Chapter 66 I've missed him
“No you don’t.” I turn, brushing against his chest. “You made that pretty clear earlier.”
“You sure about that?” He stares down, looking deep into my eyes.
“Have you still got my panties in your pocket?”
He grins.
“Can I have them back?”
“What do you think?”
He spins me out, then pulls me back, hard into his chest.
My heart is beating out of mine.
“Why did you stop Steve from dancing with me?”
“Because he has work to do.” He pulls me even closer, his hand on my lower back.
I raise my eyebrow skeptically at him.
“Fine,” he exhales loudly. “Watching him dancing with you was driving me crazy.”
“He’s gay!” I exclaim.
“I don’t care if he’s a fuckin’ monk. I hated seeing his hands all over you. If he wasn’t so good at his job, I’d fire his ass,” he mutters.
“You’d fire Steve for dancing with me?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know you were so jealous.”
“Neither did I.”
I stare at him for a long moment. “For your information, I asked Steve to dance with me, and he only agreed to, to help distract me from your sexploits with your groupie.”
“You told him about us?” He looks surprised.
I shake my head, no. “He guessed, he’s not stupid.”
“Shame your boyfriend is.”
I give him a sharp look. “Don’t,” I warn him. “I’m not fighting with you again about this.”
“Why not? I think we’re pretty good at it. Even better at the making up. You felt amazing before, Shia,” he whispers close. “You always feel amazing, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, making you feel as good as you do me.”
My skin hums.
He’s so close. I can feel his heat all over me.
“You’re mine, Shia.”
“I thought you were done with me?” I say, making sure my voice is steady, even though my insides are trembling. “And after watching you with her, I’m feeling pretty done myself.”
I don’t mean it, but I’m hurting badly.
He stares down at me for a long moment. I see such a multitude of emotions pass over his face it’s hard to pin down an exact one.
Natte opens his mouth to speak, when I hear Will's voice come from behind him.
“Mind if I dance with my girl?”
I was so lost in Natte, I didn't register Will's approach.
I feel Natte’s body stiffen under my hands. He looks down at me, a myriad of emotions flicker through his eyes. Then he releases me and steps away.
“She’s all yours.”
There’s more meaning in those three words, than there has been in anything he’s said to me all night.
Panic rips through me. And all I can do is watch weakly, as Natte makes his way through the crowd, all eyes on him, as he heads straight to the bar.
Will pulls me into his arms.
I’m numb. Completely devoid.
“You looked amazing out here dancing with Steve and Natte,” he murmurs in my ear. “I was starting to get a little jealous.”
“It’s only Natte,” I downplay, even though inside I feel like I’m dying. “And you do realize Steve’s gay, don’t you? And your own girl is about to be laid tonight by someone else”
“Ah right.” I see the realization fire up in his eyes.
Will moves me around on the dance floor, and I catch sight of Natte. He’s doing tequila shots at the bar. He’s not looking anywhere in my direction. And he’s got company again.
Vanessa is back and hanging off him like a cheap suit.
Then I watch, with distasteful horror, as she dips her finger in Natte’s tequila glass, draws a wet line across her huge chest and pours the salt across it.
It’s like a car crash that I can’t take my eyes off, even though watching it is making me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.
And Natte, with Tim jeering him on, leans down and licks the salt off her chest, slowly. Then he grabs his shot and throws it back.
I feel a burning shot of jealousy and rage so intense that I just want to go over there and kick her ass. And Natte’s too.
A few minutes later Natte disappears to only god knows where, Will finishes the song with me and leaves I'm sure he's now after his live Terry, I'm about to leave the stage when I bump into a hard chest.
Geez, Guess who he is, it's my one and only mysterious night man, all sorts of emotions run through me, I've missed him, and seeing how Natte is acting towards me almost makes me sick. I'm happy seeing Pine here too
I turn away, burying my head into Pine’s neck, forcing back tears. I know what I'm doing is getting messy and out of hand but enough is enough I need to make a decision.
He holds me tighter. “I’ve missed you so much, darling,” he murmurs, running his fingers through my long hair and down my back.
I lift my head looking at him. “Me too.”
And I realize in this moment, I have missed him. So much.
My lovely sweet Pine.
He would never hurt me. He would never lick salt off the chests of long-legged redheads.
I’m safe with Pine.
I’ll always be safe with Pine.
I just have to let Natte go, and stay with him. It’s the right thing to do.
Life will always be simple, easy with Pine. He'll always show up at night, every night, he'll make love to me, I won't have to be miserable around Natte anymore.
I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him firmly on the lips. He wraps his arms around me, holding me tight to his body.
He tastes of beer, and his kiss feels exactly the same as always.
He’s nothing like Natte. Which is good I think.
Pine is sweet and lovely, but… no, something’s missing. And it’s been missing since Natte came back into my life, I now realize.