Begin Again || Nate Maloley

Epilogue

I woke up to the calming sound of birds chirping. I stretched, half naked in bed, between the crisp linens. I looked over into the bathroom where I saw a fully naked Nate brushing his teeth, humming a song I never heard before. It was funny to me because he wasn't too serious about it. Besides, I was too focused on that perfect ass of his.

He was in positive spirits...why wouldn't he be after the rough sex we had last night? We were only staying in this guest house for a night in a small town hours outside of Omaha. The first stop on our little road trip.

After brushing his teeth, he comes crawling back into bed.

"Morning beautiful," he says before trying to kiss me.

I move my head and cover my mouth. "No! I have morning breath!"

"And?" He laughed & ripped my hand away from my mouth, planting his lips on me anyway. "Okay now you can go brush your teeth."

I rolled my eyes and rolled out of bed, taking the sheet with me. He pulled on it and bit his lip, yanking the sheet off me.

"You play too much," I joked. I didn't even fight him on it and proceeded to go brush my teeth anyway.

He reached into his bag and pulled out some clothes to put on...boxer briefs & dark denim jeans. Before putting his shirt on, he entered the bathroom and held me from behind, nuzzling his face in my neck.

"Tiger," he said.

"Lion," I responded with the toothbrush in my mouth. "Where to next?"

He only made little sounds as he kissed my skin and rubbed me all over. Every time his hands roamed between my thighs, I breathed a little deeper. Just as he moved my legs to open a little wider, his phone rang.

"Ugh," he grunted. "Hold on."

He goes back toward the bed to answer it & puts it on speaker.

"Hello?"

"Skate, my boy..." The voice was too familiar. But...no...it couldn't be.

"...Foosh?" Nate and I immediately look at each other.

"The one and only. Where you at? You weren't at the house when I dropped by."

"Wh- why were you at the house? Shouldn't you be-"

"Locked up?" We hear Foosh cackle. "I know. But then I decided not to be. Don't you watch the news?"

"What the fuck did you do?"

"Broke out! Pay attention! Jesus Christ!" His tone rose. "Okay sorry for yelling. Listen, enjoy your road trip but I need you back here in two weeks, you know, since you wanna help me out so badly. And I wouldn't flake out if I were you. I've got eyes and ears everywhere...on you, on friends...even on family. Speaking of which, tell Olivia I said hello."

The call ends and my eyes grow wide.

"How does he know we're on a road trip?" I whispered.

Nate's eyes shot up at me. "I think it's time to check out."

And with the quickness, we did just that. We hit the long and empty road as cloudy skies set the tone for the day. The windows were down and my hair whipped around with the harsh breeze.

"He isn't really capable of anything on that level, is he?" I asked Nate.

"No," he sighed with one hand on the steering wheel. "But I know someone who is that he's most likely with. His name is Evan. If you think Foosh is dangerous then you don't wanna meet Evan. He doesn't play with fire, he is the fire. Foosh is his cousin."

"What do you think he'll do if you don't come back?" I gulped, afraid of the answer.

Nate glanced at me before returning his eyes to the road. His hand reached across the seat and held mine.

"Then he'll come after those we love until I do," Nate said.

A chill ran up my spine as I wondered if Foosh could find out where my mother and little brother lived - if he'd even take it that far. I also thought about who else he could target. Andrea, maybe. That could include Gilinsky since he's always with her. Or what about my old co-workers...Kenny, Lia, and Cody. Then there was also those on Nate's end...his cousin, Big Mike, and Alex who is still in the hospital.

I did nothing but stare into the side view mirror and squeeze his hand tighter as my thoughts continued to cloud my mind.

Life started over.
But let the fear begin again.

__________

A/N: *whispers* Yes, Evan as in Peters... *winks*

THE SEQUEL is here!

Reset: Begin Again Book 2...go check it out!