9
“ O kay, so don’t kill me because it wasn’t my idea.”
Olivia paused with her wooden spatula hovering over a large pan of vegetables. She cut her eyes toward where Lexie stood with her back against the edge of their kitchen counter. “ What wasn’t your idea?” she asked, her voice flat.
“Well, you know how I asked Jacob to come tonight?” Lexie began.
Olivia went back to cooking, the onions and garlic sizzling each time she stirred the skillet.
She hadn’t actually known her roommate’s boyfriend was coming to their annual back-to-class dinner, but it wasn’t surprising.
Lexie and Jake’s “Cold War,” as Noah had called it, was definitely over, and the two of them could barely be separated on the best of days. “Sure,” she replied.
“Well, Kate asked Jackson so there wouldn’t be four girls and only one guy, since that’s awkward,” Lexie went on.
Olivia pursed her lips, suddenly getting a bad feeling about where this conversation was headed. “Sure...” she said again .
“Then, Robin wanted to ask that guy from her music class last semester, and... well, that would make an odd number, and she hates when things aren’t balanced, so...”
Lexie was babbling now, and Olivia groaned. “So she picked somebody for me,” she finished.
“Well... yes,” Lexie admitted, and Olivia let out a deep sigh. Sometimes her friends couldn’t leave well enough alone.
She dumped a package of frozen shrimp into the stir-fry and doused the whole thing in soy sauce. “Who is it this time?” she asked.
“Well, she wanted to ask some guy from her nutrition class—”
Olivia groaned again and squeezed her eyes shut. “I hate her nutrition friends,” she complained. “They always want to mansplain carbs and proteins.”
Lexie raised her shoulders. “That’s what I said,” she replied, “but she threatened to call him anyway if I didn’t have a better idea.”
Olivia muttered a few unkind words. “She could have asked me , you know,” she said.
“Yeah, but it was just this morning, and you were in that orientation meeting at the Harrelson Center,” Lexie went on. “Anyway, I suggested the first person I could think of who you wouldn’t totally hate, and we asked and he happened to be free, so he’s coming.”
“Who did—”
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Lexie pushed away from the counter. “I’ll get that,” she said quickly, then she hurried from the room and left her roommate standing at the hot stove.
“Lexie! Who is—” Olivia shouted, but in the next moment, she heard the front door open, and a voice entered the apartment that made her question irrelevant. She’d really hoped to have more time before dealing with him again—like, the whole semester, if she was lucky.
But apparently, her luck hadn’t lasted very long.
She straightened her spine and stirred the contents of the skillet with a vengeance as heavy footsteps came down the short hall.
Someone stepped through the kitchen doorway and stopped.
She didn’t have to turn to know it was Noah; she could tell by the now-familiar scent of wintergreen and pine that had followed him into the room.
The fact that she could associate a smell with him at all irritated her even more than his unexpected presence.
“Well, hey, Pixie!” he drawled. “See? I knew you’d ask for a second date sooner or later.”
“I didn’t ask you,” she bit out. Then she glanced over her shoulder and surveyed him where he was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her with a smirk that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
All at once, the memories she’d worked hard to keep at bay came flooding back: the press of his mouth over hers, the heat of his hands on her neck, the feel of his scruff against her face.
A rush of warmth crept up her spine, and she went back to her cooking with a huff.
“And this isn’t a date,” she added, just on principle.
Noah stepped farther into the room and came to stand behind her, as if looking over her shoulder while she worked. “Why are you mad at me, Pix? I haven’t done anything yet.”
“No, but you will,” Olivia muttered darkly, “and then I’ll have to put up with it.”
“Put up with it?” he echoed, his voice far too smooth for her liking. “You didn’t seem to just ‘put up with it’ the last time I saw you. ”
Olivia took a slow breath and tried to rein in the frustration she could feel building in her chest. It wasn’t really about him ; he could have been any guy from anywhere.
It was about the way her body insisted on responding to him—the way she wanted to melt back against his chest like that was where she was supposed to be.
It was infuriating, and she wouldn’t have it!
She flirted, sure, and she kissed, occasionally. But she didn’t do... this .
Whatever this was, exactly.
“That’s not going to happen again,” she said firmly.
Noah moved imperceptibly forward, and she felt his chuckle against her shoulder blades. “What isn’t?” he taunted, his voice full of false innocence. “Oh, you mean when I kissed you?”
Olivia pressed her lips together and swallowed, her attention fixed solidly on the stir-fry in front of her. “Yes.”
“And when you kissed me back?”
She reached out and shut off the hot stove eye, probably using more force than necessary.
“Because you really kissed me back, Pix,” he went on. “Like the world was ending and you only had five more seconds to—”
Olivia whirled around and sealed the palm of her hand over his mouth mid-word. The surprise on his face was gratifying. “What happened to ‘nothing in here will follow us out there’?” she demanded. “It happened, okay? I’d rather not relive it.”
His brow knit together down the middle, and she dropped her hand as she felt his smile fade. “Why not?” he asked, his humor now gone. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled, not wanting to discuss the issue any further. She yanked open the silverware drawer, but Noah put his hand out and shoved it closed again.
“What does that mean?” he challenged. His gaze was piercing as it raked over her face, like he was trying to decipher an answer from her expression.
Olivia searched for something she could say that would close the issue for good.
She hated that she’d kissed Noah because it opened the door for drama, which was her least favorite thing in the whole world, and she simply didn’t have the patience for it at this point in her life.
But it also gave him a reason to think she would eventually. ..
She looked up into his eyes as a thought occurred to her—a devious, underhanded thought—but it took root in her mind and grew surprisingly fast until it was suddenly the most obvious solution she could have come to.
She’d tried pushing Noah away, and it hadn’t worked.
But what if she tried pulling him closer, instead?
He had said he didn’t do relationships, after all.
.. So what scared off a no-strings kind of guy faster than strings? Lots and lots of strings.
She looked toward the floor and tried to funnel all her chaotic emotions into her face.
Sad, sick puppies , she thought. Poverty. Homelessness. Hungry children.
She sniffed for good measure.
“Tell me, Pixie,” Noah urged.
“I just...” she answered, and her voice actually wavered. “I just feel so... so stupid!” she blurted, and she wiped a bit of genuine moisture from her eye. Yes! She was crying! She was so proud of herself she could have thrown her hands in the air!
But she didn’t. Because that would have ruined the effect.
Noah didn’t answer right away, but when she glanced up to gauge his reaction, he looked truly stricken. “I don’t understand,” he breathed.
“Of course you don’t!” she cried, really feeling her part now.
“ You said it wouldn’t mean anything to you, and I can’t believe I thought I could change your mind.
” Another tear rolled down her cheek, and she watched as his eyes automatically followed it.
He didn’t say anything, so she pushed harder.
“I don’t want to be just another notch on your bedpost, or however it is you keep score. ”
That roused him to action, and he closed his hands around the tops of her arms as if he thought he could press his words into her skin. “I’m not keeping score, Pix!”
“No?”
“No! I’m not that kind of guy!”
“You’re not?” she simpered.
“No!” he insisted, his eyes still earnest. “You’ve got this all wrong, Pixie.”
Perfect.
“Oh, Noah!” she gushed. She even managed a convincing hiccup. “I was hoping you’d say that!”
“You were?”
“My parents will love you!” she went on. She draped her arms around his neck and gasped as if she’d just had an epiphany. “What about February?” she asked.
“What?”
“Mom’s birthday party is the twenty-fifth, maybe you could come with me! The boys will be there, and my grandparents are making the trip. You could meet them all at once!” she chattered. She lifted up onto her toes and widened her eyes, trying to look as excited as possible.
Noah eyed her like she’d grown a second head and four more arms. “You want me to meet your family? Like... next month?”
“Yeah! Why not?” she answered .
He looked her up and down, visibly bewildered. “But we’re not even together.”
“Well, not yet, but we could always make it official,” Olivia said quickly. “You’re right, we’ve basically been on our first date already—really two dates if you count the arcade.”
His mouth opened slightly, like he was looking for a rebuttal but couldn’t find one.
“Besides, you really like me, don’t you?” she asked, taking a step farther into his arms.
“Well, yeah, I—”