Trust In Me (Triplets book 2)

Chapter 26

Nate and Shay turned to look at each other once they had reached the sidewalk.

"What now?" Shay asked. She didn't know why she suddenly felt nervous.

"Your father called me 'Your Nate'," Nate looked down at her, taking in every emotion that crossed her face.

"It's what my entire family has taken to calling you, do you mind?" She stepped a little closer to him, and he reached out and let his hand trail down her arm until he reached her hand.

"I don't mind," he shook his head, "I kind of like it."

Shay smiled. "Where to now?"

He looked as if he was as nervous as she was.

"Have you eaten?" Nate looked at their intertwined hands.

"I could eat, but we could also go back to where I'm staying. It's not very far." Shay suggested.

Nate smiled. I think that we need to talk first."

Shay gave a dramatic sigh. "Fine, but I would like to say I'm starting to feel as if you really aren't interested." Shay had meant it as a joke, but as she said the words out loud, she realized the truth in them.

Nate's response was to step closer to her and pull Shay against him. "I am very interested. In fact, I have never been as interested in a girl as I am in you." He took her lips in a gentle kiss that made Shay a little weak in the knees.

When he ended the kiss, he brushed her cheek with his hand. "That is why we need to talk."

"I get that we need to talk, Nate, but wanting you the way I do and waiting for you to make love to me is making me a nervous wreck. I feel like everything is working against us, including us!" She took a deep breath. "It's not like it's my first time. We can talk after."

"Shay, it's our first time, so we will talk before anything happens. I don't want you to feel any regrets." Nate took her hand, and they started walking down the street toward an all-night diner.

"Your noble streak can be very irritating!" she muttered after a few moments of walking in silence.

"It's who I am, Shay." Nate stopped and looked down at her. "I don't want to be anyone different than who I am."

"By going to a job that you hate every day, you are being different than who you are, Nate. You're being someone you're being forced to be, just as I was forced to be the dimwitted girl of famous parents for so long. I hated every minute of it, but I did it because people expected it of me."

Nate and Shay walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached the diner. It took them only a few moments to settle, and after placing their drink order a few minutes later, Nate turned all his attention back onto Shay.

"The phone call we had the other day after your brother texted me, did you tell your brothers that we were serious?" Nate picked up a knife and began to turn it over from end to end while he waited for her answer.

Shay had the feeling that her answer must matter very much to him because he was not a fidgeter.

She took a deep breath, now was the time to tell him. She was going to Africa at the end of the following week, and if she didn't tell him now, she might lose her chance forever. 

"I told them that it was serious on my end and that you were a good man." Shay traced the design on the table with her finger as she gathered the nerve to look at him.

When she finally looked at him, he was looking out the window at the traffic passing. It appeared that he was deep in thought, so Shay remained silent.

"I have fallen in love with you, Nate." Shay watched him as he swallowed hard but didn't turn to look at her.