Chapter Ten
As he stood outside Haley’s door waiting for it to be opened, Nathan couldn’t remember a time he had ever felt more nervous. Earlier, when he was getting ready he hadn’t known what he should wear; should he dress smart or casual? The one thing he did know was that he wanted to make a good impression on Haley’s cousin and her best friend so that they hopefully wouldn’t encounter any problems seeing each other. In the end, he had decided to go with a combination of smart and casual and was wearing black pants, a dark blue shirt and his black leather jacket. He had even gone so far as to polish his shoes until they shone.
Am I pathetic or what, he asked himself while shaking his head before the front door suddenly opened and he took a deep breath at the vision that stood before him.
“Hi Nathan,” Haley said, feeling a little shy all of a sudden. Leaning in, she kissed him softly on his lips. “You’re right on time. You wouldn’t be trying to impress Jake now, would you?” she whispered intending only for him to hear.
“Nope, I’m only trying to impress you. You look gorgeous,” he whispered back and then kissed her on her cheek. “Uh...I brought some wine for us all. I didn’t know what you would all like so I brought both red and white. I hope that’s okay.”
“You didn’t have to do that but thank you. Come on in and I’ll introduce you to the lust bunnies.” Taking his arm, she gently pulled him into the apartment and then closed the door behind him. She then took the wine bottles from him and heading into the living room, she placed them on the coffee table.
Following behind her, Nathan looked at the couple seated on the couch and smiled as they stood up to greet him. He somehow felt that the smile he was giving them was coming across as awkward but he couldn’t seem to stop. Great, they probably think I’m some kind of idiot, he thought to himself.
Jake’s smile was just as awkward as he held his hand out for Nathan to shake. “Hi, I’m Jake Jaglieski and this is my girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer,” he said indicating the smiling blonde standing beside him.
Shaking his hand, Nathan nodded at the pair. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Nathan Scott.”
Shaking Peyton’s hand, he saw her wink at Haley who was standing next to him and turning his head to look at her, he saw a blush settle onto her cheeks and she wouldn’t look him in the eye. Now I wonder what that’s all about, he mused.
Haley wasn’t sure whether it was a good or bad thing that Jake had jumped in and introduced himself and Peyton before she had had a chance to do it herself. “Uh...since we’ve got the introductions out of the way, why don’t we all sit down?” she suggested taking her boyfriend’s hand and leading him over to one of the overstuffed armchairs.
Nathan sat down and was about to pull Haley down onto his lap when he thought better of it as he noticed the look her cousin was giving him. In the end, she sat perched on the arm of his chair and contented herself with holding his hand.
Jake and Peyton sat back down on the couch and the blonde couldn’t help smiling at how happy her best friend seemed to be as she held hands with Nathan and they kept gazing at each other. Turning her head to look at her own boyfriend, her smile faltered slightly. Jake was frowning and it was obvious that he wasn’t feeling the same way she was. Moving a little closer to him, she gave him a sharp dig in the ribs with her elbow.
“What?” he hissed.
“Smile for god’s sake. At least pretend to be happy for Haley, okay?” she whispered.
“Fine,” he replied as he forced a smile. “So, uh, Nathan, what are your intentions towards my cousin?”
“Jake! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Haley asked, not bothering to hide her anger at his blatant disregard for her earlier request.
“Haley, I...”
“No, it’s okay.” Nathan reassured her by squeezing her hand gently. “I understand you wanting to look out for her but you’ve got nothing to worry about. I can promise you my intentions are strictly honorable and you have my permission to kick my ass if I ever hurt her,” he said replacing his smile with a serious look and then quickly added, “Not that I ever would.”
“Don’t you think the two of you dating as well as working together is going to cause a problem?” Jake asked.
“I’m warning you...” Haley started but was interrupted by Nathan.
“It’s fine, Haley.” Turning to face the other man and looking him in the eyes, he answered, “No, why should it? We’re both adults and I think we can conduct ourselves in a professional manner when we’re in the office.” Nathan could feel himself starting to break out into a nervous sweat. Damn, I feel like I’m sixteen all over again. I just need to stay calm and remember I’m doing this for Haley, he told himself.
“Well, what about if you have an argument outside of work? Won’t things be uncomfortable when you’re stuck together all day in an office?” Jake didn’t dare look at Haley as he asked his questions. He knew exactly what the look on her face would be but he was adamant that as he was looking out for his cousin it was worth her wrath.
“I’m not saying this is going to be easy but Haley and I are both prepared to give it a go. I appreciate that you’re concerned about her but...”
“You bet I’m concerned about her. Look, we don’t know anything about you except that the two of you have been working together for only a few months and--”
“That’s enough Jake! If this is the way it’s going to be tonight, then Nathan and I will go to his place for dinner.”
Giving her boyfriend a sharp look, Peyton moved forward and took her best friend’s hand in hers. “I know Jake can be a bit over the top at times but he cares about you and doesn’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all.”
“I know but he’s not even giving Nathan a chance and I wanted you all to like each other...and he promised he wouldn’t interrogate him tonight...” She could feel the tears prickling her eyes and she squeezed them shut in an attempt to stop them from falling.
Ignoring the others, Nathan pulled Haley onto his lap and cuddled her close. “Shhh, it’s okay. Jake’s questions were pretty tame and I’m not offended in the slightest. I think it’s great that you have a family that cares about you and looks out for you,” he told her, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
Jake sat on the edge of his seat on the couch staring at the way Nathan was comforting his cousin and he couldn’t help but feel bad for some of what he had said. He hadn’t meant to upset her but he just wanted to make sure she wasn’t making a mistake in getting involved with her boss. “Listen, I, uh, I’m sorry about before, Nathan. I didn’t mean to come over so heavy handed.”
Nathan looked across at the other man and nodded. “It’s fine, you don’t have to apologise. All I can do is give you my word that I have no intention of hurting Haley. I care about her too much to want to hurt her either intentionally or unintentionally.”
The smile Jake gave Nathan this time was a genuine one. “Thanks for saying that, man. Hales, are we...okay now? I didn’t mean to upset you, you know that, right?”
Haley lifted her head from where it was snuggled against Nathan’s chest and she gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I know and yes we’re okay. Just don’t do it again or you’ll know what will happen.”
Jake’s smile froze on his face. “I promise I won’t interrogate him again, but you know one day your threat won’t have any power.”
“And when will that be, huh? After I show everyone the photographs?” She chuckled, trying to make her laugh sound like a wicked cackle.
“What photographs are these?” Nathan asked, curious as to what the pair were talking about.
Peyton grinned. “I’m still trying to find that out myself. All I know is that there are some pictures that Haley has of Jake when he was much younger and which she always uses to blackmail him with. I’ve even asked other members of their family but they won’t breathe a word.”
Trying to change the subject, Jake jumped in with a question. “How about I open up those bottles of wine now and we have a drink?”
“Subtle change of subject there,” Nathan chuckled. “But that sounds good. I was saying to Haley that I didn’t know what wine you guys like so I brought both red and white.”
“Hey, both are good. I have to say I prefer beer but wine is good, too. Right, Pey?” he said smiling at his girlfriend.
“Definitely. Anything alcoholic is good.” She smiled at Nathan but realizing what that sounded like, she quickly added, “I’m not saying all I do is drink alcohol. I haven’t, you know, got a problem or anything.”
“I didn’t think that for a second,” Nathan replied, grinning at her. “I’m with Jake though, I prefer beer to wine too. Maybe I should have brought some beer as well.”
“No man, that’s fine. I’ve got a few bottles in the fridge if you’d prefer a beer now.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.”
Haley seeing her chance quickly grabbed it. “I’ll go and get those beers for you and I’ll open up the wine, too. Nathan, why don’t you come and help me.”
“Um...sure.” Standing up, he followed her into the kitchen.
Peyton smiled knowingly at her friend as she left the room. “Honey, I hope you’re not too thirsty because I don’t know when we’re going to be getting our drinks.”
* * * * *
“I missed you so much today...” Haley whispered as Nathan’s lips left hers and he worked his way down her neck, planting soft kisses all along her soft skin.
“Me too... I couldn’t wait for tonight to come around so I could see you again…” As soon as they had entered the kitchen, he had pinned her up against the closed door.
Her fingers began unbuttoning his shirt and as soon as she had enough buttons undone, she slipped her hand inside and caressed his chest, reacquainting herself with his hard body. She moved in closer and placed sucking kisses around his breast bone before taking one of his nipples into her mouth, circling it with her tongue and then nibbling on it.
Nathan wound his fingers into Haley’s hair and held her firmly against him. “That feels so good...I want you so much...” He gasped as her tongue swirled around and around his nipple before she moved over to repeat the action on the other one.
“Haley...um...I...uh...I can’t believe I’m saying this but we have to stop...I don’t want Jake coming in here and catching us like this...” he trailed off.
Kissing her way up again, she reached his mouth and kissed him passionately leaving them both breathless. Finally drawing back, she smiled shyly at him. “Yeah, I agree. C’mon, you open the wine and I’ll get the beers from the fridge. The corkscrew is in that drawer just to your right,” she told him moving away and towards the fridge.
“Okay.” Quickly re-buttoning his shirt, he then opened up the drawer and withdrew the corkscrew. He busied himself with opening the bottles while she got the beers out of the fridge together with some glasses which she set on a tray. “I guess we’d better get back out there, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” she replied, turning to face her boyfriend. She smiled as she took in his mussed up appearance and slowly walked towards him. “Nathan, honey, you might want to straighten yourself up a bit if you don’t want to give Jake a reason to beat you up.” She giggled.
Nathan ran his hands through his hair as Haley brought her fingers to his lips and gently rubbed away the faint traces of her berry lip gloss which served as a reminder of their intense kisses.
“There...all gone.”
“Thanks, baby. Actually, now I’ve seen how protective Jake is of you I’m kinda surprised that he didn’t follow us in here to see what we were getting up to. I mean, we have been gone a while.”
“Me too, but I’ve got a feeling Peyton is probably the reason for that.”
As he picked up the tray and followed her back out to the living room, they saw for themselves the reason why Jake hadn’t followed them into the kitchen. He was sitting in his original position on the couch except now Peyton was straddling his thighs and they were involved in a heavy make-out session.
Haley cleared her throat loudly and a startled Jake practically pushed his girlfriend to the floor in his haste to prevent his cousin and her new boyfriend from witnessing any more than they had already. Luckily for him the doorbell rang and he jumped up from the couch and ran to open the door, tucking his shirt back into his pants along the way.
Placing the tray onto the coffee table, Nathan walked over to where Peyton was sitting on the carpet and offered her his hand. She gave him an embarrassed smile and took his hand and he helped her to her feet. “Thanks, Nathan. Nice to know there’s at least one gentleman around here,” she said as she glared at her boyfriend’s back.
“You okay, Pey?” Haley asked the other woman.
“Yeah, I’m fine but I’m not promising that Jake will be. And you owe me girl,” she said giving her best friend a smirk. “He was all ready to come charging into the kitchen so I had to distract him the only way that ever works with him.”
“Thanks, sweetie. Nathan and I were wondering why he hadn’t come into the kitchen to check on how the drinks were coming and I had an idea we had you to thank for it.”
“What are we talking about?” Jake asked as he walked towards them carrying a cardboard box containing their dinner.
“I don’t think you want to know, honey,” Peyton told him using a sickly sweet tone.
“Uh…Pey, I…um…I’m sorry about before. You know I’ll make it up to you later.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“You’d better or you know what will happen…”
“Ewww! Will you two please stop it? We’re bordering on too much information and I’m sure Nathan doesn’t want to hear about what you two get up to. Right, Nathan?”
Nathan was trying hard not to laugh at the scene between Peyton and Jake and he had a pretty good idea of what it was they were talking about. “Uh…oh yeah, definitely.”
Sharing a look with Nathan, both men burst out laughing. Maybe Nathan’s not such a bad guy after all, he thought to himself before saying, “Okay guys, the food’s here so where do you want to eat? Here or at the table?”
“Peyton, I meant to set the table earlier but I forgot. Did you happen to do it?” Haley asked.
“No, sorry. I meant to do it after I had my shower but I…uh…I got distracted,” she answered as a rosy blush settled on her cheeks.
“Uh huh,” the auburn haired young woman replied, making a face. She knew full well what her friend meant. “Let’s eat out here then…it’ll be more comfortable and make things more casual. What do you say?”
“Fine by me,” Nathan replied.
“Me too,” Jake agreed. “I’ll go and get some plates and forks. Peyton, you want to come and help me?”
“I think I’ll come with you, Jake, otherwise who knows what time we’ll get to eat.”
“Whatever, little cuz.”
“And stop calling me that. We’re the same damn age.”
“Maybe we are but I’m older by a few months so, like I’ve told you before, that makes you my little cuz.”
“See what I have to put up with, Nathan?” Peyton quipped as the two cousins argued their way to the kitchen. “It’s like living in a kindergarten with those two.”
Nathan laughed at Peyton’s description of life with Jake and Haley. “Having seen them in action just now, I can well imagine and you have my sympathies,” he kidded.
A few minutes later, the other two were back with plates and cutlery and everyone had helped themselves to the Chinese food that had been delivered.
“So Nathan, do you have any siblings?” Peyton asked before she took a bite of her spring roll.
“Yeah, I’ve got a half-brother called Lucas,” he informed her. “Believe me, we’ve had our share of moments growing up but things are better now we’re older.” Giving the cousins a wink, he added, “Although I don’t think we ever squabbled as much as these two seem to do.”
“Really?” Jake chipped in.
“Yeah, we skipped the squabbling and went for just beating the crap out of each other instead,” he said teasingly which earned him a laugh from the others.
The group laughed and joked their way through dinner and it seemed like a friendship was beginning to develop between the two guys which had the added bonus of helping Haley feel more relaxed.
“Nathan, I don’t know if you’re interested but a few of us head over to the park on Sunday mornings and shoot some hoops. You’re welcome to join us if you’re free,” Jake told him as the four of them sat in the living room a short while later drinking coffee.
“Thanks, that sounds great. Just to warn you, I was the captain of my basketball team in high school and I played at college level. Still want me to join you guys?” He smirked as he waited for the other man’s response.
“Uh…sure. Tell you what, let’s not tell the other guys that piece of information,” he joked. “How about you come over here for about ten-thirty tomorrow morning and we’ll head over to the park together and I’ll introduce you to the others.”
“Okay, sounds good.” Nathan glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost ten-thirty and he then looked at Haley who was curled up against him on the couch. “It’s getting late so I think I’d better get going. I need to get a good night’s sleep if I’m gonna beat you at basketball tomorrow, Jake.”
Jake let out a snort of laughter. “In your dreams, Scott.”
“Nathan, can I talk to you in the kitchen, please?” Haley asked as she stood up and then held out her hand for him to take which he did a second later and he let her pull him out of his seat and then into the kitchen where she closed the door behind them.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t want you to go. I really wanna be with you again tonight.”
Nathan pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I want to be with you, too, but I don’t feel all that comfortable staying here and doing…stuff while your cousin is in the room next door.”
Drawing back from him slightly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to suck his bottom lip into her mouth. He quickly deepened the kiss and when he moved back, he rested his forehead against hers.
“Okay, that’s understandable...but what about if I pack an overnight bag and go home with you?” she asked as she moved in and nibbled on his lips. “I mean, that way we can do as much…stuff as we like without any complaints plus you’ll get to see what I bought when I went shopping this morning,” she teased, raising one eyebrow seductively.
He felt a reactionary jolt to a certain part of his anatomy at hearing her words and he inwardly groaned. “How about you give me a glimpse now,” he teased before turning slightly more serious and saying, “I’d love for you to come home with me, baby, but it’s not going to cause a problem with Jake, is it?”
“I don’t see why it should now that he knows you. I think he really likes you because he doesn’t invite just anyone to play basketball with him and his friends, you know.”
“Yeah? I was pretty surprised when he did that but I’m quite looking forward to hanging out with him. I haven’t had much time to spend with my friends since setting up the business and everything and…well, a couple of them are married now and aren’t always free to hang out.”
“Well hopefully you two will become good friends. Look, I’m an adult and Jake is just going to have get used to that fact. It’s not like he can ground me or forbid me from spending the night with you.”
Nathan gave her a kiss that went all the way to her toes before he pulled back and opened the kitchen door. Giving her a sexy smile, he slapped her ass lightly before giving her a gentle push forward and saying, “Okay then, let’s go and tell your cousin the good news.”