Torn (22 page)

I twisted in my seat, my hands
pressed up against the car window as we approached the Strip, my eyes wide with
childish excitement as I tried to imagine what Nate had chosen for us to do. I
really hoped it didn’t involve a lot of money, I knew he didn’t have much
spare. He drove slowly up one side of the Strip, then turned around to come
back down it, making sure I saw everything. I was mesmerized by the enormous
hotels and the crowds of people on the sidewalks. Even from inside the car, I
could just feel the buzz and the atmosphere. It would be too much to live here
in it all of the time, but I couldn’t wait to come and work here during the
week. Nate veered off the Strip and went down some side streets before pulling
into a parking garage. I waited in the car, already having learned that he
liked to come and open my door. It wasn’t all from chivalrous intent though, I
was sure it was so he could make sure the chrome handle was polished up before
he left her.

“So, any ideas where I’m taking
you?” he asked. “Don’t tell me, I don’t want you thinking that I’m winging it
and going where you said.”

“Ok, there’s one place I really,
really
want to go to. I’ll text you, but don’t look at your phone until we get there
and we’ll see how well you actually know me.” He laughed and nodded his
agreement, so I made sure he couldn’t see my screen as I tapped out the name of
the place as we approached the Strip from the side. I tucked my phone away and
gasped in surprise when Nate grabbed my hand to hold. “Hey, Ace. I thought you
said ‘not even holding hands’ when you dictated your rules for the last three
nights!”

“And you should know me well
enough to know that I’m a bit of rule breaker. Besides, what guy ever plays
fair when he’s in competition to win the girl? Anyway, I don’t want to risk losing
you in the crowd. This way I get to touch you and keep you safe. Everyone wins.”

“Were you also breaking the rules
by coming to the bowling alley on Thursday, or was that a coincidence?”

“I refuse to answer that on the
grounds that you might give me one of your scowls or hit me and storm off.”

“Nate,” I sighed. He was so bad,
he had turned up there just because I was on my date with Billy. He just smiled
at me, that smile that flashed his dimple. And tonight, for the first time, I
might finally be able to kiss it, and lick it, the way I’d been imagining since
I met him. No words were needed as we joined the bustling crowd and I soaked it
all in. I was on the Las Vegas Strip! I was so enraptured with craning my neck
left and right, and up, that I bumped into Nate when he suddenly came to a
halt.

“Ok, first stop of the night. Can
I check my phone now?” he inquired. I looked up at the building and grinned
like a loon.

“No need, you just hit it out of
the ball park,” I announced gleefully, to find us at the entrance to M&M
World. He chuckled, looking proud of himself as he tugged on my hand and we
went inside, the heavy scent of delicious chocolate hitting me immediately. “I
apologize in advance,” I warned, “I’m going to be like the proverbial kid in
the candy shop. I’ve wanted to come here for as long as I can remember.”

By the time we left, the sun had
already set, and I stared in wonder at the vivid lights against the inky sky.
They were even more impressive when you were in the middle of it all. Nate held
my hand tightly. He’d only released it once while we were in the shop, to grab
his wallet to pay for some personalized M&M’s that he’d had made with our
names and the date. He’d said whatever the outcome, he wanted us to remember
our first date, which was so sweet. He also got me a small red plush toy and a
red and black cappuccino mug for my morning coffee. I’d gotten him a blue and
black one in return, since I knew how much he loved his coffee. I had them all
in a gorgeous M&M merchandise bag, with a few little bags of candy too,
clutched firmly in my left hand along with my purse.

We took the escalators up the side
of the MGM Grand and went over the bridge toward New York, New York. I tipped my
head back to look up at the roller coaster, which sat on the roofs of the lower
buildings at the front. My chest was thudding with anticipation. Did he also
know I’d always wanted to go on that ride?

“You have your hands full, so you
can’t text me stop two on the tour, but you’d better not be scared of heights
or speed, and feel free to scream if you want to. We’re heading up there,” he
confirmed, laughing as I squealed with excitement.

He hustled me into the casino and
we followed the old-fashioned street signs directing us to the roller coaster
entrance. It took us ages to get there. I’d known the hotels were supersized,
but nothing had prepared me for the actual scale of them when you stepped
inside. They were vast, and the noise of the machines whirring and pinging was
insane. I felt like a child at Christmas. I wasn’t sure if the giddiness was
just from being around Nate, from holding his hand, from finally being here, or
a combination of all three. All I knew was I was so happy, and Nate looked it
too. The usual tired and worried look he always tried to conceal was gone.
Tonight he just looked like a normal twenty-year-old guy, albeit with an extra
hot and handsome bad-boy vibe, out having fun. He refused my offer to pay for
the tickets, or the locker we had to rent, which we just managed to squeeze my
treasured gifts into, before we went to line up.

“Nate, please let me give you
something. You’ve had the cost of the gas and my gifts and now this.”

“It’s ok, I’ve been making a bit
of extra money the last few weeks. Saunders, the guy you met at the bowling
alley, he’s a great athlete but he’s struggling with his studies. He’s been
paying me to tutor him while I stayed at home to keep an eye on Ma, so I’ve
been setting it aside especially for this.”

“Well, I really appreciate it,
but I won’t take no for an answer when we stop at the drive-thru on the way
home. Dinner’s on me,” I said firmly. “And please don’t start an argument that
will rumble on for the rest of the night, I just want to carry on enjoying our
date, ok?”

“Ok,” he sighed, leaning over to
kiss my temple. I closed my eyes as I memorized the feel of his soft lips
against my skin and sighed with pleasure. The thought of finally getting to
kiss him for real later almost had me wanting to skip the rest of the date,
even the ride and my burger. I had a feeling it would be worth the sacrifice.
As the line shuffled forward, I moved closer to Nate, wanting as much contact
as possible. My stomach did a full revolution when he released my hand to spread
his fingers and nudged them between mine. I smiled shyly up at him as we closed
our fingers around each other’s. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever felt so
happy.

“Ready?” Nate asked from his seat
next to me as the bars secured tightly around us. I nodded and he reached for
my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as the roller coaster started to move.
It shook its way out of the hotel into the fresh air and started to climb, and
my eyes roved back and forth, taking in the incredible view up the Strip, all
of Vegas’s lights proudly lighting up the sky. I had no idea it would feel so
high up, but as we reached the top and then started the drop, I screamed when
we plummeted at high speed, my stomach still somewhere up a few floors above
me. I had to let go of Nate’s hand to hold on to the bars that had swept down
over my head and ran vertically down my chest. I heard Nate laughing and tried
to turn my head to look at him, but we were moving so fast that my head was
pinned to the back of the seat, and we were shaken and buffeted from side to
side as we went up and down and did a full loop-the-loop. My blood was surging
through my body, roaring in my ears, and my heart was racing with the
adrenaline pumping through it, making my hands tremble. It was over too fast,
and before I knew it, we were getting out and I was stumbling into Nate’s arms.

“God, I’m so sorry,” I giggled as
he tried to right me. “My legs went to jelly. That was
amazing
. I loved
it.”

“It is pretty cool,” he agreed,
looking the epitome of the word. He held my shoulders, our gazes locked as he
stared down at me. The sea green of his eyes, and the obvious need in them,
made me want to shout the words “I’ve chosen
you
” at the top of my lungs,
but I resisted. We were surrounded by people, all of them strangers, and I
wanted a private and intimate moment to share the most important news of my
life. I’d seen other girls give away their affections so easily, like the very
act of choosing to share your emotions and your heart with someone was worthless.
It wasn’t to me. It was
everything
. I wanted that moment I did to mean
something, to be personal. It was just for the two of us to experience. “What?”
he asked, his heated gaze muting slightly as it turned to one of puzzlement.

“Nothing,” I smiled, the heat
from the fireflies in my stomach making me feel so warm and content. “Just
happy we got to do that.”

“I wish we could do more,” he
sighed, as he guided me back to the lockers to retrieve our things. “I really
wanted to take you on The Rio’s VooDoo Zipline, but …” He shook his head and
looked embarrassed. I immediately knew it was because of the money.

“Ace, I don’t know what other
girls expected on a date with you, but I’m not like them. I don’t need someone
to spend lots of money for me to have a great time. And I’m having a great time
just hanging out with you, like I always have.” I squeezed his hand and he
flashed me a grateful smile. “How about we hit the road and head home? I could
kill for that burger right about now.”

When we weren’t chatting and
laughing on the return journey, I was singing. As we approached the “Welcome to
Boulder City” sign, suddenly my stomach started to twist in nervous knots. What
if I told him that I was ready, that he was all I wanted, and we weren’t on the
same page? What if I thought we’d had an amazing date and he didn’t? I
swallowed a lump in the back of my throat and chewed on my lower lip, aware
that his eyes were on me as we idled at the light, waiting for it to turn
green.

“Fuck it,” he growled, ripping through
the gears the second the light changed color, throwing me back in the seat with
a gasp.

“Nate?” I questioned as we shot
past the drive-thru.

“I’m damn hungry, but there’s
something I need to do first. We’re taking a detour.”

He pulled up in the parking lot
at the back of JT’s garage and jumped out of the car. I was really confused
now. He was coming to do something at work? That was more important than our
date? I felt my heart sink. I really had gotten it wrong, it wasn’t going as
well as I’d thought. I was so stupid. Like I could match up to the type of
girls he usually went out with. Like the girls who hung out in Joelle’s diner
to get a glimpse of him. The girls that had bleached-blonde hair, skinny
figures, and put out on a first date. Nate threw open the passenger door and
ordered me out of the car brusquely. My eyes widened as I did as I was told. What
was going on? Before I knew what was happening, he’d pulled me along behind him
and was opening the fire exit door to take me into JT’s. Moments later, we were
virtually running up the stairs, past the first floor and up again. He swung
open a heavy metal door and tugged me through it, my lungs inhaling sharply as
I took in the view.

We were on the huge flat roof of
JT’s, which spanned the full length of his building and was surrounded by a
waist-high brick wall. The view of Vegas in the background, sparkling like a
thousand diamonds under a spotlight, was amazing enough, but what really took
my breath away was one corner of the empty rooftop. There was a structure that
looked like a rudimentary type of gazebo, made from wood, with a clear acrylic roof
on top of the wooden supports and around three sides. Fairy lights had been
wound around all of the wooden struts and joists, with brightly colored solar-powered
lanterns hanging from them as well. As Nate pulled me toward it, I noticed a
huge, cushioned, all-weather double sun lounger under the shelter. It was so
pretty, but my mind was racing, my palms felt clammy, and I was finding it hard
to breathe. Had he brought me up here to have sex? Was this where he brought
all of his women? The thought made me nervous and also sick to the core.

“No,” he bit sharply as he tugged
me inside.

“No … what?” I managed to utter,
on the verge of ripping my hand from his and running from him at top speed.

“I can tell what you’re thinking.
This, it’s all new. I bought the bed and materials and built it for you, hoping
that if you ever agreed to go out with me, we could come up here, somewhere
private, just for us. I’ve never brought another girl up here and … fuck it,
Sky.”

Seconds later, before I even had
a chance to realize what was happening, his hands were possessively framing my
face and my lips burned as he pressed his against them forcefully and started
to kiss me. I felt like I had when I’d gotten off the roller coaster earlier. My
legs turned to jelly and I had to grab his large, solid biceps to stop myself
from falling down. My stomach was spinning like a clothes dryer and my head
felt light and dizzy. I was being assaulted with so many reactions and
emotions, it was all I could do not to pass out. I heard a whimper leave my
lips as his tongue invaded my mouth, plunging, circling, tasting. Nate Hudson
was kissing me. And it was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. I never
wanted him to stop. His hands moved, his thumbs on my jaw as his fingers curled
around the back of my neck, holding me still, tilting my head to allow him
better access, as my tongue tentatively reciprocated his impassioned dance. I
heard a deep groan as he stepped closer toward me, our bodies connecting, my
breasts crushed by his broad chest. My eyes were shut but I could almost see
all the dazzling lights of the vista from the rooftop regardless. I felt like
the biggest Fourth of July fireworks display had just exploded in my brain.