Love At First Hate (Love At Firsts Book 2)(25)

When I get to the party, it’s already in full bloom. Music is being played loudly, drinks are flowing, and people are mingling. To my surprise, they are holding the party in the once empty commercial location next door. The windows are blacked out so you can’t see a thing, but they’ve decorated it in the same way as the main shop. Glossy black floors and white walls covered with old school tattoo designs. Spread across the room are high tables, lining the back wall are some booths like in a fifties’ dinner, and a bar is in the left corner. A small stage is set up to the right of the room. It looks amazing. I’m not sure what this place is going to be, but I can’t wait to find out.

A door connects the two shops with guards to make sure people don’t try to steal anything. It’d be so easy with the amount of people packed in here. The place is filled with local press journalists and tattoo fanatics.

I’m snapping pictures with my phone to add to my article when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, and Nate is standing there looking magnificent as ever in his blue jeans and flannel shirt, holding a beer in his right hand and handing me a glass of red wine with his left hand.

“Thought you might be thirsty,” he says over the music, leaning in to make sure I hear him.

“I’m always thirsty.” I lean in closer and gently bite the edge of his ear.

“I can tell.” He chuckles pulling away from me, looking a bit embarrassed.

“I didn’t know about this room.” I decide to play nice with him. This is his workplace. I don’t want to make it awkward for him. We are just outside the extension of the shop so we can talk without having to scream.

“Nobody did besides us. We wanted to keep it a surprise.” He shrugs and takes a sip of his beer.

“What is it going to be?” I take a sip of wine. Not bad.

“Once we clean up the mess, it’ll be a bar. We’ll have live bands playing here, and we’ll move our apparel in here too; it’ll be easier.

“Any bands lined up yet?”

“Yeah, we have a couple of local bands. It’s obviously not meant to be a concert venue, but it’ll be for more intimate settings.”

“That’s awesome. Make sure to give me the list of the concerts already planned. I’ll add a section about that and the extension in the article.”

“Thanks, appreciate it. I’ll drop it off tomorrow,” he says coldly. I’m not sure what happened, but the sudden change in his behavior makes me wonder if I said something wrong.

“Everything okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” I chuckle softly, trying to make light of the situation.

“No, just your ex.” He nods across the street. I turn around and indeed, John is standing there, staring at us creepily.

“Don’t mind him.”

“Right.” He sighs.

“Are you jealous, Nathan?” I tease him.

“Don’t call me Nathan. It’s Nate and maybe,” he mumbles the last part.

“Sorry, Nate. Aww, that’s so sweet, but you don’t have to worry about him. I was over the relationship long before it ended, and I have no intention of getting back together with him. So you still have your chances if you play your cards right.” I smirk.

“Are you flirty like this with everybody?”

“No, just with you and well, all of my friends, but it’s innocent flirting with them.” I shrug and detect an ounce of jealousy in his eyes.

“Can flirting really be innocent?” he asks looking at me intently.

“Yeah, I’ll flirt and annoy the shit out of Haven all day long. She’s the one I flirt the most with.” I chuckle.

“What’s the deal with you two?”

“We’re best friends. She’s like a sister to me. I took her in when she joined the magazine last year. She had just been fired and caught her boyfriend cheating on her. She wasn’t sure of her place in society anymore, and I helped her get over it by using inappropriate jokes and major flirting.” I grin proudly.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me coming from you?” He laughs.

“I’m the king of sexual innuendo, you’ll soon find out. Want to know a funny thing?” I smirk.

“Go on.” He sounds hesitant.

“Right, Haven found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, and she moved in next door to a loud neighbor. She ended up finding her Prince Charming right after. Same thing is happening to me.” I wink at him.

“Oh God.” He rubs his face laughing. “I’m not sure if I’m more mortified by the fact that I’m waking you up every other night screaming in my sleep or because you heard Lindsey and I f*cking.”

“I’ll reassure you straightaway, I think I’ve only heard you two f*ck once or twice at the most. Someone isn’t very vocal.” I lift my eyebrow at him.

“I was rarely into it.” He looks ashamed to admit that.

“Because she is a woman or has an annoying as f*ck voice?” I tease.

“Both.” He looks up at me.

I nod. “Makes sense. How did it make you feel to hear me f*ck that guy a couple of months ago?” I ask quietly.

“I was rock hard all night imagining you f*cking him, and I hated myself for having those feelings.” He sighs admitting that.