Liam: What time are we meeting?
Liam’s message was sitting unanswered on Nate’s phone as he finished up with some things for work on his computer before he started getting ready.
Picking it up, he typed, “10 o’clock outside the club” to which he received a thumbs up.
Sitting back in his desk chair, Nate cracked his neck, trying to shake off the stiffness. Work had been kicking his ass all week, which to some point was of his own doing.
He still couldn’t believe how drastically things had changed when he stopped to think the before and after events of the day that had tilted his world off its axis.
Before, Nate had been building up his responsibilities at the company he worked for, gearing towards a promotion that would have potentially earned him a higher position but also probably relocated him to their main offices on the other side of the country. It hadn’t even been a question of money, just a means to focus on something, to work towards a specific goal.
But now. Now he couldn’t see himself taking such a step. He couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving everything that mattered behind. His friends.
Maddy.
God, Maddy.
He couldn’t leave just as he’d found her again.
That afternoon at her place was still seared in his mind. She drove him crazy in the best way possible. His body ached to have her close, his hands almost tingling with the need to touch her.
And that mischievous grin of hers. It would have sent him to his knees if he hadn’t already been there.
They’d worked for a couple more hours after they’d drunk their hot chocolate, finishing up the most difficult parts that were giving her trouble, the bookcase and the shelves. He had no clue how he’d kept his eyes focused enough to what he was doing instead of nailing his own fingers to the slabs of wood.
He hadn’t seen her all week and he already missed her. They’d texted a lot and had the occasional phone call, but work was kicking her ass, too. After taking a few days off to recover from her cold, she’d returned to a mountain of things to deal with.
Nate’s eyes fell on the last email he’d received from work, a reminder for the opening in the position he’d been aiming at. It didn’t matter how many reminders they sent him. It didn’t matter that his supervisor thought he was being an idiot giving that up.
He would focus on what mattered most.
Shutting down his laptop, he headed to the shower.
He had a girl to meet.
***
The streets were busy when Nate got to the club. He’d parked his car a few blocks away and walked the short distance. Which is where he found the guys already waiting for him. Except they seemed to be locked in a stare-down, tension rolling off both of them.
Were they fighting about something?
Nate frowned, trying to remember if either of them had mentioned anything to him. He was prepared to ask what was going on when he reached them, but their tension seemed to melt away as soon as they saw him.
“That took you long enough,” Cooper’s teasing remark greeted him.
“I’m only five minutes late. There was traffic.”
“And here I thought you would be the first one to sprint through the doors.”
Nate stared at him blankly before he turned to Liam.
“Please control him.”
“If you think he can be controlled, then I have seriously overestimated your cleverness.”
“You both know I’m right here listening to you two, right?”
“Yes,” they both answered in tandem.
