Page 71 of Want You

Dude, I never ask you for anything. Please do not bring this up.

Nathan watched the three little dots appear and disappear. He could only begin to imagine what nonsense his brother was trying to come up with.

Hard to bring it up when I haven’t met her yet.

Soon.

Life is short, when is soon?

Sometime after we get back.

Well, the sooner the better. I’d like to meet her before I find any other lingerie or see the two of you in a tabloid.

That got his attention. Were there pictures of him and Octavia in fucking tabloids?

What fucking tabloid?

His face felt like it was on fire. Not because he was embarrassed but because he was angry. The thought of someone taking their picture without him knowing was enraging. Well, no, the thought of someone taking her picture was. He was used to it, but Octavia hadn’t signed up for that shit.

None. I’ve been keeping an eye out for things. With me living in your place it seems like a good time to make introductions. Have mom and Em over for dinner and get it over with all at once.

Truth be told, Nathan would love to do that. He had talked about her, but he wanted Octavia to be part of every facet of his life. The sooner they got the whole meet-the-family thing over with, the better.

Well, clear your schedule and I’ll see what I can do.

Hardy har har.

Nathan would ask Octavia if she’d be interested in meeting his family on their usual call, suddenly grateful that the game had been earlier than usual which meant it wasn’t too late for her.

CHAPTER 36

OCTAVIA

Octavia was halfway through her tenth episode of Dawson’s Creek that day when her phone lit up with Nathan’s morning face. She’d taken it one morning at the cottage before he’d had a chance to reach for her.

“Hey, handsome,” she cooed, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them.

“Fuck, how did people do long trips before FaceTime?” Nathan grumbled.

“I think that’s why everyone carried a picture of their sweetheart in their wallet,” she told him, smiling at how unruly his post-game hair was. He would have showered, but he never did his hair if he wasn’t having to deal with the press. And chances were he’d been wearing a toque. The video was nice, but she still wanted to be able to touch his hair in moments like this. Maybe that’s why people kept locks of their lovers’ hair with them in a time long before phones.

“I’d happily carry a picture of you in my wallet.” He grinned before falling back onto his bed, his body bouncing just enough to show he’d landed somewhere soft. “I’d tattoo your face on the back of my eyelids if it meant I could see you with my eyes closed.”

She scrunched her nose at the visual. “I’m not sure that would feel all that nice.”

“It would probably feel better than all this time apart,” he complained.

“Two days.”

A month ago, this conversation would have started with a direction for Octavia to take off her clothes. There would have been nothing but need and desperation to get each other off. But that was when neither knew if it would be their last time. It was before they felt stable, when the emotional distance felt impossible to overcome.

Now they sat quietly, Nathan staring up at his screen from where he was sprawled on the bed, Octavia surrounded by pillows, knees up, back against the headboard in her own bed, just breathing together. A moment of gentle calm before Nathan inevitably needed to work off some of that post-game adrenaline he always had copious amounts of.

Nathan sat up and started undoing his tie. Signalling to Octavia what was about to happen.

“Will you meet my family next week?” he asked, throwing her off by both the desperation in his tone and the nervous expression he was wearing.

It really was about time they got the meeting stuff over with. She’d introduced past boyfriends to her mom and sister way faster than this. But she had never dated a professional athlete before, so she had been weighing the consequences of that.