Uninvited (Fate #7) Page 5

  Yesterday and even earlier today she hadn’t wanted to get too into this, but she’d had enough of his assumptions. She figured after the night they had last night, spending the entire night in his arms, she knew him well enough now that she could share a little.

  “Look. My friend Scott is just my friend. Well, no, I take that back. He’s more than just a friend.” She thought she felt Nathan tense, but then he nodded as if he’d had it right all along, so she clarified. “He’s my best friend. Has been since middle school. And he was only doing me a favor by coming out here with me because at the last minute my New Year’s plans of coming here with my ex were canned. Everyone except Scott had already made plans. Since my family all thought I’d be here, my mom is in New York with my stepdad, my sister is on a cruise with her boyfriend, and I was gonna be all loner boner, nursing a broken heart at home.”

  That made Nathan turn to her. “Your ex broke your heart?” he asked, staring intently into her eyes. “Recently?”

  Aiyanna stared at him, almost afraid to admit it, but she did. “Just this past week.” As expected, his brows jumped. “It’s what I was talking about when I said this has been one of the crappiest weeks I’ve ever had.”

  Chapter 5: If You Were Mine

  Nathan

  Why it mattered he wasn’t sure, but it did, damn it. Just moments ago he’d been more than a little excited about the prospect of spending New Year’s Eve here with Aiyanna. Now he didn’t even know what to make of his previous suspicions about the kind of girl she was.

  Just this past week she’d broken up with her boyfriend¸ within days made plans with another dude, and last night had snuggled in bed with Nathan? Granted, it was completely innocent until that morning when he pretended to be asleep and gave into the temptation that had tortured him all night. No matter what she said, this holiday getaway with her best friend had rebound sex written all over it.

  Aiyanna finished cleaning his wound and warned him the ointment she applied might sting a little before patching him right up with a giant gauze she found in the first-aid kit.

  Nathan knew it was none of his business. And it really shouldn’t matter, but after the night they had, one he’d already begun looking forward to having again, he was curious now. “Just last week you had a boyfriend?”

  She nodded with a frown. “You want that cup of coffee now? If you really wanna hear about it, I can bore you with the details while I put something together for us for breakfast.”

  “Coffee sounds great actually,” he said, standing up. “Thanks for cleaning me up by the way. You have a very soft touch. I feel better already.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said with that sweet timid smile that made him wonder if she was actually the kind of girl he’d begun to peg her as.

  She didn’t say anything else until they were in the kitchen. “It was more like he bruised my ego,” she began explaining as she pulled two cups out of the cupboard in the kitchen. “My breakup with Jace, that is. Big time,” she added, glancing at him with a strange expression.

  Nathan had hopped onto the counter again, and she turned to him after pouring him a cup, handing it to him, and pointing at the dry vanilla creamer jar on the counter.

  “How’d he bruise your ego?” Nathan asked, beyond curious now.

  “We were at his apartment last Thursday”—she glanced at him again with that same strange expression then turned back to her own coffee cup and stirred in the creamer— “uh . . . just hanging out, when his ex showed up, banging on the door. He’d told me time and time again that he was totally over her and didn’t even talk to her anymore. Turns out he was full of shit because she let me know he’d just been in her bed the previous weekend, and he had no choice but to admit it.”

  Nathan stared at her. That cute little brow lifted the way he’d seen her do before as she took a sip of her coffee. Interesting. So he’d been right about this trip with her friend being a rebound trip. “How long had you been with him?”

  “Not too long,” she said as she took another sip of her coffee and leaned against the counter. “Officially, about three months, but we were friends for a while before that.”

  As relieved as he was now that he’d asked, it was also annoying and surprisingly disappointing. So she was friends with the guy first. She then got romantically involved with him, got played, dumped him, and not three days later, she planned a getaway with another guy friend? Normally, he’d be feeling pretty smug right about then because he’d been so right about her. Except he’d actually begun to hope she might prove him wrong.

  “I’d say that’s long enough for it to be more than a bruised ego,” he said, trying not to sound as thwarted by all this as it was beginning to make him. “The way you first described it sounds more accurate. He broke your heart.”

  She was pensive for a moment then shook her head. “At first I thought so too. But I don’t think so now. I wasn’t nearly as hurt as I was pissed. I’m actually relieved things happened the way they did. That I found out what an asshole he was before . . . uh, things got more serious.”

  “How much more serious could it have gotten? You were with the guy for three months.” Nathan was stifling anything he’d even begun to think he might be feeling for her after knowing her for only a day. But he would admit one thing. “I’ve known girls for shorter than three months who I started feeling for.”

  “I still hadn’t slept with him,” she said softly, staring at the floor as she held her coffee in front of her.

  As pleasing as that was to hear, Nathan knew better. “Doesn’t matter,” he said, trying not to frown because he knew firsthand that it didn’t.

  “Things were different with us, Nathan,” she said, still staring at the floor. “In hindsight, I know now I was with him for all the wrong reasons. I thought he was a good guy. Safe. I liked him a lot, but I was never in love with him.”

  That’s where she had Nathan. In hindsight, he knew he’d never been in love either, but it’d still stung. Maybe she was right about the bruised-ego thing. He’d never felt the mar of rejection until Kelli . . . and there was nothing worse than knowing you’d been rejected because of someone else, especially your own brother. Yep, bruised fucking ego for damn sure.

  He’d never even consider the possibility of anything serious with someone like Aiyanna, someone who could so easily and this quickly move on the way she was doing. But he was curious now about another thing. “So how’d you end up with the cabin if your ex was the one that booked it?”

  She finally glanced up and exhaled. “Like me, all his friends and family members already had plans. He didn’t want to come up all by himself, but unlike me, he could still get in on some of his friends’ plans. Since the trip was nonrefundable, he offered it to me. Said it was gonna go to waste anyway. His airline ticket wasn’t even transferrable. Scott had to get a different flight and could only swing one that came in a day after mine. At first I said no, but when at the last minute Scott not only said he could come with me, but encouraged me to do this, I decided to come.”

  Yeah, Nathan bet Scott encouraged her to spend New Year’s with him here, sipping champagne and very likely sharing a bed.

  “What about you?” she asked as she set her mug down and walked to the fridge. “Why’s a good-looking single guy like you traveling and spending New Year’s Eve solo?”

  He shrugged. “I scheduled the week off a long time ago but never made plans. My buddies told me about this trip last minute, and I decided to just do it. So it was only on my trip in that I’d be alone. But I had plans for New Year’s Eve.”

  She turned to him suddenly, her eyes going wide. “The cable,” she said, shutting the fridge door and hurrying to the TV. “With all the bear drama, we forgot to check if it’s working. I was about to say it was a good thing you have the week off because no telling how long we’ll be stuck here, and then I remembered the news.”

  It took a moment, but a few seconds after she’d clicked it on, the blank screen
went away and a newscaster was talking about the big story. The storm.

  Nathan hopped off the counter to get a closer look and went and stood next to Aiyanna. They both listened silently as the broadcaster spoke of all the stranded cars, how many were still without power, and how many were still missing after an avalanche had hit in the nearby slopes.

  That made Nathan anxious. He’d never called to check in with his siblings, and he was certain they were likely beyond worried. Then they got to the most important part—how long this was going to last—and he groaned when the guy said they were expecting another storm that evening.

  They stayed glued to the broadcast. Nathan made mental notes of what they should be prepared for. As soon as the guy began to repeat part of the report they’d already heard, Nathan turned to Aiyanna. “You seen any candles around here? We might be without power again.”

  “I thought I saw an old lantern in the garage, but I don’t think we should go in there.”

  Nathan thought about that for a moment. “Unless there’s more than one bear around here, I think that bear got snowed out of that garage. If there’s a hole he’s been using to get in and out of it, it’s probably buried under ten feet of snow by now, and it’s why his ass is roaming around out there.”

  He pulled the pepper spray out of his pocket even as Aiyanna’s eyes pleaded. “We have to get in there, babe. Who knows how long we might be stuck here? There might be other things in there we could use.” Even as serious as the circumstances were, he couldn’t help but smirk. “Can you leave the frying pan on the stove and grab a knife this time?”

  Aiyanna’s pleading expression gave way to a smile so sweet and embarrassed Nathan had to remind himself of what he’d decided earlier. The only reason he was here with her now and not Scott was this damn storm, a storm he had mixed feelings about now. Despite what he kept having to remind himself of, the thought of being stuck with her for what might be days now, was not as dreadful as he knew it should be.

  It turned out his theory about the bear being snowed out was right. They even found the hole the bear had been using to get in and out. It wasn’t hard to find because about three feet of snow spilled in from the hole until it’d been plugged.

  Once they gathered enough random things that might come in handy from the garage, Aiyanna started breakfast while Nathan finished cleaning up the mess in the front room. They took inventory of the food they had and decided to begin rationing. They’d kept the television on the whole time Aiyanna cooked and Nathan cleaned. From the sound of it, they were definitely going to be there at least a few more days.

  “So what do you do for a living?” Nathan asked when they sat down to eat their breakfast.

  “I work part time for my stepdad at his insurance firm, but I’m working on getting my degree in psychology.”

  “Psychology?”

  “Yeah, youth psychology specifically. I like working with teens and young adults. It sounds a little cliché, but the system really is broken,” she said as she stuck a spoonful of potatoes in her mouth. When she was done chewing, she continued. “I’ve seen enough in my internships to know so many teens and young adults get labeled, slapped with a prescription of meds that only makes them worse, and are given up on far too early. My sister and I hope to make a difference.”

  She put another spoonful of food in her mouth. Like the first time, Nathan’s eyes were instantly on her lips as she chewed then licked them until she interrupted his staring by wiping her mouth with a napkin.

  If she noticed, she didn’t say so because she went on. “My sister is studying the same thing, only she’s a year ahead of me. I start my graduate program next year, and she’ll finish next year. Our dream is to open up our own private practice together someday, Casilieris and Casilieris.”

  That made Nathan curious. “Casilieris, huh? Is that Italian?”

  She shook her head. “Greek actually, but I’m sort of a mix of everything, only I tend to lean toward Mexican and Greek most. My dad’s Greek, but my mom is a big mix too, including Native American. It’s where my first name came from. But my mom’s dad was one-hundred percent Mexican, so aside from English, Spanish and Greek are the only languages I’ve ever spoken.”

  “I was wondering about your name. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.”

  She nodded, sitting back a little. “Yeah, it was my great-grandmother’s name on my mom’s side. My sister Heidi was named after my great-grandmother on my dad’s side. Most people, well those closest to me anyway, call me Anna.”

  Nathan didn’t even realize he was smiling until she finished talking and stared at him without saying more. He’d been busy taking in all her other features, features he’d noticed since last night when they’d spoken over champagne but seemed to get more delicate overnight. Sweeter somehow. He was drowning in all of her now: the soft wave of her thick golden highlighted locks and how the parts by her ears and forehead curled a little tighter, the arch in her perfectly shaped brows, the dimple on her left cheek that wasn’t always there but made an appearance whenever she smiled big enough, and the hazel eyes that changed shades of gold in the light. They were amazing outside in the sun. The cute way she licked the tip of her thumb with her hand upside down when she got ketchup on it, made him wonder if she sucked her thumb as a child. Mostly the thought of watching her suck anything was distracting as all hell.

  She waved her hand in front of him. “You zoned out,” she said. “Was I getting that boring?”

  “Not at all,” he said as their eyes met. “Watching you talk is just distracting. I hadn’t realized how breathtaking you are.”

  Her eyes went a little wide, and the milky white skin of her face went a few shades of pink deeper. “Thank you,” she said softly, looking down at her plate.

  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” he offered. “But I’d rather be honest than have you think you’re boring me.”

  She shook her head, meeting his eyes again. The more he looked at those beautiful eyes, the more that nagging voice in his head about not considering doing anything with her was beginning to get ignored.

  “I just wasn’t expecting it; that’s all. But I’ll admit I’m terrible at reacting to compliments.”

  “You should be used to them.” He smiled, sitting back in his chair too.

  “I’m sure you are,” she said, picking up both their empty dishes and stood up. “It’s why I find it strange that you wouldn’t be spending the holiday with a girlfriend or something.”

  Nathan picked up their cups and followed her to the sink. “Only girl that I ever considered taking seriously is engaged to my brother now.” He knew that would get her attention and make her momentarily forget about his impulsive compliment.

  He hadn’t planned on sharing, but he figured what the hell? She’d shared with him about her ex, and Kelli wasn’t even someone he considered an ex. She turned to him, clearly shocked as she set the dishes down in the sink. “Rage’s fiancée was your—”

  “No, my other brother. AJ’s married now.”

  “Oh, that’s right. And my God, I forgot there’s three of you guys.”

  Nathan laughed. “Yeah, I’m the middle brother. AJ is the youngest and Isaiah is the oldest.”

  “And he’s engaged to your ex-girlfriend?” she said as she started to wash the dishes by hand, since no surprise this dump had no dishwasher.

  He filled her in on the basics. How technically he wasn’t ever actually with her. She was just the first girl in a long time he’d felt fit to chase after. How it’d been kind of awkward but he was over it and he’d never slept with her. Never even made out with her.

  “My brother actually met her first, only I didn’t know it. So by the time I started seeing her, he’d already slept with her. Their connection was far deeper than mine ever was with her. She didn’t know we were brothers when we met. It’s long and convoluted, but I wasn’t mad about it or anything. I’ll admit my ego took a blow, but I’d never admit that to either o
f them.”

  That last statement made him take in a deep breath. She turned to him as she continued to wash the dishes and he began drying the ones she’d rinsed. “How long have they been engaged?”

  “Few months.”

  She nodded as if it all made sense now. “So that’s why you’re not spending the holiday with your family. Too soon?”

  “Exactly,” he said, placing the dish he’d dried in the cupboard. “There really wasn’t much to get over to begin with. It’s just awkward. I had no idea he’d propose to her so soon. But it’s not like they started dating right after I stopped seeing her. I didn’t know it at the time, but the moment she found out he was my brother, she blew me off. Only both of them thought it’d be best if they never mentioned having a past since neither anticipated a reconnection. It’s what had my stubborn ass so intrigued and drawn to her. If I’d known the truth from the beginning, it would’ve made more sense, and I wouldn’t have gotten so caught up on what I considered a challenge. I wasn’t used to rejection.”

  Aiyanna laughed. “I’m sure you’re not.”

  “I don’t mean to sound conceited; it’s just never happened—” She laughed again and he frowned. “I mean not like she did. It was confusing as hell.”

  Nathan told her about how Isaiah ran into her again more than a year after Nathan last saw or spoke to her. He shrugged, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. “I guess neither ever got over the other. I’m over it, though.”

  “Are you?” she asked, raising her brow as she rinsed her hands.

  “Absolutely. It’s just awkward being around them. But that, too, will pass eventually.”

  She smirked as she dried her hands on the dishtowel. “Whatever you say.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked, suddenly feeling like a puppy dog following her into the front room where she sat down on the sofa.