Mr. Gardner

Pushing My Buttons Part 3

Here's a long-awaited chapter for y'all

I appreciate the patience like always, between film stuff, writing my other book and editing jobs, my schedule allows limited inspo for everything 😒👌

Hope I don't disappoint 😶‍🌫️

*Mature content*

8792 words

UNEDITED (so apologies for any major spelling errors)

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We made our way back eventually, just enjoying the night while leaning on each other for the majority of the walk back. He still carried my balled-up clothes and purse, and when seeing the hotel's entrance, he refused my attempt to retrieve them.

"I've got it-" He stated when pulling my stuff away.

I reached out again, grabbing ahold of the clothes, "It's okay, I'm a little cold anyways..."

When slipping on my shirt sleeves over my dress, Nathan watched with his brows scrunched, "You should've told me you were cold.."

I laughed at his concern and finished up with my shirt.

"What would you've done? Give me the shirt off your back?"

He humoured my words with a smile but still looked confused, "Well I could've done something, I thought you were clinging to me because you wanted to, not because you were stealing my body heat."

Mid-bending to put on the skirt over the dress, his words caught me off guard and made me sputter with a laugh. Losing my balance from this, I tilted to the side when balancing on one foot and he met my outstretched arm to help stabilize me.

Through the awkward attempt to get on the skirt with one hand, I breathlessly spoke, "I did want to, you just happened to be radiating an insane amount of heat."

Regaining my balance once both feet were on the ground, I let go of his arm and stood straight with a huff. His eyes followed mine, then slowly trailed to the side of my cheek.

Putting my purse onto my shoulder, his hand came up to my face and the back of his fingers gently rested on my cheekbone. His lips pressed together when comparing the temperature.

"You're a little cold to the touch.." His tone was slightly concerned as he dropped his hand to his side.

The problem immediately got fixed once the heat of a blush spread to my face.

"It's a girl thing, we're always a little colder..." I practically dismissed him and stepped away toward the hotel.

"Hey-" Nathan quickly acted and grabbed my arm.

I stopped mid-step and he gently guided me back to turn and face him. His free hand hovered between me and the hotel, trying to put some sort of barrier to where I was heading.

Slowly bringing my attention to him, I knew well that I couldn't hide my flustered look.

"Don't go running away on me before I've gotten a kiss goodnight."

I smiled down at the ground and fiddled with the strap of my purse. He was more romantic than I could ever be, always showing the affection I felt I struggled with. It was nice to have him execute these feelings of his by lightly demanding things. It never bothered me to want to follow through. I am a people pleaser after all.

The feeling of his thumb and pointer on my chin helped tilt my eyes back up to his. He focused on my flushing cheeks, then down to my lips.

"Thank you for tonight..." I finally spoke, my voice quiet as my full attention was drawn to the brown of his eyes. The streetlights gave such a beautiful glaze of light to them, and it just made him that much more distracting.