Page 17 of Fireworks

Chapter Six

*****

Katie

His body crashed into mine as he rolled, startling me awake. As his arm draped itself over my chest, his open palm landed directly on my breast. With my back to him, I could feel his hardness push against my ass as he pulled me closer.

When had we even fallen asleep?

The last thing I could remember was he was sitting on the other side of my makeshift bed while I was reading. It felt wrong to just lay here like this, not waking him. I had never felt so safe in someone’s arms before. I still hated him so much for all the shit he put me through.The missed opportunity with Collin today wasn’t feeling like such a disappointment right now. It wasn’t the first time I had aroused someone. This was the first time a steamy make-out session didn’t precede the incident.

I could hear his steady breathing as the warmth of his breath grazed my neck. He moved around, presumably waking up. His arm tightened around me as his face nuzzled into my neck. As I felt him stretch his leg, he leaped away from me. Rolling to the other side of the makeshift bed. Springing upright, his words came out panicked.

“I’m so sorry, didn’t mean to… I guess I was tired. Shit. Sorry.”

It was rare to see him get flustered, but as I sat up looking back at him, I enjoyed it more than I should.

“Relax, it's not like that’s the first time I’ve woken up to someone like that.”

My eyes wandered down to where his shorts created a tent in his lap. Suggestively, my eyebrow rose. His hands immediately shifted, trying to adjust himself to cover up the overly obvious arousal.

“Fuck.”

He mumbled under his breath before looking back at me.

“Wow, never thought I’d see the day that Nathan King would be embarrassed in a girl’s bed, well makeshift bed.”

The corner of my lip turned up as I tried to suppress a smirk.

“I’m not embarrassed, you're just not... Wait, what do you mean this isn’t the first time? Who the fuck have you been with?”

His protective, I’ll kick his ass attitude, took back over. That’s the Nate I was used to seeing.

“What do you care, anyway? I’m just not what? Your type? Someone you’d ever be interested in? What, because my panties didn’t drop at the door for you? That’s what you’re used to, right? You’re such a dick, Nate. It’s none of your business who I’ve been with.”

His body pivoted back to me as his hand rested on mine and his breathing halted. His eyes slowly rose to meet mine.

“That’s not what I was going to say. Can you please tell me you’re just kidding first? You haven’t...”

He swallowed hard as I watched his Adam's apple bob in his throat. I couldn’t tell if it embarrassed or scared him to continue.

“You’re still a...”

He looked back at me as if the words were poison on his tongue. Taking this perfect opportunity to talk to him when his guard was obviously down, I snapped back.

“I believe the word you’re looking for is virgin.”

My eyes locked onto his as I watched him shift uncomfortably. He shook his head yes, unable to say it out loud. The last time I saw him vulnerable like this was at his dad’s funeral. I almost felt bad putting him on the spot like this.

“Yeah, I am. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had the opportunity or woken up in a guy’s bed to him having a hard-on before. So don’t go thinking you’re special beingthe first.”

The instant I spoke, his shoulders fell back into a relaxed position, his hands immediately adjusting his baseball cap back onto his head.

“You wrote that weird note on my graduation card that I was never just Asher’s little sister too, so finish your thought. I’m not what? What am I to you then, Nathan? Please enlighten me.”

Folding my arms over my chest, I waited to hear exactly what he thought of me after all these years. Nothing that came out of his mouth would surprise me in all honesty. He had been giving me shit since he got back about how I dressed, who I was hanging out with, and how I was behaving with those people. If I wasn’t just his best friend's little sister, then what the hell else was I to him?

“Katie, you’re just..”

The door flung open, Asher standing on the other side.

“Where the fuck have you two been? I was texting you for the last two hours, man. Your mom wants us all to go out to dinner in like an hour. Any idea what it’s for?”

Nate stood up, walking to the door without saying a word to me. Holding his phone and shaking it in Asher’s direction, he spoke as if we hadn’t just been in the middle of an intense conversation.

“Phones dead sorry, no idea what she’s taking us out for but, hey I’ll take a free meal.”

The two of them walked out of the room like I wasn’t even there.

You have got to be kidding me. I finally get the courage to say something to him. I get him pinned in the corner and my brother shows him an alternative escape route. Picking up my phone, I wanted to throw it against the wall out of frustration. I was so sick of the way Nate treated me. One minute, he seemed like he cared about me and the next, I was invisible.