Free Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young

relationship with the opposite sex. But I can’t. It’s pathetic. But at least I’m not pathetic enough to moan about it.’
    ‘It’s not pathetic,’ he snapped, his eyes flashing. ‘Liv, you’ve been through a lot. You can’t expect to be normal. And to hell with normal. Normal’s boring. And you, babe, are anything but boring.’
    I smiled weakly, grateful that he was trying to cheer me up, but not really feeling cheered up.
    ‘And this guy?’ Nate continued gruffly. ‘This guy at the library. You like him?’
    Nodding, I dropped my head to my hands and groaned at my crappy situation. ‘Yeah, I like him.’
    Nate contemplated this, and when it appeared he wasn’t going to say anything, I lifted my head from my hands and stared at him questioningly. He smirked at me.
    ‘What?’
    ‘You have next to no experience, and I have too much.’
    My mouth twisted with annoyance. ‘It’s not really a good time to brag about that shit, Nathaniel.’
    He grinned at me. ‘I’m not bragging. I’m helping.’
    ‘Helping?’
    ‘Helping you.’
    ‘Helping me how?’
    ‘Helping you get laid.’
    My cheeks grew even hotter. ‘Uh … what?’
    Appearing quite happy with himself, Nate leaned back against the counter, crossing one ankle over the other and his arms across his chest. ‘I know sex. You don’t. I’m going to teach you.’
    Feeling a flush of …
something
… I blushed to my roots. ‘How are … How does that …’
    ‘First we work on your confidence. Next we work on your flirting. I’ll get you to a point where you feel confident enough to approach this guy you like and ask him out.’
    My heart was racing at the thought. ‘I don’t think you understand the magnitude of my ineptitude when it comes to men.’
    ‘Well, that’s the wrong atti
tude
to start with.’ He shook his head and leaned, palms down, on the counter, his face ducking so our noses were only inches apart. ‘I may not do flowers, hearts, and all that shit with women, but you’re my friend, and I consider myself the kind of person a friend can always turn to. Friends are important to me, Liv. And last night a friend cried in my arms and admitted she was unhappy.’ He brushed my cheekaffectionately. ‘You deserve happiness, babe. What’s the harm in letting me help you try to obtain it?’
    ‘Nate,’ I whispered hoarsely, my throat clogged with emotion. That was so effing nice I was seconds from bursting into big goofy tears.
    ‘We’ll take it step by step. We’ll start off by trying to work out why you don’t feel confident enough to talk to men you’re attracted to.’
    I nodded, and then winced when the movement caused a sharp streak of pain through my skull. ‘But not today, right? Because I might puke on you.’
    He grinned and straightened to his full height. ‘Sexy. But no. Be ready, though.’ He winked at me as he grabbed his jacket and readied to leave. ‘Lessons start tomorrow.’
    My mind was whirring with the turn the conversation had taken, so it wasn’t until he was almost walking out the door that I realized I hadn’t acknowledged what he was offering.
    ‘Nate.’
    He stopped, his hand on the door handle. ‘Aye?’
    My smile was slow but filled with appreciation. ‘Thanks.’
    Nate grinned and yanked the door open. ‘Anything for you, babe.’
    All throughout work I’d been a jittery mess, playing off my absentminded clumsiness as a result of day two of my epic hangover. Angus was sympathetic and let mespend most of the day in the back office doing quiet admin work, but that still didn’t stop me from messing up, and sooner rather than later, his sympathy waned. When adding html to the library Web site, I’d advertised our new student pods incorrectly. We already had pods on the first floor where large groups could sit in a booth and use the computer for working together on projects and tutorials. Additional pods had been set up on the second floor, and these accommodated fewer people. This