The Pact (Sterling U: book 2)

Chapter 23: Savvy

My heart was fluttering and butterflies were swarming in my stomach as we walked inside the Italian restaurant. Nate had opened the car door for me, another first that had my eyes building with tears. I didn't know what to do so I stood there frozen while he gave me a panty melting smile. It took me a few seconds to actually get in his truck but he did it again when we arrived and damn I was hating myself for wanting to get used to this side of him. I felt like I was in a fairy tale. Like I was one of the heroines in my books and suddenly I was understanding why he called me princess. His little quips had made me think he thought I was childish, or that it was just a pet name that he called all the girls but he switches it out. Back and forth from princess to witch depending on my mood but they have one thing in common. Fairy tales. Books.

I smile as I sit down, "You call me princess and witch because I'm an English Lit major and I like to read, don't you?"

Nate chuckled, placing the napkin down on his lap, "It took you this long to figure that out?" I blush, a little embarrassed but loving the look in his eyes right now, "Yes, princess, I started calling you that because when I had first noticed you...truly noticed you, you were sitting at your little chair, or nook or whatever by the window in your living room one day. I had just walked in the door, you hadn't noticed me yet-"

"Oh my God, I remember this, I left the door open for you because I thought I was going to be in the shower by the time you got there and you scared the fucking shit out of me!" I talked over him, laughing at the memory, before quieting down to listen to what he was saying.

"The sun was setting and the light shining through the window was hitting your skin in just the right way. Your hair glittered and glistened its gold tones that I love so much and the tiny freckles on your arm were visible. You looked so captured in your book, so lost. Almost like you were in a trance, living the life of whatever character was on the page. You were biting your lip so I could only imagine what you were reading but you had your glasses on and your hair was up and you just looked unbelievably sexy. You looked like a princess. Like you came out of that book to meet me." Nate shrugged, fiddling with his water glass as I watched him in amazement. I can't believe he just told me all of that. That he had noticed all of that. All of me. My heart was beating so fast I could swear everyone could hear it and my stomach was doing flips. How do I respond to that?

"I-" the waiter came by just then and cut me off, asking for our drink orders. Nate ordered a beer but when I ordered a soda he stared at me like it was the strangest thing in the world. He knew I wanted to cut back on drinking a bit. I was in college and young, living the college scene, parties and alcohol were common but tonight, after what he just admitted, I wanted to be sure I was completely coherent for the entire night. I didn't want to forget anything. But damn, would a drink help with my nerves.

When the waiter left I picked up where I left off, "I didn't realize you noticed all of those things."

He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal but it was a huge deal. It was everything. I've never had any guy notice little things like that. Notice me like that. I watched him for a while as he shifted uncomfortably, sipping his water while we waited for the drinks to come back.

"Okay, so pretend this is our first date, what would you do?" Nate looked at me, his eyes dancing between mine like he was trying to figure something out. I bit my lip and gasped a little when I noticed his eyes drifted down toward them. I hated when he did that, it always made me want to kiss him. And I couldn't. I couldn't, right? No. No. It would ruin our friendship and I can't lose him.

Nate let out a small chuckle, "Well, this is the part in the evening I would be asking a ton of questions to get to know you, but since I know most things I guess I have to ask the questions I don't know. But the real question is, are you going to finally answer them now that we're here?"