Oreo stared at me, curled up on my bed next to my phone, silently judging me for the way I was acting. It was ridiculous tobe this twisted up over Nathan after being back in his presence for one day. I shoved my legs into a pair of black boxer briefs and then some jeans before grabbing one of the discarded shirts and tossing it on. There was no point in overthinking it.
“I know, girl.” I plopped on the bed next to her. She let out a soft meow as I scratched the top of her head. “I’m not going to make that mistake. You’re going to hold me accountable, right?” Oreo blinked at me and then went about bathing herself, completely ignoring me. My phone was still going off, so I muted the group chat for now. I shouldn’t have caved to their questions. There was just enough time to take a half-hour nap before I needed to head over to today’s property. Hopefully, my headache would be gone by the time I woke up.
I fell asleep wrapped around my cat, setting an alarm on my phone so that I didn’t oversleep.
Nathan was waiting next to his car when I pulled up to the property on my bike, the bucket of cleaning supplies dangling from my handlebars. His head tilted to the side curiously when I didn’t acknowledge him. I knocked the kickstand downwith my foot and grabbed the bucket, heading straight for the front door. Nathan joined me, swinging the keys and unlocking it to let me in.
“Are you feeling any better?”
I grunted a response as I surveyed the room. Drew was right that this would be an easy cleanup today. No matter how gentle the renters were, we still had to vacuum, clean, and scrub the entire place. I set my bucket down and went straight for the closet to pull out the vacuum. Nathan stood at the entryway, watching my every move.
“You can start in any room you like, but keep in mind that you have to do everything. The bedding has to be washed in the bedrooms, and then you have to wipe down all the surfaces...”
“Chase...”
“I like to knock out the vacuuming first since it goes the fastest. Then I’ll normally do the bathroom last.”
“Chase.”
“What?” I spun on him.
Nathan was halfway to me, an arm stretched out like he was getting ready to grab for me. “So, are we back to all business, then? What happened after last night after we…” His arm dropped before he hugged himself. He looked so unsure as he waited for my answer.
Was I being an ass? Maybe. But I needed to keep my walls up. I’d already let them slip a little too much. They’d have to come downa bit if I wanted to get some more action out of our deal, however. The look on his face was going to break me, and I instantly deflated. “I’m sorry. I’m just normally focused when I show up to work.”
He nodded, seeming to accept my answer. “Okay, but can we talk for a second?”
My heart pounded at his simple request. The last thing I wanted was to talk to him. What I wanted was to get this job done and fuck around. That was it. It didn’t stop me from hesitantly nodding my head.
A slow smile spread across his face as he sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him. Shit, we were already slacking on the job. Like a puppet on a string, he pulled me to him, and I gave in to the urge to be close. I sat next to him, staying far enough away it wouldn’t come across that I wanted to touch him, but it wasn’t far enough. Whatever body wash or deodorant he used was strong, but smelled amazing on him. The smell of spice and cinnamon permeated the air around him.
“What did you want to talk about?” Sweat gathered on my back as I waited for him to speak.
Nathan cleared his throat, scooting a little closer. I had to fight the urge to move away. “How come you’re being so cagey? I get that you were pissed at me when I first got here, but then last night happened... and you close off when I ask you anything personal.”
Eesh, we were going with the hard-hitting questions right out of the gate. My eyes darted around the room as I thought of a response, or possibly looking for an escape route. Was he leaning closer?
“Not being cagey. I just don’t want to talk about some things.”
He was leaning in closer, and his scent grew stronger. I wanted to close my eyes and lean into him, too, but I used all my will to hold still.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, Nathan stood abruptly and headed toward the back of the house. "I'll take the bedrooms, then."
Well, fuck me. Was this how this summer was going to go?
Chapter 11
Nathan
It had been a week since the night of the party, and the tension between Chase and me wasn’t getting any better. He still wouldn’t let me drive him home or pick him up, and any time I asked about his parents or what he was still doing out here, he refused to answer. Nothing else had happened between us outside of that blowjob, either. Chase had implied that he wanted to go back to being summer hookups, but we’d been more than that back in the day. Or at least I thought we had been.
Uncle Drew didn't have any work for us today, so I was anxious to get out and do something fun. I'd first called home and talked to my brother. Something he'd said bothered me. Apparently, Joe had been by the house. My friends all knew that I was out at the beach. The only reason I could think of for his visit was to see my bother Aiden. I’d told Joe repeatedly to leave my brother alone, but he was determined to get him involved in the party scene before he went off to college. Aiden didn’t need to follow in my footsteps. He was a smart kid, and he needed a better influence than my friends.
Max nosed my bedroom door open before jumping onto the bed and curled next to me, huffing a sigh before closing his eyes. Ipatted behind his ears before getting up and going out to the living room to find my uncle. It was almost noon, and I’d been up and dressed for a while now. I was surprised to find Chase sitting on the couch, shuffling his phone back and forth between his hands.
“Can I help you with something?”
He stood quickly, stuffing his phone in the pocket of his shorts before awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck. Chase wouldn’t meet my eyes, scanning the room. “My friends wanted to meet up at the fun park. I know it’s sort of lame and a total tourist trap, but I realized you didn’t have anyone to hang out with, and then I remembered that I didn’t get your number...”
