Never, Always (Nicholas Hoult)

Chapter 22:

Angelina moved over to me, looking me up and down with one eyebrow raised. "Why don't you answer your phone?"

"I was busy, if you didn't notice." And now I was excruciatingly turned on and if Angelina didn't leave in a little I might just go back to Nicholas and shove her into my hallway. It was sad, actually.

"Duh, I noticed. Your tongue was nearly down his through when I walked in-ow!" she cried, holding her arm where I had smacked her. "Well what about last night?"

"Uh...I was busy last night too."

"Alex! What has turned you into a hormonal mess?!"

"Shut up!" I pulled her out of the room, closing the door behind me with a sheepish look at Nicholas, mouthing a sorry. "Are you aiming to embarrass me?" I asked, turning to glare at the lady in front of me.

"He doesn't seem to mind."

I rolled my eyes. "Listen hon, last night I was really busy. Today? Yea, I was making out with Nicholas. But hey, I'm 25!"

She shrugged. "I know, I've gotten more that you in the past sixth months."

"Whatever Angie." I sighed, rubbing my temples.

She laughed, pulling me in for a hug. "I know baby, you're horny and I'm messing with you."

I hugged her back quickly. "Hey, where's Jess?"

"I think she's with her boyfriend."

"Whoa, she got a boyfriend?"

"Yea, that guy she's been seeing asked her to be his girlfriend yesterday."

"Aw, that's so good!" I giggled, very happy for her. "I'll text her later."

"Good. And Mrs. Hoult, I'll be expecting calls from you. Don't forget about your old pals Angie and Jess, got it?"

"Okay, Ms. Bangsalot."

She rolled her eyes, giving me another hug. "I'll see you soon."

I nodded and she stalked out of my house, hips swinging as though she was surrounded by boys that would surely staring at her ass.

I leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. Going back in there would be really embarrassing, but I wasn't just going to leave him there. As I picked myself off the wall, Nicholas came out, still shirtless. He approached me, stopping a few inches in front of me. My eyes wandered down and he chuckled, lifting my eyes with two fingers under my chin.

"Eyes up here, babe."

I couldn't answer, I was speechless and even more embarrassed than I expected to be. Unable to continue eye contact with him, I reached out and carefully traced around the muscles in his stomach. I liked that he wasn't one of those body builders, guys like that sort of creeped me out. Too many muscles. Nicholas was fit in a very lean way. I heard him mutter something. "What?" I asked, looking up to see his eyes closed.

"Nothing." he quickly recovered, eyes promptly opening and his pupils dilating to adjust to the light around us. His hair was tousled because of earlier, and his eyes just looked incredible.

"How can you be so sexy without even trying?" I half blurted, half demanded.

He raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Oh really? So...what happens if I am trying?" he asked, his voice shrinking to a whisper. I watched as his entire demeanor changed from the sweet and quiet Nicholas to the sexy Nicholas. I couldn't decide on which I liked better. Now his eyes were darkened with something I couldn't recognize, his left hand holding himself up against the wall. One of his fingers poked through one of the belt loops on my pants, and he took another step closer me. I was basically pinned against the wall, but he made sure there was distance just to mess with me. I nearly begged him to stop with the teasing, but I knew he wouldn't. I opened my mouth to respond, but quickly glanced down when his eyes became too much for me to gaze into. "Are you going to answer, babe?" he asked.

"Words?" I stammered out. Wow Alex, that made a load of sense. Just be normal! I scolded myself.

He chuckled, leaning down to kiss me. I slipped out of his grip, ducking underneath his arm. He opened his eyes and gasped, but I was already down the hall

"Haha!" I taunted, running for my living room. I couldn't hide from him...unless I just hid in a closet. I had a nice sized house, maybe I could just hide away in my panic room. No, I wanted to at least give him some sort of chance at finding me. I could hide behind my couch in my piano room! I ran for it, making sure Nicholas didn't see me. I dove behind the couch, landing silently on my rug. That hurt like a bitch. I pulled my knees up to my chest, breathing quietly.

Now that I had a bit of time to myself, I suppose I should explain how I have my own house at 25. Truth is, it isn't mine. It's my Dad's summer house, but I stay in it because I wanted to be out of my house. He worked on Wall street in New York City, so he is sort of packed, money wise. I love New York, but I needed to get out. So here I am, in California, living happily in a very modern beach house. I loved it. I even got to redecorate it. It was huge, to be honest. So my giant house had a panic room, and my favorite room, my piano room. It had a huge white grand piano. The walls were white with black diagonal stripes, and this is where I spent a lot of my time. I really wanted to play, but I was hiding from Nicholas. I sighed, and I heard him open the door to the room I was hidden in. I went still, my breathing nearly stopping. I could hear his footsteps approach the couch, but he stopped at my piano. His fingers gently brushed across the keys, and I smiled. I could play a song for him. No, stay strong Alex.

I waited quietly behind the couch, listening to what he was doing. He sat on the cushions and I started to stand up, very quietly. My hands slid over his shoulders and down his chest, and I whispered "Boo."

He jumped and sucked in a breath, cursing lightly. I laughed as he stood up to face me, his eyebrows raised. "Really?" he leaned in and kissed me lightly. As he pulled away, I laughed and his hands slipped down to my waist. "You're so funny." In one swift move, he had pulled me over the couch and into his strong arms. He hugged me close to his chest, and my arms immediately went to wrap around his neck. I smiled, breathing softly until he let me down. He sat down on the couch and pulled me sweetly into his lap. "So, you play?" he asked, gesturing to my piano.

"Oh...yea. I play." I said shyly, looking away.

"Can you play me a song?" he asked, and I shrugged.

"If you want me to." I responded, and he allowed me to stand by pulling his hands away. I stood up quietly and sat down on the smooth black surface. My fingers lightly played along the keys, and I turned to him. "What do you want me to play?" I asked, smiling to him.

"Anything."

"Oh...okay." I tried to think of something, anything, but all of a sudden every song I had ever labored over learning had left my head. I only remembered the newest song I learned. A week ago I sat at the piano for days, trying to learn and memorize Clair de Lune, a piece I was completely in love with, that I had been trying to memorize for a year.

At first, I was completely nervous. My hands were shaking, like I was about to give a recital. But as I went with the music, it became so much easier, and Nicholas started to fade away, until I was playing the music for myself.

In a few minutes, I had finished the song and opened my eyes, looking over at him. I didn't really know what I expected, so I was quite apprehensive. His eyes were soft as they gazed at me, boring into my green ones.

I bit my lip, unable to say anything else. Did he not like it? He probably thought it was stupid.

He stood up and sat next to me quickly, taking my face in his hands and kissing me. It wasn't passionate, it wasn't sexy or anything. It was a sweet kiss, something a little kid would do. We stayed like that for a few moments until he pulled away, kissing my forehead. "Love, that was beautiful. Incredible. Thank you so much for sharing that with me, that means so much." He pulled me into his arms and picked me up, sitting me down on the couch next to him. His arm snaked around my shoulders and he kissed my temple. "Will you sing for me?"

"I don't know, I don't really-"

"Please?" he asked again, and I sighed.

"What should I sing?"

"Anything." He whispered, and I sighed, starting to sing Don't Let Me Go by Harry Styles.