“Sometimes I miss college, even high school,” Noah says as he holds the door open for me.
“Me too. When I first started here, no one knew who I was. The band goes on tour, pictures are posted and bam, everyone wants to be my friend. In Beaumont, people were my friend because of you and Quinn. This one time I made a mistake and told someone we went to prom together. Of course, any such evidence is somewhere in my room in the condo, so I could never prove it.”
“You could’ve asked me to send you a picture.”
I shake my head and grip his hand a bit tighter. “You were with Dessie. At best, we spoke maybe once a month with a quick ‘how are you’ text and nothing more.”
Thankfully, Dessie hasn’t tried to contact Noah. Even though he changed his number, we both expected her to somehow get her hands on it and contact him. Through the tabloids, we learned she’s gotten married to the father of her baby, who happened to be Noah’s neighbor.
He nods and continues to walk alongside me. “Well, I guess everyone has no choice but to believe you now.”
Noah takes my hand and swings it out in front of him, as if he’s spinning me around a dance floor, only now I’m in his arms and cradled to his chest. Our eyes are locked on each other as the back of his fingers brush along my cheek. My body temperature begins to rise in anticipation of what could come next.
Only I don’t wait. I rise up on my tippy toes and press my lips to his. His hand moves to my hair, soft and gentle, as he opens his mouth to deepen the kiss. We haven’t kissed like this since the hospital and while that kiss was amazing, this one’s eager.
“Now that I’ve kissed you, I won’t be able to stop,” he says, pressing his lips to my cheeks and finally my forehead. His arms wrap around me tightly, holding me to his chest.
“I don’t want you to stop, Noah. Not now. Not ever.”
He pulls back and tips my chin up with his index finger and runs his thumb along my bottom lip. “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Is that what you’ve been waiting for? To know whether I’m healed or not?”
He nods and seeks my eyes for the truth.
“I’m healed, but--”
“You’re beautiful,” he says, moving a strand of hair away from my eye. He’s careful not to touch the side of my head where it was shaved. It’s tender and while my hair is growing back, it’s doing so rather slowly. “I’m so in love with you, Peyton. I know you’re cautious about the scars. I can tell you over and over to not pay attention to them, but I know you see them when you look in the mirror.”
“They’re ugly.”
Noah smiles. “It’s impossible for anything to be ugly when it comes to you. We move at your pace, Peyton. I’m not in a rush.”
I nod but frown instantly. He must’ve missed my confusion because he’s walking us down the hall again. I’m done waiting. I want to make-out with him. Score a touchdown. Kick a field goal. He just needs to touch me. I want to feel human again, desirable. Doesn’t he get it?
There isn’t time to ask because we’re at Professor Fowler’s door. I don’t know what to expect, but I square my shoulders anyway and knock.
“Come in,” he hollers from inside the room.
Slowly, I turn the doorknob and step in. I look back at Noah who is standing on the other side and beckon him forward. It may be unprofessional for him to come in, but I’ll need him with me if the news is bad.
“Good afternoon Professor Fowler.” He looks at us from over the top of his glasses. “Do I know you from somewhere?” he directs his question toward Noah who looks down at me. I nod, giving him the go ahead.
“Noah Westbury,” he says, extending his hand to shake my professor’s.
“Quarterback from the Pioneers?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Huh, I heard rumblings that Miss Powell-James knew you, but--”
“But no one believed her,” Noah says. “It’s been hard for me to get to campus to see her, but I’ve recently relocated to Chicago and will be living not far from here so I imagine you’ll be seeing me a lot more, especially once the season ends.”
My mouth drops open as I look at Noah. He’s talked about moving, but I hadn’t heard any definitive plans, and he definitely didn’t tell me about renting a place.
“Well, I’m sure Peyton will enjoy having her friend around.”
Friend with benefits, I hope.