20. Noah
NOAH
Kiss me.
When those two words left her lips, everything else in this crazy fucking world disappeared. I pulled her into me and kissed her. I kissed her like I was shattering, and she was the only thing holding me together. And she kissed me back just as fiercely.
I had her. My Willow. My little rabbit. The other half of my fucking soul. I finally have her back after all these years of searching. I never gave up hope.
I never believed the reports saying her father had killed her and hid her body or that he still had her with him while on the run after all of these years.
I knew without a doubt that he didn’t have her, and that she was alive out there somewhere.
I knew that one day I’d find her, and she’d be mine.
I could get lost in her if I’m not careful. My fingers are tangled in her soft hair. My other hand is gripping so tightly onto her hip that I’m sure there’ll be marks. I can feel the soft moan she lets out against my lips. Fuck. My little rabbit likes a little bit of pain.
I need more of her. I need to get her back to my place and…
“The arcade is now closed. Please finish up your game and close out any bar tabs. Thank you, and please come again,” the overhead speakers crackle.
Fucking hell.
“Noah,” she whispers against my lips.
“Yes, Willow?”
I pull away slightly to stare down into those hauntingly beautiful eyes. They have a slight glossiness to them right now that has me worried I might have gone too fast.
“That…” she starts, but stops.
Was amazing?
The best feeling ever?
The best kiss you’ve ever had?
Fuck.
I need to know the name of every person she’s ever been with so I can kill them. No one’s allowed to know what my little rabbit feels like. No one but me.
*Ding*
Her phone goes off in her purse, and it’s like everything she was about to say goes flying out the window. She pulls away to grab her phone and scowls down at it.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
I definitely don’t want to rip the phone from her hand and whip it across the room for interrupting us…I wouldn’t do that…Fuck! What was she going to say? Goddammit.
“Yeah. Jenna just texted me. Apparently, my earlier text failed, so she’s been worried about me. I think I should probably get home.”
No.
No, no, no.
Not yet. The night’s still young. Sort of. Fuck. I can’t let tonight end. Not yet. Not after that kiss.
“Are you sure? She did say you could stay out until three. We could go back to my place for a bit,” I rush out.
Fuck. I fucked up. I can see it on her face. The small shift from desire to fear. Why? Why would she fear me?
“I can’t tonight. Maybe another night,” she says as she takes a step back.
If I push her too fast, she might decline the job too, and I can’t have her doing that. No. I need her close now that she’s back in my life. I can’t have her out of my sight. I’ll lose my fucking mind.
“Okay. If that’s what you want, Willow. I’ll take you home.”
I hold out her coat for her to put on, then take her hand and start walking toward the exit.
God fucking dammit, Noah. You pushed too fast. You shouldn’t have kissed her. Not yet. What is wrong with you?
“I had an amazing night tonight,” she says as I open her door for her and let her slide in.
“Me too.”
When I get into the driver’s seat, I can feel the change in the energy between us. Damn it. What do I do?
We drive in complete silence. She hasn’t even looked over at me, just staring out the window.
The moonlight trickling in contrasts against the soft red neon glow of my interior ambiance lighting.
The colors dance across her skin, taunting me.
Teasing me and rubbing in my face at how badly I just fucked up.
I need to try to fix this.
“So, have you made your decision?” I ask as we pull onto her road.
“Yes. I’ll be in on Tuesday for the second interview. I want things done correctly. I don’t want this night to sway the decision either way.”
“You know you already have the job, right? I need you…”
She finally looks over at me again, and I know I have to reword what I said.
“I need you on my team. Based on your resume, I know you’ll be a perfect fit for our firm. You’re going to be a badass in the courtroom.”
“Thanks,” she softly laughs, but it isn’t the same as before. It sounds forced now.
“No need to thank me. It’s the truth.”
I pull into her driveway and turn off the car. We sit in an uncomfortable silence for what seems like an hour but is barely thirty seconds.
“Would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night?”
“Noah…We really shouldn’t.”
“Shouldn’t what?”
“Go out to dinner and arcades…We can’t date.”
Can’t…Not that we shouldn’t. That we can’t.
My stomach screams in pain like an acid-soaked noose is wrapping around it.
“Why? Tonight was amazing.”
“You’re my soon-to-be boss's son. You’re a partner at the firm, which means you’re above me.”
I’d rather be below you. Fuck. Stop it, Noah. Fix this!
“That doesn’t matter,” I try to plead.
“It does. What would your coworkers think? What would your dad think?”
“Fuck what that old windbag thinks,” I growl, and I can tell I just fucked up even more.
Her body tenses with her hand already on the door handle.
“I’m sorry. Good night, Noah. Thank you for a wonderful time. I won’t forget it.”
She turns, opening the door and stepping out into the cold November night. She leaves me sitting there watching her walk across the driveway, up the steps, and disappear into her house.
The main floor lights all go dark, and I wait for the light upstairs to flick on.
I sit there staring at the house, going over and over in my mind how I fucked it up so fast. How she went from melting into our kiss to suddenly being distant and tense.
What did I do wrong? I thought once we were back together, and maybe once I kissed her, that she’d remember me again.
Why doesn’t she remember me?