“Hmm.” Alec wasn’t sure what to say to that, and didn’t want to interrupt. It was difficult not to, though. He had more questions than he expected to have.
Noah pulled out a blue ice block and set it on the counter, shutting the freezer.
“Things were good in the beginning,” she continued, grabbing the paper towels. She snorted, shaking her head. “They always are, in the beginning. Until they weren’t. The thing about Aaron was he didn’t seem all that interested in me. We met at a party, one of those party that blurred the lines between being a high school party or a college party. Not that anyone cared. My favorite teacher just announced he was moving, and I looked up to him, like he was a father, so that was more of a blow than I anticipated. I saw Aaron, thought he was cute, but I didn’t talk to him and he didn’t talk to me. Why would he? He was a college kid and I was a sophomore in high school.”
Noah took the now-wrapped ice cube and knelt down in front of Alec. Gingerly, she took his hand and placed the ice against his knuckles. He let out a slow breath, wincing slightly, before he got used to the cold on his wounds.
“So?” he asked, pushing her on. He was surprised by how curious he was in regards to this tragedy. He didn’t understand how someone as astute as Noah could let herself fall for such a terrible person. But if his own sister could miscalculate someone’s character, it must be more common than he thought. “How did you guys start talking?”
“It was a week later, at another party,” Noah said, standing up. She made her way to the sink where her hot chocolate was waiting for her. “He sought me out. Looking back at it now, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the plan all along – get me to notice him and then do something later so it felt as though I was being rewarded with his attention.” She rolled her eyes and took a long drink of the hot chocolate. “I’m such an idiot.”
“You are,” he agreed. “But I get it, I guess. We all just want to be loved, especially when change is happening, something we can’t control. We want something we can hold onto.”
Noah nodded, taking another sip of her cup. “It got bad,” she said, staring into it. “Really bad. I tried to leave. He wound up hurting my mom. I mean, who does that? The cops are doing all they can, but they haven’t been able to catch him, and so when I saw Zummo – his friend – I panicked. I didn’t realize Pat was a sports journalist. I just –“
“Hey.” Alec beckoned her over to him. “Come here.”
Noah hesitated, but only for a moment. She set her mug down and crawled into his lap. He held her for a moment, kissing her forehead.
“I promise I will never let him hurt you ever again,” he said. “You understand, Noah? I promise.”
“Why?” Noah pulled away from him, standing up, looking away. “Why are you willing to do that for me?”
“Because,” he said, standing up, “because even though I don’t show it, I care about you. And I don’t want to see you hurt.”
Noah stared so deeply into his eyes that he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Then, without warning, she filled the distance, stood on her toes, and pulled him in for a kiss.
14
Noah
The last thing Noah expected was to kiss Alec, but there she was, doing just that. For a minute, Noah thought she ruined everything. Sure, the two had kissed before, but kissing in front of a crowd in order to make believe that they were together was much different than kissing at home, alone, where no one was watching. Kissing Alec like this revealed that she did want to kiss Alec whether people were watching or not.
And she did, she realized. Maybe part of it was the emotions she got swept up in, the exhilaration of what happened with Aaron, how Alec protected her. Maybe being wrapped up in Alec made her feel safe. She didn’t know the answers. She just knew that she wanted this, and she hoped she hadn’t ruined everything with him by indulging herself.
She pulled away, trying to read his pale green eyes, trying to see how he felt, how he was reacting. When he stood there, staring down at her, not moving at all except to breathe, she shook her head. Yes, she fucked everything up. How could she be so stupid?
“Sorry,” she said, running her fingers through her hair. “Alec, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean –“
Before she could respond, he stepped forward and grabbed her face with his hands, crashing his lips onto hers. Noah didn’t even have time to take a breath. She didn’t care. His tongue slid against her bottom lip and she opened up to him. She wanted to feel him, wanted to feel this. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pulled him down to her, pressing her body against his. One hand dropped from her face and coiled around her body like a viper – strong and tight.
When breathing was required, both pulled away. Noah ignored her reluctance to do just that. She couldn’t look at Alec. Instead, she looked at his neck, the slope of his collarbone. How was something so innocuous so suddenly masculine? Was she going crazy after her encounter with Aaron, or was it something else?
“Never,” Alec said, catching her attention. She looked up, startled to see his gaze was locked onto
