Chapter 21
NOAH
I hover by the salad bar, piling my plate with various veggies, pouring dressing all over it while strenuously breathing in and out to keep my cool.
She is…a firecracker. An absolute force to be reckoned with.
I won’t lie, her quick comebacks turned me the fuck on, had my dick twitching the whole time. But she has no idea what’s going on.
No idea how truly fucked I am.
It’s back, the infamous twisties—a goddamn omen of what will plague me for the rest of my life.
It’s as if your brain short circuits, causing every limb in your body to stop working.
Like a fish out of water. Once is torture, a second time?
Might as well order my casket. The cause?
Unknown… I think. I’m a little fuzzy on the details since waking up, thanks to my slight concussion.
My career is being flushed down the toilet, and watching my teammates continue without me rips me apart inside. It twists the knife just right.
Red thinks she can fix me—heck, finding out she was a snowboarder in her high school days took me by surprise, and my reaction is nothing I'm proud of, but she’ll be wasting her time.
And as much as I’ll thoroughly enjoy teasing her for it, I can’t force her to participate in my already tragic ending.
But I’d be lying if I said watching her snowboard beside me wouldn’t make my dick rock hard.
So, when she finally walks in for dinner, she barely looks my way, spotting Maya at her table, cozying up with my teammates.
But I know she senses my presence, then our eyes meet, her mouth set in a half frown.
She makes me want to brighten her mood, and I carry my plate over to their table, catching the thought and shoving it far down into the trenches of past heartbreaks.
No, I will not go there again. It’s too dangerous. My wounds are mostly healed, but to think of anyone else as a potential girlfriend is something I steer clear of, now and forever.
I sit next to Taylor while he tells a story about his latest escapades, but I zone out, my eyes observing every detail of Red’s face.
She listens to him yap, nodding her head at the right places, resting her chin on her hand, and biting her bottom lip, which makes me want to roll my eyes to the back of my head.
It drives me crazy.
I grip the underside of the table as she turns to Maya, catching her attention for a second, that measly moment holding her stare while she licks her bottom lip.
Cody joins in, innocent fucking Cody.
“Hey, Noah.” Cassy appears behind Red, her light-brown hair cascading down her shoulders, her eyes wide and delightful. A pretty girl, fit and smiley. But she’s no Red. She’s not a fire blazing through a rainstorm.
Red watches me like a hawk, waiting for me to respond.
I give her a smirk and look over her head and say, “Hey, what’s up, Cassy?”
“Are you busy later?” she asks, twirling a piece of her hair.
“For you? Never,” I flirt, knowing Red is trying her hardest not to watch our interaction. It does something to me, really gets me going, with her blatant jealousy. She wears it on her face, rolling her eyes like I’m the bane of her existence. Maybe Cassy can help fix my issue.
“Awesome! I’ll meet you in the main building by the fireplace.” She saunters off, and my eyes follow her ass for good measure until she’s out of sight.
Red scoffs and gets up from her seat. Maya follows in tow.
Mark throws a dinner roll at my head. “Are you trying to piss these girls off?”
It bounces off, rolling away. “Who? Me?” Now I’m fucking with him, getting a nice middle finger from his end.
Taylor leans back in his seat, patting his stomach. “Why don’t you ask Hannah out already and save us from this misery?”
“You know why I don’t date,” I remind him, pushing my uneaten salad aside. “But it is fun to mess with her. It’s like watching a ticking time bomb.”
“Except you’ve been eye fucking her since we arrived.” Taylor gives me a look, already disapproving of my actions. “And we,” he gestures to the three of them, “like Maya and Hannah.”
I hold my hands up in defense. “Never said I didn’t like them.” I mean, I do enjoy our tryst, and she’s not a bad person.
“You tease Hannah like you did Olivia before you started dating,” mumbles Cody, staring down at his phone.
My hands flex on instinct, trying my hardest not to snap at innocent Cody. “Then she fucked my best friend. I’m trying not to let history repeat itself.” Because with my luck, it’s sure to continue on an endless loop.
“How do you know? Have you taken a second to actually get to know her?” Cody’s defense for Hannah has me breathing hard through my nose, trying my best not to cause a scene or punch him. Why the hell am I getting so jealous?
“Why don’t you get to know her since you’re so ready to defend her?”
Taylor smacks the table, forcing Cody and me to recoil. “My god, man, you know Cody is dealing with his own shit.”
“Noah, are you okay?” Mark asks, his concern making me more heated.
“I’m out of here.” I’m out of my seat and already out the door before any of them can call after me.
Talking about my feelings with the guys is too much right now; I can’t even have a civil conversation without someone bringing up Red and assuming there's more beneath the surface. For me to admit out loud to being aroused by Red is a whole other issue, one I don’t think I’ll be able to act on.
She might stab me before I get too close.
And that also turns me on. I’m all over the place with my emotions; it’s ridiculous.
Time to find Cassy.