Hard to Resist (7 page)

I sit down with her. “Why not?”

“Because—I just can’t, Natalie.” Her phone buzzes and as she checks the screen, she lets out a low growl. “See! This is why! He’s too clingy when he doesn’t even know shit about me!”

“Well maybe he wants to get to know you. What exactly is he asking for?”

“He just wants to go on a date with me. But Natalie . . . I’m in Miami. I can’t take a date seriously here. I moved here to have fun and to party my ass off for my college years. I’m still young and I’m not tired of going out yet.”

“But it’s just one date, Harper. It can’t be too bad. Just tell him what you’ve just told me.”

“I have!” she wails. “I’ve told him that I’m not interested but he always does something that will make me momentarily change my mind—just like earlier at the beach. I told him to stop talking to me but then he just . . . kissed me . . . and I
liked
it.”

“Wow,” I breathe.

“Yeah. I don’t want to get too attached. I know that if I do, I may end up getting fucked over again.” Harper’s head lowers as she stares at her phone. Harper and I are in the same situation but unlike me, Harper decided to live it up after her heartbreak instead of wallowing about it.

Harper’s heart was broken by a guy in high school and ever since then, she hasn’t dated anyone. She doesn’t want to believe in true love but we both know that it is out there. We were both fooled by love completely. We were blinded and we didn’t even realize how deep we were in until after all of it had ended. “But I knew you and that hot guy from the club had something going on. I’m not stupid,” she mutters.

“It’s not like that, Harp,” I sigh. “Trust me. After this one date, there will be no more. I can’t get too caught up with a guy like him. You saw him. He’s too beautiful to only want me.”

“You never know,” she chimes. “He may actually want someone to settle down with.”

“Well, that’s the thing. I refuse to settle down again . . . especially right now.”

“Don’t act like it’s impossible. You just don’t want to ‘cause you’re still stuck on Bryson the Shitbag.”

“You’re one to talk!” I say, pinching her thigh playfully. “You don’t want Dawson because you’re still stuck on Bobby the Dickhead.”

She groans. “I’m not stuck. I just don’t want to fall again. I can’t. With Dawson, I’ll have no other choice but to.”

“That’s the same way that I feel about Nolan. But I refuse to fall. I can’t afford the extra feelings.”

“Well maybe you could both just be friends with strong benefits,” Harper inquires. “I’ve been thinking about doing that with Dawson. By his looks alone, it seems like he’s extremely good in bed.”

“No,” I shake my head. “Because when the benefits fade, that’s when love shows up. I can’t afford it.” I hop from the sofa to make my way to the bathroom. “I have to finish getting ready,” I call over my shoulder.

But I’m honestly not going back to just get ready. I still have two hours left. I’m really going back to reminisce about Bryson the Shitbag. He may have been a Shitbag afterwards, but before that, he was something beyond amazing.

Chapter Seven

About two hours later and Nolan is knocking at the door. As soon as I swing it open, my immediate reaction is to smile.

“Hi,” I grin.

“Hi,” he grins back. My eyes travel from his dark hair and his beautiful chiseled features down to his yellow muscle T-shirt and his dark jeans that are fit snuggly against his hips. I happen to stare at his chest the most. Even with his shirt on, I feel like I’m still staring at the abs that I’d caught a glimpse of earlier this afternoon.

“Are you ready?” he asks as he clutches his keys.

“Yeah.” I nod as I tear my gaze away from his lean body. “Let me just grab my phone and my wallet.”

“Your wallet?” His eyebrows pull together. “What do you need your wallet for?”

“Um, to pay for my food,” I mumble with a hint of sarcasm.

“I’ll be damned if I let you pay for
anything
while you’re with me. Come on,” he demands, cocking his head to the right.

“Nolan—”

“Natalie.” He raises an eyebrow as his smile fades. “I’m serious. Bring your pretty ass on.”

I choke on a laugh as I stare at him with bewildered eyes. “I’m still bringing my wallet—I always do. Just in case.” I grab for it then head out the door before shutting it behind me and locking the condo up.

“Okay,” he sighs as he follows after me to get to the elevator. “But if you try to pull it out and pay for
anything
, I’m burning it to pieces.”

I press the down button belonging to elevator before I turn to face him. The doors shoot open immediately and we step in but my eyes don’t drift from his. “What is up with you? What’s wrong with me paying for myself?”

“I asked
you
out on a date with
me
which means that
I’m
paying. First impressions and all.” The doors of the elevator slide shut but my gaze doesn’t tear away from his. Pressing his lips together, he forms a dazzling smirk. His smirk causes me to whip my head. That smile . . . I can’t fall for that smile. It’s enough to knock the wind right out of me. “So, I guess I’ll start with the small talk,” he says as he shifts to lean against the silver walls of the elevator. “How has your day been?”

“Great,” I breathe.

“Just great?”

“Just great.”

Just as he nods, the elevator allows us to leave. He holds a hand out, gesturing for me to step out before him. I make my way towards the glass door but before I can reach them, he stops me by the hook of my arm. “Natalie,” he says as he turns me around to face him. He pulls me against him and our bodies plunge. The heat radiates from his chest, seeping in through my thin white blouse. His scent fills my lungs, making me want to mold with him even more. “I didn’t want you to come out with me if you weren’t really up for this.” His eyes grow serious as he stares into mine. “I don’t want you to think you’re doing me a favor.”

“I know I’m not doing you a favor,” I retort.

“Really?” he asks rhetorically. “’Cause you’re acting like I’m dragging you out with me. If you want, we can turn right around. I can let you go back up to your condo and we can forget all about this whole thing. You won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

I shake my head, feeling the guilt take over. “It’s not that, Nolan. You don’t understand how hard this is for me.”

“I can’t understand if you don’t tell me what’s really going on with you.”

I groan. I can’t tell him. If I start to tell him, I’ll never stop. That’ll be enough to make him run away and forget about me.

“How about this?” he says. “You take this night seriously and I’ll help you forget about whatever it is that is bothering you. Honestly, you won’t be able to have fun if you’re stuck on something that’s irrelevant. I want to have fun tonight—as friends. Like you asked.”

He places a hand on top of my shoulder and squeezes it lightly. I stare into his grey eyes that are now begging. Ugh. Why is he so damn beautiful? I have no choice but to say yes.

“Okay. I’m sorry,” I mutter as I pull away from him. He can be as friendly as he wants but I refuse for it to get any deeper than this. I force a smile as I turn to push out of the glass doors. A deep chuckle comes from the heart of his throat as he follows me out. I can give a guess at why he’s laughing. Because I’m a brokenhearted broad that doesn’t know what to do with herself.

Chapter Eight

With every push, with every stroke, I was suffocated with desire. He kept going harder, faster, way too quickly for me to keep up. I was worn out but I was enjoying it. I ran my fingers across the beads of sweat on his chest with one hand while the other was braided through the locks of his hair. He kept grunting. I loved when he groaned while staring into my eyes. He was beautiful in so many ways possible. His green eyes glistened from the wide window that was above his bed. “I love you,” Bryson murmured huskily before leaning down to place his lips against my ear. His tongue began to play with the lobe of my ear, tickling its way down to my neck. From that moment on, I knew that I was his forever.

He kept plunging into me while keeping my hands locked above my head. The heat of his lips was still hovering above mine but he didn’t stop . . . and I knew that he wasn’t going to for another few moments. It was beyond late and the night was still but our moans, groans, and the slightly creaking bed filled the silence. I loved the noise we’d created. It was harmonious. I asked him if he wanted to play music but he refused. He said that the only thing that he wanted to hear was the pleasure of my moans.

That was my first time, but that first time is one that I will never forget. There was just something about it—something that was telling me that he actually did love me. But how did it all change? Why would he flip on me like that? It’s crazy how I thought that we were actually going to last. I never thought that anything would get between us. But apparently, I had it all wrong.

“You’re awfully quiet.” I turn quickly to look at Nolan who already has his grey eyes on me. I was so out of it that I didn’t even realize that the car had stopped. We’re now sitting in the parking lot of a familiar restaurant that I can’t name just yet. My head whips to look at Nolan but there is something blocking me from seeing him. A warm wetness prickles at the rims of my eyes and now I realize what’s blurring my vision. My tears. “Hey,” he breathes, unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching for me quickly. I keep my eyes away from his and decide to stare at my lap instead. I bat my eyelashes a few times, forcing myself to fan away the tears. I cannot cry in front of him. He’ll definitely think that I’m crazy. After a few moments, the tightness in my throat ceases and my vision is no longer blurred.

“I’m fine,” I murmur before looking up to meet his eyes slowly.

His remain confused. He looks me over for another few seconds before letting out a sigh. “Is it me?” he asks.

“No!” I shake my head as the abruptness in my voice catches us both off guard. “I’m fine. I just need to eat . . . I guess.”

“You guess?” One of his eyebrows shoot up. “Natalie, what is going on with you?”

I shake my head, feeling the tremble threatening to take over my bottom lip. I seriously can’t hold this in anymore. But if I tell him, what will he think of me afterwards? He may regret this date and even regret meeting me. My emotions are completely fucked up right now. Nolan’s sigh cuts my train of thought off. “Look, let’s just go eat. Okay?”