NoahNoah actually heard Roni gulp and felt his own gut tighten. Fuck! Too soon! Maybe it was too soon, but there was no way he could hold it in anymore. He had to tell her."Noah," she placed her open palm against his chest, and for the first time since they'd begun kissing, he felt her pull away. "I think maybe you're confusing things."Now it was Noah who pulled away. "What?""I'm feeling things too," she said, sitting up slightly. "But we have to be realistic, and I don't want you confusing the feelings you have for me as your good friend for anything more. I'm sorry," she said, adding insult to injury as she began to move off the bed."Hold on." He reached out and held her arm, feeling the pounding in his head start up again. "First of all, don't be sorry about anything, and whatever you do, do not take back what just happened here between us.""I'm not taking it back. I'm just saying maybe you're confusing this—""I'm not confusing a damn thing." Noah straightened out too
NoahBecause it was New Year's Day, one of the few holidays Jack ever closed down the gym, Noah hadn't made any plans to leave the house today—that was until Gio called to ask how he was feeling and mentioned he was going over to his uncle's house to help him pile up more sandbags. He said his uncle's yard always flooded and was already a mess from the recent storms.Since Gio was always ready to jump when it came to helping Noah with anything, Noah volunteered immediately to help. At first, Gio balked at the idea, saying Noah should stay home and rest since he was injured, but Noah reminded him he was a boxer and knew how to take a punch. The guy hadn't even hit him that hard; he just hit the perfect spot. The fucking pussy obviously knew how to land a sucker punch.Noah ran into Roni in the hallway as she made her way back to her room from the bathroom in her robe. He knew he'd promised to control himself, but Roni had to know that was going to be damn near impossible now.Preten
VeronicaThe night Noah returned from helping out Gio and his uncle, they came to one compromise. Their friendship would remain just that, a friendship, except Noah negotiated a kiss goodnight—every night.Veronica hadn't argued much, and though she stipulated it would be strictly a friendly kiss, she knew it would be anything but. What started as a quick peck goodnight had escalated into a kiss that nearly had her panting and in a quick need of a change of panties. The following nights it got even longer.Her first few days back at work she'd barely managed to stay awake. Between her sleepless nights after Noah's amazing use of his tongue and the two years' worth of painfully boring work compliance trainings and videos she had to sit through, it was hard to keep her eyes open.Her boss, Leslie, had yet to tell her where she'd end up once she was done training but seemed pretty optimistic that she still had plenty of time to figure it out since it would probably be weeks before Ver
Veronica shook her head quickly. "No, I had my chance. The morning we went out for waffles I meant to tell you. I found out about it the night before, but I decided not to because I felt stupid. He was just my roommate and—""You spent a wonderful holiday with him, just the two of you. You said you had moments. It obviously meant a lot to you, and I can totally understand why that would be heartbreaking. If I were you, I would've been hurt too. You weren't being stupid; you were being human." She squeezed her hand. "Look, the one thing Rick and I have been hearing about for weeks in all these retreats and counseling sessions is that trust is the absolute foundation of a relationship. Without it, you have nothing. What did Noah have to say about sleeping with the girl?"Veronica shook her head. "I never asked him about it, and, of course, he never offered an explanation. But the girl came back for Christmas, and from what his friend said, she's basically his go-to whore during the hol
NoahA test is what this felt like, and Noah always sucked at tests. She'd let him kiss her, and then she dropped this on him. His mind raced to try to figure this out. He searched for the perfect answer, but there were no two ways around it. Rita was exactly as Roni had once put it—his drive-by one-night stand. But in Rita's case, it'd been far more than one time.He stood his ground, trying to stay cool as Roni's eyes sought something in his. "She's just someone I hang with—well, hung with," he amended quickly, "not anymore, in the past." He shrugged, trying to make as little of it as possible. "We were both single, and neither of us was looking for anything deep.""Why not anymore?"The fact that she'd even ask that pissed him off a little. "Because it doesn't feel right anymore.""But it did the day after Thanksgiving?"God, he could kill Hector. "That wasn't planned, Roni. Actually nothing with her ever was. For the last few years, me and her—""Years?"Shit! She nudged aw
A week after their Rita conversation, Veronica was feeling as indecisive as ever about moving things forward with Noah. His admission about how and why things had happened the day after Thanksgiving and the fact that he gave her the go-ahead to question him—that she was entitled to explanations about his personal life—should've have been a deciding factor. But ironically, something else about that conversation had made her more aware of how frightening it was to put herself out there like that.The only times in her life that she could remember her heart feeling this incredibly vulnerable and ready to fall apart over a guy had unbelievably both been because of him: first, the night after his fight when she was forced to see him with a groupie and then later that same night when she found out about Rita. But hearing that he'd seen Rita the day after she'd finally given into her desire for him—the very day after he'd admitted to being in love with her—had such an instant crushing effect
The guys came over on Sunday and were there all day. It'd been a while since they'd had a virtual boxing fest like the old days. Noah checked with Roni first before okaying Hector to bring over his PlayStation 4. They worked on changing the oil on Roni's car all morning and then moved indoors for the boxing.Noah told her she didn't have to, but Roni insisted on making them snacks and then lunch. She made sandwiches which she cut in half and piled high on a tray. Though the guys all said they weren't hungry, the pile of sandwiches were inhaled within minutes.Her fussing over them had actually helped to distract her and get her mind off what she'd been moping about for days. She and Nellie were still on the outs, and Roni was beside herself with guilt over having hurt Nellie's feelings.Noah tried to tell her she'd been right to speak up and tell Nellie how she felt, especially given the fact that Roni said Nellie would have done the same thing had the tables been turned. Still, as
"Wow," Derek said as they walked down her porch steps. "I haven't seen that kid in years. I'm surprised he's not in jail."Veronica turned to him, her arms crossed in front of her. "What makes you say that?"Derek chuckled. "That kid sat outside my office more than my damn receptionist when he went to Garfield."She wasn't sure, but it made sense that Derek might have reason to try to discredit Noah. She'd seen his expression when she told him Noah was her roommate. Just the fact that she'd previously mentioned her new roommate was a guy she was sure had already gotten him speculating. His showing up here unannounced today was not on impulse as he'd said it was. Derek did nothing on impulse.But she decided to bite anyway. "Why was he at your office so often?""Typical troublemaker. Did you run a background check on this guy before letting him move in?"The thought had never even occurred to Veronica. "No, because he's a friend. What do you mean troublemaker? What kind of trouble