What Love Has Lost (12 page)

"Awe, I think you'll survive without me." I tease, putting my comfortable shoes on my feet.

Nathan pulls me towards me - my back facing him. "I don't think I can, sweetheart. I think I'll die every second whenever you're a couple feet away from me." He purrs. My eyes widen in astonishment. Is this really Nathan Hampton speaking?

I place my hand onto his forehead.

"What? Do I have a fever? Because I know my temperature rises all the time whenever you're close to me." He flirts and tantalizes me, places kisses on my neck. I push him away.

"Seriously, I think you're overreacting." I confirm, walking further away from Nathan. He grunts as he is still lying down on the bed. A slight chuckle escapes my lips, but I try to hide it.

Opening the door, I see Rhiannon and Grady sleeping on the couch, together. Adorably, I stare at the lovely couple, sleeping next to each other. They do smell like alcohol, but how did they get up here, drunk? How did they remember our room number? Knowing Grady when drunk, he obviously doesn't remember anything!

"Grady," I whisper. Faltering, I roll my eyes and scream out his name. Thankfully, he wakes up as he rolls out of bed. I start laughing and rolling onto the floor. My sides start to hurt afterwards.

"What just happened? How come I have the biggest headache?" Grady asks twenty questions.

Rhiannon slowly wakes up and stretches her body. "Hmm, good morning to you!" she yawns.

Getting out of bed, I watch Rhiannon walk towards the bathroom. Suddenly, she yells.

"What's wrong?"

"There's something in the bathroom!" she confronts. I cock an eyebrow. Walking towards the bathroom, Rhiannon warns me. "No, do not go in there! It's a vicious animal in the bathroom!"

I slowly open the door. My eyes avert around the premises, and then I see a huge tiger in the bathroom. I quickly shut the door. "Um, Rhi, why is there a tiger in our bathroom?"

She shrugs. "I have no idea. All I remember is that I was talking to my boss, having a good conversation. Then, she left without greeting me a goodbye. In conclusion, I drank so much beer, so I passed out onto the floor. I don't know how the hell I end up sleeping here, finding a dangerous cat in the bathroom!"

My eyes wonder towards Grady. He shrugs and shoots me an innocent look. "Don't look at me! I don't remember anything last night, after I was drunk!" he explains.

Next time, make sure that Grady or Rhiannon touches any alcoholic drinks, ever!

"Uh, who wants breakfast?" Nathan asks, breaking the deadly silence. I shoot a glare at him. He shrugs and walks towards me, places his hands on my shoulder. "Don't worry so much."

Who says I am worrying?

Chapter Eleven

Look What the Cat Dragged In

Eventually, Grady and Rhiannon finds out that Nathan wants me to spend Christmas time with his family. Of course, they don't appreciate the idea of Nathan and his selfish schemes. However, Grady persuades Rhiannon to let me go with him and meet his family.

Before checking out of the hotel, Rhiannon calls the hotel management to exit the tiger out quickly of the bathroom. Truthfully, we still do not know how the tiger is in the bathroom. Grady never knows what's going on when he's drunk. Normally, Rhiannon has been drunk in her life, but she decides to let loose. On the other hand, I choose not to drink because it leads to disaster.

Leaving, we drive for six hours to go back to Montgomery.

"Hey, let's play a game!" Grady announces, as everyone gawks at him.

"How about we play 'Truth or Dare'?" Rhiannon suggests. We all shake our heads. She grunts.

"Or, how about we play 'Would You Rather'?" Nathan says. I gawk at him, remembering the last time he, Grady, and I played that game, four years ago. It's very amusing, but his version can go to the extremes, most of the time.

Before the summer, the boys and I plays this game, and it is quite amusing. My voice is hoarse, and I really don't appreciate my voice going out, so Nathan suggests me not to talk so much. I try avoiding his conception, but he keeps pushing me to stop. Loving the boy, he can be very protective.

The next couple of days, Grady finally asks if I was pretending that my voice was hoarse. Literally, my voice is hoarse! I can never fake a voice like it.

"Of course, I love that game!" Rhiannon shrieks. Oh no, I cannot believe she wants us to play.

Grady chimes. "Can I go first?"

We all stay silent, notifying him to proceed.

"Okay, Inna, would you rather eat a dead animal or jump into the frigid, cold water?"

"Jump into the frigid, cold water." I answer. "Rhi, would you rather steal a cute blouse from your favorite store or kiss Nathan Hampton?" I wiggle my eyebrows at Nate. Nathan's eyes grow wider as his ears are hearing this.

"Steal a cute blouse, next question!" she proclaims.

"Rhi, it's your turn to ask a question." I say. Her mouth gaps open.

"Grady, would you rather raise a skunk or wear girl clothes for three months?" Rhiannon asks. We all start snickering. Poor Grady, he has the worst question so far; however, we all love him.

"There is no way that I'll wear girl clothes for three months! I choose the skunk, over frilly skirts and makeup." Grady spats.

We start playing this game for a good thirty minutes or so, but it got tiring because our questions are somewhat getting bland. Honestly, I want to stop playing because Nate's questions are very extreme. He asks "Inna, would you rather have sex with me or have sex with Grady."

Yes, his questions are so ghastly.

He even asks Grady uncomforting questions. "Grady, would you rather fuck a donkey or have anal sex with Rhiannon?"

Unfortunately, Rhiannon is getting discomfort from Nathan and his repulsive questions. Finally, I say that we shall end playing the game because some of us are not comfortable, answering his descriptive questions.

♠♣♥♦

Somehow, we start driving in silence. Tending on falling asleep, Nathan lays me onto his lap, which is very sweet of him. I feel his hands rub against my arm, as I tend to fall, slowly.

What is he doing? Is he doing this on purpose, just to make me confess my love for him? Well, he must try harder because he's not getting anything from me! Nope, he's going to profess his love towards me. I won't be the one to say it. Nay, I will fight until we die.

"Mm," Softly, I hum as my thoughts drift into unconsciousness.

♠♣♥♦

"Wake up," someone speaks softly into my ear. Still drowsy, my eyes slowly open as I feel the cold air hit my body. Due to the reaction, I jerk. My eyes as saucers, I watch Nathan laugh his ass off because of my jump. He probably does this on purpose. Trying to torture me with his silly nonsense, I slap him against the arm.

"Ow," he feign, while rubbing his forearm. I roll my eyes, as I push him out of my way. Suddenly, I hear him compliment in an egotistical way. I turn around and stick my tongue out. He roars and catches up to me, slapping a hand onto my rear end. My eyes widen.

"Nathan Leo Hampton, you better not do that again, or I'll..."

"Or you'll what?" he cuts me off, blocking the entrance and my thoughts. His face draws closer to mine, creating heat between us. My heart rate increases as he caresses his hand to my chin. "What will you do, huh?" his voice lingers.

I fight the urge to swallow his words into my mind, but to my default, he keeps winning!

"I'll kick you where the sun doesn't shine." I grumble before walking away from him. I try to shove all those emotions that I have towards Nathan stupid Hampton. He's so cynical, egotistic, and complicating! How can he just barge back into my life without warning and expect me to jump back to his arms? I will not fall for him!

Skimping towards my room, I grab all of the clothes, which I need, and place them into my suitcase. Quickly, I grab my phone and plug my earphones as I press onto my touch screen as I open Pandora Radio App. I choose a band from my list, as I start listening to whatever I want. I start humming along to the song and sway my behind.

Unexpectedly, I start twirling and then I see Nathan, standing there with a goofy look, plastered onto his gorgeous face. My face is all flustered, so I try my best to cover the red blush that is across my cheeks.

I take the earphones out. "Ever heard of 'knocking'?"

Nathan chuckles in his deep, manly voice. "Nah, there's no use in knocking when I can just unexpectedly dancing to the music that you're listening right now." His grin grows. "Besides, you amuse me in a way with your conspicuous mind."

I admit, the way he talks kind of turns me on. His witty remarks irk me, but it feels as if it's a compliment at the same time. I know, this feeling is very unusual. He's normally not like this before, but this has drastically changes his point of view. Alternatively, I may be going out of my mind!

I clear my throat. It's my turn to come up with a witty comeback. "Well, thank you." I mutter.

"Wait, what was that?" Nathan asks. I roll my eyes and flip the birdie at him. I don't listen to his response, so I plug the earphones back into my ears as I continue packing. We leave tonight for Fayetteville, Arkansas to visit his family. Nathan tells me all the information about his family.

♠♣♥♦

Grady takes Nathan and I to the airport. Rhiannon decides to stay at home, so we already gave her a farewell greeting before leaving the apartment. Driving again, Grady taps onto the steering wheel as we sit here, listening to the radio.

"In another life, I will make you stay. So, I don't have to say you were the one that got away." Katy Perry's song 'The One That Got Away' plays in the radio station. There's a thing about radio stations; they play the same song, repeatedly. It annoys the fuck out of me. There are plenty of other songs, out there, but they refuse. However, I wish Pandora Radio App takes over the radio because people does not want to listen to radio folks talk.

"How long are you guys going to stay over there?" Grady suddenly asks.

"Five days, only." Nathan answers. Grady nods as he looks through the rear view mirror. In the corner of my eye, I watch Grady's facial expression. He looks angry or upset. I'm not so sure, but something is eating him.

"Grady, what's wrong?" I ask.

Grady hesitates. "Nothing is wrong."

He seems as if he is ignoring to ask my question, but to my default, I don't push anymore.

Cranking up the radio, I sing along to the songs as we arrive to the airport.

♠♣♥♦

The next couple of hours, Nathan and I call for a ride. Of course, Nate already calls his father to pick us up from the airport, near the baggage claim. I'm a little bit nervous of meeting his family. Even though he comes from a sincere family, they can hate me as well, but they just won't tell me. Maybe Nathan doesn't want to tell me the truth. I don't know what is going through his mind, but he doesn't tell me everything like we used to.

Waiting outside in the bitter cold, we finally see his father's automobile. Stopping it in front of us, he welcomes himself to him and I with open arms. Who knew that his parents are very friendly with strangers! My parents don't want to involve strangers into the family. They are very strict, and this is what I dislike about them.

"Hello, you must be Inna May." Nate's father says as he shakes my hand with his. "I'm Roger Hampton, but call me Roger. Nathan has told me everything about you." He continues as he grabs our entire luggage and places them into the back of the car.

Nathan jumps into the passenger seat as I decide to take the back seat.

While his father drives out of the airport, he shows me the sights of Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is a gorgeous sight to see. All those wonderful, colorful mountains are very gorgeous, compared to the mountains, which I saw in Denver, Colorado. We don't have pretty mountains in the Southern region of Arkansas. That's where I used to live, as well as Grady and Rhiannon.

"Have you seen a Razorback game in person?" Roger asks.

"Nope, not at all," I mutter. "I wish to see one in person, one day."

Roger chuckles. "Ah, you'll love it! It's like backyard barbeque with millions of fans."

Slowly, I raise an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Dad, show Inna our log house at the pier!" Nathan suggests.

♠♣♥♦

Arriving at their house, the view is huge from afar. They have a lake in front of their house. Crossing the bridge, we park at the driveway of the Hampton's residence.

"Oh, Nate, before you walk inside, your friend is here." Roger warns. Nathan nods and grabs his baggage from the car and walks inside the house. Ringing the doorbell, we see a gorgeous elder woman, opening the door with welcome arms. I'm guessing this is his mother.

"Welcome," she introduces. "Come inside, it's much warmer than this weather. Oh, you must be Inna May that my son has been mentioning." The elderly woman rambles as she randomly hugs me.

Letting go of me, she grabs Nate and presses her lips onto his cheek.

"She's a pretty young girl." She whispers in Nate's ear.

Suddenly, a blonde teenager walks towards us and yells. "Nathan Bacon!"

"Hattie Banattie!" he reciprocates, running towards her and gives her a bear hug.

Nathan Bacon and Hattie Banattie...What the freak is going on?

"Oh, Hattie, this is my friend, Inna May. Inna, this is my best friend, Hattie." Nathan introduces.

She extends her hand towards me. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Inna."

I could've sworn that she flashes a fake smile at me, so I reciprocate. "You too..." I grumble.

Abruptly, someone clasps their hands together, giving me a scare. "Okay, who's hungry? I've made the best Christmas dinner! Oh, where's Alyce? Honey, come downstairs and welcome yourself to our honorable guest!" Nathan's mother declares.

Walking down the stairs, we see a strawberry blonde young girl, looking depressed to see us.

"Honey, what did I say about smiling?" Nathan's mother reminds.