Becca's POV
"we're going to have to talk about you calling me a control freak cause I am not a control freak and I would like you to know that before our date on Friday night," he says with a smile as the rain pours down around us and I find myself returning the smile through the tears that have just stopped pouring.
"And what makes you think I'm going to agree to go on a date with you on Friday night. I mean you just made me cry and you really think I'm just going to let it slide" I tease him but it doesn't seem to faze him at all.
"I'm sorry that I made you sad. I realize now that we're both alphas and we're stubborn and prideful but if we want this to work then we have to exist on the same plane as equals" he says as we slowly trudge on with the rain just a drizzle now.
'that's easy for you to say, you're a man but I'm a woman and the world will never see us as equals no matter how much we try" I reply in resignation because I've tried fighting the system before and I've lost. You can never really beat the system because they promise heaven and earth but when you stop using your voice they will slowly ice you out and in the end, you're the only one left hurting.
"Fuck the world, Becca, we're the only ones that matter. We don't need their validation because we're not living our lives for them, we live for ourselves and if the world won't change then you don't need to change or be scared. You don't have to please everybody" Nathan says as we look into each other's eyes, that is until our moment was broken by a taxi driver who let us know that we were standing smack in the center of the street. I believe his exact words were 'hey morons can you get a room that's not in the center of fucking traffic'.
We continue talking and as we get closer to my building Nathan stops and tells me
"Power comes from self-validation. You don't need me to tell you what you can and can't do. Only you can set the limit of what you can do. You decide what you deserve and only you can demand for it" he says as we stand outside my front door and at that moment I decide to follow his advice and do whatever I want
"Would you like to come in?" I ask him and almost as if the universe is agreeing with me, the rain suddenly starts pouring pretty hard as the wind picks up speed and rips our umbrella in two, forcing us to go into the lobby. Seeing the rain, Nathan finally agrees and we get in the elevator to ride up to my penthouse apartment.
After pointing out the guest bathroom to Nathan for him to wash up in, I go to my room to also wash up. I quickly wash up and dress in my nighties before coming out. Ok maybe saying quickly was a bit of an understatement, but having to brush my teeth, shave my legs, have a bath and still do something with my hair is a long, tedious, and sometimes heartbreaking process.
I come out to find Nathan with his eyes glued to a football match on the TV. As I get closer I see that he's just in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt.
"I hope you don't mind my appearance. My trousers were soaked through and this is the only dry thing so I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable" he says without looking up from the TV.
The way things are going right now I'm pretty sure that the universe might take away my luck for the next one year and compact it into this one night.
"No problem" I reply as I decide that it couldn't hurt to join him ad watch the game for the first time in..., well the first time ever.
Surprisingly I seem to like it quite much even though I have no idea what's going on.
The team in red suddenly gets a touchdown and so we jump up to cheer but when Nathan turns around he sees me and suddenly the game is forgotten as his eyes roam across my body.
Looks like those extra 30 minutes I spent looking for my black silk nightgown that stops midthigh were worth it. Although it might as well be the 15 minutes I spent curling my hair but we'll never know because all that matters is the hungry look in his eyes as he gazes at me.
His eyes continue to roam my body as the forgotten game plays on in the background. His eyes leaving a trail of fire in their wake as he shamelessly looks over every inch of my body.
I wait until he's totally hooked before I walk into the kitchen and sure enough, a moment later the TV is turned off and he's sitting across the kitchen island as I try to appear like a celebrity 5-star chef while making a peanut butter sandwich.
'Either this is much harder than when they show it on TV or I've used up all my universe given luck' I think to myself in frustration. At first, the peanut butter jar was stuck in the fridge, then it wasn't opening because the lid had been frozen over, and finally it was too hard to scoop out of the jar.
If I wasn't already having a bad day, it gets worse when I find out that I only have unsliced loaves of bread in my house, and in frustration, I throw the knife in my hand down and thanks to the marble counters that I insisted on, I now have a gash that spans two-thirds of the length of my thumb.
I scream out in pain as the blood from the slightly deep gash starts to trickle out of my thumb in large teardrop-shaped blobs.
Nathan snaps out of the daze he was in and quickly rounds the corner then grasps my hands in his and inspects the wound.
"It's not that serious so let's slap some bandages on that thumb and soon enough you'll feel alright," he says with a smile as he caresses my face and at that moment my pain slowly starts to disappear.
"Becca I need you to tell me where I can find your first aid kit," He says with a smile as he continues to distract me from the pain. I point at one of the higher cupboards in the kitchen and he leans back and grabs it with relative ease.
He opens it up and quickly finds some bandages and scissors. He washes them with some methylated spirit, and then he cuts out some gauze and wraps it around my thumb before grabbing some brown medical tape and covering the gauze.
As he finishes he leans down and kisses my thumb and it makes me feel much better.
"How did you learn to do all that?" I ask in awe as he puts away the first aid kit.
"I fathered a feisty little girl who refused to be held by the confines of society and decided that whatever males could do, she could do so much better. My medical knowledge is from all the skateboard accidents, soccer injuries, and fights she got into at all her previous schools" he says with a sigh as he leans back on a counter opposite the one I'm currently leaning against.
"Did you just say previous schools?" I ask curiously
"Yes. Charlotte keeps getting expelled from every school I put her in and it's not a recent problem, when she was 3 she got kicked out of every single daycare I took her to" he says with a small chuckle
"That sounds exactly like charlotte" I reply with a chuckle as he smiles and his eyes turn a little sad.
"It just makes me wonder sometimes whether I do enough for her," he says as he stares at the ground.
"Hey don't do that. You give that girl so much love and care and I think you've done an amazing job raising a perfectly capable, fierce young lady who is going to do something big and shine brightly wherever she goes" I say as I approach him and hold his face in my hands to reassure him.
As we stay like that for a few minutes I start to observe his face in closer detail. The electric blue eyes that get lighter as it approaches the edge of his pupils. The firm jawline and the freckles that cover his nose and cheeks.
And who could forget his extremely handsome face that feels soft but at the same time the light stubble growing on his face gives it a kind of prickly feeling.
My mental picture of him is distorted when he finally looks up and I smile at him and he gladly returns with a smile of his own as I feel our breaths become shorter as the tension between us reaches its peak and in an instant, our lips smash together in a rough, passionate kiss.
Our lips stay glued together as we move back and he places his arms around my waist before lifting me onto the marble kitchen island. I feel the fire coursing through me as my arms wrap around his neck and my legs wrap around his lower body.
He licks my lower lip as if asking for permission which I grant as his tongue invades my mouth and starts to explore. There is no battle for dominance like I'd usually expect, he just lets our mouths do the talking in a rough yet sensual synchronous dance.
I suddenly feel very confident as I raise his shirt above his head and my hands explore their way around his muscular, chiseled body and rock-hard abs. surprisingly he acts the part of a gentleman and lets me take the lead while his hands rest on my hips.
As my hands travel south I find myself suddenly pushing him away as a sneeze flies out of me. I'm about to tell him that I'm okay when I sneeze again and his eyes immediately show concern as he approaches and rests the back of his hand on my forehead.
"I knew your body felt too hot to have been caused by being turned on. Becca, you have a fever" he says but I'm too annoyed at my body for being so weak that it cockblocked me. It feels so weird to think that the same body that was turned on merely moments ago is still the same body that just cost us what would have been a very pleasurable night.
"It seems to be very minor so with some bed rest you should be alright," he says as he steps out of his position between my legs and helps me down from the island.
"My phone is dead and the rain is still pouring out there so I'll just sleep on the couch," he says as he puts his shirt back on. But as he goes towards the couch I find myself pulling him back.
"I want you in my arms tonight," I say very honestly and he doesn't argue. He just follows behind me as I drag him into my room. He takes off his shirt and as we lie down under the covers I snuggle into his chest and he wraps an arm around me before kissing me on the forehead and muttering a quick "good night Becca"
'Thank you universe' I think to myself as I drift off to sleep in the arms of a man who makes me feel safe and loved.