Chapter Twelve
Nate
I bounded out to Liv’s car.
“Easy, tiger!” Liv laughed as she threw me the keys. After two weeks of being together, Liv and I were starting to sync into each other’s rhythms—her, a night owl with an inclination towards making love all night, and me, figuring out how to fit in clients and the gym around a schedule that wasn’t so ball-breaking.
Since getting together with Liv I’d dialed back on my client responsibilities, handing over most to my new gym manager. It was time for me to start handing over the reins and living life, opening myself to the possibilities the world had to offer.
I unlocked the car. “We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.” I turned to find Liv grabbing my butt.
“Is it so bad that I want us to make the most of our last minutes of freedom?” Liv said, kissing my neck. “You know how thin the walls are...it’s not that I’m not looking forward to having my best friend back, but we won’t have much privacy, either.”
I pulled her sweet body up against mine. “There’s always my place.”
Liv raised her eyebrows. “Meh, not as many toys.”
I chuckled. “I’ll give you a drawer.”
Liv smirked, murmuring under her breath, “Guess I won’t have room for my XXL anal probe, then...”
* * *
I rested my hand on Liv’s thigh as we travelled toward the airport. Even although we’d spent every moment we could together over the past couple of weeks, I still couldn’t help but touch her every chance I got.
I never knew I could be this happy. The real, in-the-moment kind of happy.
Liv spotted Chloe waiting for us as we rounded the corner. I pulled the car to a stop and Chloe fumbled her bags into the back of the car.
Circling around to greet her, I pulled her into a bear hug.
“Oh. My. God. Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?” Chloe laughed as she pulled me out to an arm’s distance away and looked me up and down.
“You’re wearing pajama pants. In public. In the afternoon. Can you get any more embarrassing?” Chloe punched me on the arm as I ruffled her hair.
A car honked at us. “Take a chill pill!” I yelled as I hustled around to the driver’s side.
Chloe smushed herself into the back, winking at Liv as she slid into the car.
“So, what have you been up to? Actually, no. Scratch that, I really, really don’t want to know, do I? Please tell me you didn’t have sex on my bed...”
Liv chuckled as Chloe spun off into a detailed review of what she’d been up to for the last couple of weeks.
As I turned the radio on quietly my heart sang as I thought about these girls—my family—in the car with me.
Liv muttered something to Chloe and then Chloe turned to me.
“Wait, what? You’re still staying at our place? Weren’t your renovations supposed to be finished, like, a week ago?”
I shifted my hands on the steering wheel. “Well, yeah. What can I say? The renovation gods have been fickle.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes at me. “I thought you were only getting a touch-up. It can’t take that long, surely.”
I shrugged and flicked a glance at Liv. “There, um, there was a paint spillage, or something. I’m sure they’ve just about finished. Any day now.”
Chloe shifted uneasily. “Well, if you’re sure, because, I mean, I’m fine with this whole...thing. But flatting with my brother...” Chloe made a face, then launched off into another story again.
* * *
A week later and my apartment renovations were finally done. Living with Liv and Chloe was awkward as fuck at times, and all three of us breathed a collective sigh of relief when the phone call finally came through.
“Liv, want to come check the place out?” I nudged Liv with my foot under the breakfast table and waggled my eyebrows at her when Chloe turned around to pour cereal.
“Um, sure. I can’t stay though, I have a show tonight.” Liv yawned. Between a more regular camming schedule and sharing a bed with me, it was no wonder she was feeling worn-out.
I wolfed down the rest of my breakfast and packed my bags, eager to get back to my apartment.
“Hey, wait up! Sheesh, I didn’t know you were that eager to leave.” Liv pecked me on the cheek as I made sure I’d packed everything.
I looked at her pointedly. “You know as well as I do that things will be a damned sight easier once they get back to normal.”
Liv raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. As long as ‘normal’ means I get to see you more than once a week, then I’m all in.” She swung her backpack over her shoulder.
As we headed towards the car, my stomach filled with butterflies.
Olivia
I tried to take a breath as my insecurities started to resurface. Once he’d moved back into his own apartment, were things still going to work between us? Part of me felt like after the spontaneous combustion of our forced proximity, with time and space things might start to fizzle out.
I bit my lip, thinking back to the evening I’d spent with Nate in his apartment. There was no doubt in my mind now that I wanted to be with him. But if things didn’t work out, it was possible I wouldn’t just lose the man I loved, I’d lose my best friend, too.
The fear of the unknown was getting to me, so much so that I had to make a conscious effort to just enjoy this moment—the one that was happening right now, in this car, with Nate’s hand drawing effortless circles on my inner thigh as he drove us to his newly renovated apartment with a stupidly happy smile plastered on his face.
Wait. There was something weird about this. Why was Nate so stupidly happy about a cream-colored apartment?
* * *
Walking into his building, we greeted Heath and waited for the elevator. As we made our way up to the seventh floor Nate pulled me close, kissing the sweet spot on my neck just under my ear.
“Have I told you lately how adorable you look when you’re nervous?” Nate smiled as whispered into my ear, holding his cheek against mine.
I scoffed. “I’m not nervous. Wait—what? Should I be nervous?” My heart started to pound as Nate unlocked the door. “I don’t know why I should be nervous. I’m not going to be the one living—”
My breath caught as Nate flung the door open. My mouth fell open and my eyes bugged out.
Nate chuckled as he walked into the middle of the room, gesturing to the walls and spinning around to look at me.
“Do you like it?”
My jaw still barely a few inches from the floor, I looked around the place. It was almost unrecognizable. The wall separating the kitchen and lounge was gone. A bright, graffiti-art mural wrapped around half the apartment, with a Banksy-style figure adorning the opposite wall. All the fittings were shiny chrome.
I walked up to the mural, tracing my fingers along it. “This is...incredible. Who did this?” I said, turning to Nate.
He shrugged. “Well, before he started his own painting business, my next-door neighbor’s son got into a bit of trouble for tagging. I asked him about it, he drew up some designs, and I told him to go wild.”
Nate cleared his throat. “And—” He looked to the ceiling and switched the lights off. With the blinds closed, the apartment was just dark enough to see the pale glow of light-up stars scattered all over the roof.
“I can’t believe...you did...wow. Just wow.” Nate wanted me here...he was making room for me. And my face was plastered with the stupidest grin.
Nate switched the lights back on. “There’s one more thing...” He took my hand, leading me towards the bedrooms.
I blushed. “Okay, but we’ll have to be quick—I have a show in a couple hours.”
Nate didn’t say anything, but stopped outside the door of his spare room. I frowned, looking between him and the panel that had been installed on the door. “And this is?”
Nate nodded towards the door handle. “Open it and take a look.”
As I opened the door, my stomach dropped to the floor. Icicle fairy lights lined the walls. Pillows, cushions, and blankets were stacked in a huge pile, and a laptop and webcam were set up on a desk against the opposite wall.
“Oh my god. Nate. I—”
“The panel on the door has a switch on this side that you can turn on when you’re live. It’s what music artists use for home recording studios.” Nate cleared his throat and a flush rose in his cheeks. “I didn’t know what kind of costumes and props you needed, but if you want to keep a separate wardrobe over here, just say the word.”
I wheeled around the room, touching the blankets, running my fingers along the desk. Nate massaged his neck with one hand. “I know you won’t be able to move in full-time, but I was thinking perhaps Chloe and I could share custody. Maybe I could have weekends. Or we could do week-on, week-off.”
I smiled, running and jumping into his arms and kissing every part of him I could get my hands on between words. “This. Is. The. Best. Surprise. Ever.”
Nate smiled. “Does this mean you’ll be my girlfriend, or...”
I laughed, jumping down again, grabbing his hand, and pulling him down into the pile of blankets as I kissed him hard.
“Fuck yes, Nate Wallis. I will girlfriend you so hard you won’t even know what’s hit you.”
* * * * *