Harley had apparently gotten food for anyone who put in an order, so a short while later, Reese sat in the middle of the common area with several of their roommates, food strewn on the coffee table. She ate mechanically, her mind far from what she was doing.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Erin asked, biting her lip.

"No, it's fine," Reese was quick to reassure, wanting to get the attention off of her and onto the next topic. "How about you? Hangover?"

"No, that's gone now. Well, the headache at least," Erin said.

"Well, I'm feeling fantastic. You're welcome for the rides," Irene said, obviously teasing.

Harley nodded. "We all appreciate it. So, anyone up for watching movies all afternoon? I'm beat, and need a break."

"I'm surprised you won't be with Chris again," Irene said. "You barely left his side the entire time we were there. That serious, huh?"

Harley laughed. "Maybe, but it's not good for him to be too sure of himself with me."

"Ooh, using mind games on the poor boy." Irene laughed as well.

"Sadly not this time. He had to work today."

"What's he do?" Erin asked.

"Security. Apparently it's really boring so he doesn't want to talk about it. But he does seem happy that it's putting him through school."

"Sounds hard working. Nice," Irene commented. "Does he have a brother?"

"Just sisters, sorry. So anyway, how do movies sound?"

Reese barely heard the discussion with her phone practically burning a hole in the side of her pocket until Irene asked, "Earth to Reese? You in?"

"In? In what?"

Harley laughed. "Movie afternoon?"

"No, sorry. I've got plans," Reese said quickly, her ears heating.

"Plans?" Harley's expression was like a hawk watching its prey.

"Nothing impor..." Reese trailed off since the range of dubious expressions showed her obfuscation was not working. "I have plans with Nathan."

"Aha! I knew it!" Harley said. "Good that you sorted that out."

"Well, it's not—"

"Which one was Nathan?" Irene asked.

Harley didn't give Reese a chance to try to change the subject. "The one who tried to help her last night when she was running away."

"I wasn't—"

"Ooh, good for you, girl. He's hot, too. Does he have a brother?"

Reese gave up trying to argue. It was out anyway. "I don't know yet."

Harley looked at her with a predatory gleam. "Oooh, we should get you ready."

Reese shrunk back a bit. "Nuh uh. He said casual."

"Well, all the more reason—"

"Harley, please. If I need help I'll let you know."

"Sorry, my bad," she said, letting the topic go a bit sheepishly. Reese felt bad putting her foot down like that, but sometimes it had to be done. A couple of their roommates finished up, and headed off to get ready for their movie day, taking the excuse to escape.

Reese glanced at her best friend, not wanting the awkwardness to continue to stretch out between them. "I didn't get a chance to really meet Chris. What's he like?"

Harley instantly perked up. "So yeah, he's so sweet, really attentive. He's taking a business degree, but he's already working for a security firm part time, like I said. Apparently that's how he knows Nathan? Downside is he's completely hopeless at science though, he doesn't even know what valance electrons are."

That made two people. Reese was pretty sure she vaguely remembered the term from her traumatic flashbacks of high school chem, but whatever it meant was already long lost to her. All she remembered were diagrams with dots orbiting other dots like little solar systems.

Reese finished her breakfast for lunch and let her friend's words wash over her, just happy that the focus of their conversation was no longer directly on her and her upcoming plans. The last thing she needed was Harley making a big deal about them and getting her all worked up again.

"But that's not the end of the world, he's good at other things. And I hear he's quite an expert marksman. Oh, he said he's going to teach me how to shoot one day." 

Now that was a terrifying thought, a mad scientist with a gun. "Oh really?" Apparently Harley's concerns about his sketchiness had disappeared, if she were planning to be around him and firearms. Another surprising development. A first time for second chances.

Harley shrugged. "He made it sound fun, I have to admit. Plus, I like the bonus excuse to see him. What are you and Nathan going to be doing?"

Reese shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't?"

"He didn't say. He just said dress casual and he'd pick me up here at three."

"Well, text me so that I know you're alive and well."

Reese bit her lip. "Am I being too trusting? I mean, Chris knows him, and he wants to impress you, so letting your best friend get murdered and dumped in a ditch would be kind of against his own self-interest, wouldn't it?"

"You have a point. And shouldn't you be getting ready now?"

"I've got two hours."

"You're hopeless."

"Fine, I'll go get ready." Reese left Harley sitting there. After a quick shower, she pulled on her usual jeans and a sweater with a t-shirt underneath. She felt a lot less exposed than the previous night, which made her upcoming meet up with Nathan less daunting. It was like the cotton layers were her armour. Maybe she wouldn't command his attention the way Harley could have, but it felt more authentic. She blow dried her hair and applied light makeup, deciding that was enough.

Glancing at her phone, she found that she still had almost an hour to wait. Instead of pacing, she pulled up her book and immersed herself so she wouldn't have more time to worry. Reading about Angelica and Raiden's troubles as her alpha father continued to keep them apart made the wait almost disappear, and only when her timer rang did she close the app and head down to the front door of the residence.

The few minutes between when she got down and when a sleek black car pulled up felt a lot longer than the entire time she had been reading. She couldn't properly see the driver, so she was relieved and excited when her phone pinged again, alerting her to the fact that Nathan was indeed there. He got out of the car, his eyes finding her instantly, and her heart did a funny leaping thing that didn't feel entirely healthy.

Swallowing hard, she walked forward towards the vehicle. It was obviously a nice car, and it made her feel totally out of her depth. He walked forward quickly as if he couldn't wait for her legs to span the distance between them. He stopped a foot in front of her, scanning up and down her body so quickly she wouldn't have caught him if she had looked away. He briefly stopped at the knees he couldn't see under her jeans, and then moved to her hands. Oh, he was checking where she got hurt, not checking her out. She wasn't sure whether she should be pleased or disappointed. 

She tried not to look at him just as closely but it was difficult as his t-shirt did a poor job of hiding the well-toned muscles under his shirt, and again he looked wonderful in the jeans that gave him that slight cowboy air.

"How are your injuries?" he asked, confirming her thoughts.

She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You make it sound too serious. I only scraped myself. It barely even hurts now." She extended her hands so that he could see that the wounds were closed.

He nodded. "It shouldn't have happened."

She shrugged. "Accidents happen."

He didn't look very happy at that fact. "Are you ready to go?"

Did she not look ready? Maybe she should have let Harley dress her again. Trying to turn his attention away from her, she asked, "Where are we going?" Maybe just following him somewhere random wasn't the most safe possible option. Just because he sent her hormones into a tailspin every time she saw him didn't mean she should let herself be foolish.

"I thought we'd grab some ice cream since it's a nice day, maybe sit in the park since your knees probably aren't in any shape to be walking around. There's a little shop over on fifth and Engleton I'm told. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds good," she agreed, and let him lead her over to the passenger side of his car. She could barely believe she was with him, going on what actually seemed quite a bit like a date. Between everything he had said and done, the things his friends had said, and then Harley's assessment of his behaviour after she left made it seem like maybe he really was interested in her.

Which was as insane as it was amazing.

He glanced over to double check that she had her seat belt on before he started driving, accelerating a bit too fast for Reese's liking. Eventually his clear competence behind the wheel reassured her. The  heavy silence between them remained until he broke it.

"I'm sorry that I was so late getting there last night."

She had been upset at the time, but she couldn't stay that way especially now that he seemed so apologetic. "It's alright."

He shook his head. "It's not, but things just went sideways at work, and I didn't have a chance to text you."

"Oh? What happened?"

"Just a security issue. I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

"Oh. Okay." Maybe she shouldn't have asked in the first place. She looked out the window uncomfortably.

"It's not like I don't want to tell you," he said, running a hand through his hair while keeping the other on the wheel. "Think more like confidentiality concerns."

"I understand."

"And I should warn you, when things get hectic, my schedule just can be all over the place."

"Sounds difficult."

"Not really. Although last night was the first time it bothered me."

Reese's eyes flew to study his profile. He looked at her before returning his attention to the road and turning a corner. Everything did seem to be pointing in one direction. Could he actually like her in spite of everything? She swallowed hard past the nervous lump in her throat. She could say nothing like a character in a story who would cause thirty chapters worth of drama, or she could just ask and clarify everything.

It was so hard. She clenched her sweaty palms which didn't help her barely healed skin, but the pain somehow gave her something to focus on besides her nervousness. "Nathan, is this supposed to be a date?"

"Yes." His response was certain and immediate, but then he froze, glancing at her with a hint of uncertainty that somehow seemed foreign to his face. "Unless you don't want it to be?"

"No, I want it to be," she admitted, his clear answer helping her have more courage.

"Good. Then we're on the same page."

She smiled. "It's a nice page." It was time to stop questioning his attention and just start enjoying it.