As his lips met mine, I felt a flash of pure energy shoot through me. It was the high of a roller coaster mixed with the comfort of coming home.
His hands caressed my back gently as he pulled me to his firm, warm body. Every dream I’d ever had of seeing him again came flooding back. My lips parted as he took me over completely. Nate laid back on the couch, resting me on top of him, our kiss unbroken.
“Oh god, I’ve missed you, Trisha,” he murmured against my lips. Grabbing my hand, he placed it over the strangely luxurious fabric of his tight t-shirt. I could actually feel his heart hammering. “I knew we’d end up together again someday.”
I didn’t want to correct him that we weren’t exactly together. We were two people reconnecting. Testing the waters.
His fingers trailed along the side of my face, then across my cheekbone as if he was trying to feel what I looked like with his eyes closed.
Our lips parted, his tongue entering my mouth gently. Since Nate was the only boy I'd ever kissed, I couldn't be certain, but it seemed to be one of the infinite things he was talented at. There was certainly more heat, compared to our first tentative teenage kisses. My hands moved across his shoulders, feeling the thick muscle that trailed down his arm.
"I love the way you touch me," he murmured.
His other hand began to travel up my spine, caressing and teasing. My body filled with a deep, strange tension. I sat up quickly, blinking as he grinned at me.
"Sorry," he said softly. "I get it – too quick." His thumb trailed along my lower lip as he stared at it. "I'll try to resist just a bit longer."
His arm wrapped around my shoulders as we sat together, almost snuggling. It was so familiar, and different. Comfortable and electric.
"I know," he said, flashing me that dazzling grin. "This is amazing, and completely weird. Right?"
"Yeah,” I agreed. "Congratulations, by the way. I only saw the last twenty minutes of the final episode because my friend ordered me too. Was it fun being on TV?"
He shrugged, his fingers trailing along my shoulder and down my arm. "It was a lot of work, and odd circumstances. But there were a lot of fun moments."
"I thought that you hated reality TV," I smiled.
"This was a different sort of reality," he said. "All of the contestants were people that might end up working together someday, so everyone was pretty cool. We helped each other out. I don't know how they edited the show, but there were several amazing late-night jam sessions where we threw rhymes and riffs at each other."
“So you haven't really seen the show either?" I laughed.
"No, I thought that would make me too uncomfortable. My manager Dave watched every episode and gave me an overview. Then there was the final vote show, and I sort of know how that one turned out."
“I'm glad that you took your music to the next level," I said. "I knew you had it in you, but you know… A lot changes when you hit twenty."
"Not for me. I went to university to study music, then had my band Violet Circles for a few years. Then just as I was getting my new band together, this contest came up, and I ended up in California for almost two months."
I kept losing my train of thought when I stared into his eyes for more than a few blinks. "Where is the new band going to be located?" I asked.
Nate frowned, staring down at his knees for a moment. "We're not sure yet. Two of the four of us have ties in both Vancouver and Toronto. My old band is from Vancouver, but my manager just moved to Toronto. Our drummer found an amazing rehearsal space in Vancouver, but my bass player has been looking at places in Toronto."
His arm tightened around my shoulder, and I slipped closer to him. "Obviously I want to move here now. Immediately."
My body jerked back an inch, and he looked puzzled. "You can't… You can't just switch your life around because you found me," I said. "I mean, you don't even know me anymore."
His easy smile relaxed me completely. "So let me get to know you. Tell me everything. How did you get to be the IT princess of a radio station?"
I laughed, my body relaxing again. Outside the giant window, the lights of the city were beginning to sparkle as the sun went down.
"Please refrain from using the word princess," I smirked. "It's hard enough for a woman to be respected as a technical person. It really is still a boys club."
His fingers began tracing little designs along my shoulder blade. “Yeah, I've seen it at gigs. Every time there's a female sound tech, she looks a bit tense until she sees that there is a girl in our band."
"I've heard tales of grouchy live sound techs. I guess women in that industry would have even more reason to be grumpy."
"For sure," he said quickly. "I've actually seen musicians assume that techs were somebody's girlfriend, and not listen to directions."
"Thank goodness you were there to put them in their place," I said. Nate was always the first to call out a misogynist.