head, pulling it so she was resting on my shoulder, staring directly at my lips.

“Now what?” she whispered, her eyes focused on my lips and then my jaw.

“I have my way with you?” Too much honesty.

She rolled her eyes and pushed away enough to look up at my face. “You're so romantic. Really, you take my breath away. I almost swooned just now. Good thing I'm lying down.”

Brat. I chuckled and brought her hand to my lips, kissing it softly. “Fine, I won't have my way with you yet… but” —I laced my fingers in between hers— “I'd really like to take you out on a date.”

Nat's eyes went really wide. “People are going to say I'm a whore.”

“Don't.” I tightened my grip on her hand, pulling her closer to me. “This is my fault, not yours. I should have stayed away from you.”

“I'm glad you didn't.”

Damn. Hearing those words. It was like… a peace suddenly blanketed itself over me.

We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, both of us searching the other's eyes, willing the other person to say something, to confess that it'd been like this since our first meeting.

With Nat it wasn't just a coincidence, right place, right time. It wasn't just about a stupid pen, or her tripping her way down the hall.

It was the pull, the magnetic attraction I felt for her the minute I set eyes on her. My physical response was strong—but the response of my heart?

Never before had I felt like someone had the power to reach into my chest, pull out my heart, and hold it. Nat had the power to do that. She had the power to give me life or death.

I'd never given another person that type of control over me; I wasn't the type of guy to ever relinquish control. But with her?

“Stupid pen,” Nat grumbled.

“Huh?” I shook my head.

She giggled. “Never mind. So…” She played with the hair on the back of my head, twisting it between her fingers. “About this date.” Holy shit. She had magic hands!

“I'll do anything. Just don't stop.” I rested my head against her chest. A groan escaped my lips before I could stop it. Holy Hell. No wait. Heaven. Holy Heaven?

“Our date?” she reminded me. Her hands stilling, damn it! I almost growled again.

“Uh-huh.” My hands wrapped around her body, hugging her close to me. She must have gotten the hint because she kept rubbing my head. “I think I may like this better than sex.”

She froze.

Whoops. Overshare. High five, Alec, you just scared the shit out of an innocent virgin.

“Damn, did I say that out loud?” I tensed above her. Nat burst out laughing.

Good, at least she thought I was kidding—I wasn't. So clearly I'd been having some really bad sex. Then again, memory was fuzzy; it had been over a year.

“At least I know what I need to do to get you to confess to me all your dirty little secrets,” she joked.

“That's bribery and manipulation, a federal offense…” My words trailed off, feeling heavy in my mouth as I moaned against her.

“You were saying,” she whispered, wrapping her hands around my shoulders then digging into my neck. Shit, did she do, like, hand workouts or something?

She was freakishly strong and hit every nerve, every… my body shook. Never. I was never letting her go.

“Marry me.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you only asked so you'd have a personal masseuse.”

“I have other reasons.”

“I'm sure you do.”

“Fine, but I'm asking again tomorrow,” I grumbled, turning my ear so that my head was resting against her chest again.

Not only had I freaked her out by talking about sex, but I just proposed to someone still in high school. Seriously, I was just racking up those points.

Nat shivered beneath me.

“You cold?”

She shivered again. “Nope.”

“Nat.”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

And there went number three. I mean, things always happened in threes, right? I needed to tell her. Instead of making it romantic, I blurted it out, almost shouting at her.

I waited, holding my breath, every muscle in my body tense as Nat went so still beneath me I thought I'd possibly suffocated her.

Three breaths later, she said…

“I love you, too.”

Four words.

That changed my life forever.