Uninvited (Fate #7) Page 17

  “Oh yeah.” Nathan laughed. “You should’ve seen her holding that frying pan in front of her like a weapon when she could’ve easily grabbed a knife or the fireplace poker instead.”

  They all got a good laugh again as Nathan detailed their first encounter and the fact that she had pepper spray in her purse the whole time.

  “I’m not familiar with Temecula,” Liv asked, peering at Aiyanna. “How far is that from here?”

  “About an hour and a half,” Aiyanna explained.

  “Less,” Nathan countered. “I did just over an hour yesterday.”

  “I’ve thought of moving into the Escondido area though,” Aiyanna informed them all because she hadn’t even mentioned this to Nathan yet. “My mom and stepdad live there, and it’s way closer to my school.”

  She explained about having grown up in Temecula but now that both her sister and mom had moved out that way she’d begun to consider it. “It’s something I only recently discussed with my sister this past week. But I’m still not sure. I have two roommates, and while I think one of them can more than afford to pay half the rent, I’m not sure about the other. I’d hate to leave her high and dry.”

  “Escondido is what? A half hour from here?” Liv said, taking the baby from Nathan because she’d begun to whimper. “Maybe they can find another roommate before you move out.”

  Aiyanna nodded, noticing how Nathan stared at her thoughtfully. They spoke more about Aiyanna’s school, her job with her stepdad, and her plans of opening up her own practice together with her sister. It was clear Liv was the one most interested and doing all the inquiring. Isaiah seemed distracted at times, touching Kelli’s baby bump and even kissing her often. For as touchy-feely as Nathan could be, he did very little of that now. Mostly he just held her hand, squeezing it at times.

  By the time they all left, Aiyanna hadn’t even realized it, but Nathan had been right. Liv had thoroughly interrogated her. Only at the time it didn’t feel like it. She’d done it in such a casual and nice way it hadn’t felt like she was prying. Even when Aiyanna had mentioned Scott, her roommate, Liv’s brows had gone up in slight surprise, but otherwise she didn’t appear off put or anything by it. Though she had slipped in the usual questions about how long they’d been friends and how long they’d lived together.

  The moment they were all out the door Nathan was all over Aiyanna. “I thought they’d never leave.” He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder so fast she barely had a chance to yelp. “We need to make up for lost time.”

  It occurred to Aiyanna for a moment to ask why he hadn’t so much as kissed her the whole time they’d been there. But it seemed too inconsequential. She knew it was only because Kelli was there that she’d even question it. If it’d been any other combo of friends or relatives, the thought probably wouldn’t have even crossed her mind. Clearly, Nathan was still trying to save a little face. He’d openly admitted to trying to tone their relationship down when he first got home.

  Then she remembered his question about Jace and decided instead of being petty and worrying about this she should be grateful instead that he seemed to have forgotten about it. She giggled the whole way he rushed to his bedroom. The moment he set her down on the bed he was all over her. His big body pressing against hers as he lay over her, immediately had her aroused.

  As he always did, he took her mouth in his and devoured it with a groan. Then her phone pinged and he stopped. She closed her eyes as he pulled his lips away and glanced over on the nightstand. “You wanna check that?”

  She shook her head, praying this wouldn’t jolt his memory. He leaned back in, lowering his mouth to her neck and kissing it softly until her phone pinged again. Aiyanna wasn’t even sure if it was a text or an email—maybe even one of her social media notifications.

  “That reminds me,” he said, pulling away from her neck again, and her stomach was already knotting up. “Any reason why you haven’t blocked Jace from calling or texting you?”

  Chapter 17: Setting the Precedent

  Nathan

  It wasn’t that big a deal. If it hadn’t been because of that strange vibe Nathan thought he’d picked up on the first time he asked, he wouldn’t even be asking again. Not only was the vibe back¸ her body’s tense reaction to his asking again confirmed something was up. This was not the way he wanted their relationship to start.

  He pulled away further and slipped off to the side of her but never took his eyes off her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said a little too quickly.

  “It’s just a question¸ Anna.” He searched her eyes. “Something I should know about you and this guy? Have you really been ignoring his calls and texts?”

  “Yes. Every single one of them.”

  “Then I don’t get it. Why not just block him?”

  She shrugged then glanced away. “I just hadn’t gotten around to it.”

  “Okay,” he said, not convinced by that at all, but he did his best to try and not lose his patience. “So why not just say that in the first place? Why are you getting all weird on me?”

  “It’s just . . .” She sat up now and so did he, but she hesitated to go on. “I’m not a vengeful or conniving person, Nathan. I don’t want you to think I am.”

  “I wouldn’t think you are just ’cause you block him—”

  “No.” She shook her head. “That’s not what I’m saying.” She inhaled and exhaled loudly before going on. “I’m a Psychology major, right? I know a lot about human nature and how the mind automatically interprets and reacts to certain things. But I don’t want you to think I’m evil or that I’d ever play head games with you. Because I’m not like that.”

  “Why would I think that?”

  “Because as a Psych major one of the first things you learn is that the ego is what makes us human. Ignoring someone, while a passive punishment, can also be one of the cruelest, especially for people with big egos or insecurity issues. And he had both. It’s impossible for them to control it, and therefore they take it the hardest. Being ignored by someone important to you, and he keeps insisting I am, can lead to depression and worsen their already shaky self-esteem.” She looked into his eyes momentarily then glanced away. “If I block him, then he’ll just assume I don’t know he’s texting or calling and therefore I’m not ignoring him by choice. As long as I don’t block him, I’m sending a clear message that, yes, I’m still getting your texts and calls, but I’m choosing to ignore them. It is a psychological mind game. But I’m not one of those girls that plays games. I have zero interest in ever reconnecting with him again. I just figured, after what he did to me, he deserved a little cruelty from me. It’s the most I’d ever do. I’d never try to key his car or anything of the sort. I was over him the night it happened. I just . . .” She shrugged again and finally met his eyes again. “It’s petty and mean, I know, but it gives me a little satisfaction to be able to ignore him completely and for him to know for sure that I am.”

  Well, this wasn’t at all what he was expecting. Not only was her reasoning nowhere near as annoying as he’d begun to think it might be, it was actually kind of sexy. She was messing with this idiot’s head without indulging in any ghetto aggressive behavior.

  “Come here.” He put his hand behind her neck and pulled her to him gently. She leaned in and he kissed her softly. “I don’t think you’re evil. I think it’s genius and it’s actually a turn-on.”

  Her eyes brightened, making him smile even bigger. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” He kissed her longer, deeper, feeling the need to be inside her already. “As long as you don’t use your Jedi Knight tricks on me, you can fuck with this guy’s head all you want. The asshole deserves it.”

  Aiyanna laughed but shook her head. “No, I’m gonna block him.” She leaned in even closer and smiled. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m evil. I had my fun messing with him, but I’m over it now. I don’t need that negativity or the constant reminder of one of the most mortifying days of
my life anymore.”

  Her phone pinged again, making Nathan frown. “Yeah, maybe you should. How often does he text you?”

  “Not too often,” she said, reaching over to the nightstand for her phone. “I should check that, actually, in case it’s my mom or sister.”

  She grabbed the phone, and Nathan watched her as she tapped at the screen a few times, trying to read her expressions. For the most part, they were vacant. She sort of frowned, went vacant again, and then smiled before looking up at him.

  “He only texted me twice: the same BS about being sorry and how full of regret he is, blah, blah, blah.” Since she frowned, he thought that was what she’d been reading. “I’ve a bunch of notifications from Facebook and Twitter, but I need to respond to some of my other texts. Did you have any plans for today or were you taking me home early?”

  She’d since moved back close to him, so he took advantage and brought his hand around her neck again and kissed her. “My only plans were to spend the day with you. How we do it is up to you. I can take you wherever your heart desires, or we could spend the day right here and have you home tonight. And that’s only because I work tonight; otherwise, I’d be begging you to stay another night.”

  She smiled big and giddy, biting her lower lip. “Taking a walk on the beach would be romantic; otherwise, staying here all day sounds like heaven.”

  Could she be more perfect? He kissed her again with a groan until she pulled away. “Just let me respond to Scott then.”

  Nathan stared at her as she tapped away at her phone. He was doing his best to be as understanding about this situation as possible. Their relationship was way too new to start bitching about her constant checking in with her best friend. He didn’t want to blow this, but it was hard not to question it. Even as overbearing as his family could be, he never felt the need to be checking in with them this often.

  As soon as she set her phone down, he was on her. There were way better things to be doing than discussing this bothersome topic. She lay all the way back, and he inched his way over her, sprinkling kisses all over her face. “You and Scott good?”

  She nodded, gazing into his eyes, then smiled. “I’d mentioned a while back wanting to go to one of the pow wows at Pechanga, the Indian casino near my house. There’s one going on this weekend. He was checking if I might want to go later today.”

  “You sure you don’t wanna go? I can take you.”

  Shaking her head, she smiled even bigger, looking down at Nathan’s lips. “Let me see. I can stroll around a pow wow for a few hours or spend the day here in bed with you. I think that’s a no-brainer. The pow wow can wait.”

  Hell, yeah. This was just the kind of distraction he’d need to keep him from worrying about her best friend. He undid her jeans button and unzipped her jeans, already barely able to contain himself. He’d have to remind himself more often he had nothing to worry about when it came to this stuff. Bottom line was, as close as she was to Scott, Anna had blown him and the pow wow off—to be with Nathan. He could live with that.

  For now.

  ~~~

  “Kelli’s very pretty.”

  Nathan glanced up from where he was slicing avocado for the torta he was fixing them for their late lunch. The comment was so out of the blue it felt odd. Anna sat at the counter, glancing around as if trying to make the statement sound even more casual.

  “Yeah, she is.” Nathan, said, glancing up at Anna as she picked up her glass of iced tea. “What brought that up?”

  Seeing her shrug had Nathan bringing his attention back to the torta he was putting together. He pretended to concentrate on cutting up the queso fresco he layered it with. Something was up, but he had to remember her Jedi Knight tricks. Nathan would have his hands full with this one for sure, trying to beat her to the punch when it came to tricky conversations. At the moment, he was hoping to just figure out what she was getting at. If anything.

  “I mean I get why you and your brother would be into her.”

  Nathan had to smile. Now he got it. And he had a feeling why she was bringing this up now too. He walked over to the microwave to pull out the bowl with the carnitas and refried beans he’d reheated.

  “First of all,” he said as he took the hot bowl out with a towel. “I was never really into her.” He brought the bowl back to the center island where he was putting their oversized sandwich together. “I told you it was more of a challenge thing for me. What you said earlier about ignoring people makes sense. I suppose if I really cared about her, her blowing me off would’ve been depressing or might’ve hurt. But I barely knew her.”

  “Oh, I know. I just meant I was curious about her from the moment you told me about her, and now I see how you’d be attracted to her.”

  He nodded, spreading the beans on the bread but glanced up at her. “I was attracted to her. I’ll give you that. But not any more than I’ve ever been attracted to any other good-looking girl. The only reason I ever considered the possibility of doing more with her than any of the other girls I’d gone out with was the whole rejection thing. That psychological shit is no joke. In the short time I’ve known you, I know so much more about you than I knew about her in the couple of months I went out with her off and on. If anyone had asked me then what exactly it was about her that had me chasing her, my only answer would’ve been that she was making me work harder than any other girl ever had.”

  “Should I be worried?”

  Nathan finished spreading the meat onto the sandwich and topped it with the bread then wiped his hands with a towel. “You really think I might still have feelings for my brother’s pregnant fiancée?”

  “No, I don’t mean about that. I mean I didn’t make you work very hard at all.”

  That made Nathan smile. “That’s what’s so different about you and any girl I’ve ever met. My attraction to you had nothing to do with the chase. That’s all it was with Kelli. I never even got the chance to get to know her. I knew more about you in one day than I did the whole short-lived relationship I had with her. And the biggest difference between the two of you is I had to fight the urge to chase you almost from the very beginning.”

  Anna tilted her head, her brows furrowing. “Why is that?”

  “Because the force is strong with you, my beautiful one.” He laughed as he sliced the torta in half, plated her half, and placed it in front of her. Still smirking, he shook his head before going on. “You nailed it from the start, Anna. As much as I’d like to deny it, I know now more than ever, I am one of those guys. Everything about you had red flags popping out at me. You’d just broken up with your boyfriend. You have a best friend who’s a dude, a guy you were supposed to have spent New Year’s with up there, just the two of you. Then I found out he’s your roommate. I wanted no part of that. I knew I’d never be able to deal with it. I’d rather not relive my reaction to Scott the day he arrived up there, but you saw how fast I was ready to pull the plug on us staying in touch. His being gay was the only thing that changed my mind.”

  Nathan had since walked around the counter and taken a seat next to her. He poured soda into his glass of ice as he thought about that last comment. He’d keep to himself that, even knowing Scott was gay, it was still going to take some time for him to get used to the idea of her being that close to another guy she wasn’t related to.

  “Oh my God, this is so good,” Anna said after she finished chewing the first bite of her torta. “Did you make the meat yourself?”

  “Hell no.” Nathan laughed, wiping his mouth after he took a bite. “This is still leftovers from Clair’s gathering the other night. They brought in food from Morenos in La Jolla. Ever been there?”

  Nathan watched as she took another bite, closed her eyes in delight, then shook her head. He had to smile. “I’ll have to take you there. The owners are good friends of my cousin Moe and cousins of my brother-in-law, Enzo, Liv’s husband. It’s how she met him. The Morenos have six restaurants now, but the OG and main one is in La Jolla. We eat ther
e or order take out all the time and it never gets old.”

  “I can see why that would be.” Anna wiped her mouth with a napkin. “The whole combo of everything you put in here is perfect, but the meat is so tasty. Sam would love this. Mexican food is her favorite.” She giggled, covering her mouth with a napkin. “She’s always annoyed with me that I don’t know how to cook more Mexican recipes aside from the very plain ones I’ve put together.”

  “I’m nowhere near as good as the cooks over at Morenos, but I told you we take turns cooking down at the station.”

  He paused when she wiped at the avocado, queso fresco, and sour cream mix that was dripping off the side of her torta and licked her finger clean. “So good,” she said, closing her eyes again.

  They’d been at it all day, and just watching her do that had a certain body part coming alive again already.

  “So you cook Mexican dishes at the station?”

  “I’ve been known to. Ceviche tostadas are my specialty.”

  “Mmm,” she said as those beautiful eyes brightened.

  He leaned over and squeezed her thigh. “I’ll have to make you some now just to see those bright eyes of yours go so big.”

  Anna squeezed his hand over her thigh, and whatever weirdness he’d picked up on from her earlier about Kelli seemed to be gone now. Only he needed to make sure he had this squared away. Despite how clear-cut this should be—he’d never even think of Kelli in that way again—he knew it might still be uncomfortable for Anna. Because as clear-cut as things between her and Scott were, the disquiet he still felt about it made it easier to understand Anna’s discomfort about Kelli.

  “There’s something I gotta be honest with you about Kelli.”

  Her smile vanished immediately, and she stared at him, pulling her hand away from his, then pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and waited.

  “I referred to her as my girl the first time I brought her around the family.” Anna glanced down at her food but didn’t look up again until he squeezed her thigh. “It’s a petty little detail, but at the time it was just the word I chose to introduce her. I probably wouldn’t have remembered calling her that, and the only reason I’m even mentioning it now is because it was a big deal to my brother. He later told me it’s why he’d initially fought so hard to squelch his feelings for her. Even after she’d assured him nothing had ever happened between us, because I’d called her that, he assumed I was more serious about her than I really was. But I wasn’t.”