Words & Whiskey

EDITED VERSION: Chapter Thirty-One

Nathan's hands roamed my waist as I danced against him in Justin's living room. Everyone was having a good time, Samara was dancing with Hayden, Darian was dancing with Justin, and everyone else who showed up was enjoying their time as well. I smiled to myself as Nathan began to kiss my neck, I leaned back, getting closer to him if it were even possible. "Are you having a good time?"

I nodded my head and smiled. "The best."

"Good," he murmured against my neck, the heat of his breath tickling it.

I turned around to face him. Nate could tell I was up to no good because he cocked his eyebrows upward, a silent question. I leaned forward, grabbing the back of his head with one hand and resting the other on his chest. Whispering in his ear, I said, "Let's get out of here."

Nathan's eyes turned dark and he nodded his head, not bothering to ask questions. I led him through the house and out the door.

The spring air hit me and I felt refreshed. As much as I enjoyed the party, it was starting to get unbearably hot inside and I just wanted to spend one on one time with Nate for the rest of the night. I pulled out my phone and went on the Uber app, typing in Ed's address. It was close to closing but I really wanted a milkshake and the onion rings that Nathan was so proud of the first time I met him. He looked over my shoulder and chuckled. "Let me guess, you want onion rings?"

"Guilty," I replied, raising my hands in surrender.

Nathan wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed. "I hope you enjoyed your birthday party, even if I was a jerk beforehand. I was just terrified that I'd ruin the surprise."

I laughed as the Uber pulled up, surprised it arrived so quickly. We got inside and arrived at Ed's in ample time. Ed was at the counter, scrubbing what appeared to be ketchup off the surface. He looked at us, his eyes looking bulgy through his coke bottle glasses. "Audrey! What a lovely surprise. It's your birthday, isn't it?" I nodded my head and Ed grinned. "Of course, how could I forget when dear old Nathan has been pestering me for the past week to ensure he had the night off."

Nathan shook his head as if he were pretending he had no clue what Ed was talking about and led me to our usual booth. Tiffany, the waitress who has a strong affection for Nathan, glared at me while she handed us the menu. When she made eye contact with Nathan, her glare vanished and was instead replaced with a flirtatious smile. "How are you, handsome?"

Nate threw his arm around me and slid the menu in her direction with the other, looking bored at her antics. "We'll take an order of onion rings, Tiffany."

"Anything else?" She asked, leaning against the table, trying her hardest to show off her cleavage through her black V-neck.

I shifted closer to Nate, feeling increasingly uncomfortable at her actions towards him when she knows he's no longer available and hasn't been for four months.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you can learn to take a hint."

Tiffany's blue eyes narrowed, looking icy and cold. She turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen without another word.

I looked up at Nathan and tried to hold back a laugh. "You know she's probably going to spit in our food, right?"

My boyfriend didn't look too concerned, instead, he waved her off. "She may be pissed but she wouldn't do anything that disgusting."

Luckily, Ed sent Tiffany home not even five minutes after our arrival, claiming it was dead and he didn't need an extra set of hands. He came over to the table and served us our milkshakes. He smiled. "You two look good together. Reminds me of when I first started going steady with my late wife, Vera."

"Really?" I asked, intrigued by Ed's statement. He never talked much about his personal life, he only liked to spout random words of wisdom here and there.

"Yep," Ed said, rocking back and forth on his heels. "We met in this very bar. She hated me at first, wanted nothing to do with a measly bar owner. Eventually, she turned around. But what can I say? My charm was hard to resist."

Nate chuckled at his boss. "I bet it was."

Ed smiled once again and with one last departing thought, he added, "Don't wait to claim the one you love. You never know what could happen in the meantime."

Nathan nodded his head as if the advice was something Ed often told him. He turned to me and kissed my temple. "Have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen?"

I giggled at his compliment and arched my neck so I could give him a kiss on the cheek. "Not today, no."

Finally, the onion rings were ready and both Nathan and I ate them gratefully, hungry from all the dancing and drinking we had done at the party. Nathan eyed me as we ate, eventually, he put down his onion ring and wiped his hands with a napkin. "Did you know we went on our first date four months ago today?"

I cocked my head to the right and smiled. "You remember the exact day we had our first date?"

"Well," Nathan began with a sly grin. "It was on New Year's Day so it's pretty easy to remember, princess."

"True," I reply, taking a sip of my milkshake. As I took a sip, I noticed that Nathan was staring at me rather intently, his hazel eyes piercing me. Placing my drink back onto the table a laughed awkwardly. "What are you looking at, weirdo?"

"I love you."

I blinked a few times, not knowing if I misheard what he had said. "W-What?"

"I love you," Nathan declared, although he looked like he had lost his original sense of confidence. "I-I think I l-love you."

"Nate," I said, reaching for his face which was looking down at the table, scared to meet my gaze. I turned so I could face him properly, placing my fingers on his chin, making him look at me. "I love you too."

Nathan's eyes clouded with something--disbelief. "You don't have to say it back if you don't mean it. I just wanted to tell you how I feel."

"Is it so hard to believe that I love you?" I asked softly, trailing my thumb along his plump bottom lip.

"Yes," he whispered, leaning into my touch but then quickly pulling away, not meeting my eyes once again. "I've never..." he sighed. "I've never loved anyone like this before. So, it's all new to me, the idea of you loving me is new to me."

I placed my hand on the back of his neck in an effort for him to look at me. Luckily, he did, the flecks of gold in his eyes seemed bright despite his troubled disposition. "I know it's new to you, Nate. But I would never say I love you unless I mean it. I love you, Nathan West and that is something you're going to have to deal with."

Nathan grinned as he kissed me and then he murmured against my lips. "I guess I can suck it up."

"Good." I kissed him again, but this time it got a little heated, by the time we pulled apart, Ed stood at the end of the table looking sufficiently awkward. "I'm going to go pack these onion rings to go."

He took the plate of the half-eaten onion rings and disappeared into the kitchen. Once he fully entered the kitchen, Nathan let out a chuckle. "I think we grossed out Ed."