Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
Icouldn’t remember the last time I’d had as much fun with someone. Maybe my mother when I was younger. Our walk turned into a two-hour extravaganza where we talked about every horror movie in the world—good and bad.
We didn’t agree on every single one. He was a fan of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, while I preferred the Jessica Biel remake, and I couldn’t stand the Terrifier movies, but he enjoyed them. We agreed on most, though, which was refreshing.
I felt almost drunk from laughter by the time we rounded the final curve and returned to camp.
We headed toward our cabin, still laughing, but the sound of my name gave me pause.
When I looked over my shoulder, I found Preston standing near a tree—he’d been hiding in the shadows like a creepy stalker—and he was watching me expectantly.
For once, I wasn’t flooded with instant anxiety. “What do you want?” I asked coldly.
“I thought we could talk,” he replied, his “I’m a businessman and I’ve never had a bad moment in public” face firmly in place. “Things didn’t go how I was expecting at dinner, and I thought we could figure out a way to get along without making it awkward.”
Nathan pulled on my hand and tugged me in front of him, his hands going to my hips as he guided me in the direction of our cabin. “I don’t think that requires a full conversation,” he said. “All you have to do is stop being a douche.”
“Me?” Preston’s fury surfaced with a vengeance, and it had fangs like the vampires in 30 Days of Night, another movie Nathan and I had just bonded over. Josh Hartnett was versatile, after all. “You’re the one who was out of control. You actually had the audacity to lie and say I… that I…”
He was such a turd. What had I ever seen in him? “If you can’t talk about sex, then you’re not mature enough to be having it,” I offered dryly. “As for what I said, I stand by it.”
“It was a lie,” he hissed, taking a step forward.
He immediately balked when Nathan made a growling sound.
“Mr. Cooper, if you don’t mind, I would like to have a private conversation with your fiancée.
” Preston sounded as if he were negotiating a business deal.
“It has nothing to do with you, and I promise it will be quick.”
Nathan regarded him as one might a pile of dog crap somebody left to bake in the sun on a public sidewalk rather than pick up. “I’m good,” he replied blandly.
That was not the answer Preston was expecting. “Excuse me?” he sputtered.
“First off, it’s not my place to give permission for Bella to talk to anybody,” Nathan explained. “She is a grown woman. She has her own agency. I am not her king. I am her partner. That means she makes her decisions and it’s my job to support them.”
Bafflement joined rage on Preston’s face as the words sank in. “You have got to be kidding me. You’re one of those?”
“I have no idea what ‘one of those’ means, but I can hazard a guess,” Nathan replied. “And yes, I’m one of those. Bella is bright and capable and makes her own decisions. Unless I’m very much mistaken, however, she does not want to talk to you right now.”
“I don’t,” I agreed, relieved that Nathan had my back.
“I’m tired, Preston. I’ll talk to you…” I was about to say “tomorrow” when I realized that was merely a different way of capitulating.
“Actually, you know what?” My tone shifted quickly.
“I don’t want to talk to you. I can’t fathom a single thing we have to talk about. ”
“You embarrassed me in public.” The vein I hadn’t forgotten but hadn’t seen in eight months popped on his forehead. “We need to talk about that.”
“You forced that situation,” Nathan countered. “You pushed things with her because you’re an idiot. The solution to this problem is to not talk to her.”
“This is my event,” Preston raged. “I will talk to whomever I want to talk to.”
“No, you won’t,” I countered, suddenly hyper aware of the power I had here. “I don’t want to talk to you, so I’m not going to do it.”
Nathan gave me an approving look and nudged me toward the cabin. “You heard her,” he said when Preston opened his mouth to argue. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“That’s not an option.” A sneer appeared on Preston’s face. “I’m an organizer. This is my event. There are logistics to take into account.”
“That’s fine,” Nathan replied, not missing a beat.
“How about this, though? Since she’s my fiancée, and we’re sharing a cabin and bed, you can bring your logistics issues to me and I’ll handle answering your questions.
” He sent a questioning look toward me, not Preston, to see if I was okay with it.
I felt like the Grinch, and my heart was suddenly three times bigger. Nobody had ever deferred to me this way while also removing a problem—a huge problem, actually—from my lap. “That sounds perfect to me,” I said.
“Well, I have a problem with it,” Preston argued. “You signed a contract.”
“Point me toward anything in that contract that says conversations can’t be filtered through me,” Nathan demanded.
“I—” Preston looked so perplexed I had to hold back a laugh.
“Bring your concerns to Nathan,” I ordered as I headed toward our cabin. “We’re going to bed now. I’m sure we’ll see you in the morning.”
We laughed all the way to our cabin, and when we entered, I eyed the couch with disdain.
The cushion was way too small for Nathan to be comfortable on.
That meant I had no choice but to sleep there.
It was the right thing to do since he’d stepped up for me so many times in the past few weeks.
Heck, the past few hours. I opened my mouth to tell him I would find a blanket and get comfortable, but he was already steering me toward the bed.
“Bella, we’re adults,” he reminded me. “The bed is big enough for both of us to sleep in and be comfortable. I promise not to make a move on you.”
That was a bit of a disappointment, but I laughed anyway. I didn’t want him to make a move on me—right?—but it wouldn’t have hurt my ego for him to pull his usual flirting schtick.
None of that mattered now. We’d just beat Preston at his own game, and I felt glorious. “Are you sure?” I asked, already knowing his answer.
“Yes. It will be fine. Just make sure you wear pajamas. I can’t be held accountable for anything I do if you’re naked in the same bed with me. Dream Nathan has a mind of his own.”
I laughed even harder, the flirting warming me all over. Sure, it had been a lame attempt, but he’d still put in the effort. “I’ll hit the bathroom and brush my teeth first.”
“Okay. Just know that I like my mouth to stink when I’m sleeping, so I don’t brush my teeth before bed.”
“That’s extremely unhygienic.”
“I like living on the edge.”
“Whatever floats your boat.”
I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING WITH a warm presence next to me in bed.
It took me a moment to remember where I was.
Preston had never been a snuggler, so I’d never woken up with him close to me.
We’d had a huge king-sized bed when we lived together, and we were practically on separate continents most mornings.
Somehow, in sleep, Nathan had migrated closer to me.
His arms weren’t around me, not that I would have kicked up a fuss over that or anything, but his chest was close to my back. Not exactly spooning, but very close.
I held my breath as I shifted, ever so slightly, and looked up at his handsome features. How was he even better looking first thing in the morning? That shouldn’t have been possible. With his morning stubble and the peaceful look on his face, however, he could have been posing on any magazine page.
“You’re staring,” he murmured in a rusty voice.
I jolted. He hadn’t opened his eyes. “How…?”
Slowly, his lids opened, and the warmth reflected there made me roll my eyes.
“Can you see through your eyelids or something?” I complained.
“No.” He laughed at my discomfort. “I cannot. I just kind of felt it.”
Felt it. I was suddenly feeling weird things, too, things I couldn’t put a name to. Okay, I could put a name to them. Attraction. Fondness. I wasn’t into freaky adoration territory or anything, but I worried I might get there.
Nathan had made no bones about the fact he wasn’t looking for a relationship.
I was right there with him. I hadn’t gotten over my last relationship, although I’d made every attempt to do just that.
Preston refused to allow me the grace to move on with my life.
If I could, however, I would want it to be with somebody like Nathan.
That realization was like a hard slap on a naked cheek.
I liked him. We could never have more than friendship, though.
I wasn’t ready, and he wasn’t either, for different reasons.
One of those reasons was his father. He hadn’t said much about the man, but it wasn’t hard to parse out that information.
His father had marked him. Not in a physical way, but in a mental way. Nathan might not even realize how marked he was. Until he got past his issues with his father, he wasn’t going to be able to move forward with anything serious.
As for me, I had to shake Preston. He was like a freaking barnacle. The more I pushed him away, the more he clung to me. Nathan would help me say goodbye to Preston for good. I had faith in that. Afterward, we would be friends. It was all we could ever be.
“I was thinking,” I started, rubbing my cheek. “Do you think Michael Myers ever sleeps? Like, we’re not shown him sleeping. He has to sleep, though, right? If you take out those few movies where he’s in a cult, then he’s not considered supernatural. He’s just a man.”
Nathan broke into a wide grin. “This is exactly the type of pillow talk I’ve been missing in my life. I can’t believe I’ve never had anything this stimulating to wake me up before.”
Another little thrill went through me. He didn’t mean what the squirming sparks of excitement in my belly wanted him to mean. He was just being funny.