54. Dani
Noah’s gently combing his fingers through my hair. Just when I thought I couldn’t be more in love with him, he goes and does shit like braiding my hair.
I’m officially done for. How is this real life? I’m seriously living in a romance novel.
“Have you ever braided a woman’s hair before?”
“Nope, you’re the first.”
“I guess that makes me lucky, huh?”
He presses his lips up against my ear, whispering into it. His breath melds into my skin. “No. I’m the lucky one.”
He makes me breathless.
Noah Kaplan makes me lose my breath every single time he opens his mouth. I never know what to expect with him.
When he finishes the braid, he wraps a hair-tie around the end to close it off. His hands have a solid and delicate grip around my newly braided hair as I turn my head over my shoulder.
“I never answered your question earlier.”
“Remind me what my question was again.” He smirks.
“You asked me to be your girlfriend.”
“You realize you just said a statement.”
“Stop picking on my spelling and grammar imperfections. I never pick on yours.”
“That would be because I don’t have any.”
I elbow him in the stomach.
“Hey!” He clears his throat. “You want to know how you answered my question? You said eh.”
“For a smart guy, you can be pretty dumb sometimes.” I smile. “Of course, I’ll be your girlfriend.” I giggle, sticking my tongue partially out.
He laughs and scrunches his nose, grabbing my face and crash-landing his lips on mine. His hand softly tugs at the braid he made and his thumb runs along the edge of my jawline, tilting my head up.
When our lips release one another, I meet his gaze.
My body ignites into a plethora of flames which are about to implode and explode. Just from the way he’s staring into my eyes.
Blue represents confidence and sensitivity.
That’s how I feel when I look into Noah’s eyes. Confident because I know he’ll always be there for me no matter what. He’s sensitive and perceptive when it comes to my emotional needs.
Sometimes we have to do things that scare us because they have the possibility of turning into something incredible.
Take flowers for example.
They start out as nothing but a seed in the ground.
When they bloom, beautiful petals and green leaves overwhelm three of the five senses: sight, touch, and smell.
Love is a flower. It needs time to grow and evolve.
It may have taken me years to finally admit to myself how I feel about Noah, but I wouldn’t go back and do anything differently. This is how it was supposed to happen.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Noah snaps me out of my trance.
He believes he’s the lucky one and he’s not wrong about that. But, I’m lucky too. It’s unfortunate this all happened during tragic circumstances.
Ben always knows how to work his magic, even if he’s not physically here anymore.
If I’m able to distract Noah from his pain, it’s worth it. He’s worth it.
“A wise person once told me what I’m doing right now isn”t staring. It’s admiring the view in front of them.”
He places his index finger and thumb underneath his chin, looking like the human version of the thinking emoji. “I wonder who this incredibly smart and handsome guy is.”
I giggle like a bunch of middle school girls do when they’re gossiping about cute boys.
He pulls me into his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the top of my head. “Can we stay like this forever?”
My head is resting in the crook of his neck. “Hate to break it to you buddy, but we need to leave soon. Have you heard from your mom yet?”
“Not yet. The ringer on my phone is on, so you would’ve heard if she texted or called me.”
“Right.” His head leans down, lips inches away from meeting mine and my eyes search around the room. “Are you going to kiss me?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Stop thinking about it and just do it.”
“You know, you’d be a great salesperson for Nike.”
“Oh my God, you’re such a dumbass,” I say, grabbing his shirt and pulling him into me.
A question pops into my head, so I break our kiss. “Can I ask you something?”
“Right now?”
“Yes, because if I don’t ask it now, I’ll forget.”
“Shoot,” he says.
“Why didn’t you tell me about how you felt about me when we were in high school?”
“I debated it. More times than I could count. I knew you’d accuse me of trying to distract you from studying, so I could get a better grade than you. Or maybe I’m trying to mess with you. There was one thing I almost did because I had a lot of opportunities to do it.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“Grab you by the hand, take you into an empty classroom, push you up against a wall, and kiss the shit out of you.”
My body shifts, so I’m sitting in front of him, crisscrossing my legs.
God, I can’t even imagine how teenage Dani would’ve reacted to that. Actually, I can. She would’ve tried to push teenage Noah away, denying her feelings. But, she’d give in. Just like Adult Dani has, but it wouldn’t be such an easy feat.
Why am I speechless?
Noah licks his lips, making them glisten. “Are you okay over there?”
“Uh-huh. So…why didn’t you do that?”
“Why didn’t I do what?”
“The whole kissing the shit out of me thing.”
“It wasn’t just because of how I thought you’d react. It was also me. If there was a slight possibility of us starting something, I couldn’t risk losing you. So, I decided not to act on my feelings then. I’m really glad I didn’t.”
“You don’t regret waiting for me?” A cute frown grows on my face.
He shakes his head, pressing his lips together. “Never. I will always wait for you, Danielle Solomon. No matter how long it would take for us to make our way back to each other. We’re inevitable. You and me. Sound familiar?”
A small chuckle escapes my lips as I wave around my middle finger in front of his face.
He grabs my hand, yanking me on top of him.
Taken by surprise, I let out a gasp. My eyes close and a big smile grows on my face.
“It’s my turn to ask you a question now.”
“This isn”t a game, Noah.”
“None of this is a game to me, Princess.” He stares me down, his blue eyes hypnotizing the crap out of me. “Tell me the truth. Did you really hate me?”
“You were irritating, annoying, and full of yourself. But, no, I didn’t hate your guts if that’s what you’re asking me. You just drove me crazy. Guess that explains why we stopped talking to each other.”
“No, that explains why you stopped talking to me.” His lips quiver, pupils dilating.
“Yeah…I just couldn’t take it anymore. The constant fighting and competing with you got old. That’s not the real reason why I stopped talking to you though…” I drift off, hoping that he doesn’t want to know the truth.
His eyes tell me something entirely different. “Tell me why you stopped talking to me.” He threads his fingers into mine, anticipating my response. “Please.”
“We kind of talked about this already, but I can talk about it in more depth.” I shrug my shoulders.
Noah nods, gesturing to me to continue anyway.
“Okay, it was our sophomore year of high school. It was the one-year anniversary of my dad’s passing. And I know your mom kept you out of the loop, but you’re whip-smart. I don’t understand how you didn’t figure any of it out. You know, what happened to him and how I missed most of my freshman year.” I take a quick minute to catch my breath. “Anyways, I debated on going to school that day because I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything, but my mom insisted I go. So, I did. I distinctly remember you came up to me in the hallway by my locker. You said something to the effect of my dad being in a much better place because he didn’t have to suffer by being in my presence every day anymore.”
He closes his eyes, shaking his head. “Fuck…I’m so sorry. Do you know how much I pressed my mom to tell me what happened to your dad? I had to resort to asking Bella because she was the only person who was willing to tell me what the hell was going on. I was fourteen. I wasn’t a child. I hated that my mom treated me like I was. Like I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.” He pauses, looking around the room to collect the rest of his thoughts. “That’s why I sent you the box because I had to do something to make up for being a jackass to you, even if you didn’t know it was me at the time. God, I wish I could go back in time and go to your dad’s funeral. Be there for you like how you’ve been there for me. After everything I did to you, you came to my rescue all these years later. I don’t fucking deserve you.”
His eyes have a glassy sheen to them.
I cup his face, caressing the top of his cheekbone with my thumb.
He shifts his head away from my direct view.
“Oh, Noah. Now I know it was you who sent that box, it changes everything. Everything has changed.” I breathe out. “I was so consumed by grief back then. I couldn’t think straight for a while until I stopped talking to you. Junior year was when everything got better and I was able to focus on things again. I got back on track with my romance novel and discovered my love for freelance writing. I felt like myself again. I felt alive.”
Did someone just inject me with truth serum?
“In the back of my mind, I knew the universe would bring us back together again. It believes we belong together. And I agree. Don’t you?” I move his face back into view, but he’s not making eye contact with me.
Tears are cascading down his face. My heart feels like it’s made out of glass, shattering into a million tiny pieces, when I see him cry.
“Hey, Moonlight. I’m going to need you to look at me.”
He doesn’t budge, so I resort to something that I know that he won’t resist. I get off his lap, turning him with my hands, so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed.
Kneeling down on the floor in front of him, I interlock my hands and place them in front of my face. “I’m on my knees, begging for you to look at me.”
If there’s one thing I know about most men, they love it when a woman begs. I have to say women love it even more when men beg.
More than you could ever imagine.