asked, wincing. Coraline laughed and shook her head. Seeing my enquiring look, Nate took a deep breath before explaining. “Stacia is the one I lost my virginity to. When I slept with her, she had a boyfriend, a long term one, and he broke it off with her after. She blames me for it.”
I frowned. “Why would she blame you? She was the one that cheated on her boyfriend. Anyway, it’s not as if it would have been anything serious between them at fourteen,” I scoffed, shrugging, not really understanding what her problem was. If she cheated and got caught then that was her fault not Nate’s.
“She wasn’t fourteen. She was nineteen,” Nate answered.
My mouth dropped open in shock. “Wow, cougar!” I muttered, looking back at her.
Nate chuckled and nuzzled into the side of my neck. “And it actually kind of was my fault that her guy dumped her. I was bragging about it all the next day to my friends, and he heard, so I can see why she blames me,” he whispered.
I chuckled and bit my lip. “Serves her right for cheating in the first place.”
He nodded. “That was my point too. If she comes over and kicks me in the balls then you tell her that, okay?”
“Ooh, beach volleyball!” Coraline suddenly squealed, changing the subject, clapping her hands excitedly and looking over my shoulder. “Peters verses Coopers!” she shouted.
I looked at Nate, confused. He smiled. “Coraline is a Cooper, she lives next door. We have a competition each year to see who wins. Team Peters kicks ass every time, of course,” he boasted, smirking at me.
By the time we got over to the net that had been set up, Evan, Paige, Hannah, Robert, Dawn and Lisa were already there, along with some other people who I assumed were Coraline’s family. There were seven Peters but only five Coopers, and me.
Nate gripped my hand and pulled me to his side. “Stripes is a Peters,” he muttered.
Coraline gripped my hand and pulled me back to her side again. “No way, you already have more people, it’s not gonna be fair because Nick and Jenny aren’t here.”
Nate reached for my hand again and I laughed as he tugged me back to him. “Er, my girl is a Peters. You can have Robert.” He nodded at Hannah’s boyfriend.
Coraline put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “She’s not a Peters yet, I’m officially adopting her.”
“Just because she hasn’t got my name yet doesn’t mean she’s not a Peters in spirit. Right, Stripes?” he countered, looking at me.
I was dumbstruck. ‘Hasn’t got my name yet’ seriously, was he thinking about that kind of thing? Was he insinuating that there was even a slight possibility that I would have his name one day? Or was I reading too much into this?
Dawn clearly didn’t think so – her eyes were shining after what Nate had said. This would have to wait though – a game of volleyball wasn’t the time to start grilling your boyfriend about his intentions.
I looked around the group feeling like I was totally stuck in the middle; I did a mental count of the people. With Coraline’s dad and two brothers, there was actually six guys and six girls standing there. Perfect.
“Why don’t we just go for girls versus boys? That’ll stop the arguing,” I suggested.
Nate pouted. “Fine, but you still get Robert, he’s a girl anyway,” he chuckled, shoving Robert towards us playfully.
I laughed as Robert grumbled in protest but came to stand with us anyway; I think he was too scared of Nate to say anything back. Hannah linked her arm through his and we all headed over to our little huddles to talk strategies. As I leant in, they were already complaining that we were going to lose. Apparently Evan and Nate were awesome players, as was Coraline’s dad. With these teams, the three best players were all on one side. That was probably why Nate had given us Robert, to try and even it out a little.
I smiled over my shoulder at Nate. He was watching me curiously, a small confident smile on his face. “I can distract Nate easy enough,” I assured my team.
Dawn arched a brow. “Distract him? How are you going to do that, sweetheart?” she asked.
“With the only thing I know that will make Nate lose all interest in the game. You won’t need to worry about him, just concentrate on the other players.”
Coraline smiled. “Gonna dress up like a mermaid?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at me, making me laugh harder.
Dawn frowned. “Why would she dress up like a mermaid?”
I waved my hand dismissively, not wanting to get into this conversation. She thought it was sweet that her little boy used to watch The Little Mermaid over and over; I didn’t want to taint that memory by telling her that her son was actually a fish pervert.
“You girls ready to admit that men rule all?” Evan taunted, grinning wickedly.
I laughed and looked back at Nate to see him slap his dad a high five, laughing wickedly as Robert grumbled again. We broke apart, and I walked up to the net so I could speak to Nate. He looked at me confidently.
“Want to jump ship and come play with the big boys?” he teased, waving at his team.
I shook my head. “I was just wondering if you wanted to make a little wager,” I offered.
He grinned. “A wager? Most definitely.”
I smiled and looked around to make sure no one could hear us. “Okay, well if I win then I get to do anything I want to you tonight. Anything,” I bartered, looking at him suggestively.
He shifted on his feet. “We agreed no sex.”
I sighed in defeat and closed my eyes. “Fine, no sex, but I get you naked, and I can do anything else that I want to you, and you’re not allowed to protest.”
“Stripes, I want to wait until you’re ready. I told you that.”
I shrugged. “So you think your team will lose?”
He snorted confidently. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about,” I countered. “If your team wins then what is it that you want?”
He ran his tongue over his lips slowly, so slowly that it made my legs feel a little weak. “If I win, then I get to take you and DJ to my work’s family day out in a couple of weeks, and for the rest of the day today you have to wear a badge that says Team Peters on it.”
I was definitely getting off lightly there. “Deal,” I agreed.
He smiled. “By the way, don’t you think it’s so wrong that my forfeit for the bet is to let you touch me? Shouldn’t that be the other way around? That I win and I demand that you run your hands on me, not if I lose,” he teased, pulling me against his chest, running his nose up the side of mine.
“Yeah, but you’re the most frigid player I’ve ever met. I’ve got to get those shorts off you somehow,” I replied, grinning wickedly at him as we both laughed.
I smiled and pressed my lips to his, kissing him forcefully, making sure to run my hand up his chest teasingly as I rubbed my hip on his crotch. When I heard a little moan resonate from his throat, I pulled away and sauntered back to my team who were waiting for me.
Dawn smiled at me. “Maybe I should try that with Evan,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“In the next break you work on Evan,” I suggested, winking at her.
I turned back to see Nate’s eyes firmly fixed on me. I smiled teasingly as I grabbed hold of the bottom of my tank top and slowly pulled it off over my head. My swimsuit wasn’t exactly a one piece, but it wasn’t quite a two piece either. It was black and had a bikini top, but there was a strip of material running down the front of it. My waist and back were completely exposed. It was kind of like wearing a two piece, but it just covered my stomach a little too, I was self-conscious of my body because of carrying a child. I never exposed my stomach.
I heard Nate groan; I looked up at him through my eyelashes and bit my lip a little. His mouth and eyes were wide, his whole body tight with what looked like stress. He wasn’t going to play very well today, especially if I had to jump or run for the ball, gravity would draw his eyes away from the ball and to my chest. All the gi
rls had to worry about was the other players.
“Are we ready to start?” Dawn asked, holding the ball ready to serve it. We all agreed, so she tossed it up and hit it, sending it over the net and right into the side of Nate’s head – who, of course, hadn’t seen it coming because he was too busy trying to see through my swimsuit. Everyone laughed as he rubbed his head and frowned at her. “Oh sorry, poppet, I thought we were ready!” Dawn called apologetically.
I choked on my laugh. “Poppet, can we have our ball back?” I called. Oh, this weekend is awesome!
Nate looked at me sternly, one eyebrow raised, he didn’t look too impressed. “Don’t,” he warned.
“Don’t what… poppet?” I asked, sticking my tongue out at him.
He sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes. “This is so not fair. I swear this is a set-up, I’m being played!” he whined, shaking his head.
“Want to swap teams and play for the girls, Nate?” Robert asked, grinning happily now as he gave Hannah a high five.
The rest of the game went like that. Nate was as good as useless. I made sure I ran for the ball as much as I could and jumped when he jumped. We teased and heckled each other back and forth over the net as we played. It was really fun. And, much to my luck, the girls won. Barely, but we won. So, tonight I was getting Officer Peters naked, and I was certainly going to make him go back on the no touching rule that was for sure. I was actually hoping that I could get him so excited that he’d forget the stupid no sex deal we’d made, I was confident in my ability to make the guy change his mind.
As the game finished, Nate grabbed me and pulled me against his chest, frowning down at me. “That was not fair!” he scolded, running his hands over the exposed sections on my swimsuit. “I have an unbeaten record, and you’ve just ruined it for me,” he whined, kissing me lightly.
I smiled and slipped my arms around his neck. “It’s good to lose every now and again. Don’t worry, tonight I’ll make you grateful that you lost,” I purred, running one finger down his chest, slipping it inside the waistband of his shorts, tracing the soft skin there. I could barely even wait for it to be night time.
“And on top of that, I still owe you that spanking,” he whispered, pulling my mouth back to his again. His kissing was just beautiful, it made me lose all coherent thought. All my barriers that I’d worked so hard to build up after Josh, just came tumbling down with one touch of his lips on mine. I felt like a teenager again, like I wasn’t quite in control of myself, like I was completely at this guy’s mercy.
When the kiss broke, he led me over to the table where his family were sitting. The girls – and Robert – were bragging about their win, giving play by plays of their points. I smiled and settled myself on Nate’s lap, joining in when needed and teasing the life out of my boyfriend. He didn’t seem to care though; his concentration was firmly locked on my cleavage area, so I could have been saying anything and he would have agreed.
After about an hour, he stood up and smiled at me. “I’m going to go put on my song for you, and then you and I, we’re going to start the dancing,” he stated, winking at me.
I looked around and laughed nervously. “No one else is dancing.”
“Hence why I said the word start,” he confirmed, doing air quotes around the last word.
“I’m not dancing if no one else is,” I protested, shaking my head.
“Oh yes you are, Stripes, because if you don’t dance with me, I’m going to sing to you at the top of my voice and embarrass you.”
I smiled teasingly. “Are you a good singer?”
He shook his head in answer. “Only dogs can hear me at some parts. This is going to be a car wreck, just remember you brought this on yourself.”
I laughed and watched him walk away, pulling out the iPod that was in the docking station and plugging his iPhone in instead. I smiled as he flicked through to find what he wanted. When he seemed happy with his selection, he smiled over at me, raising one eyebrow and nodding his head towards the empty part of the beach which it looked like would serve as a dance floor.
The song started, and I vaguely recognised it as Already Taken by Trey Songz. I smiled at his choice; this was his song for me?
He walked over and held a hand out to me. “Dance?” he asked, cocking his head to the side challengingly.
I shook my head. “No thanks,” I rejected. Under normal circumstances, I would gladly dance with him, but not while his family sat around watching and no one else was dancing, that was just embarrassing.
“Stripes, I sing baaaaaaad,” he warned.
I shook my head again. He dropped down to one knee, just as the song got to the line “I don’t wanna be a player no more,” Nate sang along at the top of his voice – and man he was right, the boy couldn’t sing a note! I burst out laughing and blushed as he carried on singing the song to me, “Thought I’d never fall in love then I met you. Girl you changed my mind,” he continued.
I squealed and clamped my hand over his mouth as everyone turned to look at us. “Fine!” I hissed, nodding quickly. “I’ll dance, just stop that god-awful racket,” I joked, giggling and trying to hide my burning face in the side of his neck.
He laughed and pulled me up. I kept my face buried against the side of his neck, trying to hide against him, knowing people would be watching. His arms went around my waist, holding me securely against his body as we started to dance to the song slowly.
“That was so embarrassing,” I whined, grinning against his skin.
“Oh, don’t lie, you love that I’d make a dick out of myself, just to get one dance with you. It makes you feel special and treasured,” he countered, teasingly.
True, very true.
I bit his shoulder lightly, before tightening my arms around him. “Whatever, jerk,” I muttered, before pulling his mouth down to mine as the song continued to play around us.
Everyone else seemed to disappear when he kissed me. His hand slid up my back to tangle into the back of my hair, and my whole body started to get that tingly feeling that he always seemed to evoke in me. His kisses were magical and, impossibly, each one seemed to get better and better.
By the time he pulled away and put his forehead to mine, I had forgotten where we were, I had forgotten that everyone was watching us and that we were the only ones dancing. His body moving against mine, the skin of his chest rubbing against mine, the warm feel of the sand under my feet, everything was perfect and it made me feel like we were the only two people left in the world.
“Want me to sing you the rest?” he whispered, brushing his nose up the side of mine.
I smiled and looked at him curiously. “What made you choose this song?” I asked.
He smiled and shrugged. “The words. They just remind me of you and how I feel about you. I guess this song just sums me up. I don’t want to be a player anymore; I never thought I’d settle down until I met you. You really are like no other girl that I’ve seen, you’re different and have something that they don’t. I guess this song is kind of written about me,” he explained, looking a little nervous about telling me. “Plus, I already used the Mrs Right line on you, so I thought that was appropriate too,” he joked, waggling his eyebrows.
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. When you looked at the song that way and listened to the lyrics, it was actually incredibly romantic in a weird R & B kind of way.
So far, this weekend had been incredible, and it still wasn’t even night time. Tonight would be even more magical I was sure of it; my winning the bet would ensure that. I silently wished DJ were here; he would love Nate’s crazy family. I desperately hoped that he’d get to meet them one day.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
~ Nate ~
The rest of the afternoon passed almost too quickly, Rosie was just so much fun to be around that the time flew by. My family loved her. The way my mom was looking at her was enough to make Rosie run for the hills, but she didn’t seem to mind, in fact, she seemed to like it. She was
happily chatting away to my mom, and joking around with my sisters as if she’d always been a part of us.
When the party drew to a close, my family stayed on the beach and lit a fire, sitting around eating the last of the food up so it didn’t go to waste. I pulled Rosie onto my lap as we sat on the sand around the fire. My hands seemed like they had a mind of their own when I was around her, I couldn’t even stop myself from tracing my fingertips over up and down her legs, loving the feeling of her skin under my hand. A couple of hours ago she had donned my shirt, and holy fuck, the girl somehow managed to look hotter in my clothes than in that cut out little bikini thing. For a joke, I’d made her a sticker that said ‘Team Peters’ on it and had stuck it on her ass just so that all the guys at the party would know to back to hell off.
I nuzzled into her neck. Rosie’s whole aura was intoxicating, just incredible and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get enough of her.
After another half an hour, my parents excused themselves to bed. My dad smirked at me as he stood up. “No cell phone emergencies for the next half an hour, okay?”