Thanks to my beta, BelleDean, for helping me so much in this chapter.
Chapter 20: Running with wolves
The day after the party, Nick and I spent the whole day together, getting to know each other. It was strange but I felt comfortable when I was with him. We talked about everything, and Nick finally opened up to me and told me about how close he was to Cammie and the others, who he considered his family. He also said he had a sister he wasn't very close to. And he told me that he grew up without a mother, until his father married Cammie's mother who he loved very much.
But even though we could be considered as friends, that wasn't the correct word to describe our relationship, because friends didn't like each other in a romantic way, and friends, definitely, didn't look at each like he did look at me with those sparkly blue eyes.
I was walking to the cafeteria where I was going to meet him again to spend yet another day together as friends. I sighed. I was already hooked on him, and I doubted that I could escape his sweet charms.
Suddenly, a warm hand covered mine, making me jump in surprise.
"What the hell?" I shouted, turning to look at Nick.
"Did I scare you?" he said, smiling. "Come on, I want to show you something." He started to run to the woods, I followed behind.
When we arrived there, we were greeted by Alex, Elliott, Noah, Kara, April and Cam.
"What are we doing here?" I asked.
"We're going to run."
This was what he wanted to show me? As if he had read my mind, he explained, "The best way to run faster in your wolf form is by running in your human shape. Come on, don't give me that face! It'll be fun!"
He took my hand in his again, and pulled me deeper into the forest, followed by the rest of the gang.
We ran for hours, going from one end of the woods to the other. At the beginning, they all ran at my pace, but then they all speed up, leaving me alone with Nick. The way my muscles would push harder to keep up with Nick's speed was painful, but then little by little they adjusted to the rhythm, making me feel as if I was in my wolf form. But that feeling lasted for a short time. When we were in the middle of the forest, I couldn't run any longer, all my muscles were hurting.
"Nick, I need to rest. Give me just a minute," I managed to say in between hard breathes. "Aren't you tired?"
"No."
I raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to pretend with me, you know?"
"I'm not pretending. We werewolves can run long distances and never get tired."
"Is there anything you can't do? Anything you're bad at?" I asked, sitting on the ground, stretching my legs.
"Nothing that I know of. We are better than shape-shifters, eh?"
"You wish."
"Well, it's true. We are stronger, smarter, more beautiful and faster than you."
"Maybe you're all those things you say but faster than me when I'm in my wolf form, I doubt it. I bet I can kick your ass with my eyes closed."
"You honestly think you have a chance against me?"
"You or any other werewolf."
"Okay. I'll race you back to college then," he challenged.
"As if you'd win," I replied, getting up.
"So what if I do?"
I hesitated. "I'll do whatever you want for the entire day tomorrow."
Nick grinned. "You know you're taking a big risk?"
"Only because I know you'll never be able to beat me. When I'm on my wolf form no one can run faster than I do," I answered confidently. "And what will you do if I win?"
"I'll treat you to some ice cream later tonight."
"That's it? That's not fair! That's like nothing compared to my wager."
He shrugged.
"Fine. It's a deal." I stuck my hand out and he shook it, firmly.
I walked behind a tree, took of my clothes and phased.
Nick smiled as he looked at me in my silver fur.
"Ready?" he asked as he stood next to me. I nodded my wolf face. "Go!" he said, catching me off guard.
I ran after him. He was fast, but I was catching him soon, pushing my legs harder. We were running so fast that soon we were near the college surroundings, the end of the race. I pushed myself even harder, digging my nails in the ground. Soon I was passing him only by a couple of inches, but that would be enough to win.
I was so concentrated in the goal in front of me that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings, and didn't see the deer, running in my direction as it tried to escape from us. I managed to dodge it but due to the velocity I was going at and the sudden braking movement, I fell on my side and crushed against a tree.
I got up immediately, running back to where Nick was already waiting with a smile on his face. I walked to a nearby tree and phased back, pulling my clothes on.
Nick had the widest grin stretched across his face. I quickly cut in before he got a chance to speak. "I want a rematch! That was unfair! There was a disturbance!" I said.
"Nope," he said lightly, popping the 'p' and shaking his head. "You lose! Now what was the prize again? Oh, yes! You'd do whatever I want for the entire day tomorrow, right?"
"Nick, there were extenuating circumstances," I argued.
"Whatever I want," he continued saying, shaking his head obstinately.
"Nick," I growled dangerously.
"Whatever I want," he replied cheerfully, laughing as he turned and walked away.
~oOo~
"Good morning, Leah," a familiar, deep voice greeted me from behind.
I turned my head to see Nick, grinning. His eyes twinkled with a certain mischief that I was immediately wary of.
"What?" I asked him.
He looked away, the grin still plastered on his face. "Well, according to your words yesterday, today is the day that you'd do whatever I want, right?"
I felt my lips twist into a scowl, my suspicions confirmed. "It was unfair, Nick," I complained. "There were complications!"
He shrugged. "A lot of things in life are unfair," he said mysteriously as his eyes unfocused, clearly recalling an unpleasant memory from the past. "But anyways, can you pass me the milk?" he said, pointing to the neat array of small milk cartons to my right, his eyes laughing.
I reached over and forcefully pressed the cool carton into his outstretched hand, making sure the edge of the carton dug into his palm.
And so the morning progressed slowly, with Nick annoying me every single minute he could get. As simple as his wishes were, they irked me to no end.
He asked for all sort of stupid things, to which I did with a deep scowl.
By lunch, I was ready to take him to the top of a mountain and bury him alive where no one would ever find him.
"Can you get me a glass of juice?"
I growled, resisting the urge to slap that stupid smirk of off his face. "Fine," I uttered, pushing my chair back.
What pissed me off almost more than his silly requests, was that stupid smile he had plastered on his face all day long. He was definitely enjoying this.
"Satisfied?" I muttered, slamming the glass down on the table and making the liquid inside rise dangerously near the rim.
Nick turned and looked me straight in the eye. "Not really. There's still something else I want," he said candidly, his gaze lingering. "Come on, let's go! I want to go for a run." He stood up, walking in the direction of the woods.
I sighed and followed Nick back outside into the woods. I slowed and stopped where Nick was, standing next to him. He had an unusual look on his face.
"Uh…" I started, but before I could finish, he had already ran off and was making his way deep into the forest.
I followed him shortly in my human form, keeping my distance. Finally, he came to a stop, and I stopped behind him.
"What are you doing?" I asked confused.
Nick shrugged, looking out over the trees. "It's nice in here," he said. He sat down and closed his eyes.
"What the hell, Nick?" I muttered, staring down at him.
"Sit," he ordered without opening his eyes.
"What?"
He opened his eyes to look at me. "I said, sit. Is your brain so dysfunctional that you can't even register a simple command?"
Well, that sounded more like the Nick I knew. With a sigh, I sat down as well, hugging my knees to my chest.
We stayed silent for a few minutes. I didn't even know why I had actually complied to go along with Nick's bet. It really did piss me off, having to be his personal servant, but part of me was happy to spend more time with him; of course, I'd deny it.
"What are we doing here?" I asked again.
Nick didn't reply at first. "It's nice in here," he repeated.
I rolled my eyes. "You've already said that before."
He sighed. "It's been awhile since everything's been so peaceful and quiet." He looked up at the cloudy, gray sky. "I can finally hear myself think, and there's no one around to bother me."
"I'm here," I said bluntly.
He looked at me and cracked a small smile. "I like having you around me."
He'd uttered the sentence in such a sincere tone that I almost believed him. I forced myself to look away. His arms touched mine slightly and I felt my stomach flip.
"I'll make you a second deal," he spoke quietly. I stared at him with wide eyes. "If you just do this one last thing I ask you to do, then you'll be free for the rest of the day."
"What do you want?"
A small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. His voice dropped, and he was speaking no more than above a whisper. "I want you to kiss me."
My heart leapt to my throat. What?
Nick was staring straight at me. He reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair away from my cheek with his hand, and I could feel the electricity spark from where he had touched me. Our heads moved closer until we were kissing.
His warm lips on mine sent a strangely pleasant sensation through me. I could feel the current running from his body to mine, the flaming heat. His hands went to my waist, pulling me closer to him, and my hands wrapped their way around his neck as he deepened the kiss.
No one had ever kissed me like this before. Not even with Sam I felt this good.
I pulled away slowly, breaking the most intense kiss I'd ever had. Nick was looking at me, his eyes still burning, his face betrayed a whole range of emotions.
"I-I, um..." I scrambled backwards and forced myself to stand up. "I have to... I have to...go," I muttered lamely, and I took off, leaving him, sitting in the middle of the woods.
I raced down faster than I had ever gone before. It scared me that this feeling was stronger than what I had with Sam. It really did.
"I like having you around me." His words echoed in my head. I finally stopped the run. There was no denying it, I was head over heels with Nick, and there was no denying it now.
I tried avoiding him for the rest of the day, but being in the same college and having the same friends wasn't helping much.
"Where have you been? I thought you were attacked by deer or something," Nick's annoyed voice sounded from behind me.
I looked up, stepping backwards in alarm. He was standing in front of me, looking very irritable.
"Leah, where have you been? We've been looking for you all afternoon. Is everything okay?" Cammie asked.
"I wasn't feeling good," I mumbled.
Nick sighed exasperatedly. "Well as long as you're okay now. Come on, we are going to play pool!"
I glanced at him quickly. His countenance revealed nothing at all, and his eyes were too mysterious for me to decipher anything. He was acting as if nothing had ever happened between us. That confused me, it was as if the kiss had never happened.
I silently followed them to the campus game room. There were a few people there, a couple playing ping pong, and some boys watching TV on the couch. We walked over to the empty pool table and each one of us picked up a cue stick.
"Do you know how to play?" Alex asked.
"No," I admitted, taking a cue stick, watching as he arranged the balls in the triangle.
"Okay, we'll play girls against boys. The losers pay for the pizzas. Come on, Leah, we'll show you how to kick their asses," Kara said.
She explained the basics of pool, like how to hit the ball and the main rules.
Nick was the first one to play. He leaned over the table and struck the cue ball expertly, scattering the other fourteen balls across the table. I watched him sink in four balls before he missed a hit by a few inches. He finally looked up at me.
"Go," he said.
I had no fucking idea how I was going to make the ball enter the pocket. I tried to remember how Kara told me to hold the cue stick and aimed for the white cue ball. My strike was so terrible that I didn't even hit the white ball.
Nick chuckled. "That's not how you hold a stick," he said, walking over by my side. "Move your right hand up here and hold it like this." He demonstrated, leaning over and taking my hand into his.
I flinched from the sudden rush of heat. He covered both of my hands with his, and together, we struck the cue ball, sinking the five-ball into the corner pocket.
"Thanks," I mumbled awkwardly. Nick slowly let go, almost reluctant. He, however, didn't move from his spot right behind me.
"Do you want to talk?" he whispered.
"No, not really," I whispered back.
"Leah, please." He sighed. He moved so that he was standing next to me, leaning against the pool table. "Come with me." He took my hand and led me in the direction of the bathrooms.
"I don't have anything to say," I said.
"You have nothing to say? Was the kiss seriously nothing to you?" Nick sounded agitated. For once, he was letting his emotions show.
"Yes, I have nothing to say, because apparently the kiss meant nothing to you as it didn't mean anything to me."
"What the hell are you talking about?" He sounded angry now.
"It was just a kiss, Nick!" I could hear my own voice escalating.
"Just a kiss? It-"
"Nick, I know I'm not the first girl you've ever kissed before so don't pretend like it meant something." I cut him off. "For all I know, you are like a hormonal teenage boy with desires! You kissed Brooke and I don't know how many other girls just for fun!"
"Brooke? Why are you bringing her up? Did you honestly think I liked her?" There was a wild look in his eyes.
I wasn't going to tell him that the only reason I'd brought up Brooke was because I didn't want to tell him the truth…that I was scared of my feeling for him.
"I know you won't believe me, but with you, there in the forest, it was something! Are you really that thick?" I ignored him and walked away. "You're mad," Nick said mockingly, following me.
"You're irrational," I retorted.
"I think we've already established that a while ago," Nick said, suddenly running in front of me and blocking my path.
"Move," I muttered.
"Look me in the eye and tell me it meant nothing."
I jerked my head up, staring into his eyes. I opened my mouth, preparing to deliver another comeback, but I couldn't do it. Nothing came out. I couldn't bring myself to say he wasn't right…that it meant nothing to me.
"I knew you couldn't do it," he whispered as he stepped closer.
I shook my head, trying to clear it. He stepped closer to me, and grasped my forearm. "You can't possibly be that oblivious to my feelings... unless you really don't like me which I know is impossible."
"How can you be so sure?" I tried to snap at him, fully aware that he was still holding onto me.
He laughed. "I can hear your heart rate increase every single time I come close to you. Why can't you see there's something going on between us?" he asked in a husky voice, his grip tightening minutely.
"I can't. You'll hurt me, just like Sam did," I admitted.
Nick suddenly gripped my shoulders, forcing me to look up at him. "From what you've told me about him, I think he's an asshole, so don't you dare compare me to him! Don't even mention him again." He really sounded angry. "Unless you still have feelings for him…"
"No," I immediately exclaimed. "I don't have them anymore."
"What's so wrong about being with me then?"
"I've told you. You'll just hurt me," I blurted.
He sighed, and lowered his head.
"Just give me a chance to show you I'm not going to hurt you. What about we have a date this Friday?" he asked, his eyes pleading with me.
Alex suddenly appeared behind us. "Guys, is everything okay? I thought you may be dead or something…"
"Everything's okay," Nick answered.
I looked back at him and nodded my head, letting him know that I was accepting his invitation for that date. He smiled and we walked back to the pool table where Kara was striking the last ball, making the girls win.
I guess this was my lucky night –free pizza and a date with Nick.