Sweet Caroline

#24 Killer

"Don't go," I tell Nathan as he slips out of bed when he thinks I'm asleep. I was only faking so I could see if he was going to stick around after we slept together. I expected he might make a run for it, but it still hurts.

He turns around and looks down on me, his green eyes dots of lights in the dark room. "I need to get up early tomorrow," he says, his voice hoarse. "And if someone sees me get out of your place..."

"And by someone you mean Annabel." Christ. Why did I believe him when he said he wasn't sleeping with her? "Fine, go."

"Caroline..." Nathan grunt and sits backdown on the bed, his back to me. "I just don't want to get you into trouble. I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already are."

"What?" I sit up as well, holding up the blanket to cover myself. "You didn't hurt me."

"Not yet," he says, a warning in his voice. "What happens when people find out about us? When you lose your job? When your friends and parents don't approve of me?"

"Nathan..." I grunt and move over to him, hugging him from behind. He's already got his pants on, but his chest is still bare, and I dig my fingers into his skin. "You're getting ahead of yourself. This is technically still our first date. You'll probably get sick of me within the next few weeks. Let's not worry until we have to. Only a few people know and none of them will tell."

He leans into me and moves his hands to cover mine. "Are you sure you want this? You can still back out."

Where did confident, arrogant, smirking Nathan go? The man I'm seeing tonight is not the same man I used to sleep with before our date. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

"Nathan, I've been nothing but honest with you from the get-go." I make sure my voice is steady, no doubt slipping in. "I like you and I'm willing to throw caution to the wind. Stop creating problems."

"I'm not creating problems." He pulls my arms away from him so he can turn around and face me. His gaze moves to my breasts for a moment and I realize the blanket slipped down when I hugged him. He regains focus and sighs. "I don't think you quite grasp how people feel about me. You heard what Tiffany said. Your friend Shaughna hasn't even met me yet and she doesn't approve of me. The more people find out about us, the more people will tell you that you should find someone else."

"And you think I give a fuck about what other people think?" Why does he look so intensely sad? I move a hand to his face and softly touch him, caressing his cheek. "Is this about the fact that your kid is my student or about the stupid age gap?"

"Neither." His eyes bore into mine and it feels like he believes his next words will change everything. "It's about my criminal record."

"Oh," I breathe. I hadn't even given that much thought. "I told you that I don't care about that."

"You should."

Boy, he was really getting on my nerves. "Maybe you should stop telling me what I should feel or think or care about. Like I told you, it's my life. My choice. If you want to go next door to screw Annabel again, be my guest. Maybe she'll let you tell her what to do. I may like to get pushed around a bit in the bedroom, but that doesn't mean I don't have a mind of my own."

"Why do you keep being weird about Annabel?" He is still perfectly calm, although his expression is still profoundly sad. "I told you I didn't sleep with her."

"Then why were you over there while she was in her come-fuck-me-outfit?"

He chuckles at that description. "You mean that night that you were going out in a please-do-me-dress? Are you really telling me nothing happened that night between you and whatever guy you were heading out to see?"