~~~

Nathaniel opened the hotel room door and gestured for me to enter. As soon as I stepped inside, I was hit by the cold air from the air conditioner.

"I'll turn it off," Nathaniel offered, noticing my shivering. He joined me in the room with our bags and closed the door behind him.

While he dealt with the air conditioner, I took a moment to survey the room. It was quite basic, with a wardrobe on one wall, a television on the other, a door that likely led to the bathroom, and only one bed.

My eyes zeroed in on the bed until I couldn't see anything else. I tensed as I imagined myself and Nathaniel lying down on the bed together. I didn't know how he slept but I knew at one point, his legs would touch mine, and his arm, and ...

"Are you alright?"

I whipped my face to Nathaniel who was staring at me with a ? expression. I presented a smile. "I am," I lied. "It's a lovely room."
Only that it has one bed.

"Yeah," he responded, glancing around. His gaze returned to me, and I pretended I wasn't admiring how graciously God had created him. "I had to beg my mom to not book anything extravagant." he casually mentioned. " That would have been weird."

I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to live his life, where financial worries were nonexistent.

"It is a beautiful room," I repeated, and he gave me a questioning look. "We should get some sleep," he suggested. "We have an early flight in the morning."

Sleep on the same bed?

***

Nathaniel placed an order for dinner, and we sat together in complete silence. Well, I remained silent while watching him scroll through his phone and chuckle, clearly texting all the girls from his contact list.

After the meal, which was honestly so much better than school food, Nathaniel went into the bathroom to shower - I insisted he go first. Meanwhile, I cautiously removed my clothes, kept an eye on the bathroom door, and put on one of the hotel robes.

While waiting for him to finish, I occupied myself by continuing to read the novel I had started earlier that day. As soon as I heard the bathroom door open, I averted my gaze to the cream-colored tiles, not wanting to see him in just a towel.

I dropped my book and headed towards the bathroom door, only to find Nathaniel Johnson still standing there, blocking my path.

We were uncomfortably close, and I couldn't help but unconsciously follow a water trail down his legs. It was ridiculous that we were both frozen in place - me waiting for him to move, and him not budging.

"Why are you looking down, Olivia?" he asked.

"Why aren't you moving, Nathan?" I countered at the same time.

I looked up at him, and my heart skipped a beat. He was much taller than me, and the water on his face made his eyelashes look better than mine ever could. Surprisingly, he leaned closer to me, placing his hand on the door frame. He smelled like the Dove soap bars my mom was obsessed with. He was way too close, close enough for me to trace the path of a droplet of water sliding over his collarbone, down his chest...

I stopped myself before my gaze reached its destination.

"Can you stop acting weird around me?" he asked softly.

I blinked, not realizing I had been so obvious. "I'm just tired and need to shower and go to bed," I half-lied.

He continued to gaze at my face, causing me to instinctively cover my right cheek where a sudden pimple had appeared that morning.

He followed the movement of my hand with his eyes, but remained silent, for which I was grateful.
"If you moved," I began, "I could do all those things."

There was a brief pause before he responded,
"She avoids making eye contact with him, seems nervous in his presence, steals glances at him when she thinks he won't notice, and makes small gestures that draw his attention to her lips," a wide smile formed on his face. "Based on what I see, Miss Olivia, it seems you like me."

I retorted as if I had been electrocuted.
"As if!" I shot back, and then, because it wasn't enough, I added, "You wish!"

A corner of his lips lifted, indicating that I was amusing him.
Annoyance flushed my cheeks, and I lightly poked my finger into his chest, which was a mistake because he was still shirtless and my finger suddenly felt heavy. Nevertheless, I said, "For your information, Nathaniel Johnson."

"Nathan is fine," he interrupted, and I glared at him, before creating some much-needed distance between us.

"I've never had to share a room with a guy I barely know, so..."

"We're practically family friends," he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Our moms are friends, we just happen to know each other," I retorted.

He winced, "ouch"

I rolled my eyes, showing indifference. "And I didn't realize prefects read confiscated materials from other students. Aren't you supposed to give them to the staff or something?" I asked, because not only did he quote a passage from the book he had confiscated from me, but he did so expertly, indicating that he had thoroughly read the book or at least that part.

He pushed himself away from the wall and made his way toward the wardrobe where our boxes were kept. He took his bag and carried it over to the bed, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the way his arm flexed and his abs tightened as he did so. He opened the bag, and for a moment, I thought he was going to take out my novel, but he retrieved a pair of shorts instead.

"I didn't read the entire book, Olivia," he informed me as he zipped the bag and turned his head in my direction. "Just the parts you had underlined with a pencil," he emphasized.

I swallowed my spit the wrong way and came very, very close to choking
to death.

I loved reading novels, particularly romance, and I had a habit of underlining phrases that resonated with me or that I liked. After finishing the book, if it wasn't mine, I would jot down the underlined sections in my journal so I wouldn't forget them, erase the pencil marks, and return the book. It was odd, but I enjoyed doing it, and I had been doing it for a long time.

The issue this time was that the book he had taken happened to be a dark romance, featuring a ruthless villain as the protagonist and an innocent girl who was inexplicably drawn to him. Naturally, it contained numerous scenes of intense passion. So, the parts I had underlined were not exactly about romantic declarations or romantic dates. My face grew so hot that I felt it must be visible even through my melanin.

As he turned his gaze towards me, his eyes filled with evident pleasure at my discomfort, my heart began to race rapidly in my chest.

With his arms folded, he kept his eyes fixed on me. "You do enjoy being eaten out," he declared, and once again, I almost choked on my saliva due to the shock.

Nathan continued, clearly relishing in tormenting me. "Among other things," he whispered in a low voice, each word sending waves of heat across my skin.

"I...I don't," I stammered.
Wow! What a way to defend yourself, Olivia.

His amused expression remained unchanged. "It's fascinating how much you can learn about a girl based on what she underlines in her books."

The air grew heavier, making it difficult for me to breathe. Especially when he looked at me as if I were completely exposed before him. I tightened the knot on my bathrobe, and of course, he noticed, causing a shift in his expression.

"You've not done any of it before have you?" It was more of an observation than a question, and it took me only a second to realize he was talking about the things I had underlined in the book.

At this point becoming hotter was impossible. Of course, I hadn't; I had never even kissed a guy before. But he didn't need to know that.

He tsked. "Intriguing."

I did the only thing I could have done at that moment which was to dash into the bathroom and shut the door. Nathan's laughter echoed right in.

I backed the door and stared at the ceiling, one question on my mind. What has my mother gotten me into?

~~
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