Knowing I’m about to burst into tears any second, I shake my head and turn away from them. As the first tear falls, I slam into a wall of muscle. Instinctively I know it’s Noah, and when his arms wrap around me, it becomes near impossible to not just break down and sob my heart out against his chest.
Who would’ve thought Noah would become the only person I have left to turn to?
“You both need to sort out your shit,” Noah snaps at them.
“It was all an act, Carla. One of us just forgot. Don’t worry, there’s no relationship,” Aria suddenly says.
Seriously, now she’s going to lie to me as well?
Pulling away from Noah, I turn to face her. “It didn’t look like that.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I lost control,” Aria explains while Forest looks like he’s taken a punch to the gut. “Call it temporary insanity. I’m sorry I hurt you. I love you and don’t want this to come between us. Can… can’t we forget this happened? I’ll do anything to fix things.”
Before I can reply, Noah takes hold of my hand and glaring at Forest and Aria, he says, “Sort this shit out now. It’s affecting everyone.” He pulls me down the hallway, and I’m a little too stunned to react. “Let's give them some privacy,” he mutters before he drags me into my room and slams the door shut behind us.
When Noah frames my face with his hands, and he wipes the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs, I can only stare at him.
What the hell is going on?
He must take my stunned silence for something else because he wraps his arms around me and pulling me tightly against this chest, he asks, “Is that why you said you felt lonely?”
His question yanks me out of the stupor, and it makes the heartache rise back to the surface. Nodding against his chest, I feel overwhelmed by the kindness he's showing me and from the fight I just had with Aria and Forest.
Forest didn’t even bother saying anything.
The thought makes a sob flutter over my lips, and I’m unable to keep the tears back any longer.
Noah tightens his hold on me, and pressing a kiss to the side of my head, he murmurs, “It’s okay. Shh… it’s okay. I might be an ass most of the time, but I’m here.”
His words only make the tears fall faster. It brings the realization that I’m not just crying about what happened with Forest and Aria, but also because of Noah.
All the tension of being around him and loving him but not having my feelings returned is starting to wear me thin. I want to push him away and tell him I’m going to stop loving him, but I can’t. Instead, I press closer to him, needing him more than my next breath.
I’ll never be able to stop loving this man, and it’s the loneliest feeling ever.
Chapter 8
NOAH
Carla crying against my chest is pure torture. Wanting to make her feel better, I press a kiss to the side of her head, but it only makes her cry harder.
Feeling panicky, I hold her tighter. “Shh… it’s okay.”
God, how do I calm her down?
I try rubbing a hand over her back, but when that doesn’t work, the panic grows inside of me until I pull back, and framing her face, I press my mouth to hers.
Seconds later, shock at what I’m doing makes me yank back. I stare at her equally stunned expression. But then I realize she stopped crying, and a smile splits over my face. “Hey, it worked. You stopped crying.”
The surprised expression on her face is quickly replaced with a frown. “You kissed me because I was crying?”
I shrug. “It worked, though.”
She gasps for air, and then she sputters, “You freaking kissed me to make me stop crying? Seriously?”
I shrug again. “It’s no big deal. It calmed you down…” Looking at the frown on her face, I add, “Kind of.”
Carla stares at me, and then she shakes her head. “You can’t just lay a kiss on me like that. I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t take any of it in. That’s unfair, Noah.”
I begin to frown. “It’s unfair?”
“Yeah. The one time you kiss me, and I’m a hot mess.” She shakes her head again. “Hell no. I want a do-over.”
“Do-over?” I ask like an idiot.
Carla closes the distance between us, and wrapping her fingers around the back of my neck, she pulls me down while pushing herself up on her toes. Her mouth presses against mine, and then it feels like my IQ drops to zero, and my hormones take over.
Carla’s lips move, and the touch is tentative as if she’s asking permission. While one of my hands go to her back, the other slips into her hair so I can hold her to me. My lips part, and the moment my tongue slips inside the warmth of her mouth, she lets out a throaty sound of pleasure, which makes me harden instantly.