Chapter 12: In which it’s the start of something new.

My scowl deepened as Nate continued to laugh, holding onto his stomach. Frankly, I would love to kick him off the bed for making fun of me, but he looked too cute for me to do so.
It's been ages since I saw him laugh like the careless teenager that he was back in school and I kinda missed it. The distraction also gave me time to get over the fact that I had just kissed my high school bully and current boss. What had I been thinking?
But no matter how much I wanted to regret my decision of kissing him, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The kiss had felt nice…refreshing and I couldn’t taint that by regretting it. But I still had no idea if Nate had liked the kiss at all, so it was better to just pretend that it never happened, for both of our sake.
"You done?" I asked, putting on a serious expression. He calmed down.
"Sorry. But in my defense, that was funny." A smile threatened to break out on his face, but he tried to keep his expression neutral.
"Whatever. I'm hungry!" I huffed in annoyances.
"Okay. Give me a few, I'll order something," he reached for his phone on the bedside table.
"Noooo!" I bellowed dramatically. With both my hands pressed to my mouth in horror. Nate rolled his eyes.
"What now?" he asked, annoyed.
"Why don't I go into your kitchen and make something instead?" I pleaded. "I hate restaurant food. It's never to my liking!" I whined. “Even instant noodles would do right now.”
Nate shuddered, knowing full well what I meant when I said restaurant food wasn’t to my liking. "Alright! I'll show you where the kitchen is." He said finally, getting up from his seat. “I’m not sure about instant noodles but you can raid the fridge.”
"YES!" I fist pumped the air and got out of bed in a rush. Thankful that I was still wearing my pj’s from yesterday and they were the descent kind.
Bad move, since the next thing I know, my vision turned black for a second and then I was falling. Fortunately Nathan was right next to me and he caught me with ease, with his hands around my waist, holding me so close to him.
"Whoa! Careful Savannah, you're seriously going to hurt yourself one day," he said looking concerned.
It was like a scene from a cliché romance movie. The heroine about to fall off the stairs and the hero saves her just before she falls. And then they keep standing in that same pose with the girl in his arms and then the heroine gets lost in the hero's eyes and they kiss. Yup. That was exactly how we are standing and staring at each other's eyes.
Our faces inched forward, just like last time but before our lips could touch this time, my tummy made its presence know...again.
Damn tummy! Can't you keep quiet for a few minutes?
Nate pulled away and stood me up properly, letting go of my waist.
"It'll be great if you could show me the kitchen." Well this was awkward...
"Wait!" He grabbed my wrist as I went to pass by him. "Aren't you going to ask why I kissed you?"
Of course I want to, stupid! But since it's Nathan Synclair we’re talking about, who knows when he's gonna flip and start ignoring me again? What if he kicks me out? I have no intention of walking back home from his house, which is God knows where! So instead, I just said the first thing I could think of...which, I admit, sounded pretty lame and possibly a bit rude.
"It was just a kiss. It probably meant nothing..." I trailed off, unsure of what to do.
"What if I say it meant something to me?" His grip tightened on my wrist.
"What if I say that it meant more to me than it probably meant to you?" He tugged at my wrist hard enough for me to crash into his chest made of pure muscles.
"What if I say.....that I've wanted to do this since high school?" His hot breath fanned my cheeks, making my breath hike. He brought his face so close to whisper into my ear that out cheeks were touching…and I liked the sensation.
"D-do w-what?" I stuttered, mentally cursed myself as I felt his smile on the side of my cheek. Damn brain! Can't think of anything sarcastic now, can you?
You know you like it.
Hell No! I don't like it. I'm loving it.
I felt his hands moving the hair away from my shoulders, exposing my neck to his touch. "This."
I felt his hot breath on my nape just before he placed a feather light kiss on my overheated skin. A shudder of pleasure ran through my spine, making me close my eyes involuntarily.
"This." His hands slid down my exposed arm to entwine with my fingers, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
Suddenly, I was being crushed against his chest as he pulled me so close that there was hardly any space between us. My breasts crushed to his hard chest, one of his hands on my lower back, the other holding my chin up to his face.
"And this." And his lips met mine in a magical kiss that had me sighing. But soon enough, he pulled away, making me groan and him smirk.
"We'll continue later. But first, let’s calm the beast before it starts growling again," he patted my tummy playfully.
"Not before you tell me what this meant!" I wanted to snap at him, but my voice was still breathless from his kiss.
"This," he used his fingers to trace my lips lightly. "Means that you belong only to me." His face was dead serious. He meant every word.
"Is that the newest trend in asking a girl out?" I raised an eyebrow.
"No. It's my way of saying that I want you to be my girlfriend." He said simply.
Has he ever heard of asking out? Damn! It's exactly how he was back in high school, always so demanding. I guess some things don’t change, but maybe I’ll have to teach him a thing or two.
"And why the sudden change of mind?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Not sudden," he closed his eyes and touched his forehead to mine. "I had wanted to ask you out since senior year, but I guess I was too much of a chicken to do it."
"Really? Then what about Samantha?" I asked incredulously. He asked her out for prom right in front of me for crying out loud!
"Now who's Samantha?" He asked opening his eyes, brows wrinkling in annoyance.
I sighed and kissed his on the nose. "No one that matters anymore." If he doesn’t remember her then I don’t have any reason to either.
Seeing his smile made my heart do little flips. I finally felt like revenge wasn't the only thing I was living for anymore. I finally had a purpose. I had someone to smile for. The boy I had liked all throughout my high school life was now a full grown man who liked me back. It truly was the start of something new.
"Now...take me to the kitchen before the monst-"
Too late. My tummy gave a humongous growl making both me and Nate burst out laughing.