Ain't No Sunshine

Chapter Sixteen

Cory

Thepastfewmonths have been an emotional roller-coaster, but Nate and I are finally in a good place now that we are free of Liv and her lies. In the aftermath of her announcing their engagement, I shut down. On the outside, things were great, but inside, I was slowly unraveling. I couldn’t clear my head of Liv’s hands all over Nate or the fact that she kept pulling him back in. She wants Nate. Of that, I’m sure. I know she claims to have a boyfriend, but why wasn’t he ever mentioned before?

What worries me, on top of Liv wanting him back, is that despite everything he’s told me, I still get this nagging feeling that a little part of him wants her, too. Like it’s only a matter of time. Insecure and delusional? Maybe. But I can’t help the way I feel. You can thank my last two boyfriends for that. Still, I’m trying to push that out of my mind, especially considering we’re now on our way to Nate’s parent’s house for Christmas. That should definitely put my mind at ease. Should being the operative word.

I’m currently staring out the window of Nate’s truck as he fiddles with the radio, but I’m not paying much attention to what’s playing. I’ve been a ball of nerves since Nate invited me to his home, but I can’t quite decide if it’s because I’m finally meeting his parents or because of the way he asked me…

“Cory?” Summer waves a hand in front of my face when I’m lost in thought, which is a little embarrassing since we’re surrounded by friends at the moment. “Hello? Where’d you go just now?”

“Huh?” I’d once again been thinking about the situation with Liv when I should be focussed on other things. Anything. That girl is taking up too much of my brain space lately, so my mind is definitely not at this party.

With it being Thanksgiving tomorrow, Dylan and his sister, Lucy, decided to throw a Friendsgiving party tonight. A lot of my favorite people are here, including Summer and Nate, Dylan and Joel, and Logan, who Summer and I have known since we were younger. I’ve even met a couple of new faces. Lucy, for one, who is lovely, and her boyfriend, who is not.

I’ve tried to keep my head in the celebrations, but sometimes, I just lose control of my thoughts and they drift, like now.

Summer smiles sympathetically when I don’t answer her question. Ugh… What’s that about? I’m obviously not doing a good job of hiding my issues.

“True or false, Nate talks dirty during sex.” Logan asks with a mischievous grin. What?!

I stare at him in shock as most of the table erupts in laughter at my expense.

“Shut up, Logan,” Summer says as she throws a fake pumpkin at him before turning to me. “That’s not what you missed. Dylan was just asking about Christmas.”

I smile thankfully at Summer and then look over at Dylan. “Sorry, Dylan, were you asking about our plans?”

“Actually, I was just saying that I’m guessing the big meet-the-parents is happening over Christmas. I bet you can’t wait to introduce your girl, Nate.”

I feel the heat rising up my chest as a nervous feeling takes over. Should I be concerned that he hasn’t invited me home yet? I mean, until now, I hadn’t given it much thought because he hadn’t been home. But with Dylan’s assumption, and the realization that he’s never even mentioned it as an idea, I’m now a little worried.

Nate reaches over and links our hands, trying to get my attention. My eyes meet his as a hesitant smile forms on his face. “I was going to do this in private, but I actually wanted to ask you if you’d come home with me on the twentieth, for an early celebration, so we can be back here for Christmas Eve with your family.”

My heart jumps a little as a nervous energy runs through me. He wants me to meet his parents. Unless he’s just reacting to Dylan’s question? No! Stop with the negative. The intelligent part of my brain is right; I need to stop worrying and start focusing on rebuilding our relationship.

Nate’s brows furrow, and I realize I haven’t answered. “Yes! I’d love to. I can’t wait to meet your family. Please tell me your Gramps will be there.”

“He sure will be.” Nate smiles, lighting up his entire face with my question. “And he’s excited to meet you.”

My favorite Christmas song blasts through the speakers, making me jump as I’m pulled from my thoughts. I peer over at Nate to catch the end of a smirk as he tries to distract me from my nerves yet again. I glance down at the clock. Less than twenty minutes from his parents’ house now, from the moment of truth. I swallow, again forcing myself to focus on other things… like Summer.

She’s been a mess since our Friendsgiving, and while I’m definitely not the major cause of her pain, I have been in her bad books recently. Rightfully so, nevertheless, it broke me. Seeing her hurting and knowing I contributed to that was hard. Thankfully, she forgave me after a few days, and we’re now back to normal. But, for a moment there… God, I don’t even want to think about what it would be like without her in my life.

While I know I need to spend this time with Nate, leaving Summer behind on this trip has been hard, but my parents and Logan promised to check in on her. Logan had even threatened to kidnap her and take her on his boys’ trip if he found her moping.

Nate clears his throat, and I realize I’m lost in thought again. “I swear, it’s not about meeting your parents this time,” I say with a laugh.

“Good, because they are going to love you.”

I smile shyly in response, my insecurities rising to the surface again. But what if they don’t? Nate’s parents love Liv. Love her like a daughter. What if I fall short in replacing her? Or worse, what if they don’t want me to replace her at all? Stop it. That’s not going to happen.

Nate’s hand curls around my thigh, giving me a squeeze. “I can feel the negativity pouring out of you. What can I do to distract you?” My eyes bounce to his with a devilish grin. What can we do?

“Not that,” Nate says with a smirk, reading my dirty mind. “There’s nowhere to pull over until we’re practically there, and I’m not risking anyone seeing you in a compromising position. And the position I have in mind is very compromising.” He winks as I shake my head with a smile.

“Okay, what can we do then?”

“Siiing. Off,” Nate hollas, causing me to burst out laughing at the ridiculous tone of his voice. I don’t hate the idea, though. We both love to sing… so why not?