“He’s most definitely not right for me either, so I don’t see the point of this conversation. Besides, I decided I’m giving up on boys.”
“You?” Evie’s brows shot up her forehead. “Giving up on boys? Since when?”
“Since my last boyfriend cheated on me with one of my teammates, and I was kissed by your ex-hookup because he felt pity for me.”
I don’t need another man in my life for whom I won’t be good enough.
Evie’s hand lands on my knee, giving it a firm squeeze. “How can you know that?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who heard those girls talking shit about me behind my back. Literally. They weren’t even trying to be quiet.”
Her face turns sour. She puts her hand on my thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll be all right, something will happen soon and drive away their attention from you.”
I want to believe her, but… “I’m not really sure.”
“You’ll see.” There is a slight pause. “But I wonder… if everything that happened with Noah happened in the morning, what made you come storming in here now?”
I look away, avoiding her curious stare. “He might have come looking for me after cheer practice.”
“Did he?” She shifts on the bed, crosses her legs and leans her elbow against her knee, propping her chin on her hand. She’s observing me like I’m a really interesting experiment. I’m not sure I like it one bit. “And?”
“He said he had a proposition for me.”
That gets her attention. “What kind of proposition?”
“No idea.” I shrug. “We didn’t get to that part because I kind of, sort of, told him that he’s a shitty kisser.”
More looking away. God, I’m seriously such a bitch sometimes. Not that what he said was any better.
“You did not!” Evie shoves me away, her mouth agape. “Seriously?”
“Oh, I did.”
“I know that. I wouldn’t doubt you for a second. What I really want to know now is, was it really that bad?”
I think back to the kiss, my tongue peeking out to slide over my lips that suddenly feel really dry. Yup, I can still feel his mouth pressed against mine, his hand on my cheek.
“And don’t you dare lie to me, missy! I’ll know the truth.”
“How so? Did you become a witch when I wasn’t looking?” I tease, needing something, anything, to ease the pressure of this situation.
“Maybe, but no more stalling. Spill it.”
“It might not have been as bad as I made it sound,” I admit reluctantly, just because I know she won’t give up until I tell her.
“I knew it!” Evie claps her hands excitedly, jumping to her feet.
“Well it wasn’t that good, either!” I protest before she can do a weird booty dance or something as crazy as that. “Besides, shouldn’t you be pissed on my behalf? Some friend you are. What he did to you was really shitty. You asked him, repeatedly, if I might add, to stop kissing you, but he didn’t listen.”
“What he did, doesn’t make who he is, Jessy. I told him, and I’m telling you. I forgave him, and I know,” she presses her hands over her chest, “I know he won’t do it again. Noah is one of the good guys.”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” I mutter to myself, looking away to avoid the sincerity on her face. I wish I could be as good of a person as Evie is. To be able to forgive people easily and let them back in my life. But I’ll never be like her, not even if I try.
“So…” She lets the word hang in the air until I face her. “What are you going to do now?”
“Nothing.” I shrug. “I told you, I’m done with boys.”
So much for that happening. I barely survived a couple of days, but there is no avoiding him now.
“What do you want, Russell?” I ask as I exit my car. I would have stayed inside if I thought that would deter him in any way, but he seems like a guy who once he sets his mind on something there isn’t much you can do to change it.
“To talk.”
“We did plenty of that the other day, and look at how that turned out.”
Not waiting for an answer, I grab my backpack off the passenger seat and lock the car before going into school.
Noah runs his hand through his hair, making a mess of his usually preppy hairstyle. “I want to apologize.” I narrow my eyes at him. “What I said was out of line.”
“It was,” I say, nodding in agreement.
He narrows his eyes. “You’re not innocent in all of this.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine, I’m sorry I said you’re a bad kisser. You’re… passable, I guess.”
He glares at me, his eyes falling down to my lips before he forces them to meet mine. I lift my brow in a silent question. Waiting to see what he’ll do next.
Noah made a point to come and apologize, I shouldn’t be mean to him, but for some reason I enjoy giving him a hard time. He seems so composed most of the time, it’s nice to ruffle his feathers, so to speak, for a change.
“As I was saying…” he continues, gritting through clenched teeth to keep his cool. “I was just trying to help.”
“By kissing me?”
I still didn’t see his logic behind that. What did I get out of him kissing me in front of those girls?
Noah rubs at the nape of his neck, a sheepish smile curling his lips. It’s small, but it changes his whole face, making him more approachable. Almost… sweet.
Noah? Sweet? Am I going feverish? With the back of my hand I touch my cheeks. They do seem slightly warm. So maybe I’m catching something.
“It was a spur of the moment thing.”
“Spur of the moment?”
“Yes, I heard them talking shit and I saw you…” He trails off, his cheeks turning pink. I blink and look more closely, and sure enough. They’re pink. Noah Russell, blushing? What is this? An alternate universe or something? “Anyway, I heard them, and I reacted.”
“By kissing me.”
“You mention that quite a lot for something you deem ‘passable’,” Noah mocks, drawing air quotes. “If you’re not careful, I might think you even liked it.”
“W-what?” I blurt. This time it’s my cheeks that turn crimson. “I certainly did not!”
“Whatever you say, Sunshine.”
“Is there a point to this conversation?” I ask—anything to get off the subject of that damn kiss. “Or do you only like to listen to yourself talk? You apologized. Apology accepted. Now we can move on, each of us in a different direction.”
I walk around him, more than happy to turn these words into actions. I have to get away from Noah Russell before I do something stupid.
Yup, off I go.
Noah’s hand shoots out, grabbing my wrist and stopping me from moving. A chill runs up my arm, leaving soft tingles in its wake.
“That’s just a part of why I came.”
There is no way he’ll leave me alone if I don’t let him say what he came to say, so might as well get it over with. “What’s the other part?”