Enjoying the Chase (16 page)

Man up, Nate, and do it. Just say yes
for fuck
’
s sake and take
the girl home.

“Rosie who?” I whispered, snaking my arm
around the blonde
’
s waist and
pulling her closer to me. I pressed my lips to hers, kissing her roughly, as I
ran my hand up her back and tangled my fingers into the back of her hair. I
wanted to punch myself for noticing that her hair was shorter than Rosie
’
s and didn
’
t feel as soft or silky.

It wasn
’
t working though. I couldn
’
t get Rosie out of my head. I needed to try harder. A little hard
work on my part and then I could forget that the gorgeous little feisty thing
ever existed.

When the kiss deepened and my tongue
touched hers, I wanted to pull away. She didn
’
t taste right; all I could taste was alcohol, and she wasn
’
t even a very good kisser, too much tongue,
too desperate.

She pulled away from me after a minute,
smiling happily.

“So? Want me to help you think about
something else?” she squeaked.

I nodded gratefully. Hell yeah I wanted her
to help me think of something else, because the more I drank, the more I wanted
to go back to work, grab my rifle and shoot that lucky son of a bitch that was
married to my girl.

She grinned and downed the last of her
drink before closing her hand over mine and pulling me gently towards the door,
giggling like a mouse on speed.

I
’
ll just do it and then leave,
I thought.
I didn
’
t want to spend the whole
night with this girl. I wouldn
’
t
be able to cope with her voice in the morning if I had a hangover.

I hailed a cab as she ran her hands down my
back, pushing her hands into the back of my jeans. As I stood there, I thought
about calling Rosie to see what she had to say for herself. It wasn
’
t too late for me to push this girl away from
me and tell her I
’
d made a
mistake. Could I call Rosie and beg her to see me? Could I just get a cab to
her place and beat the shit out of her man? I wondered. Or a text. Maybe I
should send her a message. But that idea was instantly dismissed because I had
no idea what to write. I just had no words to describe how she
’
d made me feel, mainly because I barely
understood it myself.

I groaned as the girl started kissing down
the side of my neck, scratching her nails on the skin of my lower back. It all
felt so wrong, but I didn
’
t know
why. I was a free agent. Hell, Rosie and I were never even exclusive, we hadn
’
t had that conversation at all, but yet it
felt a little like I was cheating – which was ridiculous seeing as
she
was
the one that was married!

Anger was making my hands tremble as I
closed my eyes. I hated that she was making me feel like this. Why did I have
to meet her? Why couldn
’
t I have
listened to Ashton and stayed the hell away from her? My life would be so much
easier if I hadn
’
t, and then I
wouldn
’
t be standing here feeling
like someone had just stolen something that could have possibly been the best
thing that had ever happened to me.

The thing that pissed me off more than
anything else was that I couldn
’
t
even hate Rosie. I wanted to, but I just couldn
’
t bring myself to.

I looked down at the blonde. She smiled
seductively, and I was totally fed up with thinking. Nate the player didn
’
t think, he acted, so that
’
s what I
’
d do. I
’
d go back to
what I knew best.
This
was me. Screwing girls was the talent that I
’
d been given, so I
’
d make the most of it. I bent my head and pressed my lips to hers,
ignoring the small part of me that still wanted to run away.

By the time we got back to her place she
was all over me. She stripped off her top as soon as we were through her front
door, throwing it in my face as she laughed hysterically. I smiled weakly and
kissed her as she led us to her bedroom, unbuttoning my shirt as she walked.
When we finally reached the bed, she pushed me and made me sit on the edge as
she rid me of my shirt. She smiled, biting her lip in appreciation as she moved
forward, settling herself on my lap.

“
Poor baby
’
s been so hurt. Want me to kiss that better
for you?” she whispered, kissing down my neck and guiding me to lay down on my
back. Her hands unfastened my belt as her mouth travelled lower, unbuckling my
belt as she kissed lower and lower over my chest and stomach.

I closed my eyes. None of this felt right.
What
the hell is wrong with me? I haven
’
t gotten any for three weeks, and this girl is offering it to me on
a plate. Get your shit together, Nate!
She pushed
my jeans down around my hips and her hand closed around my dick. I grunted,
gripping my hands into my hair roughly as images of Rosie came to the front of
my mind – the way she laughed or the smell of her perfume.

When the girl
’
s hot mouth started lavishing attention on my dick, trying to wake
it up and spur it into action, I gritted my teeth.

Something was wrong with me. Nothing was
happening at all. The girl was pretty, half-naked, and sucking on me, yet I was
still limp as anything. Deep down, I knew what the problem was. She wasn
’
t the one I wanted, and I shouldn
’
t be here.

“Stop. I can
’
t,” I croaked.

The girl pulled away, looking up at me with
a bewildered expression on her face. “You want me to stop?”

I nodded quickly and looked at her
apologetically. “I can
’
t do this.
I
’
m sorry.”

She sat up, frowning. “
What? You can’
t?” she asked incredulously.

I shook my head and sat up, pushing her off
me as I pulled my jeans back up. “
I
’
m sorry, but I shouldn
’
t
be here. I
’
m…” I didn
’
t know what I wanted to say, so I just shook
my head and left the sentence hanging as I stooped and plucked my shirt from
the floor.

As I took a step away from her, her hand
closed over mine.

“Nate, that girl
’
s not worth it. She doesn
’
t want you. She
’
s not
going to leave her husband for you after three weeks. Face it, you were just a
little something to make her life more exciting for a while. Well screw her, if
she doesn
’
t want you then you
should show her that you don
’
t
need her either.”

I flinched. The words hurt even more when
they came out of someone else
’
s
mouth. I sighed, sick of thinking, sick of overanalysing, sick of everything.

This girl was right; Rosie didn
’
t want me so I should just forget about it.
This girl could help take the pain away; at least for a little while, and then
when it came back I
’
d just go find
another girl to make me feel better. I couldn
’
t help but wonder how many girls I
’
d have to sleep with before I stopped comparing them to Rosie.

The blonde crawled to the end of the bed
and tugged on my hand, making me move closer to her. “You should show her what
she
’
s missing out on,” she
persuaded. “It
’
s her loss, not
yours,” she whispered, pressing her lips to mine again.

A switch flipped inside me as I made up my
mind. I wasn
’
t changing it again
tonight. I bent down, looping my arms under her ass as I lifted her to me,
crushing her body against mine.

“Well her loss is your gain,” I said
confidently,
smirking
at her.

She giggled, biting her lip excitedly as I
reached between our bodies pulling at her clothes desperately; desperate to
feel something other than confusion and hurt.

~ Rosie ~

I felt sick; DJ was clearly in pain and
I could do nothing about it. I turned to Josh. “What happened?” I snapped
accusingly.

He frowned angrily. “Don
’
t you dare blame me for this. This isn
’
t my fault! He was jumping on the bed, I
’
d told him not to do it, but he carried on and
then fell off,” he retorted, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

I groaned. DJ did like to jump on beds, and
I
’
d told him time and time again
not to do it, I couldn
’
t really
blame Josh for this.

“Okay, sorry.”

His face softened as he looked at me
apologetically. “It
’
s alright. I
’
m sorry I had to call you away from your date.”

Holy
fudgeballs
, my date!
I
turned back to Nate, knowing that he must be wondering what on earth was going
on. I hadn
’
t told him about DJ yet
so hearing him call me Momma would have knocked him for six. But as I turned, I
noticed that he wasn
’
t there.

My eyes widened. Had he seen DJ, heard him
call me Momma, and then left? The air left my lungs quickly. Of course that
would be his reaction. I
’
d already
known that he wouldn
’
t want
anything to do with me once I let slip that I had a son – that was one of the
reasons I was delaying in telling him. I liked the attention. I
’
d never had anyone treat me so nicely and want
to be with me like that. Hell, I hadn
’
t even been on a date with anyone since I split up with Josh three
years ago, so I loved the attention and didn
’
t want it to end.

Deep down I knew it was selfish not
to
tell him, but all I
’
d wanted to do was enjoy the company of an extremely hot guy while
he looked at me with those bedroom eyes of his. What I hadn
’
t realised when I
’
d first agreed to a date, was that I
’
d start to like him. I
’
d
just thought it would be nice to go out with someone a couple of times, have
some fun, and think about something else other than life as a single mother. I
never expected to want to see more of him. If I was honest, I never expected
him to be as amazing as he is. With him looking the way he did, I didn
’
t think there would be much else to him other
than his cocky, flirty attitude, but I couldn
’
t have been more wrong. 

“Where did he go?” Josh asked, looking over
my shoulder.

I shrugged, pretending I wasn
’
t bothered but, in actual fact, I felt a
little sick with disappointment.
But m
y son
’
s little whimper of pain immediately pushed
all thoughts of Nate from my mind.

Six hours later and DJ was finally
allowed to leave. He’d fractured his wrist but it wasn’t too bad so,
thankfully, they didn’t have to re-set it, just put a plaster cast on for six
weeks. They’d given him meds for the pain, so he was currently in a deep sleep
in the back of the car.

As we pulled up at my apartment, Josh
looked at me apologetically again; he
’
d been doing that a lot tonight, but
for once
this wasn
’
t his fault. 

“I
’
ll carry him upstairs for you,” he mumbled, getting out and going to
the back seat, carefully lifting DJ into his arms. I smiled gratefully and
headed up to unlock the doors and pull the sheets back on his bed so Josh could
put him straight in. I hovered around behind him worriedly. As a mother, the
worst thing in the world was seeing your child in pain and knowing you couldn
’
t help them.