Page 46 of Reckless Abandon
A few hours later, we pulled up to a private runway at the Las Vegas airport. I was in major shock when I saw what was waiting for us.
“Holy wow, Nathan. A private jet?” I asked.
“Holy wow?” he chuckled back at me.
“Sorry,” I smiled. “Good language is a habit around kids.”
“I think it’s cute,” he kissed me on the nose. “Only the best for my girls.”
Ella took the seat next to me rather than the seat next to her dad. It made me extremely nervous at first, but then I realized she wanted to work together to try and figure out where we were going. I figured she was in on the surprise with Nathan. But her not knowing gave us something to bond over.
Since we were over land, we quickly determined we were flying east. Ella was an exceptional young lady. From our conversations, I could tell that she was bright, determined, and creative. All the things I would have wanted my daughter to be. As Ella and I continued to bond, I occasionally caught Nathan watching us and smiling. For my life feeling like it was falling apart earlier in the week, this seemed to be the start to a perfect ending.
By the flight times, Ella and I were able to figure out that we were either going to Florida or New York. When the bright lights of the city skyline came into view, I was a giddy little school girl right along with Ella. I loved New York City.
Being a teacher I'd never really lived in the lap of luxury. But after flying on a private jet and making love in a bed at the Four Seasons overlooking the city, a girl could get used to that type of lifestyle.
Nathan definitely put so much thought into the weekend, so the three of us could bond together. Central Park Zoo, Lion King on Broadway, and the Statue of Liberty were all on the agenda. It was crazy to think that the life that I'd always wanted with Lucas, I was now finding it with a man I met working as a stripper.
The barrage of text messages from Lucas kept coming, so I had to turn off my phone for the entire day; calling me a slut and a whore, threatening to tell the school board of my “extra-curricular” activities. Why was he acting like that way?
Nathan flashed me a look that told me get out of my head. If he only knew.
When we arrived back at the hotel, late Saturday evening, my body was exhausted from all the walking we'd been doing. Nathan tucked Ella into bed in her room. I could hear the mumblings of a conversation from the other room and as much as the nosy part of me wanted to eavesdrop, I decided it was best not to. I went into the bathroom and drew myself a bath in the deep tub.
I stepped in the hot water, letting the warmth relax every muscle of my aching feet. Sinking down and closing my eyes, I heard Nathan enter our room and undress.
“Honey, are you joining me?” I asked in my sexy, 'you better come here and fuck me' voice.
He didn’t answer. I thought I'd said it loud enough for him to hear. I tried again. Still nothing. What was he doing?
“What the hell is this, Ryann?” Nathan stormed in, shoving his phone in my face.
There in front of me were pictures of Rich and I in bed together the night I spent with him. That asshole posted them on the Vaughn Haley Instagram with the caption—Can’t wait to do this again, baby girl. Miss you.
Oh. Fuck. Me.
I had never seen that look on Nathan’s face before. The anger in his eyes was genuine, real, and deep. “You lied to me, Ryann,” he raised his voice. “You’re in fucking bed with G! I asked you if you slept with him and you said no. I really didn’t think you’d lie to me.”
My jaw dropped. “I did not lie to you, Nathan. I didn’t have sex with G,” I told him with complete conviction and honesty.
“It’s hard to believe that when I'm seeing this! You’re kissing him in this one, Ryann,” his voice got louder. “Can’t wait to do this again? Right. And I'm just supposed to believe that you didn’t have sex with the NFL playboy of the year?”
“Yes, Nathan you are,” I did my best to keep my cool even though I was flaming mad on the inside. “I told you I would never lie to you and I didn’t.” I started to get myself out of the tub. My relaxing bath was ruined anyway.
“Why am I supposed to believe you? You’ve lied to me since the day we met,” he yelled, sneering at me.
It felt like he punched me in the gut. Never in a million years did I think Nathan would use my omissions against me. I felt the tears start to pool in my eyes. “Because I fucking love you, Nathan,” I whispered as I pushed past him and into our room.
Walking over to the window, I stared blankly at the city skyline. I heard the bedroom door shut, then the door to our suite. Nathan walked out and said nothing in response.
I was utterly pissed off at Rich. After the night that I spent with him, I honestly thought he was different from the way the media described him, but the fact that he did this to me on Instagram made me think otherwise. I vaguely remember him snapping a few pictures, but I thought he was just goofing around. And now once again causing problems for Nathan and me.
My first thought was to message Rich and ask him his reasoning for posting the photos when I haven’t heard from him since it all went down. But then it hit me that I really didn’t care. The only person I cared about walked out the door on me tonight when I admitted to him and myself that I loved him. I had fallen in love with Nathan Sims somewhere in all this mess.
Grabbing my phone, I decided to take of the Rich problem once and for all. I logged onto the Vaughn Haley Instagram. With one simple press, I deleted the account. Vaughn Haley had caused more headaches in my life this summer than she’d been worth.
I slipped on the sexy, but appropriate nighty I brought and crawled into bed. I was hoping Nathan would have been back by now, but I'd obviously said too much. Hugging his pillow, I cried.