Chapter 67
“You’re shivering.”
Nathan looks up at me. “Huh?”
“You’re shivering.” 1 start to shrug his jacket off. “Here.”
He shakes his head, his wet hair sending droplets splattering around. “No.”
I roll my eyes, pulling the jacket halfway down my shoulders. Outside, the rain shows no sign of subsiding, and the temperature drops further by the minute.
Nathan grabs my shoulders, halting my actions. “You’re wearing the jacket, and I can hear your teeth clattering.”
I clamp my mouth shut, and he rolls his eyes in response. Then he pulls the jacket back up my shoulders. “Keep it.”
I sigh, feeling guilty. His hand still rests on my shoulder, and the warmth from the point of contact must be what propels me to say, “Well, what about…body warmth?”
Nathan raises a brow, and I immediately regret opening my mouth. “What?”
I exhale. No going back now.
I gesture between both of us. “We could huddle together.” I feel my cheeks start to burn. “For warmth.”
Nathan’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. I wonder if he’s going to politely decline, laugh, or just shove me away.
Instead, his grip on my shoulders tightens, and he surprises me by pulling me to his chest. He misses the way my eyes widen, and my soft gasp is muffled by his damp shirt.
He wraps his arms around me, and, holy shit, Nathan Ashford is hugging me. I feel his chest rise against his cheek as he sighs.
“This is better, thank you.”
“Yep,” I mumble, feeling anything but better. My heart is racing, but if Nathan can feel it against him, he gives no indication.
Thankfully, the increase in my heart rate, combined with Nathan’s solid warmth wrapped around me, effectively fights the chill.
For a long moment, we just stay there in surprisingly comfortable silence. Although my pulse shows no sign of slowing down, I’m able to settle into the hug, and I close my eyes, feeling like I could stay in this moment, this position, forever.
Suddenly, Nathan breaks the silence.
“Can I ask you a question?” he asks softly.
I open my eyes. “Yeah,” I answer in the same volume.
He doesn’t answer for a bit, and I wonder if he didn’t hear my reply. I’m about to repeat myself when he finally asks, “Who did you hope
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Chapter 67
to win?”
My eyebrows furrow. “What?”
Nathan takes a deep breath, and I can feel his heart pounding against my ear.
“The three girls that win will marry one of us each,” he says. “Everyone entered with a brother they’d prefer to marry,” I hear him
swallow.
67
“Who’s yours?”
The question momentarily stuns me for two reasons. One: I would have never imagined in a million years that Nathan would ask me that.
Two: the answer is immediate and indisputable, but I don’t know if I should say it.
Nathan mistakes my silence for reluctance, and he starts to backtrack. “You don’t have to answer,” he says, his voice shaking ever so slightly. “I shouldn’t have asked to begin with. It’s none of my business who-”
“You.”
Nathan stiffens against me.
I take a deep breath and lift my head off his chest. I look up at him, and our eyes lock–grey against green.
He looks like he’s holding his breath, and I realize I’m holding mine, too.
esl expon
It feels like the dropping temperature does a one–eighty and increases exponentially. I’m suddenly too hot, but I make no move to extricate myself from Nathan’s embrace.
“I hoped to win you,” I say softly, hearing the loud pounding of my heart over the sound of the rain.
I feel Nathan’s grip tighten around my shoulders, and I wish I could correctly name the look on his face.
Feeling all my anxiety and shyness fade away in this heated moment, I ask softly, “Who did you hope to win–among all the contestants?”
I know it’s a risky question, and I would never ask it in a million years if this moment wasn’t surreal and Nathan hadn’t asked his first.
I wait with bated breath for his answer, our eyes still locked. The longer he just stares at me and doesn’t answer, the more I regret the question. I don’t know what I’ll do if the answer isn’t me.
Of course, the answer isn’t me. What was I thinking?
Suddenly, a bright flash of light makes me squint, breaking the heated eye contact and slicing through the moment.
I raise a hand to shield my eyes from the bright lights as a familiar beat–up gold Honda parks haphazardly in front of the phone booth.
“Louise,” I breathe as I step out of Nathan’s embrace, instantly missing his warmth as I do.
The car’s passenger door opens, and Louise rushes out, holding a large umbrella.
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Chapter 67
:.
She knocks on the glass of the phone booth and waves, smiling maniacally.
1 laugh as 1 open the door.
*Lou!”
She squeals, reaching in to hug me. “I missed you so much!”
I wrap my arms around her and squeeze tightly. “I missed you, too.”
When we break apart, she tilts her head, looking at Nathan. “Hi.” She grins.
He gives a small wave. “Hello. Thanks for coming to get us.”
She takes my hand and squeezes. “Anything for my roomie.”
Huddled under Lou’s umbrella, the three of us race to her car.
She opens the back door, and Nathan and I slide in before she closes the umbrella and reenters the passenger seat.
The person in the passenger’s seat turns and grins. “Hi, April.”
“Hey, Malik,” I greet Lou’s situationship with a wide grin. Before I left, their relationship was a ‘will they? won’t they?” type of situation. The fact that he drove her through the rain to pick up her stranded roommate suggests that they’ve moved towards the ‘will they?‘ side.
Lou turns around, and I shoot her a knowing smirk, which she returns with a mischievous eyebrow wiggle.
“You two must be freezing,” she says. “There’s a blanket at the back you can use.”
I reach back and grab the blanket, handing it to Nathan. “Here,” I say softly as Malik starts the car.
“Thanks,” Nathan whispers and then spreads the blanket over us.
“Do you know the way to Lincoln Park?” I ask as the car starts to move.
Louise snorts. “We’re not going to Lincoln Park.”
I perk up. “We need to get back, Lou. No one knows where we are. June is probably worried sick.”
She turns. “Sorry, babe. It’s too far and we barely have enough gas to get us back home.”
I swallowed. “Home?”
The old two–bedroom apartment Lou, June, and I share with the occasional cockroach. Longing stabs through me, and the thought that I might sleep in my own bed tonight makes my heart skip a beat.
I turn to Nathan, the idea of bringing him to my tiny apartment sending a zing of anxiety through me. “Is that okay?”
He shrugs. “It’s fine.”
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Chapter 67
I smile, leaning back in my seat. I’m going home.
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Winning the Heir Who Bullied Me
