3.

My body buzzed for the rest of the day. It felt like a charge of electricity surrounded me and I couldn't shift it no matter how hard I tried.

Nick was persistent, I'd give him that but my reaction to him was the only thing that scared me so much. I never was scared of men trying to get me underneath them, I was never afraid of a flirt. I was a very flirty woman myself but I had never reacted to any other man the way I did Nick.

A part of me wanted to charge after him and let him do all the things he wanted, yet another part of me was scared of being used. I never shied away from sex, it was a physical, unemotional thing to me but with Nick I didn't think it would be. I wouldn't be able to stop the emotions this time because he affected me in such way no other man had ever before.

I had only been back a few days and I was already a mess.

"Cathy." My dad came up beside me. "You can take the rest of the day off now if you'd like." He scribbled something in his diary and turned to face me.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"It's pretty much dead in here today. Go do something fun."

"Like what?" I hadn't been home for years, I had almost forgotten what was here. I guess a tour would be good for me. A walk, so I could try and sort out of fizzled mind after Nick's appearance. "I think I'll go for a walk."

"Sounds nice. Be safe." He kissed me on the cheek before I grabbed my jacket and walked out of the shop. I left my father to draw.

The air was bitter but I valued it today. I needed to wake up, be sharp, I couldn't let Nick affect me. I knew I'd be seeing him, I knew he'd be around more than I wanted as he was so close to my father. Would he try to get me to bed every time he saw me? Would he behave around my father? I hoped he would.

Nick could get any woman he chose, why did he want to have me? Was I a challenge to him? Did he like the chase? The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't want to be a part of that at all.

I walked down the street, past the bricked houses and through the small tunnel to town. It wasn't far away and I fancied looking in the shops. It would distract me for a few hours at a least. I hoped.

"Cathy!" I heard my name being called. I turned to the noise and saw the small red head bounding up to me. "Oh my god, I knew it was you!" She gushed.

"Danni?" I looked to her and gasped. Danni and I had been the best of friends in school. She was a natural brunette but had always dyed her head red. She stood out and I was always envious of how confident and sassy she was.

"Girl, you came back!" She pulled me in to a hug and I relished in her touch. She had always been there for me when things got tough. I cried for days when I knew I would have to leave her, it was so hard to leave your best friend at home especially as a teenager and in the middle of growing up. "I thought you would never come back."

"I'm so sorry it took me this long." I stated. I had promised to come back and see her every summer; I didn't, not once. I wanted to see her and it wasn't because I didn't have money to do it, my mother married a rich man who said he'd give it to me if needed. I didn't want that but most of all I didn't want to come home. If I did I'd never want to go back again. I had never liked good byes, they broke me. Doing it more than once was just too much.

"That's okay." She cuddled me closer. The tears were so close to falling. Danni had meant so much to me in the past, I was so happy to have seen her. "Want to grab a coffee with me?" She asked. I smiled.

"That would be nice." I replied. She let me go and linked her arm through mine before whisking me away to the small coffee shop at the end of the street.

You could smell the coffee before entering and once I did I felt right at home. Coffee was my lifeline.

"Go and sit down, I'll order." Danni stated. I looked to her.

"Do you want to ask me what I want?" I asked, her eyes twinkled.

"I know what you want."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I remembered." She smiled before turning and ordering our drinks. I smiled her way. She always had a good memory. I thought it was nice that she had remembered so easily.

I walked over to the small booth near the window and sat. It wasn't long before Danni came over with our drinks in hand. She put the cups onto the table.

"So, how have you been?" She asked as she took a sip.

"Good. Australia was nice but it's better to be back." I told her. "You've grown up so much." I stated. Her hair was still red but the puppy fat around her face had fallen and her hair had grown long.

"I'm twenty two, darling, of course I have." She winked my way and I laughed in reply. I couldn't believe we hadn't seen each other for five years. It had been so long yet it felt like we had never been apart at all.

"What happened when I left?" I was curious.

"Nothing really. I graduated high school, I did an apprenticeship and then was offered a job, it's good, it pays the bills."

"So no university?" I asked. She shook her head. "Where do you live?"

"In one of the flats currently on my own." She rolled her eyes. "My flat mate left me, it's lonely up there."

"I can imagine. I'm bunking in with my father at the moment."

"Ahhh, Glenn."

"You kept in touch?" I was shocked. Glenn and Danni had always gotten along and even with my mother. After they had split up I hadn't expected my mother to move half way across the world and to take me with her but when it happened my mother had also lost touch with her.

"We did. Not always but I checked up on you as much as I could." She smiled. Guilt flew through out my body. I hadn't kept in touch with her at all once I had moved. It must have hurt her to know that yet she wasn't angry at all.

"Dan-"

"I know what you're going to say." She laughed. "Stop looking so guilty. You're back now, that's all that matters just don't go pissing off again or I will be mad for real."

"You haven't changed." I stated with a smile. She put down her now empty cup.

"I'll kick your ass still even with five years apart, you know that." I laughed.

"I didn't have a doubt." I replied. "But I'm serious, I hope you forgive me for what I did."

"You know what?" She leaned forward. "Come clubbing with me and I'll call it quits."

"Really?"

"Really. We've missed too much time together, let's go clubbing." I smiled with excitement. We had missed so much and I was excited to start getting back into the swing of things.

"Yeah, let's do it."

~

"Which one?" I held up a small black dress with a low neck line and a small backless, silver dress. Danni sat on my bed with her chosen outfit already in her arms.

"The silver, definitely." She nodded. I approved. It was short, backless and extremely flattering. I took my silver heels and laid them beside the bed.

Danni and I had shopped together and then decided to come home and get ready for tonight. I couldn't help but be extremely excited. I obviously went clubbing back in Australia but it wasn't with Danni and that added to the whole excitement.

My father was still in work so Danni and I had the house to ourselves to get ready. It was already coming to six o'clock in the evening. I wondered when he would finish tonight, I hoped it wasn't late. He already worked so much. I left him a text before I started to get ready.

Danni had used her skills on me until I looked entirely different. My eyes stood out, my skin looked highlighted and my features popped. Danni curled my hair lightly until the dark strands framed my face.

"You look smoking." She stated. I beamed her way. If only Nick could see me now. I hoped I would be able to make him crazy.

"So do you." Her straight hair went past her shoulders and down. Her black dress really showed off her curvy figure. She looked great.

"I haven't told you but those tattoos really look good on you." Danni hadn't seen me with tattoos as I had left before I was legal to get them. "I think I want one."

"You know where to go." I replied. "I'll give you mates rates." She laughed in reply.

We grabbed our things before making our way down stairs. Just as we did, Glenn came through the door. He arched his brow our way just as he came through the door and spotted us.

"Danni?" He questioned and squinted in the dark. He turned on the light and beamed her way once he knew for definite it was her. "Come here." He held his arms out and she went barrelling into them.

Danni had spent so much time with me when we were kids. Danni never had a dad as he died when she was young so Glenn was her only father figure.

"Glenn!" She beamed.

"What a shock to see you here so soon."

"We bumped into each other earlier." I replied.

"And where are you both off to?" Danni came back to stand by me.

"Clubbing." Dad smiled in reply.

"Well, I hope you both enjoy. Be safe, be careful, don't smoke and don't do-"

"Dad, I get it." I lifted my hand up to stop him. "I'm twenty two, not twelve."

"As if I'd let you clubbing at twelve years of age." He rolled his eyes. He took off his shoes and made his way in to the living room. "I think I'm going to order take out. Want any?"

"No, we're going to go now." I replied.

"Okay, have fun, kids." His eyes twinkled. I laughed before we both made our way to the door.

The taxi was already parked on the curb and we ran over to it to get out of the cold. It was stupid of us really wear dresses in this weather.

It didn't take long, only around ten minutes, until we were at one of the hottest night clubs in town. I could hear the music even before we had gotten inside. I was pumped already. I loved dancing, I couldn't wait to get in there.

"Lets go, girl." We both barrelled out of the taxi and were granted access into the club almost straight away.

The floor vibrated as the music pumped from the stereo. The place was dark but it was lit up with the lights circling the dance floor. The bar was illuminated blue so we couldn't miss it. We made our way over to it and ordered the strongest drink on the menu.

"To us!" Danni shouted over the music as she picked up her shot glass. We clinked and began to drink. I grimaced at the taste but welcomed the burn.

"Lets dance." I said to her as I pulled her along. She dumped her empty glass on the side and followed me as she laughed.

The music was so loud it was so easy to lose yourself in the crowd and dance. I let the music take me.

Danni and I danced and drank for hours until we were too drunk to stand up straight.

"I feel great." I slurred her way. She smiled and we made our way to a free table. I needed to sit down, my heels were killing me and the room was slightly spinning.

I let out a breath of relief once I had sat down. I took off my heels straight away and tried to rub the ache away. Heels were a death trap, I was sure of it.

"Woah, he's hot." Danni slurred as she pointed over to a man. I laughed but once I had spotted who she was pointing to, the smile on my face left me.

"Shit." I breathed. Nick was over the other end of the room sat down on one of the tables. Beside him was a big busted blonde. Double shit. Anger flared through my body as I saw him leaning over her. The alcohol wasn't helping. I stood up and wobbled.

"I'll be back in a minute." I stated before rushing over. Danni murmured her protest but I didn't have chance to hear it. The blood was rushing through my ears. How dare he? He said he had wanted me earlier and now he was all over somebody else. She was going to get played if I didn't stop it now. What woman would want to get played. Certainly not me, that's for sure.

The walk over felt like it had taken ages. I had taken my heels off so not getting studded by somebody else's was harder than it looked as I stormed through the dance floor.

As if he could feel me, Nick's head turned and his eyes locked with mine. I faltered but picked my speed back up as I stormed over to him. My body was on hyper aware.

"Nick." I slurred. "I think you're extremely childish." I hiccuped but was too drunk to be embarrassed about it.

The woman latching on to his arm narrowed her eyes my way.

"I would get away from him and quickly too, he's going to play you, you know." I stated her way.

"I'll do what I like, thank you." She replied over the music and smirked. My anger grew.

"Nick." I looked over at his stormy eyes. "I need to talk to you." Without his reply I took hold of his hand and pulled. He stood up with me. The blonde protested but I didn't care. Nick took hold of my hand and pulled me outside of the door at the side of the building.

The air had gotten colder and I shivered as he walked briskly infront of me. He took me over to the side of the building where it was almost dark.

"What are you doing, Cathy?" He asked. I could feel the tension radiating off of his body.

"Clubbing." I stated back childishly. Nick sighed.

"Are you trying to ruin my night?" I snickered.

"I don't even want to be a part of your night. You're disgusting." I spat. "I hate people like you, you think you can have any girl you want but the truth is, Nick, nobody takes you seriously, you're a disgusting, horrible-" I was suddenly slammed up against the wall. I gasped as my back touched the cold and rough wall behind me.

"Don't say things you don't mean, Angel." He whispered venomously into my ear. "What do you want, hmm? Do you want my attention?" I shivered at his contact. I gulped.

"Get off me. I don't want anything from you." My voice sounded weak even to me.

"I've really angered you haven't I? What can I do to make it up to you?" He smirked against my neck and I used my hands to try and push him off of me. I wasn't going to be taken as a joke.

"Get the fuck off me, that's what."

"Cathy, you're turning me on." He stated. "I've never seen you this angry."

"You haven't seen nothing yet, Angel." I spat the word out. He took my hands and held them up against the wall. The breath left my throat in a rush.

"Enough." His voice was like a whip. It broke through the air and I stopped in his grip and stopped struggling. I huffed and puffed as he held me against the wall. My skin felt alive. "What the fuck's going on?"

"I don't know." I let my head fall forward. The drink was getting to me more now I was outside. My anger left me in a rush. "You can go back inside with your blonde."

"I don't want to go back inside with her. What's your problem, Cathy?"

"There isn't a problem." I had made a fuss over nothing. Nick could fuck who ever he wanted to fuck even if I didn't think it was right. Jealousy stabbed through me selfishly. I hardly knew the guy, I didn't have some stupid pretend hold on him.

"You've really wound me up tonight, Angel." His body was restrained through his shirt. He looked so handsome in a white button up shirt and black jeans. He smelt so good too.

"Good." I huffed. Feeling vulnerable I crossed my arms over my chest. I knew I looked like a defiant child. This is what drink did to me.

"Fuck, Cathy." He whispered before chucking two hands into his hair. I watched him and my body reacted the only way it could in the state I was in. I wanted to put my fingers deep in his hair, my tongue deep in his mouth. God, I wanted it all. "You have no idea how-"

Before he could reply I grabbed his head so hard and pulled it straight down until his lips were on mine. He gasped but I swallowed it as soon as I opened my mouth against his. His tongue was so strong yet gentle and it dominated me almost straight away. He pushed me roughly back up against the wall until I had no room to breathe. I pulled his hair, I yanked his top and kissed him so hard it hurt.

"I'm taking you home." He growled. "Say good bye to your friend, we're going."

"She can't go home on her own." I gasped. "Wait, how did you know I was with my friend?"

"Because I've been watching you all night." His eyes were the darkest they had ever been. He wasn't playful anymore, he was ready to mate, ready for everything I could give him. "I'll take your friend home on the way back. I'm taking you home and that's that, Cathy, go and get your stuff and your friend." I looked to him with wild eyes, panic only starting to set in. I didn't think I would cave so soon. "Now."

"Nick-"

"I need to have you or so God help me I will go insane."

"You're so dramatic." He looked down at me.

"Don't play games with me, Angel, you won't win, believe me."

"Who said I was playing games?"

"Look, I don't care what you do, as long as you end up in my bed tonight." He came forward until I could feel his breath again. "You like playing with Fire, Cathy, you knew you were going to get burnt."

_________

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