NURA

Chapter 8

Nate

Sept. 2013, New York

Nate was just coming up to the bar to see what was taking Danny so long when he heard her say those words to the girl who had been haunting his dreams for months.

After that first night, he had thought that what happened when he first saw Nura was just a fluke, so after a couple of months, he came to the Club again. But he was wrong.

If anything, the brunette seemed even more heavenly than at first glance, and the worst thing was that she had started to show an interest in Nate. She was subtle about it, giving him a few glances and small smiles here and there, nothing like how the other girls he was used to flirted.

Nura was almost shy about it, obviously inexperienced, which made her practically irresistible to Nate. But he ignored her and kept coming back, while all the way praying that he would grow out of this stupid attraction.

After a while, he had to admit it wasn't working, so he started getting desperate. The fact that he hadn't had sex for over a year coupled with Nura prancing around him in that damn uniform and with her wild hair bouncing over her shoulders unbidden, made him do something stupid.

He picked out the first girl he could find and went home with her. It worked for a few hours and certainly took the edge off, but it came back fiercer than ever as soon as he saw Nura again, so Nate did it again and again, never truly satisfied.

Megan kept bugging him to just cut the bullshit and ask Nura out before somebody else did, but he refused to do it.

If he was being honest with himself, which he tried not to, he had to admit that he was terrified of Nura. Because Nate knew that if he took her, one night would never be enough, and he couldn't do that again. He never wanted to tie himself to someone and risk losing them all over again.

He felt his blood boil as Danny's words came back, his jaw ticking and his hand twitching to slap the little shit for daring to insult her, even if he would never raise a hand on a woman when the girl in question suddenly turned around and Nate's eyes connect with her tearful ones.

His whole body screamed for him to jump over the stupid bar that separated them and scoop her in his arms, at the desolate look that crossed her pretty face, but before he could do anything, Nura's eyes, always so full of warmth, turned cold right before she turned around and left. Nate made a move to follow her, but as he tried to step away, Danny's hand on his stopped him.

"I am sorry for keeping you waiting, Nate. The girl tending the bar chose to leave in the middle of her shift. She is so irresponsible, I don't know why Mr. Jones chose to hire her." Danny said, and the anger that had vanished when Nura left came back in full force.

"Listen to me carefully, Daniel, because I will say this only once. If I hear you insult Nura again, if you sneer, glare, or even look at her the wrong way, I will have you permanently removed from this establishment. And don't even think about complaining to Megan because had she heard what you just said to Nura, you would have been already thrown out on the street."

Nate left the dumbfounded girl behind and made his way through the crowd, his eyes searching for Nura but coming up empty. He almost decided to give up, thinking she must have gone home already, when he caught a whiff of wild, curly hair peeking out from the crowd, close to the stairs that led outside.

She was standing there with some black guy, as the man whispered something in her ear that had her blushing to the roots of her hair before he extended his hand, which Nura took right away. Nate's heart started to pound, and his stomach began rolling when his brain finally registered what was about to happen.