Page 26 of Between the Lines
Because as Nathan Harding descends on our table, his greetings to the others are half-hearted. He waves, takes a handshake, and acknowledges every person at this table. But the deep dark eyes behind his glasses are lasers pointed directly at me.
It’s like I’ve been ensnared. The tether of his eyes tugs on my hand to shoot forward and connect with his.
A handshake? What the fuck is this?
“Ms. Benson. Nice to see you.”
Oh. Ohthat’swhat it is.
It’s the igniting of a flame when Nathan’s hand slips over mine. The gentle caress of his thumb over the back of my hand, sizzling my skin to the point where I almost pull away before he engulfs me entirely. He ends the contact for me, which is both blissful and painful. And as soon as he releases my hand, it’s as if he doesn’t even know I exist. Nathan falls right into the circle of the group, folded between Sam and Lucy injusta way that I have to make an effort to see him.
“Nate, my man! Let me grab you a beer,” Aaron says.
“I don’t drink.”
The group pauses for only a moment before Sam asks, “What’s your soda of choice?”
He says,Dr. Pepper, if they have it, and I let that piece fall intothe Swiss cheese puzzle that I currently have of Nathan Harding as the guys vacate our table to head to the bar.
“Okay. Tell me more about this ‘I don’t have time to date.’ Because Juliet coaches speech, basically lives in her classroom, andstillfound time to sneak around and bone the baseball coach in between her planning periods.”
Annnnnd Penelope doesn’t miss a beat.
“Penelope!” Juliet exclaims.
“What?! Am Iwrong?”
Juliet blushes scarlet and tries to hide it in her drink.
“Thought so. Lucy too. They both managed to fitseduce a River Valley teacherinto their schedule. You don’t even have time for a little bit of fling-induced fun? When was the last time you even had sex, Claire Bear?”
It’s my turn to be painted in fifty shades of red.
“Um, I don’t know, college?”
Definitely college. Where I made it my mission to check “lose my virginity” off the list during my first semester, and then found one guy a year after that to keep myself in the game.
“Shit, girl. I’m buying you a vibrator. What’s your preference?”
“Jesus,” Lucy says under her breath. “Have we apologized yet for Penelope?”
“Go right ahead,” Penelope says. “I’m not sorry.”
“Pen, if Claire doesn’t want to date, don’t push it,” Juliet interjects.
“It’s not that I don’twantto…”
I think back to the other day, when these women had all but bullied me into having lunch with them. To Lucy putting her number into my phone with the intention to make timefor meto talk about the direction of my futureas my friend. I can trust them, can’t I?
“I’m not lying when I say I don’t have the time.” My laugh trips out of me nervously, the anxiety of impending judgment puttingpressure on me from all angles. “I help out a lot at home with my siblings. Right now, dating is kind of on hold.”
I shrug, doing my best to avoid their penetrating stares by hiding my gaze in my slowly dwindling drink.
I don’t want their pity. Surprisingly, I don’t get it.
“I completely understand,” Juliet says. “I didn’t really date in college because I wanted to focus on school.”
“You should talk to Aaron,” Lucy agrees. “His family is kind of overbearing too. He’s still working through the balance, but I’m sure he’d have some advice for you.”