The faint sound of the ceiling fan oscillating overhead grew louder, and I let out a faint moan. Reluctantly, I moved a hand up to my eye and started to rub away any last remnants of sleep.

After another five or so seconds of selfishly appreciating how ridiculously comfortable the bed felt, I realized it was probably about time for me to be getting up. Slowly, I peeked open my eyelids.

Through my slightly blurred vision, I smiled as I took in my view. The curtains were a little astray, so I could see the lapping of the crest blue waves as they kissed against the shoreline.

I softly kicked the soft silk sheets away from my legs and slowly started to sit up. Or correction tried to sit up. Alarm immediately struck me as I realized I couldn't get up. Every time, I made a move to sit up, a heavy force seemed to be weighing me down.

Holy shit, was I paralyzed? Fuck, maybe it was a late effect of my fall off the horse...

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

As my mind was going absolutely haywire, I suddenly noticed something. I could feel warm, steady breaths brushing softly against the back of my neck and sensitive skin resting against the crook of my neck.

I instantly looked over my shoulder to see what was going on, and my heart nearly free-dived itself out of my chest when I took in the surprising sight behind me. 

Nathan had moved his head into the crest of my neck so that his lips were now brushed up loosely against the skin of my neck. His eyelids loosely concealed those beautiful eyes of his, and his face held an innocent boyish kind of look.

Aww

No, Sophie. No. Snap out of it. It's a trap. The evillest temptations hold the most beautiful faces.

My harsh internal monologue was lost when I saw him wrinkle his nose all cutely and squash his face even closer into my neck.

Okay, fuck it, he was cute, and I wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't.

Before I could internally coo at him for a fraction longer, I felt something soft move against my waist. I looked down at my waist in confusion, and I nearly choked when I noticed exactly where Nathan's hands had decided to lay rest. 

He had boldly dipped his hand underneath my top, so it was loosely skimming the bare skin underneath my breast.

Holy, shit.

My heart immediately ramped up to the speed of a full-blown sprint, and I felt like I couldn't remember how to breathe. How the hell had we ended up in this position? And worst of all, why the fuck did I like it?

I couldn't tell if it was that delicious smell of him messing with my mind, or how comfortable his body felt against my back. But shamefully, I found myself snuggling closer into him.

What? Don't judge me; he was comfy, okay.

Deciding to let him deal with the embarrassment of waking up and realizing what he did, I closed my eyes before trying my best to get back to sleep.

As my mind was on the cusp of drifting away again, I suddenly heard Nathan let out a long tired groan before turning in his sleep a little bit.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Pretend to be sleeping. Pretend to be asleep.

"God, what time is it," he muttered, his breath tickling the back of my neck. 

He let out another long sigh, then suddenly, every muscle in his body seemed to stiffen. Seconds later, he shot back and ripped himself away from me.

The covers tossed around us as he scrambled to a seated position, and his breaths came out heavy behind me as though still in shock. Not really sure what to do, I continued pretending to be asleep.

"So much for hands to myself?" he spat above a mere whisper under his breath. I could tell from his slight muffled tone, that he was likely running a hand up and down his face out of stress.

A few seconds later, I felt the bed raise slightly before the sound of gentle footsteps slowly padded the floor. The lightness of them told me that he was likely tiptoeing in fear of waking me up.

As I heard the creak of the door, I realized he had exited. And well, I was disappointed. A rather large part of me was selfishly hoping, he would lie with me for a little bit longer.

Swallowing back the pain of the rejection, I focused back on getting to sleep.

Two, or maybe three minutes later, I heard the soft sound of the door creaking open yet again. I both felt and heard the sound of someone drawing closer, and soon enough, the covers lifted, and a cool breeze coated my back. Warmth soon replaced the chill as I felt the mattress dip behind me. And once again, I was coated in the intoxicating smell of him.

I got my answer at why he had returned when I felt one of his hands slowly, and shyly touch the bare skin of my hip. Then, carefully, he moved his hand up my naked stomach before bringing it to stop right underneath the band of my bra.

My mind went dizzy as he started to trace careless circles against the skin. And as I thought I was going certifiable insane, he tightened his hold on me and kissed my neck before burying his chin into the crook of it. Now, there was undeniably not a single crack of space between either of our bodies.

I worked hard to keep my outer demeanor looking calm and relaxed and well, asleep. But, inside, I felt anything but calm. Inside, every part of my body was freaking the fuck out because Nathan Woods was cuddling me. 

Let me repeat that one more time for you, Nathan fucking Adonis Woods was optionally cuddling me. Not by accident, but quite deliberately.

This is fine, Sophie. This is fine. Friends can cuddle. This is totally innocent friendship cuddling, nothing more.

With that thought, he pulled me even closer to him, increasing the rhythm, of my already thumping heart. 

Who the fuck am I kidding; this was everything but innocent, friendship cuddling.

And worst of all, now both of us were pretending to be asleep. We could literally lie like this for the rest of the day and pretend it was an 'accident.' But, as nice as that idea sounded, I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Nathan didn't deserve to lie with a liar like me.

Sucking up the courage to ruin the moment, I cleared my throat. "Nathan, I know you're awake," I whispered.

I immediately felt him stiffen behind me, and the sound of his breathing cut sharply.

Finally, after an agonizing few seconds, of him lying behind me frozen, he sighed. "Oh," he finally said.

Then with an awkward cough, he let his arms slide away from my waist, and I felt the covers slide off us as he pulled himself into a seated position. I followed suit and slowly pulled myself up alongside him.

Both of us stared forward, not daring to look at each other as awkwardness swarmed the air.

"So..," I drawled as I fiddled with my fingers. 

"So..," Nathan repeated.

 More silence filled the air.

"We should...erm...go get breakfast," he mumbled.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, great idea, let's go," I said, clearing my throat.

I swung my legs to the side of the bed and started to scrape my hair into a bun above my head while trying my best to ignore Nathan's heated gaze on the back of my head.

Suddenly, I felt the bed dip behind me, and my heart jumped a little when heat brushed loosely against the back of my neck. 

"You missed a bit," Nathan whispered against my ear.  My chest was rising and falling too fast for me to even think of anything to say. 

"Here, let me help you," he murmured. He leaned forward and tucked the last bit of hair underneath the elastic of the hairband, causing his fingers to accidentally brush against the back of my neck.

"All done," he whispered as his hands dropped from my hair.

"T-thanks," I just about stuttered out before hurriedly pushing myself up to my feet. I wasn't sure how he had made tucking a piece of hair in for me, seem sexy, but he certainly had.

I bet if I walked in on him doing a shit, my mind would find a way to spin it as being sexy. I needed help; badly.

I got to the door and wrapped my shawl around me, feeling too lazy to get dressed. I looked over my shoulder at Nathan, who was sat on the bed. "You coming?" I asked.

He shook his head softly. "Nah, I need to have a shower first so you can go on ahead without me."

 I raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I'm allowed to do something by myself, am I? I was scared you'd invite me in with you to the shower," I joked.

A faint smile pulled to his face. "Don't get excited. I'm only letting you go because I know my dad's downstairs, and I trust him."

I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. "Okay, so, in other words, you got me a babysitter?" I said flatly.

"Yup," he said bluntly, not seeming the tiniest bit guilty.

"You're unbelievable," I scoffed before turning around. 

"Sophie?" Nathan called as I reached for the doorknob.

"Hmm," I mumbled curiously, turning around.

"If you have a problem with my dad looking after you, then you're more than welcome to join me in the shower," he said, that smirk of his returning.

I looked away from him in shameful embarrassment. "Again, Nathan, you're not funny," I said drily.

Nathan chuckled lowly. "Again, Sophie, who said I was joking."

Like before, his words held a certain dangerous tension to them. The kind of one that silenced the room and made the only detectable sounds, the ones of my faint yet rapidly rising breaths.

Snapping myself out of it, I rolled my eyes at him before swiftly leaving the room. As I climbed down the stairs, I followed the delicious smell of fresh bacon and toast all the way down to the kitchen.

I smiled as I saw Nathan's dad by the stove flipping what seemed to be some kind of odd-shaped pancake on the stove.

I cleared my throat. "Wow, whatever you're cooking smells amazing," I called out as I slid myself behind the breakfast bar.

He turned around in surprise, and a bright smile lit up his face as he saw me. "Oh morning Sophie, And, I wouldn't exactly say that," he laughed. "The boys are much better at cooking than I am, but I like to pretend I can whip something up from time to time," he chuckled.

I watched him make up some kind of drink, and then soon enough, he walked over to me and placed a steaming mug in front of me. "This is on special request from your boyfriend. He ordered me to give you hot chocolate and nothing else," he laughed.

An amused smile played to my lips at the idea of Nathan threatening his dad to make me hot chocolate. It was oddly cute how he was always made sure I had them.

Suddenly, I took notice of his dad's incorrect statement, which had almost escaped my attention. I rolled my eyes. "Mr woods, I'm not dating your son," I mumbled in embarrassment.

"Hmm, so is that why I found the two of you spooning each other in your bed this morning?" his dad hummed as he took a long sip of his tea.

Midway through taking a sip of my drink, I choked. As my breath returned to me, I looked back at him with panicked eyes.

"What! You saw that?" I spat out in shock.

His dad raised an eyebrow at my reaction and nodded his head with a smile. "Yup," he snorted. "Nathan wasn't in his room so as a concerned father, I went looking for him," he shrugged. "And well, I found him...," he trailed off with a snicker.

I let out a long whine and sunk lower down in my chair. "God, that's so embarrassing."

His dad chuckled. "Don't worry, Sophie. I know he only went in there because he was worried about you," he admitted honestly.

"Yeah, he's been worried an awful lot," I said with a dark chuckle.

 His dad's smile slowly faded. "I know, Nathan might seem to be acting a little crazy, or overly cautious, but I swear to you, it's only because he cares," he explained softly. 

"Nathan's a very, sensitive boy even though he tries to hide it," he swallowed. "So, please try and be careful with my boy's heart. I don't want to see him hurt again," he whispered.

 I nodded my head and gave him a soft, comforting smile. "Yeah, of course," I whispered.

And as I spoke the words, I was surprised by how much I meant them. I never wanted to hurt Nathan, and I was going to make sure I never would. My horrible plan that had started all of this was well and truly over. I wouldn't lie to him anymore; I definitely wasn't going to force my friendship on him and I certainly wasn't going to pursue a romantic relationship with him.

Through friendship, or otherwise manipulating someone as kind as him for their money was so fucked up, and he deserved so much more than that. And most importantly, he deserved so much fucking more than me.

My next move was simple, I was going to remove myself from Nathan Wood's life. 

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Author's note:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Also, I promise you guys some tea and drama is coming really really soon. Can't wait to share it xx

Next Update: Wednesday (6-8 PM - UK time)