Chapter Two
Nathan stood there dazed as what he had said and how he had said it reverberated in his head and he sunk to his knees. His heart felt heavy in his chest and all he could see was the expression on her face before she had turned and run. He couldn’t blame her… he would have run too if he was in her shoes but her words… her words cut through him like a knife. Pain was something he was used to thanks to his dad and over the years he had learned to deal with it but this was something different altogether.
He didn’t know how long he stayed in that position for but eventually he got up from the floor and sat down on the edge of his bed. A part of him regretted telling her how he really felt but despite the reaction he’d gotten from her, a bigger part of him didn’t regret it at all. There had been so many times over the last few weeks where the words had been on the tip of his tongue but he had swallowed them down and forced himself to ignore them.
Her reaction had surprised him mainly because he was sure that deep down she had feelings for him too… feelings that she was trying hard to suppress and deny. But now he had to consider that maybe she didn’t share his feelings… maybe they had been wishful thinking on his part and merely him wanting her to reciprocate them.
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees as he ran his fingers through his hair. The one thing he did regret was his timing because this weekend was meant to be just the two of them. His parents had some function to attend and they had decided to make a weekend out of it and stay for an extra day at the hotel. Her parents meanwhile were away visiting one of her many siblings so it would have been the first time since that fateful night that they would have been able to spend the whole night together completely alone. Normally everything was so rushed and there was the niggling worry that they would be busted.
Earlier that day he had gone to the store and stocked up on the snacks he had come to know that she liked together with paying a visit to the video store and renting some movies. He’d wanted things to feel relaxed, he wanted them to just be a normal couple hanging out together on his couch or in his bedroom. But the problem was they weren’t a couple. It didn’t come close to describing what they were and a more accurate description would have been fuck buddies but he had come to hate that term. The funny thing was he never used to but since meeting her and getting to know her, however, things had changed… he had changed.
It had all started as a way of getting back at his older half-brother. The bastard was threatening to take away everything that he had worked so hard to achieve away and he couldn’t let that happen. He hated the way his father had been looking at him since Lucas had joined the team. Yes, he was used to seeing flashes of disappointment in his father’s eyes but lately he looked at him with something he couldn’t quite define and it affected him more than he liked.
So, the hazing had started. He and the other guys on the basketball team had done everything they could to get rid of Lucas but to no avail. If anything, it seemed to make him more determined to stay and put up a fight.
Nathan had been standing by his locker one day with his best friend, Tim Smith, beside him when he’d heard his brother talking loudly and he had just happened to glance over to see him chatting with some girl. He could tell from their body language that they were comfortable with each other and it had sparked his interest. Tim hadn’t known who she was when he had asked so he made a mental note to find out. Already the tiny seeds of a plan had been planted and he had felt his lips curl up into a smirk at the thought that maybe he had discovered something that would wound his enemy and, even better, get rid of him once and for all.
That was almost five months ago now. It hadn’t taken much work on his part to find out that the girl was called Haley James and she just happened to be Lucas’ best friend. When he had found out that she worked in the school’s Tutoring Center, he had never been so happy to have been failing in a few of his classes. After speaking to his teachers, he had managed to snag her as his tutor, having told them that he’d heard she was the best in the school and he wanted the best. Being as popular as he was, it hadn’t taken much persuasion to get them to agree to them assigning her to him.
Their first few sessions had been nothing short of awkward. For a tiny little thing, she definitely wasn’t backwards in coming forwards, telling him in no uncertain terms what her conditions were for tutoring him. He had to leave Lucas alone, no more hazing, no more snide comments, nothing. Oh, and she didn’t want her best friend finding out that she was having anything to do with him. How they had managed to keep it from him for so long still amazed him. He must be even more dense than he’d given him credit for. They had to meet at the docks at seven sharp each morning, something that had annoyed him at first. Without him realising it though, it had become the highlight of his day.
He’d bring coffee for the both of them and later on he had started to bring donuts too after he had found out she had a particular liking for chocolate frosted ones. Watching the smile on her face as she savoured the first bite was something he always enjoyed doing. It was during one of those mornings a few weeks in to their sessions that he realised that he actually didn’t want Lucas finding out about them; he wanted to keep her all to himself.
Sighing loudly, Nathan sat up from his hunched position before falling backwards so he was lying down staring up at his ceiling. He didn’t know exactly when things had changed even further between them, but one night after a particularly rough game where his father had reamed him out afterwards, he had found himself standing outside Haley’s house in the pouring rain, staring up at the windows trying to guess which one was hers when suddenly the curtain had been pulled back and he saw her looking down at him. The next thing he knew she had come downstairs and was pulling him inside the front door.
Flashback…
“Nathan, what are you doing here?” she said as soon as she had closed the door behind them. “You know you can’t be here… what if somebody sees you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t care. I don’t give a damn anymore about anything.” His body was shivering but he hardly felt the cold at all. It was as if his entire body had been numbed.
Haley stood there not knowing what to do or say. He seemed so lost and so much younger than his sixteen years. His usual cockiness and arrogance seemed to have vanished, leaving in its wake a broken little boy and her heart went out to him. Making sure the door was locked and then flicking off the lights, she took his hand in hers and led him upstairs.
“I-I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have come here…” he said a few moments later when they were standing in her bedroom.
“It’s okay. Let me just get you a towel and some dry clothes.”
“I don’t think I’ll fit into any of your things,” he told her trying to lighten the mood and he was pleased when she laughed softly.
“I should hope not. One of my brothers has some clothes here and I’m sure I can find you a pair of sweats and a T-shirt among them at least.”
“Okay… thanks.”
Giving him a smile, she turned and left, leaving him standing in the center of her room. Looking around, he couldn’t help noticing how neat and tidy it was and while it was definitely a girl’s room, it wasn’t overly girly. Seeing a notice board with lots of photographs on it, he made his way over and looked at them. He guessed that they were pictures of her older brothers and sisters and their families and he found himself smiling when he noticed Haley in a few of them.
“What are you doing?” she asked when she re-entered the room.
“Oh, I was just… er… looking at your photos. I’m sorry, I—”
“You don’t have to apologise. Here’s a towel and these are my brother Mark’s clothes. He’s about your height so they should be okay.”
For some reason, he suddenly felt awkward and started to shake his head. “Uh, you know what, I should probably just go and…”
“You don’t have to, Nathan. You can always stay and keep me company for a while.”
“I don’t want to get you into trouble with your parents.”
“Oh, uh, they’re not here. They’re visiting my sister Vivian and won’t be back until Sunday.”
“So you’re here all on your own?”
“Uh huh. They asked if I wanted to go with them and skip school since it’s Friday but what with our tutoring session this morning and my quiz in Spanish, I turned them down. I’m visiting my sister in a few weeks time so it’s no big deal.”
“Do they leave you on your own a lot?”
“Now and then,” she replied vaguely and in an attempt to change the subject, she took a step closer to him and handed him the towel she had in her hands. “Even if you’re not going to stay, you should still get out of those soaking wet clothes. We wouldn’t want the captain of the Ravens getting pneumonia now, would we?”
“Wouldn’t we?”
Staring at him open-mouthed, she asked, “What does that mean? Are you suggesting that I want to see you get sick?”
“I don’t know but I’m curious to know the answer. I mean, you’re his best friend after all and we all know how much he hates me so that must mean you hate me too, right?”
Haley sighed. “I don’t hate you, Nathan. God knows I should considering what you’ve done to Lucas but I don’t.”
“Why not?” he asked, taking a step closer to her.
“I-I don’t know,” she whispered. The look he was giving her was so intense that she had to look away. She could feel her skin growing hot and she knew her face was probably bright red. Suddenly, she felt his large hand cup her cheek, tilting her face up so her eyes were once again level with his and she shivered.
“Yes you do,” he said in a low voice before his lips came crashing down upon hers.
The kiss they shared was one of the hottest, most intense kisses of his life but it was also the sweetest he had ever experienced and that was saying something when you considered just how many girls he had kissed. His hands held her face steady as his lips nipped and sucked on hers. For a split-second he thought it was completely one-sided and that any minute she would push him away but she didn’t. Her tongue came out to lick around his lips before slipping inside his mouth as her arms came up and wrapped around his neck and he found himself moaning into her mouth when he felt her nails raking across his scalp.
Nathan would have been happy just to carry on kissing her and he wasn’t planning on doing anything else… not tonight at least but Haley obviously had other plans. Her arms came down, slipping between them and he felt her slender fingers slowly unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it open when the last button had been undone. He held his breath as he felt her touch his bare chest and he bit back a groan when she tugged on his nipple ring.
“H-Haley… what are you doing?” he panted.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked, her large brown eyes meeting his.
“We shouldn’t… I…”
“Shhh!” Seeing a droplet of water fall from his hair and land on his chest, she moved in closer and licked it up before moving around him and removing his shirt completely, tossing it onto the floor. Picking up the towel she had dropped, she slowly ran it over his skin, drying him off as well as warming his chilled skin.
Nathan savoured her touch. He had never had anyone touch him so gently and so reverently before in his life. Maybe his mother had at some time but that felt like such a distant memory. His hands instinctively came around her waist and he pulled her into his body. Lowering his head, he buried it in the crook of her neck and breathed in her unique scent. Her arms came up around his shoulders and she held him tightly.
As he held her, his fingers traced idle patterns on the patch of bare skin that was revealed between her jeans and T-shirt and he couldn’t help smiling at the way she trembled. His hands literally burned to pull the shirt up and over her head but he forced himself not to. Just because she had taken his shirt off didn’t mean she wanted him to reciprocate the action with her. He knew she was different to all the other girls he usually associated himself with. That was why when she drew back from him a moment later and pulled her T-shirt off he stared at her open-mouthed as she stood before him in just a pale pink bra and her jeans.
“Haley… what…”
Instead of answering him verbally, she took a step towards him and standing on her tiptoes, she looked into his eyes before covering his mouth with hers and kissing him passionately. Even though she was being the aggressor, he could still taste her innocence and it drove him wild. His hands gripped her hips and as the kiss grew in intensity, his hands wandered to squeeze her ass while her fingernails dug into the skin of his shoulders. A second later he lifted her up and carried her over to the nearest wall, pressing her up against it.
“God… Nathan… you feel…” she panted against his neck, the fingers of one hand buried in his thick hair.
“I want you… so much,” he whispered against her silk covered breasts. Looking up at her, he pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses to her throat and he felt her once again tremble beneath him.
“Yesss.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded frantically before resting her forehead against his and just looking into his eyes. He gave her a sexy smile which had her tightening her legs around his waist and pushing away from the wall, he made the short walk to her bed and he lay her down carefully.
They practically tore each other’s clothes off in their hurry to feel their naked skin touching and they both released a sigh of relief when it finally happened. He knew without her having to tell him that this would be her first time and he made sure to make things as comfortable for her as he could. He spent an inordinate amount of time kissing and caressing her baby soft skin until she was begging him for more. Remembering to grab the condom from his wallet, he once again positioned himself on top of her and slowly parted her thighs, gently easing his hardness into her heated depths.
He couldn’t believe how responsive she was to his every touch and his hands couldn’t stop touching her. His hands cupped and kneaded her breasts, tugging on her nipples before lowering his head and capturing one of them between his lips and sucking on it before repeating the action on the other. The breathy cries she released were turning him on even more if that was possible and as he continued his ministrations, he slipped a hand between their sweat slicked bodies and circled her clit with his thumb which had her hips bucking against him.
Her orgasm hit first and he helped her ride it fully as he continued to pump inside her before he found his own completion a moment later. His lips kissed her neck, moving up to her throat until his mouth hovered over hers and he kissed her slow and deep, his tongue slipping into her mouth to tangle with hers.
As their breathing returned to normal, their bodies remained entwined until Nathan finally and reluctantly withdrew from her body. Seeing a box of tissues on her nightstand, he grabbed a few using them to dispose of the condom. As he did so, he felt her shifting on the bed and he knew she was covering herself up with the comforter.
“I-I guess you’re leaving now,” she said in a hushed voice.
“What?” He turned to look at her over his shoulder. His clothes were on the other side of the room and despite what had just occurred between them, he didn’t want to embarrass her by walking over there naked to retrieve them.
“It’s okay, Nathan, I’m not expecting you to stay.”
“I want to,” he told her honestly. “I mean, if you’d like me to. If you want me to leave though, then I will.”
Haley shook her head. “No. I, uh, want you to stay, too.” The shy smile she gave him sent a jolt of lust through him and he returned her smile warmly.
“Good. Do you… uh… want me to put my boxers on or something? I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t.” Pulling the covers back a little, she gestured for him to get in with her which he did. Lifting his arm, she snuggled into his side and laid her head on his chest. They lay there in a comfortable silence and it wasn’t too long before he heard her breathing even out and he realised she had fallen asleep.
Nathan didn’t know what had happened to him. He rarely spent the night with a girl. Once they’d had sex he tended to make his excuses before getting the hell out. The only exception had been his ex-girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer, but even with her they had never ‘snuggled’. It had been more that he’d be so tired from basketball practice and partying that sex had been the final straw, wiping him out completely and resulting in him staying the night.
He hadn’t seen Haley James coming. He was the one who was supposed to be in control… he was the one using her to get to his bastard half-brother yet she seemed to have taken the power from him. And the thing that surprised him the most was that he didn’t care. In just over a month since their tutoring sessions had started, she had managed to floor him not only with her natural beauty and innocence, but with her spark. She was feisty and loyal and he liked that about her. It was so refreshing to be called out on his shit instead of putting up with all of the ass-kissing most of his ‘friends’ did. Even his best friend tended to suck up to him rather than tell him when he was being an ass.
Reaching carefully over to her nightstand, he turned the light off and the room was pitched into darkness. Leaning forward slightly, he dropped a kiss onto the top of her head before wrapping his arms around her and whispering, “What have you done to me?”
End Flashback
Nathan slowly opened his eyes as he came back to the present. That night still meant so much to him but whenever he thought about it he was also forced to remember what had happened the next morning. Where Haley had been so soft and warm that night, the following morning she had turned so cold, practically throwing him out despite the fact that her parents weren’t due back until the following day. He knew it wasn’t realistic to think that they were going to spend all that time together but he hadn’t been expecting her to be like that… not after what had taken place between them.
It had thrown him and he hadn’t known what to say. Maybe if he’d have said something… anything, it would have made a difference but he hadn’t. He had simply gotten dressed before doing as she’d asked. Several times that weekend he had thought about phoning her, even going so far as to dial the number but he never pressed the final digit. He remembered thinking how ridiculous it was that he, Nathan Scott, was too scared to call a girl.
Since they didn’t have a tutoring session until Tuesday, he had had to make do with seeing her in the halls walking arm in arm with Lucas and that afternoon at practice, for the first time in weeks, he made things difficult for his half-brother. He simply refused to pass him the ball despite him being open and the most obvious choice and when Whitey had told him to take an early shower, he had then squirted his shampoo through the slats of Lucas’ locker, soaking his clothes with the slippery liquid.
That night he expected her to call and tell him that their deal was off due to his behaviour that day but she didn’t. No, instead she had turned up on his doorstep making polite conversation with his mother who had finally returned home before coming up to his bedroom to see him. He couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in her eyes so he kept his back turned to her but she wasn’t giving up. She had walked around to stand in front of him and glancing into her face, the last thing he saw there was disappointment. All he saw was pure unadulterated lust and a second later they were once again ripping each other’s clothes off, their mouths fused together. The only words out of her mouth were that he should lock the door which he complied with before returning to where she was waiting for him.
It was while they were getting dressed afterwards that she laid down the amended rules. That she was happy for this to happen as long as Lucas or anyone else never found out about it and that nothing could ever come of it. She could never be with him because she wasn’t prepared to lose her best friend and she knew she would if he ever found out that she had been lying to his face. Him finding out about tutoring would be bad enough but finding out that she was sleeping with his enemy would be the ultimate betrayal. All he could do was nod his agreement while silently cursing her for having the control in this situation. It was supposed to be him dammit. He was the one using her, not the other way around but even as the words echoed in his mind, he knew them to be untrue.
Ever since then, they had been sneaking around behind everyone’s backs, mixing tutoring with sex. He couldn’t get enough of her and she was all he could think about and for months he had kept silent about his true feelings until tonight. Cursing under his breath, he pushed himself up off his bed, grabbed his keys off his dresser and stormed out of his room and out of his house. This needed to be settled and it was going to happen tonight… once and for all.