Enjoying the Chase (23 page)

“Yeah, he
’
ll go back to sleep. I
’
m
thinking maybe you should go,” I said, looking at him apologetically.

His eyes searched mine for a few seconds
before he spoke. “
But we
’
re okay though, right?” he asked, looking at me hopefully.

I smiled and pushed myself up, sitting on
his stomach, straddling him. The feel of him pressed so intimately between my
legs was making me even crazier. I had always been a sexual person, but since
Josh I just
hadn’t
want
ed
to
put myself in that situation again.

“We
’
re fine,
” I confirmed, smiling.

He laughed. “Yes, we are,”
he said,
grasping my thighs in his hands
.

“Get out of my place,” I teased, getting to
my feet and holding both hands down to help him up. This time I braced myself
in case he pulled me again, but he didn
’
t.

I led him over to the door, leaning against
the wall as he stepped closer to me again, one hand on the doorknob ready to
open it.

“Rose?”

I chewed on my lip at the sound of that
word. No one had ever called me Rose before, always Rosie, but I loved the
sound of it in his smooth silky voice. “Yeah?”

“
I was wondering
…” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, frowning
uncomfortably.

“
Wondering?
” I prompted when he didn
’
t carry on.

He sighed and his baby blue eyes locked
right onto mine, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up because of the
level of intensity I could see there. “I was wondering if you would be
exclusive with me.”

Shock radiated through my body. I hadn
’
t expected that word to come from his mouth,
ever. His hopeful expression was so unlike the cocky, overconfident guy that I
’
d met at the hospital a few weeks ago.

I hid the smile that was trying to break
out on my face. “I
’
m not sure. I
’
ll have to think about it,”
I replied, reaching for the door handle.

He swallowed loudly. “Er… right… yeah… of
course… that
’
s fine…” He rubbed
the back of his neck a little harder as he stepped past me, out of the door. “I
’
ll call you tomorrow, if that
’
s okay?” He suddenly looked a little unsure of
himself. He
’
d probably never been
rejected before. 

I nodded, and he turned to walk off. He got
about two steps away from me before I called him to stop. “Officer Peters?” He
turned and looked at me. “I
’
ve
thought about it and I
’
d actually
really like to be exclusive with you.”

A slow smile stretched across his face, the
cockiness back in full force as he stepped into my personal space, pressing his
chest against mine.

“Of course you would. There
’
s not a girl in the world that can resist me.
You
’
re the only one that
’
s made me work for it,” he joked, gripping my
chin and tilting my head up. “But I have a feeling that you
’
re worth waiting for, and I know I
’
m worth waiting for. So it
’
s all good.”

His words were repeating in my head, the
promise in his words made my body respond to of its own accord.
‘I know I
’
m worth waiting for
’
.
My mouth started
to water as places in my body that hadn
’
t been touched by anyone for so long, started to wake up and ache,
begging for attention. I knew one thing for sure – Nate was going to be
incredible in bed. I guess I
’
d
find out at some point, if he could stick to his word and wait for me.

“Just go home. Call me tomorrow,” I
said,
trying to appear aloof even though I felt anything but.

“Okay, sleep well. And no moaning my name
when I
’
m not here,” he teased,
planting a quick kiss on my forehead.

“Night.” I smiled and tried not to give
away that there was a very good chance that I was going to have to do a little
relieving of my own before I would be able to fall asleep. My body hadn
’
t been this excited for years and sleep was
the last thing on my mind.

“Night.” He smiled at me one last time
before he turned and headed down the hall.

Instead of heading back inside, I leant on
the doorframe and watched him walk down the hallway towards the stairs at the
end. At the top of the stairs, he raised one hand in celebration and pumped the
air a couple of times with a muffled little “Yessssss!”

I giggled and quickly headed inside. He
probably hadn
’
t realised I was
still there and had witnessed that last little bit. I was glad I did though.
Seeing him excited about us officially dating, made me more excited about it.
Maybe he wasn
’
t playing me after
all.

Chapter
Fourteen

~ Nate ~

When I woke in the morning the first
thought I had was of Rosie. Before I even got out of bed, I texted her to see
if I could see her tonight. We messaged back and forth for a little while, and
finally agreed that I would go to her place after DJ was asleep. I sighed,
unable to keep the contented smile off my face – though it did seem like hours
before I could see her again. Today was Sunday, and I wasn’t working, so I had
all day to entertain myself before then.

I reluctantly pushed myself out of the bed,
already bored by the prospect of doing nothing all day. But then a great idea
hit me; I hadn
’
t seen Cameron for
almost a week, so I
’
d go hang out
with the Taylors.

I showered quickly, and then called them to
make sure I could go there. As I walked out of my bedroom, I frowned, looking
around my messy apartment; Rosie had certainly hit the nail on the head when
she
’
d called me a slob.

I had moved out of my parents
’
place when I was eighteen, sharing this
apartment with Ashton, and I had never quite managed to master the art of
clearing up after myself. It had gotten worse when he moved out a few years
back. At least when we shared the apartment, he used to tidy up after me a
little, but now things just piled up on the side.

Before leaving the apartment, I decided I
should start making a little more effort. I wouldn
’
t ever be able to invite Rosie over while the place was in this
state. I picked up the cups and plates from the table and put them in the sink,
before grabbing a trash bag and discarding all of the old newspapers, junk mail
and magazines that I had just casually ‘stacked
’
on the floor.

After making a small dent in the pit that I
called home, I headed over to Ashton
’
s place at about eleven. When Anna opened the door I immediately
swept her into a hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around in a
little circle. She laughed, gripping my shoulders as I kissed the side of her
head, setting her down onto her feet again.

“What was that for?” she asked, shaking her
head at me as if I
’
d lost my mind.

I grinned, shrugging as I closed the door
behind me. “That was for having the most amazing best friend in the world.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Rosie?”

“Yep, Rosie. Or as she is also now known
as, Nate
’
s girlfriend!
” I gloated, ruffling her hair as I turned towards the lounge.

She gasped and grabbed my hand, making me
stop and look at her. “You and Rosie? Seriously?”

I smirked at her smugly.
“Yep!”

Anna frowned
.
“Nate,
you know I love you, but-”

I smiled and held up a hand, cutting her
off before she could finish. “Anna, look I know you have feelings for me, and
to be honest, who could blame you. But the thing is, you
’
re married to my best friend so nothing can ever happen between us,”
I joked.

“Ha-ha. You
’
re funny
.
”

“I know.”

“I
’
m being serious here though, Nate. If you hurt my best friend, you
’
re going to lose the ability to reproduce,”
she warned.

I laughed and tried not to wince at the
hard look in her eye. “Why is everyone assuming that I
’
m going to hurt her? Maybe she
’
ll hurt me
.
”

Anna
’
s eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, Nate Peters?”

I put my hand over my heart, faking hurt.
“Annabelle Taylor, you know me better than to think I
’
m up to anything!” I scolded playfully. She opened her mouth to say
something, so I slung my arm around her shoulder and shook my head. “Look, I
like her. She
’
s great. We
’
re taking it slow. I asked her out last night
and she said yes. Stop looking at me like I just ran over your cat
.
” 

She sighed and slipped her arm around my
waist. “Fine, but, just so you know, if you hurt her I
’
m gonna get my husband to kick your butt.”

“He could try,” I teased, puffing out my
chest, trying to look manly.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, pulling me
into the lounge.

“Are you cooking today?” I probed, praying
she
’
d say yes. I rubbed my stomach
and gave her the look that she always seemed to fall for, the look that made my
mom break out the homemade pie when I went round to visit. “I haven
’
t eaten anything nice in ages. I think I
’
m starting to get anaemic through lack of
nutrients.”

She
shook her
head. “I
’
m actually
going out today, but Ashton will cook for you.” She giggled wickedly.

I groaned and shook my head quickly. I
’
d lived with the guy for four years; I couldn
’
t eat another thing that he cooked.

“I
’
d rather just take an iron pill,” I grumbled.

Ashton appeared from nowhere and punched me
in the top of my arm hard enough to make me wince. “Stop bitching about my
cooking,” he instructed,
smirking
at
me.

“Stop cooking and I
’
ll stop bitching about it.”

Anna just held up both hands to silence us.
“I
’
m going. You boys look after my
baby and no fighting or playing killing games on the PS4 while he
’
s in the room, he
’
ll have nightmares,” she said sternly.

“Where are you off to?” I asked, watching
as she gripped the front of Ashton
’
s T-shirt and pulled him closer to her. She kissed him, and his arm
looped around her, his hand snaking down to her butt as if they forgot I was in
the room. I cleared my throat loudly. “Mind if I tape this and put it on
YouTube?”

Anna pulled back
from Ashton
and smiled.
“I
’
m going to visit my best friend, who apparently is also now known as
Nate
’
s girlfriend,
” she stated, winking at Ashton as his mouth dropped open in shock
too.

I frowned at her answer. Anna got to go
there during the day, yet I had to wait until after hours? That hardly seemed
fair! “Really?” I
frowned
.

“Yep. DJ wants a picture drawn on his cast
and-” she stopped talking suddenly and her eyes widened.

“What?” I asked, prompting her to carry on.

“You do know about DJ now, right?” she
winced. 

“Yeah, I know about DJ.”

She blew out a big breath. “Great, okay, I
know she was waiting to tell you, I didn
’
t want to open my mouth and drop the news before she did.”

“Stop worrying. I know all about her little
brother and his broken arm,” I
deadpanned
. Anna
looked suddenly nervous
. I burst out laughing. “
Your face!
I know he’s her son.
”

She scowled at me and slapped me in the
chest with her purse. “That wasn
’
t
funny! Damn it, Nate!
” she scolded.

I held my hands up innocently. “What
’
s with all the beatings today? This is
physical abuse. I came here to visit my godson, and I
’
ve been punched in the arm twice, had the threat of poisoning,” I
smirked
in Ashton
’
s direction when I said that, “and hit by a girl, twice. This is
really going beyond the call of a best friend
’
s duty you know. I think I
’
m going to have to report it.” I shook my head sadly to make my
point.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Okay whatever, I
’
m going. See you later.” She kissed Ashton
again before turning for the door. 

“Okay, Rick
’
s just downstairs waiting for you. Love you,” Ashton called, as she
shot him a little wave and picked up what looked like a bag of art supplies
before heading out the door. 

When I turned my attention to Ashton, I saw
he was looking at me sternly. “You
’
d better not hurt her, Nate. Rosie
’
s awesome. She has a lot of problems to deal with, she doesn
’
t need you dicking her around
.
”

I nodded. “I know she does, I heard all
about that Josh guy.”

Ashton snorted, muttering the word prick
under his breath when I said Josh
’
s
name. “So you
’
re serious about her
then?” he asked, as I made my way over to the little bassinette in the corner
and looked at a sleeping Cameron.

“Yep, she
’
s great,” I confirmed. I looked back at Ashton. “Can I pick him up?”

He nodded and settled with his hands behind
his head on the sofa. “Yeah, but if he cries then you can get him back to
sleep.” He smiled challengingly, and I was suddenly unsure if I should touch
him. Ashton laughed. “Go on, pick him up, he won
’
t wake up for another hour when he
’
s due for his food. The boy eats like me; he only wakes up when he
’
s hungry.
”

I smiled and winced as I slipped my hands
under him and picked him up. He didn
’
t even stir as I jostled him to get him comfortable in the crook of
my arm.

Ashton motioned at Cameron.
“You need to get you one of those.”

I snorted. “Gonna take me a while
,
even if I wanted one
. I
’
m not gonna be getting any for a while,” I muttered, frowning and
playing with Cameron
’
s hand.

Ashton sat forward. “What
’
s that supposed to mean?”

I launched into the whole tale of Rosie not
sleeping with a guy unless she was in love with him. When I got to the part
where I
’
d promised to wait for
her, he burst out laughing. I quickly covered Cameron
’
s ear softly as he jumped slightly in my arms.

“
Shh, dude! I don’
t know how to get him back to sleep if he wakes up!” I hissed
worriedly, praying Cameron would stay asleep. This, of course, made Ashton
laugh harder. 

“Peters, you
’
re not gonna last,” he stated, shaking his head animatedly.

I frowned.
Does no one have any
confidence in me?

“I will. I won
’
t cheat on her. It can
’
t
take that long to fall in love with someone. A few weeks at most, right?”
Ashton snickered in response and nodded.
Oh shit, that doesn
’
t look good.
“Two months?”

He shrugged. “Took Anna five months to
realise she was in love with me.”

Five months? Wow that
’
s a long time to go without sex! This is going
to kill me.
S
till, s
he was
incredible, and I wasn
’
t going to
blow my chance. If it all worked out, then five months of being celibate would
be worth it in the long run. 

I put my head back on the sofa and pictured
her face, her smile, and the way she tasted when she kissed me. She was totally
worth the wait, I could tell that about her. “It
’
ll be fine,” I said confidently.

He patted my shoulder and smiled. “If you
really like her then I
’
m pleased
for you. She
’
s a really great girl
and has been an incredible friend to Anna. DJ
’
s great too, isn
’
t he?
” He smiled fondly at the mention of Rosie
’s
son.

“I haven
’
t met him yet. I saw him at the hospital when he hurt his arm, but I
didn
’
t stick around.” I winced as
I thought about me running off and going straight to the bar
and, well..
.