Page 9 of Want You

“Yeah, in a minute,” he replied absently, adding her as a contact and quickly texting her.

You used it!

Autumn

Wasn’t I supposed to?

I wasn’t sure if you would after how I left things.

That’s why I used it. You owe me an explanation.

Are you free tonight?

Do you have another hotel room?

Nathan laughed, running his hand through his sweat-soaked hair. Fuck he’d love to get her into another hotel room, maybe continue what they had started or redo the whole thing.

I have an apartment. But we can go somewhere public.

Do you want to go somewhere public?

Fuck no, he thought. He wanted to do unspeakable things to her. Tell her where he’d run off to, then soak up the sound of her moaning his name while he fucked her. Pick up right where they left things the other night.

I want to go wherever you wanna go.

Where should I meet you?

Go to the concierge in the lobby, near gate 14. I’ll have someone meet you there.

Nathan had the fastest, coldest shower of his life. Fast because he needed to see Octavia. Cold because he needed his cock to settle the fuck down.

“Those shoes,” Nathan said, shaking his head as he approached her. She was standing in front of an original piece of art one of the owners had commissioned the previous year.

“Those teeth.” She laughed before turning back to the painting. “Is that you?” She pointed at a blurry skater on the right edge. A seven barely visible.

Nathan shrugged. “I think it is, but Mike Davis seems to think it’s him.” He stood beside her wondering if he should reach for her hand. Wanting to reach for her hand.

“Why’d you leave?” she asked, her eyes still on the painting.

“You want me to tell you here and not somewhere else?”

She looked at him then, crossing her arms, striking a pose that screamed power and confidence. “What you tell me now will dictate whether or not we”—she gestured between them—“will be going anywhere else.”

“Fair. Well, this is going to sound fabricated but I swear it’s true.” Her eyes narrowed as if she was preparing for some bullshit story. “My brother was in an accident. My mom was freaking out and so I went, because that’s what family does.”

Octavia studied him as closely as she had been studying the painting. “Is he okay? Your brother?”

“He’s…” He took a deep breath, shaking the image of his brother seizing from his mind. “He’s in a medically induced coma. But”—he stepped closer to her—“he should be okay.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

Nathan tipped his head to the side, studying her this time, taking in the way the line between her eyebrows deepened with concern. Noticing how her freckles were more visible tonight than the last time he’d seen her. “He’s alive. I trust the doctors know what they’re doing. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” He spread his arms wide and looked around. “Family comes before all of this.”

Octavia looked back at the painting, the silence that followed stretching to an almost unbearable place before she turned toward him. He held his breath as she stepped closer. Notes of vanilla and honey washed over him and he desperately wanted to pull her to him and breathe her in deeper.

She looked up, eyes searching his face. “Do I need to sign an NDA or anything?”

“What?” Nathan asked, taken aback.