Forbidden Attraction (Book 1)✔

♠Chapter 34♠

"I swear you are so whipped," Nate said, turning over one of the thin frames in his hands.

I sighed, looking over at him, "Am I not supposed to put thought into a gift?" I retorted tiredly, "A birthday present for that matter."

His response was a snicker. He shook his head, adding, "Just... calling it as it is." Before I could reply, he quickly said, "Come on, you really wanna undo the whole thing? It's perfect."

"But the frames would-"

"Dude," he cuts me off with a look, "I'm not helping you, because this is done." He gestures to the framed collage lying in the middle of the huge table, "She's gonna love it."

I frowned, eyeing the different size frames that I got. I got them because I thought framing the photos would make the whole thing more... presentable. I want it to be perfect. I've always been one to go above and beyond for my friends when a birthday comes around. I always start thinking beforehand about what they like and how I could get them something no one else would.

With Ari, I figured, since basically all her friends are gonna be off to college soon, she'd appreciate a collage of pictures of her with them. Some of them she didn't even know I took, and I knew she forgot I took most of them, so with that in mind, it'll be even better. She definitely won't be expecting this, and I'm counting on her thinking no one cares about her birthday to make this even more memorable.

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," he responded with a laugh, nodding.

Letting out a breath, I took a step back, eyeing the collage. "Fine," I waved, "I'll leave it."

Nate lets out a loud, exaggerated breath that made me roll my eyes. "The shit men do for love."

I made a face, turning my gaze to him, "What?"

"I don't mean it literally," he raises his hands defensively.

Scoffing, I started gathering the frames to put them away, "Thank God, the last thing I want to be peer pressured into next is being in love with her."

Thankfully, he changed the subject.

"This is my Saturday night," he voices loudly. He walked over to the couch and fell heavily on top of it, then maneuvered his body until he was lying on his back. He crossed his arms behind his head and kicked his legs over the arm of the couch.

"Actually, your Saturday night is us going back upstairs to make some chicken and fries." I turned to look at him with my arms held out, shrugging with my hands filled with frames.

I walked over to the shelf pushed against the back wall to put the frames away according to their size. Nate groaned loudly. I tilted my head back, "Fine! Chinese!" I called and shook my head when I heard him cheer lowly to himself.

"Would your mom be terribly put off by the idea of me inviting the squad?"

"Probably."

"Okay, I'll go ask her." He said excitedly, then I heard his feet on the stairs.

The lights went out, and I froze before shouting, "Nate!"

All I heard was his laugh before the basement door squeaked open then slammed shut. I shook my head and decided to fix the rest of the frames later so I can go talk my mom out of giving Nate his way.

With my arms partially outstretched, I tried maneuvering my way through the dark, blinking rapidly so my eyes could adjust. I remember the first couple of times he did this to me. I used to drop everything and hightail out of here, but I've gotten used to it over the years.