Chapter 10 #2
I’d barely taken two more awkward steps when Noah caught my elbow. His touch brought all those horrible tingles back to my skin, and I wrenched my arm away from him. “I’m not some damsel in distress.”
The corner of his lip twitched, as though he was holding back a smirk. I wasn’t sure the guy was capable of humor because his face remained markedly blank. He stared at me for several long seconds before he finally responded.
“I didn’t say you were. But you’ve got a long walk back to school if you don’t let me help you.”
I knew he was right. Limping all the way back through the woods by myself was going to take forever, and knowing my luck, I’d only fall over again.
I couldn’t bring myself to accept his help though.
Not when I already knew it was a bad idea for so many reasons.
Besides, there simply wasn’t enough room on the path home for him, his ego, and me.
“I’ll manage.” My ankle throbbed with pain in response, as if my body was protesting my decision.
Noah shrugged and stepped back, waving for me to proceed. I wasn’t sure what his game was, but I wasn’t going to wait around to find out. I nodded and began to gingerly walk back along the dirt path.
I expected Noah to jog off again, now that he’d begrudgingly offered to help and I’d refused. But instead, he followed after me. I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck as I took each painful step. Was he really going to trail me all the way back to school?
“Are you sure your surname is Grace?” he asked as we walked.
I didn’t answer because I was trying to ignore him, but his question had me curious.
Why would I lie about my surname? I was surprised he even knew what it was.
I hoped he wasn’t asking because he somehow knew about Matthew.
I had a feeling Noah would only judge me if he knew the whole messy truth behind how I’d come to be at Weybridge Academy, and surely, I’d endured enough pain and embarrassment for one morning.
Thankfully, Noah continued before I could begin to truly worry. “Because you’re not exactly the most graceful person I’ve met,” he said. “I would have thought Klutz or Crash would be more appropriate …”
Despite my best attempts to pretend Noah wasn’t there, I couldn’t stop myself from turning on him. “What are you doing?”
“Walking back to school. Same as you.”
“No, you’re following me, and you keep talking.” I was doing a terrible job of pretending he wasn’t there.
“It’s called conversation. And I’m not following you. We just happen to be going in the same direction.”
“What? And you normally walk this slowly?”
“Do you normally walk this slowly?” he shot back. “You’re clearly struggling on that ankle.”
“I told you I’m fine. I’m just taking my time,” I lied. “You’re the one creepily stalking behind me.”
He let out a frustrated sigh and moved closer to me. Too close. He didn’t stop until he was just a hairsbreadth away.
“You know, most girls would just accept my help,” he said as I looked up at him. The vibrant green of his eyes had dimmed slightly, and he was looking at me as though he was trying to figure me out. He probably thought I had a few screws loose.
“I’m not most girls.”
“I can see that, Crash.”
I scowled at him, thoroughly disliking the nickname. I’d only crashed into him one time. And, yes, I wasn’t the most graceful person … Okay, I was clumsy and cumbersome at the best of times, but did he really have to call me Crash?
That small hint of a smile dared to pull at the corner of his lips again. It eluded me as his mouth remained a firm line. “Are you really so stubborn though?”
“I’m not stubborn.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “Said the girl who’s ignoring all logic just to prove a point.”
“I’m not ignoring all logic.” I spoke through gritted teeth. “I just don’t need help from someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” Surprise lit Noah’s eyes, but they quickly started to narrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious.”
“Pretend it isn’t,” he growled. “Enlighten me.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t need help from a self-absorbed, egotistical man-child who thinks the whole world revolves around him just because a few girls think he’s attractive. I was told to stay away from you, and it didn’t take me long to realize why.”
I didn’t think his expression could darken any further. Apparently, I was wrong.
“Who told you to stay away from me?” he asked. He seemed far more interested in the answer than addressing all the other insults I’d thrown at him. It was like he hadn’t even heard them.
“Someone who clearly knew what they were talking about.”
Noah exhaled, and I got the impression I was seriously trying his patience.
“Whatever. Look, you’re going to hurt yourself even more if you don’t let me help you.
I think you’re going to have to defy whoever this person was that warned you against me if you want to get back to school in one piece.
Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation? ”
I kind of thought that keeping my distance from Noah was an act of self-preservation because being close to a guy like him could only end in trouble.
I could hardly admit that to him, especially not with his words crawling their way under my skin.
I just wanted to get back to my room to ice my ankle, and arguing with him was clearly getting me nowhere.
He seemed persistent enough that he’d probably follow me all the way back to the dorms if I didn’t accept his help, so I finally caved.
“Okay, fine, you win. My ankle is killing me, and I could use your help getting back to school.”
“Finally,” he grumbled, but his eyes flashed with delight. I might have been frustrating him, but I could see how much he enjoyed being right. Accepting his help was hard enough to stomach without the knowledge I was also feeding that ego of his.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I quickly added. “You’re not carrying me, nobody can know this happened, and once we get back, we return to being strangers.”
“You really don’t want people to know I helped you?”
“Obviously. So, if we could make this quick, that would be great.”
He started to frown, and his expression grew puzzled.
He was staring at me like he thought I was some kind of lab experiment gone wrong.
Like he couldn’t quite decide what to make of me.
My cheeks were warming under his scrutiny, and I quickly scrambled for something to say so he’d stop looking at me that way.
“Well, are you helping, or am I going to keep on hobbling?”
It took him a second for the words to register, and he glanced down at my ankle and nodded.
“Right, your ankle.” He moved closer to me, and my stomach dropped as he looked into my eyes.
He seemed so much bigger when he was standing right beside me, and my breath felt suddenly shallow as I realized I was going to have to touch him again.
Without his shirt, he had so much exposed skin, and nerves shot through me.
Noah hesitated for a moment, and I wondered if he felt as uncertain as I did, but then he cleared his throat and reached out to me. He took my arm and looped it around his shoulder before gently resting his hand on my back.
His skin was hot to the touch, and his muscles felt hard and strong as he supported me.
He smelled far too good for a guy who’d just been working out, and I wished I could stop breathing so I wasn’t constantly hit by the musky scent of his deodorant.
They did not make teenage boys like this back home, and I immediately regretted agreeing to let him help.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I muttered as we set off.
Thankfully, Noah remained silent as we walked, only speaking up when it looked as though I was about to trip again.
It happened far more frequently than I would have liked.
I really couldn’t help it. It was hard to pay attention to where we were walking.
My mind kept drifting to the strong arm supporting me, and I couldn’t stop glancing at how chiseled Noah’s abs were.
They didn’t look real, and I kept wondering if perhaps it was impossible not to be conceited when you looked that way.
It was a welcome relief when we reached the edge of the woods and the school appeared before us.
I’d been itching to get some distance from Noah since the moment he wrapped his arm around me, but something stopped me from shrugging out of his grasp the first chance I got.
Instead, I waited until we were closer to my dorm before I eased my arm from over his shoulders.
I quickly glanced around to make sure no one had noticed us together.
Thankfully, it was still early enough that everyone was still in bed.
The fewer people who saw Noah holding me, the better.
“You really aren’t like everyone else here,” Noah said as he stepped back from me.
I was already well aware of just how different I was from the kids at Weybridge, and I hardly needed reminding of that fact when I was constantly surrounded by such obvious wealth.
There was no way Noah could know about my humble background, so I wasn’t really sure what he meant.
It was hard to decipher from his expression whether he was complimenting me or not. I had to assume the latter.
“If you’re saying I’m different because I don’t think you’re God’s gift to the girls at Weybridge Academy, then you’d be correct,” I replied.
He slowly lifted his eyebrows. “Is that how you thank the guy who rescued you?”
“Rescued? I wouldn’t have needed your help in the first place if you hadn’t collided with me.”
“I guess we’ll agree to disagree on that one.” He slowly shook his head, but he didn’t seem all that annoyed by my comment. “You should probably get the school nurse to take a look at your ankle.”
“It’ll be okay once I rest it.”
A small smile curved the corner of his lips. “And you said you’re not stubborn.”
“I’m not—”
“Do you need help getting to your room?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“Of course, you will.” He seemed amused by my answer more than anything.
“I guess I’ll see you around, Noah.” I turned and started toward the dorm.
“You can count on it, Isobel.” His words sounded like a promise and sent a thrill down the back of my spine.
I frowned as I opened the door and entered the dorm. Noah was still standing where I’d left him staring after me. There was concern in his eyes, but as I looked back, it quickly dissipated, making me wonder if it had been there at all.
He set off at a jog toward his own dorm.
Watching him leave felt like waking from a dream.
What had happened in the woods didn’t seem real and left me feeling off-kilter.
Noah had been surprisingly persistent, and given everything I knew about him, I struggled to believe he’d actually bothered to help me.
He didn’t seem like the type to stick around long enough to see I was bluffing about my ankle being fine, but I figured he probably enjoyed playing the hero.
It had been a strange morning, but I was going to do my best to forget the accident ever happened.
I was going to forget how good Noah smelled and the way my skin tingled when we touched.
And I was definitely going to pretend I’d never been pressed up against Noah’s naked chest or had his arm wrapped around my waist as he held me close.
I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to erase those things from my mind, but I was going to find a way.
I didn’t need any annoying butterflies over a guy who probably wasn’t capable of loving anyone or anything more than himself.
It would be best if I kept my distance from him like my father wanted.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.