Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Noah leans against the sink, gripping the edge. “Out with it, Nora.”
I pull my earlobe and play with the lock on my earring. “I was on my way home when she stopped me and asked me why I was driving your truck. Then she said you were engaged before but she skipped town. She’s back now, and she knew you were using me to make her jealous. She ordered me to tell you that it worked and I could leave you alone.”
The clock ticking behind him is too loud, and I peer up at Noah. He has one hand scrubbing across his face and settling on his mouth. For a moment, I think he’ll confess and say it’s true.
But he takes his hand down and blinks rapidly, eyes gleaming with…amusement? What the hell?
“Are you laughing at me?” I grit out, unable to believe what I’m seeing.
“I’m not.” He attempts to stifle it, but his shoulders start to shake.
“Noah…”
“Nora…”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you look adorable when you’re jealous.”
“I wasn’t!”
“Okay.”
“I really wasn’t.”
“I said okay.”
“Noah!”
This time, he laughs and yanks me to him, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on top of my head. “And for the record, she’s the girl who left her panties in my locker in high school. If you don’t believe me, ask Keith. She was obsessed with me, baby. My only obsession is you.”
5
NOAH
“I should take down the string lights,” I tell Nora as we sit on the couch.
“I kind of like it.”
“But it’s almost New Year.”
“It makes everything cozier, though.”
“It does.”
“So…you’re keeping it?”
“If you want it, then yes.”
She gets up and straddles my lap. The night I met her, I didn’t get a good, long look at her, but I came to realize her eyes were pretty ocean blue. It did turn icy when she told me about Allison.
I cup one side of her face and brush her cheek with my thumb. Nora leans into my touch and closes her eyes.
“Thank you,” I say.
“For what?”
“For telling me upfront what was bothering you. For not believing someone else and walking away without talking to me.”
She sighs and blinks slowly. “I almost did, you know. I thought she was telling the truth and you were using me. I almost walked away.”
“But you didn’t. That’s what matters.”
Nora covers her face with her small hands and groans. “Noah, you don’t understand. I doubted you even if I had no reason to. I almost ran like a coward.”
“Okay. Is there something else you want to say?”
She presses her hands against her cheeks and hunches her back. “This has always been my issue, you know. I’m so non-confrontational that I’m likely to believe whoever. I just…I’m scared of opening my mouth when my emotions are all over the place. I don’t want to say the wrong thing or hurt the other person, so I just keep…everything bottled inside.”
Ever since Nora, I’ve realized two things.
One, my biggest mission in the world is to make her happy.
Two, I hate seeing her like this—hurting and sad.
This conversation is important to her and to us. Because we’re gonna be in each other’s lives until we’re old and gray and the last thing we need is getting hurt because of miscommunication.
Tipping her chin, I plant a soft kiss on her mouth. “Nora, it’s not gonna be easy, but I need you to always do what you did with the Allison issue. You’re angry, frustrated, upset at me? Tell me. Someone said something about me, tell me directly. You hate the sounds I make when I chew food? Tell me. Don’t be scared of telling me to my face because when you keep things inside you, it will pile up. And those small issues will get bigger and bigger until they eventually come between us.”
She bites her bottom lip and nods.
“I’m just thankful you came to me. That’s it. Stop wondering what might have happened if you believed Allison and left me without a word. Because you didn’t. That’s the thing. You trusted me, and I swear on my life, I’d never waste that trust. I will deserve that trust and prove it to you every single day.”
This time, she lifts her head and gives me a smile that stops my heart. “I know. Thank you, Noah. I didn’t know this kind of happiness existed. And I—”
We both freeze at the sound of a car rumbling outside.
“One of your customers?” she asks.
I snap my eyes shut because I know that sound. I’ve worked on that car for years. It screeches to a stop, then a door slams closed.
Hurried footsteps are on the wooden staircase, growing louder until it stops abruptly.
Nora stands and pulls my t-shirt to cover herself. Her eyes dart to the door, and her body jolts when we hear a rapid and insistent knocking.
“Yo, dipshit. Open up!”