I knew he had once been a dancer. The guys had made fun of him, but he was never without a date in middle school or high school because of it. He had taken advantage of the fact that the male to female ratio in the typical dance class was in his favor.
I tilted my head to the side, playing naïve. “It sounds like you are an expert on the human body,” I said in a flirting tone.
I used to be so socially awkward and kept most people at arm’s length. Watching and being around Noah, Jaxson, and Troy had taught me the fine art of flirting. I had always been a quick thinker and somewhat witty, but they had given me confidence to flirt with ease.
His lips tilted even more. He seemed more than receptive to my flirty overtures. Part of me was annoyed that he was so easily won over, but the other part of me knew at this time in the past, h
e had only known Stacey for a small period of time. They hadn’t dated that long before I came into his life. It was his need to give me ‘time’ and ‘space’ that had pushed their relationship even closer. The closer I had gotten to the other guys, the further I had pushed him in Stacey’s arms. I knew I was to blame for not creating our connection. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t be here.
Slowly, realization sunk in and I remembered Ella’s words, make your connections. Was it too late? Was there a possibility if I seduced Noah and Troy I could reverse this mess we were in now? Hope blossomed in my chest, followed by apprehension. With Stacey living in this building, I’m sure I could ‘accidentally’ continue to pursue him, but Troy was a different matter altogether. He was a successful business man. He was rarely home. He had made it a point to see or visit me as often as he could, but I didn’t live in the Bell household anymore. Would he visit as often now? I knew he loved his family, but he was determined to get his company a worldwide success, not just locally.
I was left with a feeling of hope and hopelessness.
“I’m well aware of the human anatomy. Quiet intimately, in fact,” he murmured suggestively.
I returned a smile to him, hoping it was just as provocative. “That’s always a good thing. What makes you such an expert?”
He took a step forward, grabbing one of the curls that had escaped my messy bun. My breathing hitched as my senses were assaulted by his masculine scent. He was known to change up his cologne, but this scent had been one of my favorites, Cool Water. He had more expensive ones, but this was still one of my favorites.
“Mm, Cool Water,” I looked up at him, a twinkle in my eyes.
His eyes widened slightly, he was clearly intrigued by my flirting. I knew girls generally threw themselves at the guys, but with my look of innocence, I’m sure it came as a surprise. “Like it?” he whispered in my ear. “I’ll make sure to wear it more often. I used to be a dancer. You should take it back up. Maybe I can give you private lessons.”
I smiled up at him, genuinely. “That would be nice…very nice. I like to run, but I always like introducing my body to challenging things,” I said with tongue in cheek. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.
I had flirted with the guys and I had my moments where I liked to be forward, but I don’t recall ever being this blatant with my words.
He visibly gulped, his eyes grew hooded, desire sparked in his eyes. “I’m sure I could deliver,” he said softly.
“Blake!” Collins voice came from behind me, his voice laced with panic and anger.
I stepped back hastily from Noah and tried to school my features to go blank. “Hey Collin,” I said turning to look at him.
His features were now curious. The anger and panic were not evident on his face. I knew instinctively he didn’t like the fact I was talking to Noah. What did they expect when they put me in a school with some of my guys? Even though Jaxson was on the high school side of campus, both Drake and Noah was on this side. Did they expect me never to run into them? Especially since Noah was dating a girl in this building. Once again, I wondered what their motives were.
“Hey, Collin,” Noah said smoothly. “This a friend of yours? I’ve never seen you around,” his eyes danced mischievously at me.
“I-” I began before Collin cut in.
“Blake’s my girlfriend, Noah,” Collin said with forced cheerfulness.
Noah’s eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed almost accusingly at me. I knew before he started dating Stacey he had been faithful. He liked to play the field, but when he decided to truly date a girl, he was faithful and true to them. Yes, he was my connected, but I had encouraged him to continue dating Stacey, and I’m sure his panic and mental angst with our situation had made him act unlike himself, and he had started cheating on Stacey, but that was before. This was now.
I started to panic. I didn’t want to lose any leverage with him. I needed him to realize that I wasn’t some slut that lived with her boyfriend while I tried to pick up other guys. I looked up at Collin and forced a laugh of airiness. “We don’t even share the same room, and we just started seeing each other, right?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t you say I chose to move in with you because you were helping me out?”
Collin seemed flustered for a moment, before he came down the steps. He put an arm around me and I tensed. “Maybe you should hop in the shower,” he stated. “We should go out to eat. It looks like I still need to work on my wooing,” he said with forced flippancy. Then he turned to Noah. “Are you here to see your girlfriend Stacey, Noah?” he asked pointedly.
It was Noah’s turn to look slightly embarrassed. “Yeah,” he said clearing his throat, he looked like he wanted to say something more, before he shook his head and took the stairs up to the apartment, two steps at a time.
“How was your run?” Collin asked, once Noah was out of sight. “How long have you been back?”
Once again warning bells went off in my head. Why did it feel like he was setting me up? Like he wanted me to lie to him.
“It was good,” I said neutrally. “Umm, maybe 5 or 10 minutes,” I shrugged noncommittedly. “We don’t have to go out, if you don’t want to. I can always cook. I don’t mind.”
He shook his head with a smile, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “You don’t have to do that, babe. I’m in the mood for a good steak. Plus, we need to do some grocery shopping. The refrigerator and cabinets are pretty bare.”
“Okay,” I agreed, although silently I didn’t feel like going out to eat. I wanted to start on that paper for English Literature, even though it wasn’t due for another week. I didn’t want to continue playing this game of pretend.