---
The message came through a second later.
Nate: Back garden. Behind the abandoned greenhouse. Come alone.
Lucy’s heart thundered in her chest.
She stood by the window, looking out at the dark stretch beyond the dorm buildings. She knew the place—most students avoided the old greenhouse, claiming it was haunted or something ridiculous. But Lucy wasn’t scared of ghosts.
She was scared of herself.
Because even after everything, she still wanted to see him.
She grabbed her hoodie, slid into her sneakers, and crept out of the dorm without a sound. The air was crisp, the moon hanging low and bright above the campus. Every step she took into the shadows of the garden felt like stepping into something forbidden.
Then she saw him.
Nate.
Leaning against the rusted frame of the greenhouse, dressed in black, cigarette burning between his fingers, his jawline sharp in the moonlight.
“You came,” he said, his voice low.
“I shouldn’t have,” she replied.
“But you did.”
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate. “Why?”
Lucy hesitated. “I don’t know.”
Nate dropped the cigarette, crushed it under his boot, and stared at her like he was trying to read the parts of her she kept hidden.
“I told myself I wouldn’t touch you again,” he said, eyes darkening. “But then I remembered what your lips tasted like.”
He reached for her. She didn’t pull away.
“I told myself I’d forget you,” Lucy whispered. “But I can’t.”
That was all it took.
Their mouths crashed together, all heat and urgency, tongues tangling in a kiss that stripped them both bare. Nate’s hands gripped her hips, pulled her against him so tightly she could feel the tension in his body. Every part of him was hard—chiseled muscle, sharp desire, and raw restraint.
“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he rasped into her mouth. “Even when I try.”
“Then don’t,” she said, her voice trembling.
He growled low in his throat, backing her into the greenhouse. The door creaked open, and they stepped into darkness broken by moonlight streaming through broken glass panels.
Dust clung to the air. Vines twisted along the walls. But all Lucy noticed was the way Nate looked at her—like she was a secret he was desperate to uncover.
He peeled her hoodie off slowly, kissing her shoulder, her neck, the curve of her collarbone.
Her breath hitched. “Nate…”
“Tell me to stop,” he whispered again.
But she didn’t.
She didn’t want to.
His hands slipped under her tank top, brushing over her bare skin. Her n*****s peaked against the fabric, aching for his touch. She gasped as he lowered his mouth, tugging the fabric down with his teeth until her breasts were bare to the cold air—and to him.
He took one into his mouth, sucking gently, his tongue teasing her while his hand massaged the other. Lucy’s knees nearly buckled.
“I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you,” Nate growled. “Wanted to ruin that good-girl image. Wanted to hear you moan my name.”
She whimpered as he lifted her onto a dusty work table, sliding her leggings down and tossing them aside. Her panties followed, and suddenly, she was completely naked beneath him—open, vulnerable, and burning.
He dropped to his knees.
“Oh my god,” she whispered, clutching the edge of the table.
His tongue found her core in one perfect stroke.
Her hips bucked, fingers tangled in his hair as he devoured her, licking, sucking, circling her c**t until she couldn’t breathe. Her moans echoed off the glass walls. It was primal. Messy. Beautiful.
She came hard—legs shaking, voice breaking—as he growled into her heat, holding her down and pushing her over the edge.
But he wasn’t done.
He stood, licking his lips like a man who’d found something addictive.
“Still want me to stop?”
She shook her head, gasping.
His pants dropped to the ground. He was big. Thick. Hard.
Lucy swallowed.
He kissed her again, slow and soft this time. “You’re sure?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”
Nate positioned himself, teasing her entrance before sliding in inch by inch.
She cried out. He was huge, stretching her slowly, carefully.
“Relax,” he whispered against her lips, kissing away the tension. “Let me take care of you.”
And then he moved.
Every thrust was deep, controlled, perfect. Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist, holding onto his back as he drove into her again and again, building rhythm. Their bodies fit together like they were made for each other.
He picked up speed, and soon their moans filled the abandoned greenhouse, the sound of skin on skin echoing through the night.
Lucy clung to him, her nails digging into his shoulders, stars dancing behind her eyes as he slammed into her harder. Her second orgasm hit like a wave, dragging a scream from her lips.
Nate groaned, kissing her hungrily as he came too, spilling into her with one final, powerful thrust.
They stayed like that for a moment—foreheads touching, breathing ragged.
Then silence.
Intimate. Heavy.
Nate finally pulled out and helped her down, wrapping her in his hoodie as they sat together on the table.
She rested her head on his chest.
“Is this just s*x?” she asked softly.
He paused. “I don’t know what this is.”
Lucy closed her eyes.
Neither did she.
---
The next morning, Lucy woke up with a sore body, messy hair, and a heart full of confusion.
Nate was gone.
No text. No call.
Just like that, he vanished again.
Cassie raised an eyebrow when Lucy stumbled into the room. “Let me guess. Greenhouse?”
Lucy didn’t reply.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, girl,” Cassie said. “You think you’re falling in love. But trust me—Nate doesn’t do love. He does damage.”
Lucy opened her mouth to argue, but then…
Her phone buzzed.
A new message.
From an unknown number.
Unknown: You think you know Nate Walker?
Unknown: You don’t know anything.
Unknown: Stay away from him if you want to survive here.
Lucy’s blood turned cold.
> To be continued…