Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Don’t let me stop you two from dancing,” I said when Laurel turned and walked away.
“You’re not.”
Okay…this is weird. Any other time I had seen Nate at The Blue Moose he avoided me at all costs.
“Well, um, that’s my table,” I said as I looked at where the girls were sitting. All of them were watching me and Nate with curious expressions. Rosie wore a smile while Lizzy frowned, and Josephine looked confused.
Join the club, Josephine. Join…the…club.
Before we got to the table, I turned and faced him. “Thank you for the dances, Nate. I had fun.”
He smiled. “So did I. I guess…I’ll, umm, see you around? Maybe we can have another dance in a bit.”
I felt my teeth dig into my lower lip. How many times had I wished for Nate to ask me to dance, and here he was twice in one night?
Smiling, I replied, “I’d like that.”
With a nod, he said, “Cool. I’ll send another beer to your table for Candice.”
I let out a chuckle. “Thanks. I’m sure she’ll want it after all the dancing she’s doing with your friend Bounty.”
Nate looked over his shoulder to the dance floor before focusing on me again. He looked like he wanted to say something but changed his mind. He stepped away from me and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll let you get back to your friends.”
“Okay. Thanks again for the dance.”
Nate turned and walked along the outside of the dance floor. He stopped at a table where a few other guys were sitting and sat down.
I drew in a slow, deep breath before I turned and walked back to the table. When I sat down, Rosie grabbed my hand and leaned in to ask, “How did that happen?”
“I’m not sure,” I said as I reached for my drink. “He just asked if I wanted to dance.”
Rosie looked over to the table and then back to me. “He’s staring at you, Haven.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure he’s not.”
“What’s going on with you and Nate?” Josephine asked. “I thought you two didn’t get along.”
“Did he ask you to dance?” Lizzy asked, sounding utterly shocked and a little pissed.
“Why do you sound so shocked?” Josephine asked. “Everyone knew Nate always liked Haven.”
“What?” I asked as I looked around the table, this time I was the one in complete shock.
Lizzy rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Haven. Don’t play that whole innocent thing on us. You liked him, and he liked you. I never could understand why you both acted like you didn’t have feelings for each other.”
I looked at Rosie, who simply shrugged.
“I don’t know what makes you guys think he liked me. He could hardly stand to be around me.”
Josephine and Lizzy both laughed.
“Do you know how often I tried to get Nate Shaw alone?” Lizzy said as she leaned across the table. “He turned me down every single time. No one ever turned me down.”
Josephine asked, “Remember when Callie…oh, what was her last name…anyway, she tried to get Nate to make out with her at the party down by the wall?”
“The wall! Oh my gosh, I haven’t thought about that place in forever!” Candice said as she sat down between Lizzy and Josephine.
The wall was just that—a wall that ran through one of the parks in Hamilton. Every Saturday night, people met there to party. The local police had shown up a time or two over the years, which had caused everyone to run and hide in the woods that the park backed up to.
“What was that girl’s name who claimed she had snuck away with Nate and gave him a blow job?” Josephine asked Candice.
I moved about in my seat, not liking where the conversation was going. The last thing I wanted to hear about was Nate’s conquests in high school.
Candice took a long drink of beer before setting it down as she seemed to try and catch her breath. “Callie Austin.”
“Yes!” the rest of the women at the table said.
“It was Callie Austin who claimed she had hooked up with Nate,” Candice said with a roll of her eyes.
Rosie laughed. “Everyone knows Nate never hooked up with anyone. He was a big flirt.”
“Not true,” Josephine stated as she wore a smug look.
“You?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.
She jerked her head in my direction. “No! Girl, I knew how much you liked him. I would never do that to you.”
I sat back in my seat and looked at Lizzy but quickly looked down at my beer.
“The summer before our senior year of high school, there was that field party in old man Johnson’s field,” Josephine started. “There was a girl from Missoula here visiting her cousin.”
“Oh, right!” Rosie said as she pointed to Josephine. Turning to me, she said, “That was the night you and Nate got in that huge fight because he told you that you needed to go home because you were drinking.”