I fight against his hard chest for a second before giving up with a huff, melting into his arms. “Don’t do that again. We had a plan, and if we want any freedom around here, we need to stick to the plan.”
“Yeah.” His voice vibrates against my cheek, his sweet cologne hitting my nostrils. “But we don’t need to throw parties here anyway. We have Brantley’s house.”
“Brantley doesn’t like me very much, and it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t be attending parties.”
“Brantley doesn’t not like you.”
“Oh, really?” I step away from his embrace, just enough to be able to see his face but still be in his arms. “The man’s lip is curled at me constantly. I think he hates me more than Bishop does.”
Nate’s arm tightens around me. “Bishop doesn’t hate you.”
“I’m pretty sure he does. In fact, I don’t think any of your pack are entirely happy about my existence.”
“They just don’t know you.”
“You all kidnapped me. They’d be fucking lucky to know me, which, by the way, why am I hugging you? I’m still pissed about that.” I push out of his embrace, only for him to tighten his grip. He hooks his finger under my chin and tilts my head up so I’m facing him. His eyes search mine, his lips so close that if I inched forward, we’d be kissing.
“You don’t get a say in what happened that night.” He’s serious, and that makes me nervous. I’ve never seen Nate like this often. “I’m serious, Madi. We didn’t and don’t have much choice, except for probably Bishop.”
“Why do you like me?” I ask. He narrows his eyes. “I mean,” I whisper, my eyes dropping to his mouth, “you didn’t have to like me. We’re stepsiblings. We should hate each other.”
He inches forward, his arm clenching around my waist, pulling me in closer so I can feel his hard erection pressing into my tummy. He drops his lips softly, so they’re brushing over mine. “It was either I warm up to you…” He grins against my lips, but I don’t move. I should move; if I was smart, I’d move. But I’ve not been very smart lately. “Or I fuck you.” He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth.
Just as he’s about to pull away, I grip onto the back of his neck and pull him into me until I’m kissing him. I open my mouth and let his tongue slide in. Nate has his tongue pierced? The ball of his piercing glides over my tongue expertly, and holy hell, he’s a great kisser. He pushes my body down onto the sofa with his until my back hits the soft cushions. I inch my legs open until his knee is resting in between mine, not breaking the kiss. He tilts his head, giving me more access, and I lick his tongue, pulling it into my mouth while sucking on it.
“Madi, we’re going out for dinner tonight!” My father’s distant yell is like a bucket of ice-cold water. Nate and I both pull back, my hand coming up to my mouth and his eyes wide on mine, both of us in shock. I push him off me, and we both land on our feet just as my dad walks into the living room, doing up his cufflinks. “You’ll both come.”
“Sorry,” Nate deadpans. “I have plans tonight.” Then he looks to me. “And weren’t you saying that Tatum is coming over?”
I look between Nate and my dad nervously. “Yeah, but I can cancel.”
Nate looks at me with widened eyes. I widen mine back, because he’s being rude. I know my dad is blunt, but that’s how he has always been, and he may not be a great father, but he’s always tried. “Good. It’s settled. I’ll meet you both out in the car in half an hour.”
Half an hour later, Nate and I are both in the back of my dad’s Range Rover, both scowling at each other, and neither has spoken since “the mistake.” I would call it the kiss, but mistake sounds more fitting. Nate is dressed in casual dark jeans, a polo shirt, and black boots. I’m casual like him too, but not quite able to get away with jeans. I decided on a pant jumpsuit. It’s black and plain, but has two slight slits on either side of my ribcage, showing a whisper of skin. It’s one of the many clothes I have in my closet that I don’t particularly like wearing, but because of status, I have to own it in case, I don’t know… my dad decides to spring it on me that he’s taking us out to The Plaines, the most elite restaurant there is on this side of town. I only know this, because when I texted Tatum to tell her I couldn’t do tonight and that she and Tillie were on their own, she told me so. Right after cursing me out.