Nate (A Texas Jacks Novel) (17 page)

Crickets.

No one makes a sound for like a full five seconds before they both are high-fiving the other. “Well? What are you waiting for?” Halley asks as she’s pushing me into the recliner, right before they both make themselves at home on the couch. “Was it sweet? Was it straight up hot as sin? Don’t leave your girls hanging!”

“Best kiss ever! Does that work for you?” They both stare at me with wide eyes. “Really though, the date was very sweet,” I say, as I tuck my stocking feet up and under me on the chair. “He had a picnic set up and waiting for us at his friend’s ranch in Dixon. We talked a little, ate dinner, watched the sunset, and danced in the truck’s headlights as our spotlight. He even had mason jars with candles burning in them for a romantic setting. Then, he told me he was going to kiss me right before he slammed his lips on to mine.”

“Wow.” Naomi whispers. “Who knew Nate was so romantic like that!”

“I’m impressed.” Halley says, as she regards the happy look on my face. “Did he walk you to your door and kiss you one last time?”

“He walked me to the door and kissed me on the cheek before we said goodnight. He waited until I had my door locked before he left.” I tell them, as I sip my hot cocoa.

“Any future plans?” Naomi asks.

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” I say right before I take a big whopping bite of my sandwich.
Mmm, so good.
It’s a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant. “He’s taking me out tonight to
T.J.
’s.”

They look at each other, then both break out into knowing smiles.

“What?” I ask suspiciously, around another bite of my sandwich.

“Oh, I’m sure his friends will be there, too. That means we should all go and hang out.” Halley says, with her own secret smile. I narrow my eyes at her.

“Halley, is there something you want to share with the rest of the class?” I have a suspicion that she and Holt have something going on, but it’s yet to be confirmed.

“Trust me, if there was, you both would be the first to know. For now, it’s all fun, harmless flirting when we run into them or via texts. Holt hasn’t asked me out yet. I think he may be a bit of a player. You know, every group has to have at least one, and I think he’s our group’s playa–playa.” She gives a saucy wink and a bit of an over done laugh.
Mmm–hmm, sure.
I thought she was developing feelings for him. “Anyway, enough of that arrogant hothead. Time to move on to something fun to do until it’s time to hang out with the guys later.”

“Whoa. Back the train up. Who says we’re all hanging out later? Nathan asked
me
out. He’s also picking me up tonight.”

“No need to get in a tizzy. We’re going to show up on our own and hang out with the other guys, if you want to join us. No pressure. Don’t worry, we would never infringe on your date. We like Nate too much to interfere. We’re all for Operation Nate the Great.” I cringe once I hear the silly name they came up with.
Great
.
Well,
what can I do?
They are my best friends, and they both want the best for me.

“Fine,” I give in. “What did we want to do today?”

“Well,” Naomi slowly draws out the word, “we were thinking that we wanted to check out the race track. You know, the one that Tucker is always at.” They both laugh.

“Why are you two laughing? What did I miss?”

“Oh, just his crazy ex-girlfriend, Lisa.” Halley rolls her eyes.

“Wait, when did you run into her?” I don’t recall having a conversation about them meeting his ex, or going to the track.

“Well, you’ve been busy and preoccupied with Nate, I guess it’s slipped our minds.” Naomi looks a bit guilty for not sharing their outing with me. “We went out there the other day, as he invited us to come chill with him. Though, now I wonder if it was to help scare off his ex?” Naomi fills me in, but is now contemplating his real motives.

“Maybe he really did want to hang out and it had nothing to do with her. Don’t over think it.” Halley warns her. “Remember, this is Tucker were talking about,” she laughs. “It’s not complicated like that with him.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re right. I just had a stupid moment there.” Naomi assures us. But now I want to know more about this woman.

“Why, is she crazy? Is she stalkerish?” I raise an eyebrow, trying to figure out what the looks on their faces are all about.

“Yes!” It’s Naomi’s turn to groan as she flops back against the couch. “She’s a crazy bike bunny who wants Tucker to marry her. She totally doesn’t take a hint, either.”

“Last time we were out there, he pretended he didn’t hear her when she was practically screaming out his name,” Halley explains. “He was trying to hide from her every chance he got. At one point, she got up all close and personal with him, trying to hold on to his biceps. She was falling all over him, and he couldn’t get away fast enough. He kept giving us looks, but all we could do was laugh behind our hands.”

“It’s not like we could pull the piranha off of him. She really didn’t appreciate the fact that we were both there, and she didn’t believe that both of us were his friends, even though Holt and Nate were hanging with us. You should see her, with her orange glow tan, bleached out hair, and long nails. She’s a typical cliché.”

“Poor Tucker. I can’t see him dating someone who looks like that.” I say, making a face at the thought that orange skin on anyone is not attractive.
Too much tanning bed time!

“Well, she didn’t used to look like that. She was a lot prettier. I saw a photo of her online. We teased the heck out of Tucker about it until he pulled up photos on Facebook to prove that she wasn’t always a toxic color,” says Naomi. “What’s that look for, Charlie?”

I wince, knowing I’ve been caught. Sighing, I decide to air out my worries. “Do you think that Nathan has any girls like that in his dating past? I know he is always at the track too, and it makes me wonder if he was into the bike bunnies.”
Great, now I’m stressing out over something stupid
.

“The past is the past, hon,” Halley gently reminds me. “You can’t worry about something that won’t affect you now and something you can’t change if he did. It’s past tense. If you’re truly worried, why don’t you come down with us to the track and check it out? See the guys and what goes on down there. It’s fun, and to be honest, I didn’t see him paying attention to any of the ladies while we were there. He was too focused on his bike and the track.” She reassures me.

I nod my head slowly, as I think about what she says. So far, Nathan seems like the type who wouldn’t lie, or try to make every girl feel special just to do so. “You’re right, I’m just being silly. Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Sweet! Go get ready. They plan to go down there in an hour.” Halley is overjoyed that I’m coming along.

The guys and I are all sitting around, watching other riders use the track. There’s a large group of us catching up—both guys and girls. Though, we’re all on the lookout for crazy Lisa. Everyone at the track knows to warn us the moment they see her.

We’ve been here close to an hour when I see three familiar ladies stroll into my line of sight. Holt’s too busy chatting up one of the bike bunnies, and Tucker’s talking with some of the guys, so they have no clue who’s making their way towards us. I stay where I’m sitting with the stupidest grin on my face. I really wasn’t expecting to see her until later tonight.
Why didn’t I think about bringing her out here sooner?
The other two had been out here before and seemed to fit in just fine. Sometimes I can be dense, I suppose. This is my place to just
be
. It should have occurred to me to share it with her, too. Unless, deep down, I knew I wasn’t ready for that.

At any rate, it’s too late now because she’s here and she looks worried as she watches the other girls walking around in cut-off short shorts and bikini tops. I watch her making some faces at the chicks as they walk by, causing me to bite my lip so I don’t ruin it with my laughter. I love watching her reactions. Then she looks out at the track in time to watch a few riders fly by on their bikes. Now she looks like she’s ready to throw up. I see Halley nudge her and point in our direction. The instant she sees me, she lights up like the sky on the Fourth of July.

That knocks me off kilter for a moment before I stand up, waiting for them to make their way to us. The moment she’s within reaching distance, I lift her up into my arms, giving her a bone-crushing hug as I swing her around. Setting her back on her feet, but not letting go of her, I ask, “What are you doing out here, short stuff? I thought we were meeting up later.”

“Well, we were. Umm—I mean, we still are. The girls wanted to come hang out, and invited me along. Though, now I might regret it if you take to the track. I’m not so sure I like that part just yet.” She worries her lip until I pluck it out from under her teeth and lean down to nip her bottom lip, and then kiss the sting. She smiles up at me, and then buries her face into my chest. I shake with silent laughter, hugging her a little more. “I thought you would be happy to see me.” She says it a bit too cautiously.

“Believe me, I’m happy you’re here. I was just asking myself why I didn’t think of it first.”

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” One of the girls who’s always trying to catch my attention wanders over, eyeing up all three of the girls. “I’ve seen the two of you around,” she nods to Halley and Naomi. “I haven’t seen
you
around, sweetheart.” She focuses her glare back on Charlie as she checks her out and seems to find her lacking. That chafes me, but I’m not going to say anything just yet, unless it gets too catty.

I feel Charlie tense up at the use of the nickname I call her and watch her face as she scrutinizes the other woman right back. “And who might you be?” she asks a bit too sweetly. I can tell Charlie is not a fan. That’s good, because neither am I. This chick wants the cowboy who wears the biggest buckle. She knows most of us race in competitions, whether it’s on the track or participating in rodeos.

“Shelly, sweetie. How long have you’ve known Nate?” She narrows her eyes at Charlie, then at me. “I don’t recall ever seeing you here before.”

“Now that’s not any of your concern,” I decide to enter the conversation so it can’t sprout feet and take off into the unknown. “Why don’t you go find Chase? I hear he’s slotted to win the next race when he goes to nationals.” I see her eye twitch a bit, but other than that, she doesn’t show any other emotion towards what she just learned.

“Nate, I don’t know why you’re always trying to brush me off. You know you’re the only man I want. Anyway, I see you’re busy now, but later, when you send your little groupie home, give me a call. You still have my number, right?” She smiles up at me all sugary sweet, then runs her hand over my arm before she flounces off in a different direction than the one she came in.

Charlie starts to pull away, but I hold on to her so she can’t escape. “Charlotte, don’t let her get to you. She’s just trying to rile you up, and see? It’s working. There’s nothing going on there. There hasn’t been, nor will ever be. She’s an annoyance who tries her hardest to get my attention. Don’t let her get yours.” I kiss the top of her head and look over to see Tucker and Holt, as they silently stood by, watching the exchange.

“Shelly was tame compared to Lisa, don’t you think, Naomi?” Halley winks at me, trying to break up the tension.

“Lisa?” We hear Tucker groans. “Please don’t tell me you saw her on your way in.” His eyes dart all over the place.

“Relax, big guy, we didn’t see her.” Naomi reassures him. He takes a deep breath in and then lets it out as he swings an arm around Naomi, pulling her into him and nuzzling her cheek.

I feel my eyebrows rise at the show of intimate affection he’s showering on her.
When did this happen?
I clear my throat, grabbing his attention before he smiles over at me sheepishly, but he never lets her go.
Interesting.
I think we need a guy’s night, and soon. I look down at Charlie and raise an eyebrow to see if she knows anything. She just shakes her head, letting me know she’s just as clueless.