Chapter 274

I was tense, struggling with the whole divorce thing. I thought I was doing fine, but I wasn’t at all. Truly composed people didn’t need to comfort themselves every single day.

Nathan’s tight embrace finally made me let go of all that tension. I leaned into him, letting myself be held. Maybe it wasn’t just him who needed this; I did, too.

I soothingly ran my hand over his back, but Nathan didn’t loosen his hold. Instead, his lips, warm and urgent, found my ear.

I tensed up all over. Nathan released me from his embrace, then cupped my face in both hands, covering my lips with his. This was the first time I’d kissed anyone besides Jared.

Nathan moved slowly, as if he was afraid of being too forward, watching my response, worried I might push him away.

He cradled my face, kissing me again and again for a while. Nathan’s breathing grew heavy, his eyes dark and unreadable. He didn’t go any further, just reluctantly traced his fingers over my cheek, giving it a gentle pinch. “You should head back soon.”

I savored the moment and then smiled. “Okay.”

“I’ll walk you down,” Nathan said, not even bothering to change his shoes as he pressed the elevator button for me.

Seeing his face still flushed, I reached up and touched my own. Crap, mine was red, too.

When we got downstairs, Nathan opened the car door for me. I bent down to get in, and he leaned against the door, gazing down at me. “Drive safe.”

I nodded, and as the door closed, I drove off, my heart racing.

But honestly, most of the time, guys were just running on hormones. Sure, there was some real emotion, but it was pretty rare.

I could tell Nathan liked me at that moment. All I had to do was accept his feelings and stop making up stories in my head about what else might happen.

I wasn’t going to be like I was with Jared before. If he gave me a little, I’d want to give back a whole lot, always worried my love wasn’t enough.

Later, I kept convincing myself I wasn’t after his money, that I was sweet and pretty, and totally deserved all his love because I was worth it.

Realizing that, all I could do was laugh at myself. Just because I gave something, it didn’t mean it was what he wanted.

Men and women just don’t think the same way. If one pushes her feeling onto a guy, it’ll freak him out, push him away, or make him want to bolt. I was not going to give my heart away so easily anymore.

I slept well that night. The next morning, Nathan showed up early to take me to the court. He was dressed in sportswear, looking so young and full of life, all that masculine energy on display.

We played a few rounds, worked up a sweat, but left the court feeling satisfied.

He handed me a bottle of water and told me to take a break on the bench. I picked up my phone and saw that Jared had called.

I didn’t answer, and he texted asking where I was. I snapped a quick photo and sent it to him, replying: [Playing ball.]

Jared immediately shot back, wanting to know who I was playing with. He also said Yvonne was pestering him to go to Ryan’s place for a Rubik’s cube lesson.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but laugh. Jared was finally feeling a bit of the anxiety I used to feel.

[Busy, don’t bother me,] I messaged, then went right back to playing with Nathan. He was really good, but he dialed it down just to spare my pride and played along as my practice partner.