4. Nolan

CHAPTER 4

Nolan

O h, sweet torture gods, please have mercy on my soul.

Katie has been flirty and silly and more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her. She’s always beautiful to me, but the full-wattage smile she keeps throwing my way tonight makes her enchanting.

I’m mesmerized by the way her hips sway on the dance floor. Ellie, Tilly, and Sara are dancing with her in a small circle. The four of them have no idea how many pairs of eyes they’ve attracted. And I’m not even counting their partners right now. Men around the room are watching them have the time of their lives, and they have no idea.

The fundraiser ended an hour ago. We had a fancy four-course dinner that was surprisingly delicious for fancy-as-fuck food. Adam and Matthew gave a fantastic speech, sharing their appreciation for everyone’s support and announcing how much the fundraiser had brought in for the evening. I couldn’t believe they’d made over half a million dollars tonight. I guess between the price of attendance and the silent auction items, people were willing to drop a shitload of money for a good cause .

After most of the guests left, my siblings, their partners, and a few friends decided to move to the hotel bar. Drinks have continued to flow while we’ve partied with other hotel guests.

A slap to my shoulder forces me to tear my eyes away from Katie’s moves on the dance floor.

Desmond’s grinning at me, a knowing look in his eyes. “I’m sorry if the guys or I stepped on your toes earlier. If we’d known she was yours, we wouldn’t have flirted so hard.”

“She’s not mine, so it’s all good.” The words feel like razors in my mouth, even if they’re true.

Desmond sits in the chair next to mine and takes a sip of his drink. “Maybe not officially, but you want her, and that’s all that should matter.”

I shrug. There’s not much I can say in response. I do want her. I want her more than I’ve wanted any other woman before, but she’ll never go for me. She’s made it clear I’m not the guy for her.

“She wants you, too. You know that, right?”

I scoff. “She may be attracted to me, but she doesn’t truly want me.”

“Then you must be blind. The way she looks at you is more than a simple attraction. Trust me.”

I refuse to allow Desmond’s words to get my hopes up. It would only crush me harder when she turned me down. No, if she truly wants me, she’ll come to me. Until then, I’ll keep my crush to myself.

“You staying in town for long?” I change the subject.

Desmond sees right through me but lets me do it, regardless. “Nah, we’re heading back to New York in the morning. We’ve got an afternoon skate tomorrow.”

“Oof, not much of a break.”

“Nah, if we go too long without practicing, we get fat and lazy.”

“You’re already fat and lazy,” I joke .

Desmond punches me in the arm. “Asshole.”

“Violence is never the answer, Des.” I grin at him. My arm is throbbing, and it’s taking everything in me not to rub at the spot. I’d never hear the end of it, though. Having three older brothers has taught me a lot about when to show weakness.

The girls walk off the dance floor, fanning their faces to try to cool off.

Desmond elbows me. “Go get your girl something to drink. If you overwhelm her with your charm, she won’t stand a chance.”

I roll my eyes, but in the back of my head, his words begin to take root. There are ways to show Katie I’m interested without being pushy about it. The first step is to prove I can read her needs better than she can.

Fuck me, the image that thought just put into my head. Not the time to think about her naked, brain. Not the time.

I grab a glass of water and an old-fashioned from the bar and bring them over to the girls. Adam, Matthew, and Ben seem to have had the same idea and are handing drinks off to their women.

“Would you prefer water or alcohol?” I hold up both glasses to Katie.

She flashes that heart-stopping smile at me and takes the water first. “Thank you. I was just about to go grab something.”

“You’re welcome. I saw you guys were going hard out there, so I had a feeling you’d need something to cool off.”

She raises a dark eyebrow. “You were watching us?”

“Not like… that. It wasn’t creepy or anything. I swear. I just noticed you…”

Katie presses her lips together, her brown eyes sparkling with mirth.

“You’re fucking with me.”

She smirks. “I’m fucking with you.”

I narrow my eyes. “Naughty, naughty girl. ”

She shrugs one shoulder. “I can be.”

Well, fuck me sideways. I take a swig of the drink in my hand, only to cough when I realize it’s Katie’s old-fashioned and not the scotch I’d been drinking. Smooth, Nolan. Really smooth.

Katie busts out laughing at my blunder. Can I still call it a win for making her laugh even though it was at my expense? She takes the drink from my hand and brings it to her mouth for a sip. Sexy as fuck. I swear to God. I’ve never met anyone who is this alluring without trying to be.

I find the rest of the group staring at us, and I clear my throat, willing my cheeks not to heat. “Did you guys know that there are five calories in a teaspoon of semen?” I didn’t mean to say that, but it got the attention off me and Katie, so I guess it worked.

Matthew snorts, setting off the rest of the group. “Jesus, Nolan.”

“What? It’s true. Look it up,” I argue, sticking to my guns. I’m not lying. I was curious one day, so I googled it.

“I’ll take your word for it.” Matthew laughs.

“Can you imagine trying to find the right words to search that?” Ellie laughs.

“Oh, god. Researching sex stuff is awful. You have to be very specific.” Tilly widens her eyes.

“I bet you’ve seen some stuff,” I tease her.

“You have no idea.” Tilly giggles. Matthew winks at her, and she blushes.

“Okay.” I rub my palms together. “I think it’s time to kick this party up a notch. I know I’m not drunk enough to shake my ass on the dance floor, and it’s not a party until that happens. Who wants to do shots?”

My siblings shake their heads at me but laugh like I knew they would. They all reluctantly agree.

“I’ll come with you. I need another drink that isn’t whatever ridiculous concoction you’re going to order,” Adam says .

I gasp. “Ridiculous? Me? Never.”

With a wink at Katie, I walk with Adam over to the bar. I order several rounds of Jolly Rancher shots, and Adam orders a whiskey for himself. It’s all going on Matthew’s tab, thank God, because while I make decent money, I do not make enough to pay for multiple hours’ worth of drinks at a fancy hotel bar.

The bright red shots are placed on a tray for me to carry across the room. Adam looks at me with a raised eyebrow, but he doesn’t say anything. At this point, I think he’s pretty used to my dumb ideas. He also knows there’s no talking me out of doing stuff like this. Sometimes, you just need someone to push you a little to get you out of your shell. I happen to be very good at pushing just enough.

“Line ‘em up, everyone. It’s time for shots.”

“Shots, shots, shots,” Ellie sings.

“Oh, nooo,” Sam groans. “I know what those are.”

Carter barks out a laugh.

I grin at him. “Are you well acquainted with the Jolly Rancher shot?”

“Much to my embarrassment, yes. I made an ass of myself in front of Carter after drinking a few too many of those.”

“But look at how well it worked out for you.” My heart melts a little at the look Carter and Sam share. They’re so fucking cute together.

At my insistence, everyone grabs a shot glass. I hold mine up. “To having the best family around and an even better New Year’s with my favorite people.”

“Cheers!” my siblings and their partners shout. We clink our glasses together and down our shots.

Then the second round is handed out, and without a word, we lift them in cheers, immediately drinking them down.

“Woo!” I shimmy my shoulders at the fantastic buzz that always comes with doing shots. From there, we dance and drink and party it up until midnight finally rolls around with all the fanfare I always crave to ring in the new year.

As the countdown begins, I gently pull Katie into my arms and raise my eyebrow in question. Will she let me kiss her when we hit midnight?

We’ve been dancing together since we finished our shots. Her body has been grinding against mine in a hazy buzz of sexual tension. I’m sure without the alcohol running through our systems, we never would’ve ended up here, but I sure as hell am not going to complain.

“5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!”

Katie finally nods her head at me, and I don’t hesitate a moment longer. I palm her cheeks and press my mouth against her pillowy soft lips. Goddamn, she’s delicious. My fingers slide toward her hair, where I grip her ponytail in my fist. I use my other hand to grasp her neck, my fingers cupping her jaw to move her the way I need to deepen this all-consuming kiss.

Katie’s whimpers vibrate under my palm. I growl into her mouth, needing her to know just how much she’s affecting me. With every swipe of her tongue against mine, I fall deeper and deeper into her.

She’s the glass of water I’ve been dying for in the middle of the desert. Her kiss brings my body to life in ways I didn’t know was possible. It’s everything, and this won’t be the last time I have her. I’ll make sure of that.

I finally pull away from her, needing to know if she’s as overwhelmed as I am.

Katie’s dark eyelashes flicker open, revealing heated brown eyes that look like melted chocolate.

“Fuck me,” she whispers against my mouth.

“Was that a request or an exclamation?” My voice has dropped an octave with desire.

“Both.”

A grin stretches across my face. “As you wish.” I kiss her, unable to wait a second longer to feel her lips move against mine again.

When I pull away, I ask if she has a bag or anything to grab.

Katie shakes her head. “Should we say goodbye to everyone?”

I take a quick look around the room. Every one of my siblings is lip-locked with their significant other. “I don’t think they’ll even notice our disappearance.”

Katie glances at Ellie and then at Tilly before turning back to me with a laugh. “Okay, then, let’s go.”

I nod at her and take her by the hand to walk to the elevator. I’m fucking grateful the event coordinator handled getting us checked into our rooms and handed out room keys after we got to the hotel. It’s one less thing standing in my way of getting Katie upstairs.

When the doors open, I push her back against the railing. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Fuck yes,” she moans. Then she presses up on her toes and kisses me like there’s no tomorrow. This is more than I ever imagined would happen.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve fantasized about fucking Katie plenty of times, but I always believed it was just that. A fantasy.

Tonight, it’s actually happening. I just hope I don’t blow my load in less than a minute.