Page 10 of Want You

“If I sleep with you—which is all this is by the way—do I need to sign a non-disclosure agreement?”

“Do I need to sign one?”

“I’m not famous. No one will care if you tell them you slept with me. No gossip columns will come calling. No one is going to offer you a big cheque for that kind of information. Me, on the other hand…” she trailed off, watching as he stepped closer. Even with the shoes, he towered over her.

“Are you afraid I’m into some kinky shit, Octavia?” He grinned when she shook her head. “Are you going to tell people if I am?”

She shook her head again. “I’m not going to tell anyone about this because I don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Fuck around with hockey players.” Disgust dripped off her words, hockey players sounded like a slur, and he’d be offended if he didn’t know better.

“What about the other night?” he questioned.

Her lips twisted, making him want to give them something better to do than convey disgust. “I was annoyed. You were there.”

“And you liked what I did? Liked how I made you feel?” he challenged, appreciating the way she looked flustered for half a second.

“Apparently. I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”

“And you’d like to utilize my services again, despite my career?”

She huffed, somehow making annoyance hot. “Evidently.”

“Do you want to see what I’m into, Octavia? Want to see what I would have done if I didn’t have to run away?” She took a stuttering breath as she looked up at him demurely through her lashes.

“Unfortunately, I think I would like that,” she admitted.

“You think or you know?”

Her bright green eyes locked onto his. “I know. I would like to know what I missed out on the other night.”

“Quench that nagging curiosity?”

“Maybe.”

Nathan grinned down at her, shaking his head. “Nah, there’s no maybe about it, Autumn. I know. I was there too.”

“I guess we better deal with it then.”

“Good.” He reached for her hand, relief blooming in his chest when she let him take it, threading her fingers through his and following as he led her all the way down to the players parking area without another word.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said as they waited in the never-ending gridlock that was the Gardiner Expressway.

“Novel for a hockey player, no?” Octavia laughed, and despite the insult, Nathan liked the sound of what came after it. She could insult him daily if it meant he got to hear her laugh.

“We do that occasionally.”

“What have you been thinking?” she asked, turning to him, the streetlight bathing her face in a warm glow, making it harder for him to look away from her.

“I’ve been thinking that you may be right about a hot dog not being a sandwich. But then a hamburger isn’t one either. Applying the same logic, the hamburger is the meat since the bun is a hamburger bun.”

“Don’t think too hard about it. It’ll take over your life,” she teased.

When Nathan pulled into the parking garage at his condo, he felt his anxiety begin to rise. He’d built this up so much, had been thinking about reuniting with Octavia since he ran out of the hotel room.

He kissed her first in the elevator this time, bending low to capture her mouth as they rose seventeen stories into the sky.