Natalie
I'm sitting inside Noah's car with a blanket wrapped around me as we drive past the city light. My heart feels heavy, like it's been replaced with a rock that's now weighing me down.
"I will probably still marry Alaric, but... He better apologize for not being here, or do you think I'm silly for being angry over this?" I sigh while looking out through the window. "I can't tell anymore..."
Noah glances at me briefly, then focuses on the road again. His hand is on the stick, veiny and tanned with a watch on it. I sometimes suspect I have a hand fetish when it comes to Noah.
"No, I don't think you're being silly. You went through something traumatic and lost the baby that you wanted. I also don't think anything that awakens emotions should just be brushed aside. You're hurting, and your husband should be here for you, Natalie."
I'm fighting tears again. Noah is so gentle when he speaks, and somehow, it starts to feel okay to cry in his presence. It removes the lead from my stomach, and that rock placed over my chest is but a memory.
I let the rain wash over me and speak in a weak voice. "I will come home to our name list and boy and girl rooms brochures. We had pamphlets with toy advertisements on the kitchen table. I didn't want to know the gender, so I planned for both..."
I sink my teeth into my lower lip, unable to speak another word without it feeling like the end of the world. My eyes are so watery that I can't see through them. They are stinging, and every breath gives me the experience of my soul being ripped apart like paper.
I wanted this baby...
Without a word, Noah takes my hand in his.
His hand is warm, large, and manly. He squeezes my smaller one, and even though I'm sad, I'm not blind or dead.
Noah's hands have always been a turn-on for me. Then there are those thick arms inside his suit and the muscles straining every time he steers the wheel. Lord, I really need to stop finding sexy things about him.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Noah peeps at me before withdrawing his hand to slow down the car. I mourn the loss of his warmth, but we are right outside Alaric's empty house.
There are so many questions inside my head, though. Noah asking me if I wish for him to stay is shocking.
I wet my lips. "What about Emma?"
Noah smiles. "I wouldn't wake up Frank and Carmen at this hour. If you don't let me inside, I'm heading home to sleep alone."
I lift an eyebrow. "Not with Lexie?"
"She doesn't live with me," Noah says.
I'm still blankly staring at him. "But you assume Lexie would allow you to have a sleepover with your ex-girlfriend?"
Now his lips curl. "Is that what we were?"
My cheeks redden. "I don't know. What would you call it then?"
Noah smiles, and then he opens the car door. I expect the conversation to be over, but he opens my door with this thoughtful, mischievous expression that makes me think again.
Noah takes my hand in his, helping me out of the car with his blue-blue eyes on mine. "Lexie and I aren't that serious."
My heart is racing. "Does Lexie know that?"
My words earn me a laugh, and it's the best sound in the world. His eyes crinkle and that dimple is back on his cheek. "Touché."
"So you probably shouldn't stay."
I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince. Me or Noah. There should be a warning bell inside my head, a voice telling me I shouldn't invite him in, but I don't want to be alone.
Noah follows me to the door. "It's not cheating to spend a night watching Netflix on the couch with a friend, Natalie."
"Oh," I blush deeper. "I suppose you're right."
"Do you have any beer?"
"Lots, actually."
Noah smiles. "Do you have one to spare for a friend?"
I open the door with my keys. Noah seems to be waiting for me to invite him in, earning him a smile of surrender.
"Do you want to come inside, then?"
He grins down at me. "Gladly."
Noah's grin makes those butterflies come back, and I quickly lock the door behind us. We take off our shoes, and while Noah makes it to the living room, I enter the kitchen.
I open the fridge to take out a beer, realizing my heart is pounding.
Being alone with Noah awakens all kinds of emotions. My head is a chaotic mess, and I realize this is bad.
Noah is with Lexie, and I'm with Alaric. I'm getting married, and it's not like Noah is romantically interested in me. Noah would have made a flirtatious move ages ago, and the fact he hasn't is proof that he doesn't like me in that way.
"Do you mind if I borrow the shower?" Noah calls from the hallway, bringing me out of my reveries.
"Sure."
Noah is silent for a while. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I was just... Fetching you a beer."
Noah says nothing, and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding while closing the fridge. I expect Noah to already be in the shower, but I find him standing in the doorframe.
My lips part at the view. Noah is clad in boxer briefs, and one of Alaric's dark blue towels is thrown over his broad shoulder. I stand entirely still and ogle his body. I can't help myself.
It's only been a year, yet I had entirely forgotten about those rock-hard abs, his deep-set v, and those tattoos are new. They snake up Noah's side while a sexy-as-hell happy trail runs down into his grey boxer briefs.
The view got my mouth salivating. Alaric certainly looks nothing like this naked. I clench my legs together to fight my arousal, and Noah tilts his head, eyeing me with concern in his gaze.
He doesn't realize I'm checking him out, or maybe he knows exactly what he is doing to me. It would be a cheap yet working tactic to get me wrapped around his finger.
"Are you sure that you're alright?" Noah asks, and I catch a hint of a curl on his lips—the fucker knows precisely what he is doing. This is one of his cards, even though I wonder what he is trying to achieve.
"I'm fine," I dismiss his worry with a wave of my hand. "You head into the shower while I find something to watch on Netflix."
"Okay." Amusement lights up his features. "Also, I think you can put down that toy pamphlet. You've been fanning yourself with it for the last couple of seconds."
I stare at my hand—there is indeed a pamphlet from the table I must have grabbed without realizing it. Have I been fanning my face with it while talking to Noah?!
Oh-my-god, I know Noah is hot, but really?
What the fuck brain!
My eyes widen, and Noah chuckles before he walks away. To my surprise, he gives me a little wink when I'm faced with his backside. Damn Noah. He got swagger; hot guy swagger, and I'm left staring at his sexy bubble butt like a fool.