“Hey, Mr. G,” I greeted, seeing Nate’s dad first.
He directed a smile my way. “G’day, Ryan. How’s it going?” He reached out and shook my hand.
“Not too bad. You know how it is.” I’d caught up with Nate’s family a couple of times since being back. Just like Nate, they’d opened up their home to me and happily welcomed me back into the fold.
“Good to hear. If you’re looking for Nate, he’s just gone to grab us coffees.”
“I’ll head him off then. I could do with a caffeine hit.” Mr. G waved me off, and I reentered the sunlit street.
A couple of folks passed me by, offering a smile and a g’day, and I wondered if this would be what it could be like if I moved back here. Life here was so perfectly simple. There were a bunch of small communities close by, Cooroy included, plenty of beaches and national parks. Plus, the major cities in Australia could be reached easily by flight, and our closest, Brisbane, wasn’t that far away.
The biggest pull of all was Nate, who’d just stepped out of the coffee shop with two coffees and a white bag. He was saying something over his shoulder to the person inside, following up with a chuckle.
God, he was handsome, and the way that his laugh wrinkled his eyes just so was sexy as hell.
Pushing away the pang of regret that I’d be leaving soon, I stopped in my tracks, waiting for him to spot me. It didn’t take long for his attention to fall on me, and a very different expression formed.
As if on cue, my breath hitched, just like it always did when longing, heat, and joy filled his expression. The emotions were as clear on his face as they were imprinted in my heart. I shook myself out of my Nate-induced haze, something I fell into more and more.
I never expected to be like this, ever, but I didn’t regret a single jumble of emotions the man brought out in me.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Once before me, his arm jerked ever so slightly, and I knew he struggled with not reaching out. Fear and rules sucked. Even more so when I was responsible for both.
Shoving my hands in my pockets, which earned me a soft smile, I indicated toward the paper bag. “Got something good in there?”
He quirked his brow and gripped the bag tighter. “Nothing you need to know about. You missed your run this morning.”
A disgruntled moan escaped me. “You’re almost as bad as Coach.” My stomach flipped at that.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, probably myformercoach.”
Eyes wide, Nate stared at me a beat. “I think you need this more than me.” Like the good guy he was, he handed me the bag. A quick look revealed a fresh and thick lamington.
“God, I missed these. You’re the best.”
Nate snorted. “And don’t forget it. Let me drop Dad’s coffee off, and then we can head to the park if you want?”
I nodded. “Let me order a coffee.”
It didn’t take long before we sat on a park bench, and I munched happily on the chocolate, sponge, and coconut-sprinkled lamington. Having told him the basics of the call, I struggled to fix on exactly how I felt, and told him as much.
“It sounds like a great move for you. They’ll be lucky to have you.” His words were careful, a little too controlled.
“Well, I like to think so.” My chuckle tapered off to a soft sigh. “It’s just thrown me for a loop.”
After finishing off the dregs of his coffee, Nate angled to face me, giving me his full attention. “I’m excited for you, and honestly, proud as hell. Plus, hello… Vegas, baby.” This time his voice was much more animated. I appreciated what he was trying to do.
“At least Vegas is so much closer to LAX.” I eyed him carefully, waiting for a reaction.
“Just over an hour’s flight. Much better than four hours.”
Hope awoke inside me, stretching and fluttering. “You’ve already looked into it?”
Nate rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, color touching his cheeks. “I may have spent some time looking into it this morning.”
My spirits soared, the wings taking flight. “Yeah?” Grinning, I briefly stroked his cheek with my thumb before forcing myself to pull away.
