Chapter 17
Noa
I f Noa thought the streets had been busy during the day, the night was a whole new level.
Under the sheet of darkness that had descended, the city really did come alive.
It was even more electric. There was so much to focus on, from the food stalls that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere filling the air with the scent of grilled meats, to the chatter of locals who came out in droves.
The neon signs were even brighter now as they flashed in rapid succession, illuminating the night sky and busy streets.
You would think, with all that surrounded her, that Noa would have been able to find something, anything, else to focus on other than the words currently ringing in her ears.
Yes, miss . They bounced around in her head as she sat on a bench waiting for Alex to return with their food.
They’d been surrounded by people and yet, coming from his lips in his deep, silky tone, those innocent words sounded absolutely filthy.
She’d felt an unwanted fluttering low in her core as he’d said them, and Noa had to remind her traitorous body that she was closed for business, especially to him.
As Alex made his way back over to her, she had to make sure he couldn’t read the thoughts in her mind, so she fixed her scowl in place.
He held up his arms in a surrendering motion, ‘Hey, hey. I come in peace and bearing food. I just want to talk.’
‘Okay. But only because you brought food. And, apparently, I can’t get enough of that here.’
She started tucking into her delicious rotis the moment he passed them to her, the faintest moan slipping past her lips at how good they were.
‘Noted,’ he said, a slight smirk tipping up his lips in the corner.
He was annoyingly handsome. She didn’t want to notice, but it was impossible not to. That only made her human, though. It meant absolutely nothing.
‘So, why are you here?’ she asked, even though she knew the answer, and knew it would do nothing but trigger her anger towards him.
Considering her latest reaction to him, maybe that was a good thing.
‘I guess there’s no point lying to you. It seems I was busted from the moment I got on that plane.
Ryan was worried about you. I was planning a holiday to get a break in the near future anyway.
He only suggested that this could be a good opportunity for us to become reacquainted after all these years.
I agreed. And, well, you can guess the rest.’
‘So, you and my brother decided that I couldn’t look after myself, chose to go all caveman, and took away my freedom. You do realise you’ve taken feminism back like fifty years, right?’
‘I can see you’ve not lost that affinity for the dramatics of yours.’
Her simmering anger was about to bubble over at his assumption to know her after all these years.
Or, maybe, the indignation brewing was because he really did know her.
He always had. And admitting that threatened to open a whole other can of worms that she really wasn’t ready for.
Whatever the cause, it had her ready to bite back, but before she could do so, he continued.
‘I didn’t realise my presence would feel so stifling for you, Noa.
I want to make sure you’re safe, yes, but that’s as far as it goes.
You can still do you. And if doing you means including me in anyway on your journey, then I’ll take it.
I don’t see why we can’t be friends again. Unless you really do hate me.’
‘Hate is a strong word,’ Noa replied. ‘Dislike is more like it. I guess, after our history, I didn’t expect to come home and have you ignore my very existence when it suited you one minute and then have you demand entry on an important experience to me in the next.’
‘I’m not demanding anything of you Noa. I know better than that by now. I’m simply here and asking you if you’d like some company along the way. The choice is always yours.’
She hated how reasonable he was being in that moment. How was she supposed to stay mad when he did that. Maybe he had gone about this all wrong, but he was being considerate now, wasn’t he?
Interrupting her thoughts, he added, ‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for ignoring you. I didn’t know how to handle things with you and your brother and, turns out, I handled it wrong.’
‘You don’t say,’ she mocked, before turning serious. ‘We are both adults, Alex. What happened between us is in the past, distant history and meant nothing. I think we can both agree on that. We don’t have to walk on eggshells around each other, and we certainly don’t have to ignore each other.’
Alex just nodded.
He let her sit in silence as they finished their food.
A pack of street dogs raced passed them, one tripping and falling over the other.
Noa felt her lips turn up at the sides, thinking about her and Alex’s earlier encounter and how easy it would be to bait him right now.
She chanced a glance at him from the corner of her eye to see if he, too, had noticed the same thing.
But his eyes were focused on her, a curious expression on his face.
It caught her off guard and she thought about what he had said about a truce.
She knew she should take it. Harbouring hate and anger did nothing for anybody, and he was right about it only finding a way to ruin her trip.
He was here now, and he wasn’t the worst company in the world.
However, she thought back to the diabolical plan Lola had cooked up to mess with him, and the idea sounded far too good not to.
Alex and her brother had spent most their childhood messing with her, whether that meant chasing away boyfriends or playing boyish pranks.
Maybe now it was time for payback. After all, she’d spent too long making someone else the priority, shrinking her own wants and needs for Lucas.
She was done doing that. And if that meant showing Alex that she meant business, and was not to be tested, then she was here for it.
The idea also sounded like fun, and she needed some of that. That’s what this trip was about after all. So, maybe Alex being here didn’t have to be the end of the world, after all.
Her mind made up, she finally responded, ‘I’ll agree to your truce.’
He looked up at her, shock clear on his face for a minute, before a smile took over his face and he beamed like he had won the World Cup, a smile that made his amber eyes shine brightly.
Oh Alex, if only you knew what I have planned for you , she thought.
She was about to make his platonic bodyguard duties harder than he’d ever imagined.
He was a man, after all, and watching him squirm might even be the highlight of her trip.
For the rest of the night, they chatted about Noa’s travel plans.
Alex was already aware she was leaving for Koh Tao tomorrow and, to no surprise, had already booked his ferry and hostel.
Had this been the reason Ryan had shown so much interest in her trip?
She was shocked at how sneaky her older brother could be when he wanted to be, and she made a mental note to make sure he got his own revenge when she arrived home.
Maybe she’d set Tes on him. She could be like the Tasmanian Devil when she wanted to be, and Ryan would soon be sorry.
Since arriving, Noa had made plans with Lola to head to Krabi after Koh Tao, and then the Phi Phi Islands, before finishing off Thailand in Phuket.
Noa agreed that Alex was welcome to join them if he promised to keep his overprotective tendencies on a leash.
Ryan had made it perfectly clear that he was worried about ‘men taking advantage’ before she left, like she wasn’t a grown woman and a sexual being in her own right.
So, she knew that she needed to set some boundaries seeing as he was the one to have sent Alex here and began to name her terms.
‘Whatever you thought you came here to do… forget it. You want to be my friend and be included in our plans? Great. But, if you came to cover me in bubble wrap and scare off any man that looks my way, then go ahead and get back on that flight because this is my hot girl holiday or whatever. Actually, forget I called it that. It sounded way less cringe when Tes said it. It’s my single girl era or whatever, and I’m going to do it right. ’
She was rambling, but Alex didn’t interrupt her, though she couldn’t miss how his teeth ground together. She knew what she was demanding of him went against his every instinct, but she wasn’t about to give him a free pass to derail her entire trip.
‘Anyway,’ she continued. ‘I’m going to be doing what every single girl does when travelling the world…whatever I want, whenever I want. And, maybe, even whoever I want. I’m here to figure things out for myself. Without any intervention from you.’
Noa jutted her chin in defiance. She was sure she was coming across as a stubborn brat, but she couldn’t leave any question as to how this trip was and wasn’t going to go. This was her chance at absolute freedom, and he needed to either get on board or get the hell out. Simple.
‘So, do you agree to my terms?’
Alex’ eyes widened, flashing dark at the edges.
She was sure she saw anger, or maybe jealousy, flair in them for a moment before he caught himself and returned to his look of indifference.
His features were controlled and his expression even a little cold, a stark contrast to how he had looked at her during their earlier conversation.
But he just nodded, his lips pressed in a hard line, like he was trying to bite his tongue as he did. A cruel sense of satisfaction swept through her. She felt like she’d won a whole damn war. And if pushing Alex’s buttons felt like this, she knew she was going to enjoy her new mission already.