Page 11 of Matched (LSU #5)

I couldn’t stop my grin when I saw Nate leaning up against a tree, a backwards cap jammed on his head, his hands shoved in the pockets of his shorts, and his bike dumped carelessly at his feet.

His eyes were covered by sunglasses, but I saw his mouth curve into a smile when he caught sight of me pedalling towards him. My stomach felt…giddy. It was weird.

Hopping off my bike when I reached him, I held out my hand for a fist bump. Nate laughed, tapping his knuckles against mine.

“Is that how we greet each other now?”

I shrugged. “It’s hard to navigate the not-date etiquette.”

“Not-date etiquette.” He laughed again, and a warm, shivery feeling spread through me. It couldn’t be, could it? Fuck. No. There was no way.

“Uh.” Clearing my throat, I squeezed my bike’s brakes. Just to test them. Not because I was suddenly flustered. I’d never been more glad for my own sunglasses. “Yep, brakes all working.”

“Always useful when you want to stop,” Nate commented. The next second, a wide yawn overtook his face. “Fucking hell. I’m so tired. Did you get any sleep this morning?”

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Maybe we should’ve done this another time so you could sleep.” There was no way I could say I just wanted to see you after we spent all night talking without it sounding weird.

Straightening up, he rubbed his hand across his mouth, stifling another yawn. “I don’t mind. Caffeine helps, and I’m just gonna power through and make up for it with an early night tonight. I’ve done enough of it this year, pulling all-nighters to get my assignments done. I work best that way.”

“Me too. Okay, if you’re sure you’re good with it, why don’t we cycle to the cafe so we can get you a coffee, and then you can give me my first mugging lesson.”

Nate grinned at me, shaking his head as he bent down to pick up his bike. “One day, someone’s gonna hear you talking about me being a mugger, and then we’ll both be in trouble.”

“ We will? I’m not the mugger.”

Wheeling his bike over to mine, he stopped right next to me, dipping his head to my ear. “You’re my accomplice, Pinball Prince.”

I shivered again and quickly moved my bike away from his, so I could no longer feel his body heat. “Whatever you say.”

With a laugh, he swung his leg over his bike, the muscles in his legs flexing. “You’re so tanned,” my mouth said before my brain could catch up.

“Uh…I am?” He shrugged. “I guess so, yeah. I spend a lot of time outside. Speaking of…I know you said before about wanting to play football and not being able to, so I brought a ball with me. It’s in my bag. I thought we could have a kick around later, if you wanted to.”

My stomach flipped. “That would be great,” I said, much more softly than I’d planned. “But first, let’s kick off our third date with caffeine. Race you there.” With that, I jumped on my bike and began pedalling as hard as I could.

“You’re going the wrong way,” Nate called, effortlessly catching up with me. Bastard. How was he so good at everything?

“I am?”

“Yeah. The cafe’s that way.” He jerked his head to the right, and slowing down my manic pace, I steered my bike in the indicated direction. By the time we reached the cafe, we’d slowed right down, cycling next to each other so we could talk at the same time.

Nate disappeared inside the cafe while I waited with the bikes, returning with two iced lattes. It was a warm day, and I was already overheated from all the cycling, so it was exactly what I needed.

We slowly wheeled our bikes along the path, sipping our coffees, and I caught Nate up on my night out at the club while he told me about his cousin’s party.

It was so easy to fall into conversation with him, and somehow, the time seemed to fly by while we were talking in a way I’d never really experienced with anyone before.

“Let’s stop over there.” Nate pointed towards a large, empty patch of grass just off the path with several large trees shading the edge of the space. “We can leave our bikes under the trees and have a kick around.”

“Okay.” After dumping my empty coffee cup in the nearest recycling bin, I wheeled my bike over to the tree and propped it up against the trunk. When Nate joined me, he unzipped his backpack, pulling out a ball.

“Fuck me, it’s hot today.” Dropping the ball to the grass, he lifted his shirt, pulling it over his head, and I was suddenly faced with miles of tanned, smooth skin and toned muscles.

“Fucking hell,” I whispered, swallowing hard.

“Huh?”

“Oh. Uh…you’re really fucking fit, you know.”

“Yeah, you told me that on our second date.” He shot me a grin. “It’s not like you have anything to worry about. I told you that already. Have you tried using that mirror I mentioned?”

There was nothing for it. I steeled myself, tugging my own T-shirt off, leaving me in just my shorts and trainers.

Nate fell silent as he stared at me with his lips slightly parted. His sunglasses were way too dark for me to work out his expression, but I could feel his gaze boring into me, sweeping down my body.

“Okay, I know I don’t have the body of an underwear model like you do, but I didn’t realise it was going to shock you speechless,” I said, attempting a laugh that came out a little shaky.

He swallowed, and my gaze was drawn to the way his Adam’s apple moved. What was it about his throat that always seemed to catch my eye?

“Fuck off,” he said, swiping his tongue across his lips before he continued. “You’re fit as fuck.”

Whoa. I’d said the same thing to him in the pub, but there was something about that low rasp in his voice— “Fit as in physically fit or sexy fit?”

“Both. Fuck. No.” Rubbing his hand over his mouth, he groaned. “You know. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Hey, my date thinks I’m hot. That’s always a good sign.

” I elbowed him in an attempt to release the weird tension between us, and it worked…

except for the fact that my bare skin slid against his in a really distracting way.

Who knew that jabbing someone in the side with your elbow could be weirdly hot?

And he was a man. It was all very fucking strange.

I would blame it on sunstroke, but we were currently in the shade, and the temperature in the sun was warm rather than heatstroke-inducing.

“You think I’m hot,” he countered, relaxing as he tapped the ball with his foot, sending it rolling across the grass.

“Dude, anyone with eyes thinks you’re hot. You could give Jordan Emery a run for his money.”

“Yeah? That would be the life. An underwear model and Premier League footballer?”

“If architecture doesn’t work out, that could be your backup plan,” I told him as I removed my sunglasses, dropping them next to my T-shirt.

Nate jogged over to the ball and began dribbling it into the centre of the open space. “I’m too old to become a professional footballer now. Guess I’ll have to stick with my original plan.”

I watched his back muscles moving and flexing in the sunlight, a light sheen of sweat making his skin almost look as if it was glowing.

Or sparkling, like those vampires my sister had been obsessed with at one point.

Laughing to myself, I chased after Nate.

I was pretty sure he wouldn’t want me comparing him to a sparkly vampire, so I kept that to myself.

Some thoughts should remain in your head and never be spoken aloud.

I tackled Nate, our bare skin sliding together again as I managed to kick the ball away from him. It made me distracted, and he was easily able to regain possession of the ball. Okay. Focus, Charlie .

“Watch out, Glover,” I called, coming up behind him and ducking around his body. I swiped my foot out, the toe of my trainer connecting with the ball for a second before Nate kicked it away from me.

“Call that a tackle? Try harder, Brooks. My grandma could move faster than that.”

“Ref! The opposition is heckling me. Yellow card!”

“That was not heckling,” Nate panted, throwing the words over his shoulder as he sped up, racing across the grass. Putting on my own burst of speed, I came at him at an angle, darting around his body and booting the ball away from us both.

“Fucker!” He grabbed me from behind, his fingers slipping for purchase on my bare skin. The sudden, unexpected shock of contact made me stumble, and then his arms came around me properly, steadying me. “Whoa. Careful.”

“Yeah.” We stood still, both breathing hard. Nate was still holding onto me.

Nate was still holding onto me .

A loud bark made us spring away from each other. A shout followed the bark, and something golden brown streaked past our feet, carrying?—

“My ball.” Nate sighed. “Looks like it’s been punctured now. Guess that’s the end of our game.”

“I’m so sorry!” The dog’s owner came jogging up to us, a lead dangling from their hand. “He’s a bit excitable. Here, let me give you some money for a new ball.”

Nate waved a hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it. These things happen. We probably shouldn’t have been playing football in this part of the park.”

“Even so?—”

“It’s fine.” He gave the dog’s owner a bright smile, and I could physically see them swoon.

“Ugh,” I grunted under my breath. Nate elbowed me, and I slammed my mouth shut.

As soon as the dog and owner had disappeared, Nate spun in my direction. Clasping the slowly deflating ball under his arm, he pulled off his sunglasses and shoved them in his pocket with his free hand. When his gaze was unobscured, he turned to me fully, his brows rising. “What was that all about?”

“You know. Just the effect you have on people. Oh, look, I’m swooning because Nate Glover smiled at me.” I placed my hand to my forehead and pretended to swoon. Nate snorted, shaking his head.

“There’s something seriously wrong with you.”

“Yeah? I’m not the one swooning because you smiled at me.”