Chapter Eight
Nathan had expected things to be awkward during lunch so he was a little surprised to find that they weren’t at all. They had chatted and joked about all sorts of different topics as they ate and then cleared up afterwards. When Haley’s parents had arrived a hour or so later, he talked to them for a little while before deciding to leave and then come back to pick her up later for the family dinner at his place. When she had seen him to the door, he made sure her parents weren’t around before bringing his mouth to her cheek and kissing her there. The light blush that had subsequently crept onto her face made him smile.
It was coming up to a quarter to six and he was on his way to pick her up. When he had returned home earlier, he had found his mom had laid out his clothes for him, obviously wanting him to dress smartly for dinner. Personally he didn’t see the point as it was just the family coming over and he had only seen Lucas a couple of days ago. Nevertheless, after his shower he had dressed in the smart black pants and white dress shirt she had chosen for him.
Arriving at Haley’s, this time he parked right outside the house before getting out of the car and walking up the path leading to the door. Mr James opened the door to him and invited him inside and as he did so, he called up the stairs letting his daughter know that Nathan had arrived.
The two men sat down in the living room and chatted for a few minutes but when Nathan just happened to glance over at the stairs and saw her coming down them, whatever he had been about to say died on his lips. She looked amazing. Getting up from the couch, he walked over to where she stood and gave her a slow smile.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said as she took in his appearance. He looked so gorgeous and all she wanted was to kiss him but she managed to keep her expression neutral.
“Don’t worry about it. Your dad was keeping me company.” In a quieter voice, he added, “You look fantastic, Hales.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. The yellow halter-neck summer dress she was wearing flattered her figure and teased him by showing off her baby soft skin. His eyes wandered down to her feet and saw that they were encased in a pair of strappy sandals which matched the colour of her dress.
“Thank you, you don’t look too shabby either. So, uh, shall we go?”
“Yeah,” he replied. His eyes were focused on her graceful neck which he had unhindered access to since she had swept her hair up into a twist. Giving himself a mental shake, he turned and said his goodbyes to her father who was now engrossed in a football game on the TV and so hadn’t witnessed the interaction between his daughter and one of her best friends.
When they got to the car, Nathan opened the door for Haley and waited for her to get in. After he had closed the door, he walked around to his side and before getting in he took a deep breath. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
Arriving back at his house a short while later, he once again opened the door for her and taking her hand in his, he helped her from the car. Without thinking anything of it, they continued to hold hands as they walked up to the front door. He was just about to open it when he had this sudden urge to kiss her and so quickly looking to make sure no one was around, he pulled her to him and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was soft and gentle but it still managed to leave them breathless when they parted.
“Nathan,” she whispered.
“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that and especially not now.”
“It’s okay,” she said disappointed that he regretted doing it. “You don’t have to apologise. “We’d better get inside before we get busted out here.”
He nodded at her and giving her one final look, he inserted his key into the lock and opened the door. Taking a step back, he let her enter first before following behind her. Shoving his keys into his pocket, he called out, “Mom, we’re here.”
Upon hearing her son’s voice, Deb Scott came out of the kitchen and she smiled when she saw Haley. “Hi, honey, don’t you look pretty tonight.”
“Thanks, Deb. You look really nice too,” she said honestly taking in the petite blonde’s outfit. “Has Lucas arrived back yet?”
“Thanks. No, not yet but he and Dan should be here soon. Karen’s helping me in the kitchen and Cassie’s keeping Keith occupied in the living room,” she said jokingly, referring to her three-year-old niece. “Go and make yourselves comfortable. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, I’m fine thanks.” Before she had a chance to go into the living room, a tiny brunette came toddling out of the living room and hugged Haley’s legs. “Hey, sweetie, I was just coming to find you.” Bending down, she scooped the little girl into her arms and picked her up.
“Hi, Haley, I gotta new dolly! Wanna see?” Cassie asked.
“I sure do. Which one did you get?” she asked gently bouncing her in her arms.
“A princess.”
“Wow, I never had a princess doll. How about we take Nathan with us and make him see her too?” Turning to face him, she saw the scowl he was giving her and she laughed.
“Yeah,” the toddler cheered before raising her arms to her cousin for him to carry her.
Taking her from Haley’s arms, he managed to whisper into her ear, “You’re gonna pay for that later,” before turning to Cassie and saying, “Come on, munchkin, let’s go and check out this doll of yours. Is she hot?”
“Nathan! Don’t say stuff like that around her.”
“I’m only kidding,” he said laughing at her outraged tone. Carrying the little girl, he walked into the living room and greeted his uncle who was sitting on the couch watching the same football game that Haley’s dad had been watching at his house. He gently placed Cassie on the floor where some of her toys were laid out before taking a seat beside her and he watched as Haley did the same. A smile broke out on his face when he saw her dress slide up her thighs as she made herself comfortable.
“What?” she asked seeing the look on his face.
“Nothing, just admiring the view.”
Looking down, Haley saw what he was looking at and she rearranged her clothing. “So sweetie, where’s your dolly? I’m sure Nathan can’t wait to meet her.”
“Here she is,” she announced bringing out the doll and handing it to her cousin. “Isn’t she pretty?”
Reluctantly, Nathan took the offered doll and looked it over. “Uh yeah, I guess. I’ve seen prettier though,” he muttered under his breath and he was pleased to see Haley blush. Compared to the doll he was holding in his hands, the auburn haired girl sitting across from him was a goddess.
Looking over at the three of them sitting on the floor, Keith couldn’t help smiling at his nephew being rail-roaded into playing with dolls. He couldn’t help wishing for a camera at that precise moment. Seeing that his daughter was in safe hands, he got up from the couch and went to help his wife and sister-in-law in the kitchen.
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the front door open and a moment later saw his brother walk into the living room. This hopefully meant that he could now escape from playing with the doll and go talk sports or something more manly.
“Hey, man, long time no see,” Lucas joked and seeing his brother sitting on the floor holding a doll caused him to break out into laughter. “What’cha got there, Nate? Is there something I should know?”
“Very funny. If a certain little person with big ears wasn’t sitting here I’d be showing you exactly where you could shove this doll.”
“Now now, don’t get all testy.” Seeing his best friend sitting across from Nathan, he said, “Hey, Hales, you gotta hug for your oldest, bestest friend?”
Haley smiled at Lucas and took his hands which he was holding out to her and she let him pull her up off the floor. A second later she was scooped into a big hug, her feet almost leaving the floor. “I’ve really missed you, Luke.” She told him, her arms tightly wrapped around his shoulders.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
From his seat on the floor, Nathan watched the interaction between them and for the first time in his life he felt jealous of their closeness. He knew it was stupid and that he was just as important to Haley as Lucas was, but he couldn’t help feeling this way. When they broke their embrace and she glanced at him, he quickly averted his eyes. For some reason he didn’t want her knowing he had been watching her.
“And who’s that big girl sitting on the floor?” Luke asked as he crouched down and looked at Cassie. “That wouldn’t be my favourite cousin now, would it?”
The little girl nodded her head before jumping up and running over to him, her arms wrapping around his neck. She squealed happily when he picked her up and spun her around.
“Whaddya say we go find your mom and mine and see when dinner’s ready?”
“Yay! I’m hungry!” Lucas and the others laughed.
“Yeah, me too.” He was almost out of the room when Cassie wriggled around in his arms. “What is it, honey?”
“I want my dolly.”
Nathan laughed and getting up off the floor, he handed the doll to the toddler. “There you go. Have fun, Lukey.”
“Guess what finger I’m mentally holding up,” he said to his brother just before he left the room.
“Ah, my boys are definitely back,” Haley said with a chuckle.
He smirked as he turned to face her. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Miss James. You’re the reason for all the ribbing so I think I should punish you accordingly.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him and without realising she was doing it, she licked her lips in anticipation. “Well, since you’re the teacher I have no grounds to object, do I?”
“Do you wanna meet up tomorrow night?” he whispered, his eyes locked on hers.
“I wish I could but I’m meeting up with Brooke and Peyton. We’re planning a night out before we all leave for college. I could meet up with you the day after though. I’m working a late shift at the café and I’ll be closing up so if you’re free you could pick me up and we could go somewhere.”
“I can do that. I’ll try and find some place we can be alone.”
“What about your car? We could just park somewhere and...”
“No,” he interrupted. “Hales, I don’t want this to be something seedy and doing what we’ve been doing in a car, well I think it’ll feel that way.”
“It won’t,” she said, trying to reassure him. “It’s going to be really hard finding places where we can be alone so your car is the obvious solution. We just need to park some place where we’re not going to be spotted.”
Nathan thought about it for a minute before finally nodding his agreement. “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll give you a call on Tuesday and you can let me know what time I should come and pick you up.”
“Sure. C’mon, let’s go and see if Cassie will let you play with the doll again. I can see you’re having withdrawals from her,” she said before making a quick getaway from him.
“Oh, you’re so gonna pay for that,” he told her before going after her.
* * * * *
Dinner was nice and relaxed with everyone sharing stories of what they had all been up to the past few months. Haley and Nathan were sitting opposite each other with Lucas sitting beside her. Whenever she spoke to someone or answered a question directed at her, Nathan couldn’t tear his eyes away from her mouth. All he could think about was how her lips felt touching his or touching other parts of him and in response to those thoughts, his body temperature increased. He reached out and picked up his water glass, taking a long drink of the ice cold liquid.
Haley couldn’t help watching his throat muscles contracting as he swallowed his drink and all she wanted right then was to suckle on his Adam’s apple. The urge was so strong her knuckles turned white as she gripped her knife and fork.
“Hales, you okay?” Lucas asked as he looked at his best friend. “You’re looking a little flushed.”
She couldn’t help blushing when she felt everyone’s eyes on her and she forced herself to smile. “Uh yeah, I’m fine. I’m just feeling a little warm.”
Thankfully, the attention was taken from her when Cassie started to fuss and Karen got up from the table to see to her daughter.
“I guess someone’s starting to feel a little tired. It is past her normal bedtime.”
“Do you want to take her up to one of the bedrooms and lay her down until you go?” Deb asked.
“That’d be great, Deb. Thank you.”
Seeing a perfect opportunity for herself, Haley spoke up. “I’ll take her if you want. I need to use the bathroom anyway so I might as well.”
“Thanks, Haley. You put her in Nathan’s room since we’ve already got the baby monitor set up in there,” Deb told her.
“And I thought Nathan had outgrown that thing,” Lucas teased which caused everyone to laugh.
“Very funny, guys. I see you’ve been making use of my room in my absence.” His tone let everyone know he didn’t mind in the slightest. He watched as Haley got up from the table and went over to the little girl and picked her up.
“C’mon, sleepyhead, say goodnight to everyone.”
Cassie laid her head on Haley’s shoulder and mumbled sleepily, “Night night.”
By the time she reached Nathan’s room, the toddler was fast asleep and very carefully, she put her down in the center of his bed and made sure to turn the monitor on.
“Sleep tight, sweetie,” she whispered as she stroked Cassie’s curly hair and watched her for a moment. Turning to leave the room, she gasped when she saw Nathan leaning against the door watching her. “Hey, what are you doing up here?”
“This is my bedroom.”
“Yeah, I know that. But what are you doing up here when everyone is downstairs?”
“Karen forgot to give you this,” he replied handing over a pink stuffed elephant. “Apparently, the munchkin will wake up screaming if she doesn’t see it.”
“Oh okay, thanks.” Haley turned back to the little girl and placed the toy beside her. As she did so, she noticed the monitor on the nightstand and she silently cursed to herself. Damn, everyone downstairs could hear what they were saying. Turning to face him, she gestured to the monitor and he smirked in response.
“C’mon, let’s get back downstairs,” he said taking her hand into his and leading her out of the room. Before they reached the stairs, he ducked into a little alcove which was situated just out of sight to anyone coming up the stairs and he pinned her against the wall. His eyes drank her in before he covered her mouth with his and they shared a sizzling kiss. Suddenly realising what he was doing, he broke the kiss and once again apologised for it.
Haley felt like crying at hearing him tell her he was sorry for kissing her and placing her hands on his chest, she pushed him away from her. “Stop apologising, Nathan. If you feel that way just don’t kiss me. But please, don’t keep kissing me and then saying you’re sorry for doing it because it leaves me feeling all confused and wondering if I’m really that bad at it.” She hissed at him, trying to keep her voice quiet so as not to draw any unwanted attention.
“Haley, wait! I’m sorry, I...”
“Let’s just get back downstairs, okay.”
Nathan followed her down the stairs and mentally berated himself for his stupidity. Each time he kissed her he started to get into it only to remember that he was only supposed to be helping her. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling the way he was about her. The whole thing was starting to get out of control, at least for him anyway.
“Is everything okay?” Dan asked when the two returned to their seats at the table.
Haley nodded. “Everything’s fine. Cassie’s fast asleep and the pink elephant is safely beside her where she’ll see it,” she said hoping her voice wasn’t giving away how she was feeling.
“Thanks Haley,” Karen replied smiling at her.
The conversation at the table continued and while Nathan’s eyes kept being drawn to her, Haley made sure she didn’t look over at him. Instead, she turned towards Lucas and kept up a steady stream of conversation with him. As she did so, she could feel the intensity of his stare but she forced herself not to look his way.
Lucas was oblivious to any tension between his brother and his best friend and without knowing it, he was helping to make her feel more comfortable when that wasn’t how she was feeling in the slightest. All she wanted to do was go home, curl up in bed and try to forget what had happened upstairs.
As the evening wore on, she made a decision not to let him take her home. The last thing she felt like doing was sitting in a car with him, even if it was just for a ten minute drive so when Keith and Karen announced they were ready to head home, she chipped in that she too was ready to call it a night. As expected, they offered to drive her home as it was on their way and she gratefully accepted.
Nathan stared at her and he desperately wanted to tell everyone that he would take her home but he couldn’t. He knew it would look weird, particularly as it wasn’t putting his aunt and uncle to any trouble so he bit his lip to stop himself blurting something out.
“It’s great seeing you again, Luke.” Haley told him as she gave him a hug goodbye.
“You, too. Are you free tomorrow? We could meet up and catch a movie or something.”
“I’d love to but I’m meeting the girls after work so we’ll have to take a raincheck. I’ll probably see you if you’re at the cafe though.”
“Cool.” He gave her a final hug before releasing her and letting her go. “Okay, I’m off to have a shower and wash that plane smell off me. See ya, Hales.” he said before saying goodnight to the others and then going upstairs.
“Bye, Luke.”
The adults were exchanging their goodbyes but Nathan was nowhere to be found. She wandered down the hallway and entered the den and saw him sitting on the couch, his fingers running through his hair.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly after shutting the door.
Her voice startled him and he quickly turned to look at her. “I thought you’d gone.”
“Nope, not yet. So, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Uh, no reason. I’ll say goodnight then.” She was almost out of the door when he caught her by the wrist and stopped her from leaving.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you before. It’s just that... I-I don’t know.”
“Don’t do that, Nathan. If you have something to tell me, then just say it. If I’m that bad a kisser, just say so. I won’t be ma—” Her words were cut off by his lips covering hers and his tongue slipping into her mouth to tangle with hers.
When they broke apart, he whispered, “You’re an amazing kisser, Haley. I just keep forgetting this isn’t a real situation, that I’m only supposed to be showing you stuff and...”
“Haley? Are you in there?” Deb’s voice interrupted.
“Crap!” she mumbled under her breath which caused Nathan to chuckle.
“Yeah, I’m just saying goodbye to Nathan. I’ll be right there,” she called out.” Looking into his eyes, she stroked his cheek with her palm. “We’ll talk about this on Tuesday night, okay?”
Nathan nodded. “Okay. I wish I was taking you home,” he confessed.
“Me, too. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Leaning in, he once again kissed her but this time it was a softer, more gentle kiss. “I’ll see you Tuesday but you never know, I might just see you at the café tomorrow.”
She smiled at him once more before leaving the den. After saying goodnight to Dan and Deb, she got into the rear of the car and sat beside a still fast asleep Cassie. The whole way home she couldn’t stop smiling and thinking how Tuesday couldn’t come quick enough for her.