The Bucket List (16 page)

"What? You're looking for detailed descriptions?"

"No! The last time I saw that girl was when she fell in a heap at your feet, right after she swallowed a bunch of painkillers. What are you trying to do, Jeffrey? You can't get involved with any of that shit."

"Matt, you've been trying to get me laid for the past three months! Surely you should be happy for me."

"She's not what you need right now."

"She's exactly what I need," he said, connecting his
iPod to some speakers then choosing a nice slow song to set the mood. "I have to go, she'll be here in a minute."

"You're actually seeing her? Oh, my God,
Nate! What is this, some rebound thing? Why couldn't you pick some decent girl, one who won't go sleeping with the next man who pays her a bit of attention?"

"This is different, Matt. I know what I'm doing."

"How is it different? All I heard this weekend was how she did this guy then went on to do that guy. You're not like that, Nate. You can't keep your heart out of the bedroom."

"I don't want to keep my heart out of the bedroom. She's... special."

"Oh, yes, she's special, all right! She'll rip your heart to shreds."

"Matt, if you've got nothing good to say, don't say anything at all," he said. "I've made up my mind. Rae will be good for me, I just hope I'll be good for her."

"Nate..."

"No, I'm done talking. I'll call you tomorrow or something," he said just as he heard a knock on the door. "She's here. Later, Matt."

He looked around the room and let out a calming breath. He'd been freaking out all day; he didn't want a single thing going wrong so she'd find an excuse not to be with him. She'd awoke something in him that he had thought had died with Beth and he wanted to see where it would all lead. He knew it was going to end in heartache, anyway; she would either beat the cancer and end up with Corey or she wouldn't beat it. He wasn't stupid; he knew one day Rae would open her eyes and see what was right in front of her. He wouldn't hold it against her if it happened sooner rather than later. She had a big battle ahead of her, and the moment she told Corey about it, he would realise how he really felt about her. Then Rae would find what she really needed. There was no way she would ever consider someone like him for something serious, he knew that. He was only with her by accident, after all. She would never have looked at him twice, otherwise. But while he had her, he'd do his damned best to make sure she would always remember him.

When he opened the door, he had to take a minute to take all of her in. How could anyone be so perfect? Everything in her was beautiful and proportional, every artist's dream. He'd sketch her before the night was
out, immortalize her on a piece of paper. Then he'd always have a piece of her beauty. She was dressed casually in jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of sneakers but she could have been wearing a sack and still looked good.

"Hey,"
Nate smiled, giving her a little kiss on the lips then standing aside to let her in.

"Am I late?" she asked.

"Just in time," he replied, leading her to the couch.

"Wow," Rae said. "It looks so beautiful in here."

The only light came from the numerous coloured candles in their glass coverings that he'd placed strategically around the room, and from the moonlight drifting through the open windows. Rae looked ethereal in this light, positively stunning. He hoped he could keep his hands off her long enough to show her how much he had to give.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, sitting down next to her. "So, what do you want to eat? Italian, Chinese? "

"I'll eat anything, I'm starving," she replied.

"Room service, then," he said as he reached for the phone. "It'll be quicker."

When they had placed their orders, he turned to face her. She looked more nervous than him.

"Relax," he told her. "I don't bite. Not unless you want me to, that is."

She chuckled a bit and he saw some of her tension ease.

"So we're really just going to talk, then?" she asked.

"Among other things," he smiled.

Among a lot of other things.
He was going to make sure she kept coming back.

"I really enjoyed myself tonight,"
Alyssa said as John signalled for the bill.

"So did I," he smiled. "I hope we can do it again soon."

"I'd love that."

"You wanna go somewhere else, maybe for a drink? The night is still young," he asked as he put some money on the table.

"I'm going to have to take a rain check. I'm really tired, Rae wore me out last night. I keep having these images of her screaming at me to get on a barrel," she chuckled.

"What?"

"I still have no idea what that was all about," she laughed as John helped her out of her chair.

"You're coming to their house this weekend for her party, though, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Corey told me about that. It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun."

"Normally they just find a bunch of people they want to sleep with and throw them all in one place, then spend hours indulging themselves. This year
Corey's doing something different for her, since she's trying to build a relationship with Nate and an orgy doesn't really fit in with that," he laughed as the doorman hailed a cab for them. "I'm sure, though, that I'll still have to scrape them off the floor before the day is out. Corey's planning on buying that much alcohol."

"Do you always play their
Daddy?"

"I don't play
Daddy at all," John said. "It's not my fault I can handle my drink better so I'm almost always sober when they pass out!"

"So you're telling me you don't actually go out of your way to make sure they're
all right, and tell them off when you think they're doing something wrong?"

"Well, it's not like they listen to me anyway, you know those two do whatever the hell they want," John said in his defence. "The last time I didn't look out for them they ended up in Vegas doing their best to gamble their life savings away."

"So you do Daddy them!" Alyssa chuckled. "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I think they're lucky to have you watching out for them. You're a good guy, John."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. But Saturday I want you to loosen up and enjoy yourself."

"You say that like you think I'm boring," John said.

"You're anything but. You're funny, you're sweet, you're sensitive and you care about people. It's hard to find all those qualities in a guy," Alyssa said as a taxi stopped in front of them. "All I'm saying is, Saturday I want you to take care of yourself for a change. Do what you want to do. What do you want to do?"

"If I told you that you might not come," John smiled wickedly.

"Don't be so sure about that," Alyssa whispered with a naughty smile of her own as she got into the taxi.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take my clothes off?"

"I'm sketching your face, Rae" Nate chuckled as his pencil expertly ran over the paper.

"Yeah, but I could still take my clothes off," Rae smiled wickedly.

Nate laughed again and caught her eyes. She had such gorgeous blue eyes...

"Stop trying to sabotage my work."

"Okay, just a sock then," she said, pulling a sock off one of her feet and wriggling her toes at him.

She was lying on some cushions on the floor, next to the
candle light, where she ended up after their meal and a few beers. Her nervousness had completely disappeared now and Nate had seen a glimpse of what lay inside her. He'd also found out she had a great sense of humour; she laughed easily. The first time that laughter had lit her eyes, he'd been mesmerised. It had humbled him a bit that she could still laugh with all that she was going through; before that morning, all he'd had was a broken heart and he'd felt like death.

Hours into the night, he'd grabbed his
sketch pad. She looked so beautiful, he'd felt he had to.

"How is taking one sock off going to make you feel any better?" he laughed.

"I just think that sketch would look a lot better with a bit of flesh."

"I'm doing your face!"
Nate laughed again.

"If you put just one of my toes on it... scratch that, put my whole foot," she said. "Tell you what; I can take my clothes off."

Nate put his pencil down and looked at her. He'd done all right, he supposed. Three hours and he hadn't really touched her yet even though he'd been dying to. The sexual tension had been unbearable. It had slowly built up through the night with a single look now and then, a simple brush of his fingers, while they had talked. It had turned out that talking to her was easier than he had imagined. Being an artist herself, she understood him better than a lot of people. She did photography; not just people but anything that caught her soul. He'd seen her work before, in magazines and in a few galleries; and he understood why she was in such demand. She was really good. Good enough to set up her own company and actually do well in it. Once he retired from fighting, he hoped his work would do as well.

"Take your clothes off then," he said softly, holding her gaze as he conveyed a silent message. "Slowly."

With a little grin, she started to do as she was told. There was no hint of any shyness or reservations; not that he had expected any. She was as brazen as they came. He sat back in the chair as his eyes followed her every move. The time had finally come, and as he had known, it was worth waiting for.

Moving to the beat of the music, she slowly rid herself of her clothes, her eyes on his face the whole time. He knew what she saw in his eyes
; burning need. He swore he could actually hear his heart beating quicker and quicker with every inch of skin she exposed.

Finally, she knelt before him on the cushion completely naked, perfection personified. The gentle light cast a golden glow on her skin and hair, making her looks like those of a naughty little angel. She got on all fours, her eyes on his and the naughty grin still on her face as she advanced on him slowly, like a wild cat advancing on its prey. The only difference was running was the last thing on his mind. He was going to let her catch him, to let her do whatever her little heart desired.

Because, in all honesty, he'd never been as horny as he was in that moment.

It was almost six in the morning when Rae finally made her way back to the room she shared with her friends. Both of them were fast asleep but she knew they would be up soon for their morning workout.

With a stupid little smile on her face, she took her clothes off and found one of Corey's t-shirts. Her hair was still a bit damp from the shower she'd just had with Nate when he'd said goodbye to her in the filthiest kind of way. She was getting hot just thinking about it! She wondered briefly if, if she hadn't been looking for a relationship and she'd set her sights on Nate, would she still have been blown away by the chemistry? There was no doubt she would have noticed him, he was hot after all.

She made herself comfortable in
Corey's arm and fell asleep almost straight away. Nate hadn't let her sleep at all.

The moment he realised she was asleep,
Corey opened his eyes and looked down at her. She had a little smile on her face, so obviously things had gone well with Nate. He still didn't know how to feel about that. He wanted her to be happy, he really did, but he already felt like he was losing her.

She stirred and made herself more comfortable on his chest, tangling her legs with his under the sheets. He was well aware platonic friends didn't really do that, and soon she would realise that and stop. She'd be saving her cuddles for
Nate. She'd save everything for Nate.

He held her closer and buried his face in her hair, which he realised was still damp. Why did she have to change? What was so wrong with fucking whoever she wanted then coming home to him? It had worked so well for them before. Obviously it was the list. The more things she had done on it the more she had changed. He was going to have to get his hands on it and see what else he had to expect. He didn't want to wake up one day and hear she'd got herself pregnant. Finding a proper relationship was one thing. Having another man's babies was quite another. He might have kissed the big house and room for a few ponies away, but it was a bit harder letting go of the images he had of their children. Still, he would have to.
No one made those sort of pacts, anyway, except in movies. Besides, he could always find someone when he was ready to settle down, and Rae would always be in his life, anyway. It wasn't like she was dying, or anything like that and he'd never see her again.

Before she got off the plane she reapplied her make-up and sorted her hair. She knew it was pointless, Corey would know straight away that she had been crying.

The past two days had been more painful than she had imagined. She had got to see her dad on his own turf with the family that she had never wanted to know. Two little half brothers and a step mum. They had turned out to be sweet, kind people, nothing like she had always imagined.