Strings (1 of 2)

Chapter 22 - A Fire

I knock on the brown wood apartment door in front of me and wait.

After I spent the day with Anna making a list of things I need to buy for my NYC apartment, I decided to take Nathan up on his offer to come over. With everything that happened last night, I completely forgot about him and knowing that makes me feel a pang of guilt.

The fight with him Sunday and then Dean's engagement distracted me from the whole point of this arrangement and what I want my summer to be. Fun and happy. Tonight I am determined to focus on that. 

And after days alone, I miss him... in more ways than one.

I hear the door click as he unlocks it and he quickly pulls it open. I smile and my eyes roam his body eagerly. He wears his signature black jeans and a white t-shirt, his toned muscles and integrate black ink showing faintly underneath. 

He grabs my waist and pulls me through the doorway, closing the door behind him. He pushes me against the wall beside it, his body pressing on mine firmly, heat radiating from him. I place my hands on his forearms and smirk as his hands grip my hips tightly. I can see the hunger in his eyes, eager and waiting for me to arrive. Butterflies form in my stomach as his eyes scan over my body intently.

"Hi," I blush and reach up to meet his lips with my own. He moves his hand to cup my cheek, his fingers in my hair pulling me closer against him. I can taste his recent cigarette on his tongue as his mouth explores mine.

He moves to kiss my neck and I close my eyes, moaning quietly, and slip my hands under his shirt onto his warm back.

"I... missed... that... sound..." he says against my neck in between kisses, making my core tighten. His nose glides against my skin as he trails kisses down towards my chest, making my skin tingle in the best way.

The rush his touch gives me is something I have never felt before, a bigger high than any drug has given me. It ignites a flame deep in my core, a fire only he can start and put out.

"A week was too long." I say before pulling his face back up to mine eagerly.

Nathan pulls back slightly to stare into my eyes. I bite my lip and his eyes darken with lust as his large hands move slowly under my flowy blouse. I can't focus on anything else with his hands tightening around my waist as he lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his torso.

I move my lips back to his, kissing him deeply as I tug on his hair the way I know he likes. 

I feel my back lift off the wall as he walks us further into his apartment. I don't need to open my eyes to know where he is going...

---

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Finally! I'll get it!" I sit up excitedly, my head lifting off Nathan's stomach, but his arm snaked around my waist holds me back.

"Not in that, you aren't," he says smirking but his eyes tell me he is serious. I look down at his shirt barely covering my body and roll my eyes. "I'll go," he insists and untangles himself from me to get up.

His grey cotton pajama pants hang loosely off his toned hips as he walks out of his bedroom to the front door. I lay back and smile, admiring the view until he turns the corner, out of eyesight. I walk over to his white, dusty fridge and grab two Cokes from it.

"Thanks." I hear Nathan mumble before the door closes loudly and he clicks the lock in place. He walks back into the kitchen with two paper bags full of our Chinese takeout and nods his head toward the couch. I follow him to his blue couch with our drinks in hand and smile, taking in the aromas of the food. I'm starving...

He sits down close to the middle of the loveseat and I sit to his right, back against the armrest, angling to face him with my bare legs over his lap. His abs crunch as he leans forward to unwrap the bags and my stomach growls.

"Gimme! Gimme!" I beg impatiently and reach for whatever he pulls out first from the bag. He chuckles and hands me chopsticks as well.

"You're going to choke!" he laughs as I stuff an enormous amount of noodles into my mouth.

"So good! Have some," I say through mouthfuls.

He looks me over with an amused glint in his eyes. I must look like a pig, very un-ladylike, but I don't really care right now. "I don't know if there will be any left for me," he jokes, raising his eyebrows at the almost empty container.

"Hey!" I laugh and playfully smack his arm. "There is lots, pick a different box." I wave my arm towards the bags.

He opens a container of chicken balls and rests back against the couch. I lean forward and lightly kiss his cheek as a distraction while I steal a ball into my box.

"What was that fo-" he turns toward me and asks me grinning and then eyes my box before I can cover it up. "You little thief!"

I smile as I bite into it, holding eye contact with him, taunting him. "It just looked so good." I say with puppy dog eyes.

He shakes his head chuckling as he turns his attention back to his food, his forearms resting on my calves where he holds the container. I reach into the bag again and pull out a box of ginger beef and rice.

Nathan leans forward, brushing his lips against mine lightly. I pull back when I feel his hand hit the box I'm holding, knowing his next move, and I move it back before he can grab it from my grasp.

"Nice try, buddy," I gloat playfully, holding the box as far back behind my head as I can reach. 

Nathan sets his on the coffee table in front of us and smirks as he places his hands on my hips to yank me closer to him. 

"Two can play at that game." He smirks at me. 

I giggle and shake my head as he moves his hands further up my torso teasingly. He kisses me again, his teeth grazing my bottom lip softly and my stomach tightens in response. He grips the side of my face with one hand, while the other grips my waist.

I know exactly what he is doing... and it is working...

I place the box on the table without breaking our kiss. Moving one leg gently over his lap, I move up to straddle his hips, deepening our kiss. After a moment he pulls back and raises his eyebrows, smirking, knowing he won our game easily.

"I'm hungry for something else now." I say smiling and his eyes glitter as he gives me his wicked grin I love so much.

Author's Note:

Hope you liked this chapter!! Shorter chapter to throw in some cute, steamier moments. The past few chapters got deep, I want to lighten things up for a bit. Comment or message me if you want me to continue with the steamier scenes and get more graphic. I know Wattpad readers tend to like that stuff, so I will leave it up to my readers to tell me if they want it!

Also, 269 reads!!!! Thank you soooooo much! I can't believe Strings is almost at 300 reads... that seems so crazy to me. Just as crazy as when I got even 1 read! I value and appreciate every single one of my readers! Thank you!

Please remember to vote, comment, and share the book to friends!