Sweet Caroline

#9 I will miss you

This time, we eat dinner properly, at the table, both on different sides of the table. Nathan keeps telling me how amazing the food tastes, scarfing down so much that I can't help but wonder how he manages to look so fit when he eats like a pig. If I ate like that I wouldn't look the way I did, that's for sure. He must work out.

We talk during dinner, but not about ourselves. Not really. Every time I ask him a question about himself, he compliments the food again and talks about something else. By the end of dinner, I know all his favorite foods, his favorite color – blue, the color of my eyes, no matter how cheesy that is – and he's told me all about his childhood dog Chewy. I still don't know his last name, or his sister's name, or how his dad died. He doesn't ask me anything personal, just chatting easily about movies we've both seen and cracking jokes.

I'm not sure if I'm happy or annoyed with how things turned out today. Both, maybe.

"What's your last name?" I finally ask in the middle of a story he's telling about a friend of his who broke his leg during a ski trip.

He sighs and looks me in the eye. "Why do you want to know? So you and your friend can google the hell out of me? I don't think so."

"You know my last name," I complain. He heard it when I introduced myself to Annabel.

"Yeah, but I am not going to google you."

"Oh, so you don't trust me?" I say, pointing at him with my fork. "That's hurtful."

"First of all, why would you need my last name if you don't want to look me up?" He laughs when he sees my face fall. "Second of all, we barely know each other. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," I say instantly. I know it's stupid, but I do. He's such a strong and calming presence and he was so attentive to my needs when we slept together that I can't help it. I trust him.

"Oh," Nathan breathes, stunned into silence.

We just stare at each other for a while, not sure what to say. He clears his throat after a while, pushing his plate away.

"I'm stuffed," he says lightly, moving through the awkwardness. "Thank you for cooking. This was lovely. How about I clean up and you... I don't know, what do you like to do?"

"That's okay." I'm already getting up to clear the plates. "I'm sure you've got lots of stuff left to do next door. I'm fine cleaning up on my own."

"No," Nathan decides, his green eyes twinkling. "I don't like that idea at all." He yanks the plates out of my hands and puts them back down. He grabs my ass and pulls me against him, his hard-on pushing against me. "Let's just leave the dishes and take a shower."

"Okay." I'm not gonna complain if he wants to get right down to it. God knows my panties are already wet from just his hands on my ass.

We don't move slow this time around. We both undress and he grabs a condom from his pocket. The moment we're in the shower together, he picks me up and slams me against the wall. My legs fit perfectly around him and he pushes into me like we've been doing this for years instead of this being our second time. He grunts and slides himself in and out of me with his eyes closed, enjoying the feeling. I keep my eyes wide open, wanting to watch him while he comes. I moan when he shudders and inches closer to his relief, fingers digging into my skin when he does.

It takes him a moment to recover, but when he finally puts me down and takes off the condom, I can tell he's not done with me yet.

"Let's take care of you now," he grunts.

"It's okay," I say, even though I really want him to. I know how guys get once they got what they wanted. Danny usually fell asleep right after. I don't want Nathan to feel like he owes me anything. He doesn't.