Chapter 133 Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Three
My mind flashed through the day like a movie reel; Jace's body pinning me to the couch, his breath soft on my lips, the ice cream and the sunset and his hand in mine, how he'd said the rest of my life as though he meant it.
"Um—"
Noah laughed, dark and knowing. "Of course he did. Stupid question."
"It didn't go anywhere, I promise. I totally have my eyes on the plan and everything." I tried so hard to defend myself that my words tumbled out too fast.
“I know he isn’t a good guy, I already learned that the hard way, so you don’t have to worry about me going back to him. We’re barely even friends.”
Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it. I prayed desperately in my head.
Noah moved closer to me, much too close. I usually liked being near him, but not this time.
He lifted his right hand ever so slowly and wrapped it gently around my throat, causing me to go stiff with terror. Then leaned in, buried his nose in my neck and breathed deep.
I felt like a bunny rabbit, hiding from a Dane gun, waiting helplessly to breathe my last.
"You smell different," he murmured. "Is that ice cream? Did he get that for you? Take you out on a cute date?"
"I told you..." My voice shook. "The kids just needed a break from working so hard so we went to the park to get them something nice. Nothing happened."
"Nothing happened," he repeated, his thumb tracing my pulse point. "You spent hours with him, had a good time with him, let him play house with you and the kids. But nothing happened."
"Noah, please let go of me. You're acting strange, and you’re making me uncomfortable."
"How so?" His hand stayed on my throat. "I'm just asking questions."
I backed away, my shoulder blades hitting the door. A deep, primal fear was coursing through me now, making my hands shake uncontrollably. "I should go—"
“Lena… How do I put this in a way you’ll understand?” He laughed and raised his hands in surrender, taking a step back.
He said, “The whole point of our plot was to hurt Jace, right? By making him jealous of our fake relationship.”
I nodded slowly in the affirmative. That much was true.
He continued, “Right now I’m realizing maybe I’m not as good at plotting as I believe I am, because this plan of ours is achieving the opposite effect."
I stared at him, my heart pounding, my hand gripping the door handle.
"I've gotten too attached to you, Lena." His jaw clenched. "And now the thought of you being with him all the time—tutoring or whatever the fuck—I don't like it."
I frowned. Slowly, my fear faded away, replaced by anger. “Yeah, well, get over it. My mom and I have a mortgage to pay.”
Who the heck did he think he was, talking about my job like that?
"What mortgage?" He scoffed. "You practically live here."
That did it.
"Stop it. My mother and I aren’t a bunch of homeless people your family picked off the street," I snapped, my voice rising with annoyance.
“I have a home, just like you do. It might not be fancy, and I may not visit it as often because of my job, but I'm proud of it. My parents raised me there all my life. So please stop this."
Noah's expression changed immediately, as though he'd realized he'd pushed too far. “Wait. I’m sorry, I—"
He sighed deeply, the sharp look in his eyes went soft and sincere and he gazed sadly at me, like I was the one who hurt him. "You know I didn't mean it that way, sweetheart."
He moved toward me slowly, his arms open in a gesture of peace. When I didn't immediately run outside, he pulled me into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry," he murmured against my hair. “I don’t know what came over me.”
"It's just been a very long day for me, and there’s been so much pressure I’ve been keeping to myself. I just snapped.”
“Oh… Sorry, I didn’t know.” I whispered, slowly letting go of the door handle. “Do you want to talk about it?”
His hands tightened on my waist as he pulled me closer to him. “It's alright, sweetheart. I can manage. Sometimes when I get so stressed like this and I can’t let off steam, I just...”
He shook his head, “I know I shouldn’t make excuses. I take full accountability for talking like that. I shouldn't have done it. You know I have the utmost respect for you and your mom."
I softened despite myself, my anger deflating as I hugged him back.
He was right, he did look tired now that I thought about it.
That's all this was. He'd been managing so much for me, doing so much work just for my sake.
Going out of his way to convince Mr Dawson to let Jace stay, staying by my side every day and supporting me, helping me plan my new life, setting up the social media thing with Nicole, constantly being kind and thoughtful and present and perfect.
Of course, he was exhausted. Of course, the stress was getting to him. Even I sometimes got a little aggressive when I was too stressed out.
Not to mention I'd just spent an entire day with his enemy, his cousin who hated him, so of course he was upset.
Heavy suffocating guilt washed over me. I felt like a horrible person for even thinking he could somehow be a danger to me. How could he?
"I understand. You do need rest," I said quietly, running circles on his back the way he liked. "It’s the same for me, these days I want nothing more than a good night's rest. All of this has been so tiring. What can I do to help?"
"Just stay with me tonight." His arms tightened around me as he placed a soft kiss on my temple. "Please. Don't go."
"Of course." I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "I'll stay as long as you want."
I would just have to finish those reports and assignments tomorrow Sunday instead.
But even as I said it, even as I held him and let him hold me, a small voice in the back of my mind whispered:
Another month or so and I'll get what I want from her.
What did he want? From who?
And why did I have the terrible feeling I was about to find out?