Page 68 of Noticing Natalie
I was frozen, staring down at him. He was so handsome, so confident, as he waited for my answer.
I felt a prickling at the back of my neck like someone was watching me. Which was ridiculous. The whole damn room was watching me.
But I knew deep down who it was that caused those prickles of awareness. I looked out at the room and met Tim’s eyes. He looked awful. His face had gone gray, and his lips were in a thin, straight line. He looked at me and mouthed the words, “Say no.”
I opened my mouth, hating that Heath had asked me such a personal question in front of hundreds of people.
Before I could speak, I saw Tim turn and push his way out of the room.
All I could do was watch him go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tim
I got to the party late. I was not the type of man who spent an overly long time on my appearance. Tonight, though, was different. I wanted to get Natalie by herself and convince her to give me another chance. Once and for all. If she said no, I’d have to accept it the best I could and move on.
But if she said yes…
Well, my heart could hardly take the idea of that. It had me all fidgety like a teenager. I wanted her so fucking bad. Both in my bed and justwithme. Always.
So, I’d ended up spending at least a half hour longer than usual getting ready. Sadie and Harrison, who I was riding over with so I could drink, were impatiently waiting at their house nearby.
Once we were on our way, Sadie kept remarking on me being quiet, but I’d been monosyllabic in my returns.
She hadn’t appreciated it.
“I’m in love with Natalie,” I blurted.
The car got quiet.
“Yeah, man,” Harrison said, turning around and looking at me with twinkling eyes, “we know.”
“We suspected,” Sadie corrected. “I think everyone suspects that you’re in love with each other. We just weren’t sure either one of you knew it yet.” She looked at me in the rearview mirror.“I know what went down between y’all was rough. But if I can forgive Harrison for the way he cheated, I’m sure Nat can forgive you. You just have to prove yourself.”
“How though? How do I prove myself when she won’t even date me or talk about what happened between us?”
Sadie was quiet. Finally, she said, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. You show her in a bunch of small ways how important she is to you.”
“My mind goes back to the Redi-Whip and fruit for the waffles at Thanksgiving,” Harrison said.
“Huh?” Had he lost it?
“You remembered she hates maple syrup. Not Lynne, not Sadie or Alexis or Pete. You. And you made sure someone brought it.”
“That’s just basic…”
“No, it’s not. It shows you care. That you’re always thinking of her.”
Before they could give me more examples, because I definitely wanted some, we’d pulled up at the Reyes’ house.
I whistled. “Good thing Nat’s not all that impressed by material things. This place is… something.”
“It really is,” Carrie agreed. “It’s nicer than Carrie’s parents’ house, and that’s one of the nicest in Indigo Falls.”
We all agreed.
I admired the house as we walked up. I hoped Natalie wasn’t looking to marry someone for their money. I wasn’t poor by any means. But this? This was way out of my league.
