Page 11 of Somewhere Only We Know (Healing in Cincy #4)
JAX
COLLEGE, SPRING SEMESTER-MAY, JUNIOR YEAR
I hit the beat to the Phil Collins song with air drums as Nate lip syncs next to me in the driver’s seat while we’re at a stoplight.
After I mauled him at the house, he dragged me away from the confines of the four walls I’d rather keep us in.
Anywhere with him is a place I wanna be.
Although, the place I would rather be is rolling around on my bed; I still don’t understand his need for us to get out of the house.
When the song ends and the light turns green, Nate places a possessive hand on my exposed thigh.
I curl my hand around his bicep and look at him unabashedly.
He really is handsome so it’s plagued me why he would want me.
His rich brown skin is warmer from playing baseball and if I lift up his shirtsleeve I’ll see a very defined tan line.
Nate’s jawline is peppered with the beginnings of a beard that he shaves off whenever possible and his nose has a little bit of a curve from a baseball that hit him when he was younger.
But his eyes, which are framed with envious curled lashes, are my favorite part of him.
They’re a mix of my favorite shades of brown, but when he’s in the outfield the grass pulls out the green that likes to stay hidden .
For so long I would only be able to get glimpses of him without making it obvious that I just wanted to stare at him.
I’d get a flashes of his perfectly straight teeth that would show when his mouth would pull into a teasing grin on the off-chance that I wasn’t quick enough to look away.
But now I get the opportunity to look at him and not have to look away.
He was my Nate before. But now he’s my Nate in every way that counts.
“What’s got you smiling, Bee?” he asks, interrupting my thoughts about him.
“You.”
When Nate first called me Bee, I was stumped. First of all, bees terrify me so I give them a wide berth when I’m outside. Secondly, nowhere in my name is there a ‘B’. He told me that bees are all about the sweetness of the world and that as cheesy as it is, I bring that into his life.
“Prepare to have your cheeks hurtin’, baby,” Nate exclaims with glee and then swears under his breath. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
I can’t stop the laugh from spilling out. The giggles overtake me until I’m huddled over trying to catch my breath. I feel the car sway as we turn and I will myself to sit back up and my laughter dies off when I see where we’re at.
“How did you–”
“Your parents let me know how much you love it here and I thought we could spend the day and get lost,” Nate says and pulls into a parking spot.
I undo my seatbelt and lean over the console once the car is in park. Nate stays perfectly still and I place my fingers under his chin, gently pulling him forward and flipping his hat off until we’re a breath apart.
“This may be the sexiest thing you’ve ever done.” My lips brush against his as I speak and I don’t miss the way his eyes heat or his breathing has changed. All traces of earlier humor have completely evaporated.
Nate licks his lips and I swallow roughly at the brief contact. “You’ve been keeping track?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
“What else has caught your eyes?”
At this point I’m so close to him, only our noses are touching. But I inhale every breath he exhales and vice versa. No part of me wants out of this moment.
“Well for one, when you’re studying,” I begin and his eyes bore into mine, “you get this furrow in your brow and I just want to smooth it out.”
“You can touch me whenever you want,” Nate’s voice takes on a desperate pull.
My other hand comes up and slides around his neck.
It’s one of the only other ways I can touch him in this cramped space.
I’m about to close the last breath of space when a car honking scares us both and we fly back in our seats.
I look over at Nate who’s running his hands over his head and then putting his discarded hat back on.
“To be continued?” I ask to lighten the mood.
Nate takes my hand in his and kisses the back of it, making my heart flutter and soar. “You will be the death of me.”
I smile obnoxiously as we climb out of the car. Nate rounds the back and waits for me with his hand outstretched and his camera around his neck. Linking our fingers together, we head off to the entrance.
“Tomorrow’s the Championship game, right?”
“Supers and then the championship,” he breathes out.
“You don’t sound excited,” I say with a hint of curiosity in my voice .
He unwinds our hands to pay for the tickets and then we’re off through the turnstile. I can’t wait to get lost in this place with Nate. But first I need to find out why he doesn’t seem as excited.
“I am. But it could be my last game.”
“What do you mean?” I ask and hold my hand out for him. My smile takes over my whole face when he holds the camera up and snaps a photo.
He takes my still out-stretched hand and then we’re off. “On the way back, Coach asked about my plans for the future.”
“I thought you were looking at internships?”
Nate has had his sights set on some of the top architecture firms in the country. While I know he would love to own his own company, he would need some serious financial backing and a fleshed out business plan for that to come true.
We stroll through the entrance of the gardens to the first exhibit. The flowers are in full bloom. Bees, butterflies, and birds flit around the flowers and through the sky. It’s magnificent.
“I was—am. But Coach said it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I looked into putting my name in for the draft.”
I look at him with so much awe. I know how much he likes sticking to the plan of a job after college, but this is the professional league we’re talking about.
“Bub, why do you seem so hesitant? This is great news, right?”
He drops my hand and pulls the camera up to his face again. I see him do some movements on the lens and adjust some settings before I hear the click of the shutter. I look and see his focal point is of a bee buzzing around some flowers .
“If I enter, with the possibility of getting drafted, I would miss our final year.” Nate says it as if him being drafted is a done deal. But if I know him like I think I do, he’s already in shutdown mode.
I give him a chance to find his words and take us into the butterfly house.
Nate is in heaven as he snaps pictures of every available surface.
I take the camera from his hands and ask a woman to take a picture of us.
Thank you , I mouth to her and then hand the camera back to Nate who looks more comfortable behind a lens than in front of it.
I hold my hand out for him to grab once we leave the small area. “Come on.”
His brow furrows but he does so without protest. I lead us over to a bench that’s off to the side of the water show.
Nate takes dozens of pictures from our spot and I know it’s his way of avoiding talking.
He’s never been a big talker. I’ve always been the chatty one in our friendship and I’ve never minded it.
But now I need his words more than anything.
“Hey.” I start and stretch up to kiss him on the cheek. “Talk to me, bub. Where’s your head at?”
“I have given it a quick thought. I mean what kid doesn’t dream of playing professionally?
” He grabs my legs and rests them over his lap.
We’re as close as we can get without me sitting on his lap.
My hand falls on his that are on my legs and I rest the other one along his shoulders.
“Say I enter and I get drafted. I leave you and my family.”
“Is that why you’re so unenthused? You’re worried about me and your family?
” I look at him with serious eyes and his slight nod is enough for me to continue.
“I adore you more than you know for thinking about me. But your family would call you an idiot if you passed this chance up. And I would have to agree with them. ”
“I could always enter the draft next year. Fine tune my skills, condition more…”
I shake my head as firmly as possible. “Your skills don’t need any fine tuning. If anything you have the best technique and natural ability of any baseball player I’ve seen in years.”
“You’re just saying that to get in my pants,” he jokes.
“Nathan, this isn’t funny.”
He sobers quickly at my use of his full name and leans over to kiss my temple. “I know. Honestly, I would rather get my degree and then enter the draft.”
“Then that’s what you’ll do. And when you sign your big contract you’ll then draft up plans for the house we’re gonna live in.”
“Planning our future already, Bee?” He teases and holds the camera out selfie style, pulling me closer until we’re smooshed together, he takes the picture.
“Yes. Because I am so certain that you are my future.”
Since Nate and I said to hell with being just friends, my imagination ran wild and now I see him in every aspect of my future.
I see more than just where we’re at next year.
I see us in ten years, married, maybe living in a city, with two kids and them running on the field after a game.
Whether he sees a future in baseball or not, my future has him in it.
“Ditto, baby,” he says and leans in, connecting our lips.