Chapter 18 - "I'm always right."

I woke up to sunlight streaming through a crack in the curtains. When I went to roll over, a heavy arm was pinning me down. Twisting my neck, I observed Nathan lying on his side facing me, his right arm draped over my waist. He looked so peaceful sleeping that I didn't want to move for fear of waking him up.

I should have told him about Pedro. Maybe my friendship with Pedro wasn't a big deal to me, but the fact I was close friends with a boy who he didn't know about would understandably make Nathan uncomfortable. I should have considered that.

Rolling over, I snuggled closer to him. His arm subconsciously pulled me closer, holding me tightly against his body. I'd never realized Nathan had the same insecurities about our relationship as I did. He always appeared to be the calm one, the one who was secure about our relationship. Was he not being as open about his worries as I was?

"Morning," he mumbled.

"You awake?" I whispered.

"Mmhm," he replied, rolling onto his back and stretching. "What time is it?"

"It's just gone eight," I said, snuggling closer and resting my head on his chest.

Nathan's hand moved up to gently caress my hair. "I don't know why you're getting comfy," he told me. "We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Where to first?"

"I was thinking that we could head out to Notre Dame early," Nathan said. "Then we'll hopefully beat the rest of the tourists?"

"Sounds good." I yawned.

"We'll finish the day at Montmartre. And do you know what's so great about Montmartre?" Nathan asked me, tugging at my hair playfully.

"What?"

"You get an amazing view of the city, plus you can see the Eiffel Tower."

"Ah," I smiled. "Whereas if we went to the Eiffel Tower to get a view of the city then we wouldn't be able to see it because we'd be standing on it."

"Exactly." He kissed my forehead. "I think of everything, don't I?"

"You certainly do."

"Come on," he said, sitting up, forcing me to sit up too. "Get dressed and then let's get a move on."

"What do I wear?" I asked, strolling over to my suitcase.

"No doubt you've packed ten times as much as you actually need," Nathan said. "Right, you go and use the bathroom and I'll find you something to wear."

"What's the rush?"

"I want to beat the crowds. We're in Paris on a Saturday and this is supposed to be romantic, not a hassle."

"Okay," I conceded, heading towards the bathroom.

After giving my face a decent wash and then applying some complementary moisturiser that was sitting on the shelf above the sink, I headed back into the bedroom, freezing immediately when I saw Nathan.

He was standing by my suitcase, an amused expression on his face, as he dangled the fluffy blindfold from one finger.

"I told you to pack essentials." He smirked. "Is this an essential?"

I stumbled over my words for a good few seconds before I managed to successfully articulate a proper sentence.

"They might be," I said stubbornly, trying my very hardest not to get embarrassed. "You never know what surprises I might have planned for you."

Then I flushed even redder when I realized that Nathan would misinterpret my sentence. "I didn't mean that kind of surprise...I just meant, like, a surprise in general..."

Nathan chuckled to himself and wandered over to me. Dropping the blindfold back into the suitcase, he wound his arms around me and pulled me roughly against his body.

"You're far too cute," he stated. "And far too tempting in too many ways..."

He teasingly brushed his lips against mine and I twisted my head away stubbornly, making him chuckle even more.

"Don't be embarrassed," he whispered in my ear, his hands sliding under the back of my top to stroke the bare flesh of my back.

"How can I not be embarrassed when you spend half your life deliberately trying to embarrass me?"

"It's just too much fun," he murmured, and I could feel his mouth at my ear, slowly forming into a smile. "You're far too much fun." He gave my ear a gentle nibble, and my knees almost buckled at how erotic it felt. Nathan then began to plant purposeful kisses on my neck, excruciatingly slowly, making sure I felt how he gently sucked at each kiss, his tongue brushing my skin for the slightest of seconds. "I could literally play with you all day you're that much fun."

My stomach squirmed at his implications. "If you're trying to seduce me then it's not going to work," I bluffed, refusing to back down and give in to his teasing.

"Bella, if I was trying to seduce you then I'd have had you in that bed five minutes ago."

I had absolutely nothing to say in reply to his blatant cockiness.

With a quick kiss on my lips, he straightened up. "But unfortunately we have a lot to do today and no time to waste."

"I'm sorry that time in bed with me is time wasted," I retorted.

He chuckled to himself. "On the contrary, Bella, I can't think of a better place to be. That's why I'd much rather seduce you when we've got plenty of time...that way I can properly appreciate your company in bed."

I bent down to pull a t-shirt out of my suitcase. "You act like everything is on your terms, like I'd jump into bed with you at any time of the day and it's just up to you when."

"Well, you would. And besides, you can deny it all you like...but you packed that blindfold. You definitely do have a secret kinky side to you, one that's brought on by your own imagination, and not by my encouragement."

I turned away from him so he couldn't see me blushing again. Despite feeling more comfortable around Nathan than I'd ever felt around another person, this was still very new to me. He was bringing out new sides in me, making me explore all sides of my personality, not just the ones I was used to.

When I hadn't replied to his comment, Nathan began to worry that he'd crossed the line with his teasing.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeming concerned, his hand resting lightly on my back. "I was only messing around..."

I smiled up at him. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about the blindfold."

He paused, his eyes conveying a million emotions, as if he was wondering how to respond. "I was only teasing," he eventually repeated. "You know I'd never suggest doing anything that—"

"I know," I interrupted softly, with a slight smile. "I was just thinking about the next time we use it, and how you'll be the one wearing it then."

With another sweet smile, I turned back to my suitcase, letting Nathan dwell on the confident words that I'd just spoken.

For the first time ever, he had nothing to say, and he wandered silently back over to his own suitcase. I, on the other hand, smiled to myself. With a few confident words, I'd reduced Nathan to silence. Maybe I could play him back at his own game after all.

*

Paris isn't like any other city. The French do chic extremely well, and there was a clear contrast between the tourists and the Parisian locals. Even without our chic attire, Nathan and I definitely played the part of the tourist to perfection, taking photos of pretty much anything and everything.

Nathan had made a big deal out of making the most of today, and his careful planning had paid off. He'd decided where we were going to visit and then we'd visited each attraction in a certain order to minimize travelling and to ensure that we weren't darting randomly all over the city. After all, we didn't have time to waste...

When we sat down to eat at two o'clock, we'd already visited the Notre-Dame, Louvre and Beaubourg. Our little café that we were eating at overlooked the Eiffel Tower, which we were planning to climb, just for the sake of it, after eating. Then we were going to head past the Arc de Triomphe on our way to the Sacré-Coeur and getting our much-anticipated view of Paris from Montmartre.

"Are you going to order for us?" Nathan asked, still perusing the menu.

I paused before answering, my eyes on a businessman sitting on the table next to us, chatting away on his phone. He was speaking French extremely quickly, and I felt almost ashamed that I could barely tell when one word finished and the next one started. It was true what they say – if you don't use your language skills then you quickly lose them.

"I don't think I can speak French that well anymore," I admitted.

Nathan shrugged. "So? You're only ordering a couple of baguettes. How hard can it be?" I was still hesitant though. So he pulled out his wild card. "You know how sexy I find it when you speak a different language."

It was unfair, but I couldn't resist the bait, especially after how high tensions were from this morning. When the waiter arrived, I spurted out a relatively basic French sentence to order our food.

"Nous voudrions une baguette avec fromage et une baguette avec bœuf s'il vous plaît."

The waiter nodded, jotting down our orders. Then he looked up at me. "Anything else?" he asked, in English.

I shook my head. "Non, c'est tout."

Nathan waited until the waiter had walked away before commenting. "I thought you sounded great."

"Normally it really annoys me when I speak a different language and then they reply to me in English," I told him. "But in this case I don't care. I probably wouldn't have been able to understand his response in French anyway."

"Don't doubt your ability. I liked how you stubbornly replied to his English question in French."

I smiled in gratitude. "I guess they get a lot of English tourists trying to order in French."

Nathan snorted. "I highly doubt it. The English are famous for being bad at foreign languages. We expect everyone to speak English."

Our baguettes were lovely, but I wouldn't have suspected anything less from the country famous for baguettes.

As the day wore on, I began to get tired. It wasn't surprising considering our relatively early start and jam-packed day. So, when Nathan suggested we take the stairs and not the lift up the Eiffel Tower, needless to say it didn't go down well.

"Are you kidding?" I asked him.

"Bella, the lift is so busy. It'll be much quicker to go up the stairs. We'll get the lift down," he promised.

"I'd rather do it the other way round," I said. "It's much easier walking down stairs than up them."

"Don't be so lazy."

"I'm tired! My poor feet are killing me."

"I'll give you a foot massage when we get back to the hotel."

"Nathan, at this rate, I'll be heading straight to bed when we get to the hotel."

"Straight to bed sounds good to me." He winked.

I rolled my eyes and started to head for the stairs. It'd serve him right if I was too tired for any decent action tonight.

"You give in far too easily," Nathan smiled, trotting to catch up with me.

"Well I won't be giving in tonight when you want sex and I'm too tired because you made me use the stairs."

He chuckled. "Oh, Bella...you'll never be too tired for me."

"Don't bet on it," I muttered.

"Besides, I'll do all the work," he said, taking hold of my hand and interlinking our fingers. "You can just lie there and enjoy yourself."

"No," I moaned, partly to remain stubborn and partly because I didn't want to just 'lie there'.

"Jesus, you're moaning about everything this afternoon," Nathan said, squeezing my hand. "You're definitely in one of those moods where you refuse to agree with me over anything."

"I'm constantly in that mood."

"I wouldn't say constantly..."

He pulled me to a halt when we came to a break in the steps. Smiling, he chucked my chin.

"Cheer up. Is my teasing winding you up? Because I'll stop if it is."

"Nathan, I'm far too used to your teasing by now for it to wind me up. I'm just sulking because of my feet."

"We'll get to the top, enjoy the view, get the lift back down, and then we'll catch a cab to Montmartre," he suggested. "And I'll give you a foot massage in the back of the cab and spoil you rotten tonight at the hotel. And spoiling you rotten doesn't have to be anything to do with sex, okay? You know I'm only messing around when I bring it up."

"I know," I replied. "After all, watching me get embarrassed over your crude suggestions is one of your favourite pastimes."

"Exactly." He lowered his mouth to mine and gave me a soft kiss. "Come on. We're more than halfway. It'll be worth it in the end."

"I know. You're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right."

He tugged at my hand and we continued our slow ascent up the Eiffel Tower. It may have been slow and painful, but it certainly was worth it. Nathan and I didn't say much when we reached the top; we simply stood there with our arms around each other, taking in the view. There was something undeniably romantic about Paris, and all my earlier frustrations about my painful feet disappeared as I leant against Nathan, absorbing it all.

True to his word, we caught the lift back down and then a cab to Montmartre. When we arrived, Nathan made a change to his well-constructed plan.

"We're both tired," he said. "So how about we grab something to eat and then go up to watch the sun set? We can do the Sacré-Coeur tomorrow or something."

"Good plan," I agreed.

Frustratingly, Nathan wouldn't let me pay for the meal. I was fully aware that he was paying for most things this weekend, which didn't seem fair considering that he was the one who'd booked the trip in the first place.

"This is your present," he kept reminding me.

"But I haven't got you anything because we agreed we wouldn't!" I insisted.

"Bella, you give me everything I could ever want and more," he told me. "Now what would you like to eat?"

I didn't want to become one of those couples who bickered about money already. We seemed far too young for that. Maybe it was because Nathan had a job now and he felt he could afford it. Either way, it was clear neither of us wanted to argue over it, and I felt like I'd been stubborn enough today.

As agreed, we headed to Montmartre to watch the sun set. As we sat on the hill, overlooking the city, I got that rare feeling of total contentment. I was in the City of Love, with the person I loved most in the world. It was perfect.

When the sun finally set, I gazed over at the Eiffel Tower, watching it sparkle with its display of lights. I didn't ever want to leave Paris. This did feel like our own little bubble, disconnected from the rest of the world. I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate one year of being together.

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Thank you for reading :)xx