Page 78 of Want You

“Nathan, you’re going to have to trust me. At the end of the day, Scottie and I are going to be at worst, acquaintances and at best, friends.”

“I love you,” he said.

“So you’ve said…thirtyish times since you woke me up with breakfast in bed,” she teased.

“Stop looking at me like that.” Nathan huffed, catching the look of pity she was throwing his way.

“Like what?” she asked innocently.

“That pity bullshit. Am I not allowed to be terrified of something?”

Octavia laughed, squeezing his hand. “I’m not pitying you. I just like knowing you’re mortal with fears like the rest of us.”

Nathan spared her a glance as he stopped at a red light. “Octavia, I’ve been terrified on an almost daily basis since I saw you at my game. Terrified of how fast I fell. Terrified that you wouldn’t fall too. Scared you’ll wake up one day and remember you don’t do the hockey player thing. Now I’ve got this incessantly cruel monkey on my back chattering away that you’ll like my little brother more. All while desperately trying to be this guy who doesn’t…”

“Doesn’t what?” she prodded.

“Sound as fucking insecure as I’m feeling in this moment.”

“You’re seriously scared that you’ll wake up and I won’t love you anymore?”

He groaned and tipped his head back as the light turned green. “As much as I hate admitting it, yes.”

Octavia let out an adorable little hum. “Well, I guess that makes two of us. I mean loving you is pretty fucking fantastic, but there’s a massive element of fear there because I cannot actually see into your brain to know if your love for me is as all-consuming as mine feels for you.” She squeezed his hand, bringing it to rest on her lap. “It’s nice to know we’re in this pit of terror together.”

“Think we’ll ever climb out?” He chuckled.

“No idea. But I’m looking forward to finding out with you.”

Octavia took hold of Nathan’s hand and squeezed harder than usual as he unlocked the door to his place and pushed it open slowly, half expecting Scottie to be waiting on the other side. But the condo was quiet, not even the sound of one of his brother’s games.

“Maybe he was scared too,” Nathan mumbled.

“I heard that,” Scottie said, walking into the foyer from the kitchen. “I was just putting together a little something.”

Nathan leaned left to look around his brother and caught sight of the end of a wooden board with a white block on it.

“You made a charcuterie board?”

“Mmmm,” Octavia sang from behind him. “I like you already.” She dropped Nathan’s hand and stepped around him. “Nice to finally meet you, Bl—Scottie. Sorry things didn’t work out.”

Nathan watched as Octavia embraced his brother and tried to ignore the monkey on his back squawking about how his brother’s hands were too low. They weren’t, they were in a normal place, but that didn’t stop Nathan from keeping his eyes on them in case they dropped an inch.

“Probably for the best. This guy’s never played better.” Scottie pointed at Nathan as he stepped away from Octavia and Nathan took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her.

His brother’s eyes locked on to where his hand curled around her hip, smirking when Nathan’s fingers tightened.

“Well, I guess we’ve been good for each other’s careers,” Octavia said, smiling up at Nathan, forcing him to stop glaring at his brother and look down at her.

“I just like having someone else to impress,” Nathan teased, pulling her in tighter.

The three of them stood around silently for a couple of minutes before Scottie clapped his hands together and took a step back. “I’ll let you kids get back to whatever you planned on doing.”

“Wait,” Nathan called out before Scottie had a chance to get far. “I was thinking the three of us could have dinner if it’s not too weird. Also judging by the size of that block of cheese, we’ll need at least three people.” He looked between his brother and Octavia, taking in their expressions, searching perhaps for any sign that they were uncomfortable with the idea.

“Depends.” Scottie shrugged.

“On?”