You Know You Love Me Read Free

were like the emeralds in the cufflinks her
     father wore with his tux when he went to the opera. Hes wearing your heart on his sleeve,
     she reminded herself, forgetting all about the hot dog. In the movie of her life, Nate
     would pick her up and carry her away to the bedroom and ravish her. But this was real
     life, unfortunately. I have to talk to you, Blair said. She held out her glass. Fill me
     up, first? Nate took her glass and Blair led him over to the marble-topped wet bar by the
     French doors that opened onto the dining room. Nate poured them each a tumbler full of
     scotch and then followed Blair across the living room once more. Hey, where are you two
     going? Chuck Bass asked as they walked by. He raised his eyebrows, leering at them
     suggestively. Blair rolled her eyes at Chuck and kept walking, drinking as she went. Nate
     followed her, ignoring Chuck completely. Chuck Bass, the oldest son of Misty and
     Bartholomew Bass, was handsome, aftershave-commercial handsome. In fact, hed starred in a
     British Drakkar Noir commercial, much to his parents public dismay and secret pride. Chuck
     was also the horniest boy in Blair and Nates group of friends. Once, at a party in ninth
     grade, Chuck had hidden in a guest bedroom closet for two hours, waiting to crawl into bed
     with Kati Farkas, who was so drunk she kept throwing up in her sleep. Chuck didnt even
     mind. He just got in bed with her. He was completely unshakeable when it came to girls.
     The only way to deal with a guy like Chuck is to laugh in his face, which is exactly what
     all the girls who knew him did. In other circles, Chuck might have been banished as a
     slimeball of the highest order, but these families had been friends for generations. Chuck
     was a Bass, and so they were stuck with him. They had even gotten used to his gold
     monogrammed pinky ring, his trademark navy blue monogrammed cashmere scarf, and the copies
     of his headshot, which littered his parents many houses and apartments and spilled
    out of his locker at the Riverside Preparatory School for Boys. Dont forget to use
     protection, Chuck called, raising his glass at Blair and Nate as they turned down the
     long, red-carpeted hallway to Blairs bedroom. Blair grasped the glass doorknob and turned
     it, surprising her Russian Blue cat, Kitty Minky, who was curled up on the red silk
     bedspread. Blair paused at the threshold and leaned back against Nate, pressing her body
     into his. She reached down to take his hand. At that moment, Nates hopes perked up. Blair
     was acting sort of sultryandsexyandcoulditbe . . .somethingwasaboutto happen?
     Blair squeezed Nates hand and pulled him into the room. They stumbled over each other,
     falling toward the bed, and spilling their drinks on the mohair rug. Blair giggled; the
     scotch shed pounded had gone right to her head. Im about to have sex with Nate, she
     thought giddily. And then theyd both graduate in June and go to Yale in the fall and have
     a huge wedding four years later and find a beautiful apartment on Park Avenue and decorate
     the whole thing in velvet, silk, and fur and have sex in every room on a rotating basis.
     Suddenly Blairs mothers voice rang out, loud and clear, down the hallway. Serena van der
     Woodsen! What a lovely surprise! Nate dropped Blairs hand and straightened up like a
     soldier called to attention. Blair sat down hard on the end of her bed, put her drink on
     the floor, and grasped the bedspread in tight, white- knuckled fists. She looked up at
     Nate. But Nate was already turning to go, striding back down the hall to see if it could
     possibly be true. Had Serena van der Woodsen really come back? The movie of Blairs life
     had taken a sudden, tragic turn. Blair clutched her stomach, ravenous again. She should
     have gone for the hot dog after all.
    Hello, hello, hello! Blairs mother crowed, kissing the smooth, hollow cheeks of each van
     der Woodsen. Kiss, kiss,