The Almost One Night Stand

Chapter 5

Luke's POV

My internal alarm clock woke me at six in the morning, but she was still peacefully dreaming. I watched her as she slept. This tiny little creature had completely captured my heart and soul, and she wanted me. I hadn't planned for us to have sex this evening. I'd not even brought up the issue before, and I certainly had no idea she had been a virgin. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just rare to find a beautiful, intelligent twenty-four-year-old that has made that life choice. My mind raced at what was going to happen next. I would need to go to Charleston before leaving the country. I owed my family that much. The way I'd left initially was wrong, and I didn't realize just how wrong until my conversation with Gabe.

Gabe. That's a conversation I need to have with Nimue before we go any further. I only hope she's accepting. I ran my fingertips along her cheek, then pushed a strand of hair back from her face. He was right. I want to marry this woman.

She stirred, eyelids fluttering as she looked up at me. A brilliant smile formed across her face. "Good morning, handsome," she said sleepily.

"Hey beautiful," I replied, kissing the tip of her nose. "How do you feel this morning?"

She winced a bit as she sat up, "Like a girl the morning after she loses her virginity," she giggled.

I laughed, "Well let's get you into a warm shower, little one." She huffed at the nickname, but I just laughed again, "Oh, Nimue, you can't use the fun-sized comment unless you want me to keep you in this bed all day," I leaned closer and ran my tongue along her neck as she shivered, "because you are definitely good enough to eat, over and over again." I heard her breath catch as her eyes went wide for a moment. "Come on," I said, lifting her from the bed, "shower time, or neither of us will be able to walk straight." She giggled as I carried her.

After a very long and intimate shower, we finally managed to make it to a local diner for a late lunch. Yeah, we woke up just after six and are now eating at four...you do the math.

"So what can I get you two?" the waitress asked.

"I'll have the salmon with a greek salad, no onions please, and water to drink," Nimue replied.

"I'll have the salmon also, but with potatoes and a sweet tea," I said. The waitress took our menus and left.

"No salads?" she asked.

"I'm not a vegetable fan for the most part," I chuckled. "Much to the displeasure of my brother, North. He is a bit over the top on his healthy food ideas."

"Luke, you realize potatoes are a vegetable, right?" she teased.

"Yeah, but they have salt and are fried, so they are acceptable vegetables." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Well, you might have to make some adjustments to an English diet," she giggled. "For starters, we don't have iced tea."

I clapped my hand to my chest and gasped, "What? Like not at all?"

She shook her head, "Not at all. Pubs don't even serve water unless you ask for it, and tea with ice is only an American thing. Oh, and there aren't free refills either."

I hung my head in mock horror, "It's a damn good thing I love you woman, otherwise, the sacrifice might be too much." She burst out in a full-blown laugh that carried across the diner at my antics. It was a melodic sound that made me stop and stare at her. She saw me staring and blushed, lowering her face. I put my finger below her chin and gave her a quick kiss, "Never hide, remember?"

She nodded and smiled. "Why do you do that? Keep me from hiding my embarrassment?"

"You're too strong of a woman to hide," I said, then hesitated as the waitress served our food. "I think I need to tell you a bit more about my past. When I was younger, I fell in love with a girl who had a horrible home life. She would hide from everyone and everything because of it. When she finally found her inner strength, she realized she didn't need us anymore. I guess part of me doesn't want to see that happen again."

"Wait, you said us," she interjected. Out of all that, she noticed a single pronoun.

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "Yeah, um, you remember when I told you about my brothers?"

"Yeah, North, Gabe, Silas, Nate, Kota, Owen, Sean, and Victor," she replied.

"Wow, I'm impressed you could rattle them off that quickly," I chuckled as she grinned proudly. "Well, we all dated her, together."

"Oh, you mean polyamory," she said and took a bite of her salmon like it was no big deal. "That's a fairly common lifestyle in the UK, although I don't know anyone who's had such a large number like that. Why did she feel she didn't need you anymore, did something bad happen?"

I sat there gaping at her. Here I thought I was dropping a bombshell concept on her like it was for us back then, but she's just acting like I told her I like chocolate on a regular old Tuesday. I shook my head to clear my amazement, "Well, um, like I said, when we met, we were young and our team helped get her away from her family, so we were really protective over her. Too protective, honestly. It wasn't until the relationship fell apart that we could look back and see that we hadn't realized she was a strong capable woman in her own right. We kept trying to protect her like we had when she was sixteen."

"Sixteen, that's awfully young to make that kind of commitment," she said quietly. "How long were you all together?"

"Eight years, and yeah, it was young. I think that was one of the reasons it fell apart. We rushed into what we thought was a lifelong commitment before we even understood the concept." I took a long sip of my tea, then continued, "Sang left the state for college, met someone, and found her true happiness. I won't lie, it hurt like hell at first, but now, we've managed to move past it and become friends. She and her husband, Ben, have three kids and live in Boston."

She eyed me quietly as she pushed around an olive in her salad. "Can I be honest?" she asked.

"Of course."

"It sounds like you understand and accept, but not really made peace with it." I tilted my head in confusion. "When you make me face you, it is done from a place of worry as well as support. Deep down, you are worried I'll be like her, like Sang, and decide I don't need you anymore." Her words were like a punch in the chest. She was right. Just yesterday I had myself in a near panic about her not wanting me after she leaves, and that fear doesn't just disappear. I blinked rapidly when I felt her hand on mine. "Luke, I don't know what fate holds in store for us, but I want to find out. I'm not afraid when I bow my head. I may be small, but I promise I don't need a protector. However, I'd love to have a partner, someone who holds me when I'm happy and sad."

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes as I came around the table to pull her into my arms, "I'd like that too, little one."

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