Begin Again 2: RESET || Nate Maloley

{ two }

"Wake up Beautiful," I heard Nate say.

My eyes were closed as I had been in and out of sleep. The truck gets so cozy when the tinted windows are up and the air conditioning is on. I groaned, barely responding to him.

"Wake yo thick ass up," he chuckled, grabbing my thigh.

I slapped his hand. "Stop it," I whined. "Stop calling me fat."

"I said thick not fat. And if you call those thighs fat then oh well, I love it."

"Shut it."

"What?" He laughed. "I do...especially when they're wrapped around my-"

"Okay! Okay, I'm up, I'm up." I opened my eyes and sat upright, stretching in what little space I had. "Are we here?"

"Just about."

We left Aunt Greta's around 6 in the morning before she woke up. I made sure not to seduce Nate at all last night just so he could stay alert on the road. I see I had to slow him down again. The last time he got this worked up, we ended up fucking in a field behind a huge bush. Romantic? I guess. But it wasn't so romantic when I felt something sting near my ankle. It wasn't a bee nor red ants, possibly a yellowjacket. Didn't matter. It hurt. And because I love him so much, I let the sex continue. But not again. We were almost at our destination and I'm definitely done with sex in fields with stagnant air.

"He knows we're coming right?" I asked.

"...He knows I am."

"Babe..."

"If I told him I was bringin' my girl then he wouldn't hook it up with the spare room," he explained.

"If it's a spare room then I don't see the big deal."

"With his girl, three's company, four's a crowd. We're already pushin' with five."

"Five?"

"...Did I mention John has a baby?"

"No," I shouted condescendingly. "You forgot to mention that one small detail, sweetheart! Now I'm gonna feel like a bother. Do you know how much stress a baby is? Now they have to be hospitable to someone and their tag-along girlfriend. Great. Perf."

"Babe..."

"No."

"Liv! ...I was playin', relax. There's no baby & there's no girl."

There was a slight pause. Nate was trying not to laugh and I was ready to slap him if he did.

"...Are you mad at me?" He glanced over at me after we turned onto another street. He was a jerk for this because he knows I can't stay mad at that face. And then he licked his lips.

"You're...totally abusing your power right now," I laughed. I didn't want to but I couldn't help it. There's no denying we've been having fun on the road despite everything else.

. . .

John aka Swazz's apartment could've used a serious clean-up. At least it smelled good. Nate took pride in saying all the scented candles were his idea. It made sense. Back at Nate's house there were tons of burnt out scented candle jars just so he could mask the weed smell. Plus, he just preferred a good-smelling home. Speaking of which, I didn't bring that subject up: home. With Alex still hospitalized and Foosh being a complete psycho, he couldn't go back there. And even if he did, he couldn't afford the rent on his own. But he had said not too long ago that he'll cross that bridge when he got to it.