And because I am the literal worst at updating, I will thank you all for sticking with me and promise another update for next Saturday ❤️😊

© 2017 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

I Liked You Better On YouTube

9 || No Need To Be So Desperate

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Patrick Neili
Subscribers - Five million, two hundred thousand, and sixteen.

...

Six Months Earlier

"Have you heard this?" Hanna announced as she sashayed over to the couch, plopping herself down next to me and nearly knocking me over in the process.

I ignored her, ripping off another chunk of my bread and dunking it into the large vat of soup my mother had brought over for me. I'd never know how I'd managed to catch a cold in the dead of summer.

Guess life just likes to kick you in the ass sometimes.

"Nat," her voice rang in my ears again.

An earbud smashed itself into my ear, "why, Hanna?" I hissed at the feeling. "Dude, stop it." I batted at her hands, trying to pull the wire from out of my ear in the process.

"Listen!" She urged. "This is the guy I made out with in college."

"I thought you hated him," I said, sniffling through my words.

"Oh I do," she agreed emphatically. "But this song doesn't make my ears bleed. So obviously you've got to listen."

I rolled my eyes and sat back. Hanna wasn't about to give this one up.

The sound began to blare through the headphones, and despite my cold, I could definitely hear the music coming from Hanna's earbud. My face twisted up in distaste for only a second, and then, I heard it.

"This is Justin Bieber."

"But better!" Hanna's eyes lit up at the mention. "Trust me, in a week or two, you'll be obsessed with this guy."

I reached out and took her phone, letting my finger ghost over the screen, "what's this guys' name?"

"Patrick Neili," Hanna answered. "He's an ass, but an ass with a great face if you know what I mean."

Rolling over, I tried to pull on the thick red blanket Patrick had tossed onto my side of the bed the night before. Only, the idiot himself had started tugging on the other end.

"Patrick," I whimpered, allowing my eyes to flutter open.

I tossed my gaze to the side, my eyes meeting his sleeping form. His hair was ruffled from our equally rough night of sleep and his five o'clock shadow was setting-in in a rather awful manner.

To make matters worse, he still looked drunk... even if he was asleep.

"Hey idiot," I prodded, poking him in the shoulder.

Flipping over quickly, I was taken back by the feeling of his fingers as they gripped into the back of my thigh. He pulled me over, resting my leg over his torso and threading his other hand in my tangled hair.

He could still be asleep for all the hell I knew.

"Nat," he spoke up, his voice sounding a bit gravely from the night before. His breath still reeked of vodka but as he popped open one eye, I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the look on his face.  "No need to be so desperate."

I should have slapped him right then and there

"Patrick," I mocked him. "No need to look so chipper. You spent the night in Brooklyn, buddy."

He face twisted up in disgust.

"God you're as bad as Rich."

Patrick grunted into the satin pillowcase he'd forced upon me the day before. "Rich is a Jersey man."

"Then what's your excuse?" I huffed out an aggravated breath as I nestled myself further under the covers. Ignoring the fact that Patrick had the personality of a Donald Trump wanna-be and that he reeked of sweat and liquor, he was warm and I was freezing.

I hated New York in January. As many years as I'd lived here, I'd always hated it.

"It's grody," his voice was muffled by the pillow a second time, but it took everything in me not to burst out laughing.

"The whole of New York is grody, you wuss."

"Poser," Patrick sat up a bit, giving me a knowing look. He popped his eyebrows up suggestively before reeling me in closer. "You act all high and mighty with this 'I'm a New Yorker' bullshit. I'd bet if you spent the night at my place you'd be begging me never to take you back to this hell-hole you call Brooklyn."

I frowned, coiling back as his lips randomly ghosted against mine, the reason being his need to add some sort of dramatic effect.

"Is that a damn challenge?"

"You bet your ass it is," he hissed.

I let my head fall back against the pillow, watching as Patrick eyed my attire. It was an incredibly uncomfortable waiting for his eyes to meet mine again. It only got worse knowing that I wasn't exactly dressed for the warm weather - if you get what I mean.

A braless twenty three year old in a skimpy pair of shorts and a loose tank top sitting in bed with a shirtless twenty five year old pig of a YouTube star? That sounded like something I'd rather watch than be apart of.

"Do you accept the terms?" Patrick mused. "One night, my place. You won't want to go back."

"I accept the terms," I agreed with a sly grin. "But first you have to explain to me why the hell you made me traipse around to seven night clubs to find you last night."

"Didn't know you cared so much, Nat," he gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek before I quite literally gave him a purple-nurple. "What the actually hell!"

Patrick jumped back, finally dropping his hold on me before he fell onto the floor with a thud.

I took in a deep breath, smiling at my job well done before my phone buzzed under my pillow.

"Please god tell me that's not Rich."

I rolled my eyes and accepted the call.

"Natalie, your fake boyfriend's narcissistic manager refuses to quit calling and I'm about ready to go over and chop his ba-"

"Hanna," I interrupted. "What does he want at this hour?"

"It's like two in the afternoon. What timezone are you living in?"

"Hanna," I squeezed my eyes shut in pure agony.

"Right, sorry." She laughed. "He's been trying to call you guys in; wants to know what went down at the club and all that. Quite frankly, I want to get in on that deal. The tabloids are having a damn hay day with the story."

"My god." I shot up, taking in the sights as I watched Patrick slither to the far side of my bed before he propped himself up on the edge. "Tell him we'll be right in."

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So I lied last time, we get to find out where Patrick was and what happened in Chapter 10. Hope you guys are as excited as me! And who enjoyed the Patrick/Natalie moment and the bet?

I want to start off by apologizing - when I started this book and Tides I had every intention of updating on a seemingly regular basis. When Something Real started taking off in the summer I let everything else go - I felt like I owed it to my newer fans. Then I got carpal tunnel and (I may go further into the explanation on my blog) I recently found out I've gotten endometriosis - which basically means that my period (for all you girls out there) is the most horrifically painful thing that has ever existed. I'll be needing to start birth control here in a bit. With all my medical trouble and family stuff that's been going on I've forgotten what it felt like to write for fun.

So hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter, and will continue to enjoy as I come back to writing for this story.

The next update will Saturday December 16th!

Vote and comment when you can! I would honestly love to hear what you all thought

~Shay 📽📸