NURA

Chapter 6

Nate

Mar. 2013, New York

"Come on, man! Just come with me. We will get one drink, and then you can return home." Megan whined while pacing around Nate's living room.

"You have been hauled up in this pigsty from the moment you bought it. You just go to work and then come back here to watch TV until you pass out. It's not healthy, Nate, living like this." she continued, stopping to give Nate a reproachful look before continuing her rant. Nate just sat there staring at the TV as Megan ranted in yet another attempt to convince him to go to the Club with her.

The last time Nate went there was a week before everything went to hell, and Eli was with him. After her death, Nate was too broken to even consider going into public, let alone the club, and now, he just couldn't imagine being there again without his wife by his side. He shuddered at just the thought of being with anyone else and immediately rejected the offer.

"I know what you are thinking, and that is not what I meant. I am not asking you to hook up with someone because I know you are not ready yet. I just want us to go out and have fun. I want to have a drink with my best friend, that's all. Please?"

Nate sighed, glaring up at the pain in his ass that was Megan Jones. The woman knew how much Nate hated it when she pouted and begged since he was unable to say no to that. The expression should have looked silly on Megan, but somehow it worked.

"Fine!" Nate said eventually, throwing his hands up in the air in surrender, as Megan started to laugh and jump around in glee.

He left her to her celebratory dance, shaking his head all the way to the bedroom as he made his way to the closet to change. He pulled out his leather pants out of habit but quickly changed his mind.

They were a well-worn pair, his favorite, and the one Eli had bought him when they moved to the city. She claimed that if they were going to live in New York, they should dress for the part, and he had begrudgingly gone along with it.

He returned them to their place and grabbed a pair of jeans and a black V-neck shirt before tossing the leather jacket over it to complete the look. He then went to the bathroom to splash some water over his face in an attempt to calm down.

"The Echo" was the last place Nate wanted to be at that night, as there were too many memories haunting that place, but he still felt guilty about the fight he had with Megan before going to Montana, and he wanted to make the woman happy. And if it would make her happy to have a drink with Nate there, then he would do it.

~

The club was loud and full to the brim; dancing bodies piled over each other as they made their way through to get to the second level, where the VIP area was located.

Even though he didn't want to, Nate glanced around curiously since he hadn't been there in a long time. He knew that Megan had the entire club remodeled soon after the funeral, something he never asked her about, nor would he ever, but this was the first time Nate had seen it.

He had to admit that the place looked really good, and he found himself relaxing a bit at the thought. It was the same place, but at the same time, it seemed completely different, and the onslaught of painful memories that Nate had been dreading never came.

Sure, there was still a pang in his chest since he was so used to having Eli tucked underneath his arm every time they came here that no remodeling could erase, but it was easier to endure than he had expected it to be.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that, so he shook his head, deciding to take Megan's advice for once, and just relax for one night only, and leave worrying for another day.