Chapter 19

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Tucking my hair behind my ear, and gathering as much courage as I possibly can, I carefully knock on Noah's front door. A few moments go by before I hear his footsteps approaching from the other side, making my blood freeze in my veins.

He opens the door to reveal a mouth-watering sight, and the scent of mint hits me like a slap on the face. He towers in front of me, wearing tight black jeans, and a white long sleeve that shows off his broad frame, hugging his muscles in all the right places. His hair is perfectly and effortlessly tousled, but I know he styled it to look that way. A thin silver chain hangs from his neck, barely visible as it's tucked inside his shirt, and a black steel ring adorns the middle finger on his right hand.

I think I've been staring.

If I have, he doesn't seem to mind anyway, because when I look up, his green glimmering eyes reflect the same hunger as my own. "Breathtaking as ever." He smirks looking me up and down, and my blush reaches the tips of my ears.

"You don't look so bad yourself." I smile, faking confidence.

He chuckles "After you," he gestures inside the house, moving aside and allowing me to step in before closing the door behind me.

I've been in his house before but I've never seen it in the daylight and I'm amazed at how different it looks in this lighting. "Your house looks a lot fancier without all the drunk teenagers stumbling around." I say.

He laughs, showing off his pearly white teeth, "You want a tour?" he offers.

I nod, "Lead the way."

He guides me through the house, room after room. Every single one of them looks straight out of a home catalogue, each beautifully decorated and perfectly clean, with pristine white walls, high ceilings and elegant crown moldings. Everything is so neat and in place that you'd never guess people actually live here.

"And to conclude, this is my room." he says opening the door for me. The first thing I notice is that it unexpectedly bleak. Larger than any bedroom I've ever been in, even having its own ensuite bathroom, Noah's room barely has anything that would indicate this is his personal space. He goes over to sit on his bed, a king-size covered by a thick midnight-blue comforter and white pillows, silently allowing me to wander and take in my surroundings.

Three of the walls are covered in a textured, greyish-blue wallpaper. The fourth one consists of a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe, which has mirrored sliding doors. I find the fact that they reflect everything in the room slightly unsettling.

I go over to his desk, which seems to be the only thing that displays any personal items of his. A lonely picture frame sits atop it, two smiling little boys looking back at me. They have similar features but while one has raven black hair, the other one's locks are golden like the sun. Something tucked on the right-top corner of the frame catches my eye; a faded plastic red rose, with fake water droplets and spiky leaves.

"Why do you have a synthetic rose on your desk?" I ask, curiously running my finger over its petals before turning to him. He looks down, hands clasped between his knees and sadness taking over his expression. By his reaction I figure I probably shouldn't have asked.

"That's a story for another day" he replies, and I decide not to question him further.

"So, what did you have in mind for tonight?" I ask, changing the subject and going over to sit next to him, the mattress sinking under my weight.

He leans back casually, propping himself up with one arm. I try not to stare at the way his bicep tenses, the thin material of his shirt doing little to hide his toned stomach, his sharp jaw shifting as...

Shit, I'm doing it again.

"Well, I thought we could watch a movie in here, and then have some takeout for dinner. Do you like sushi?" He asks and I nod, trying to hide the trance he just put me in and failing miserably.

"I love sushi." I finally manage to reply.

"Great," he smiles "I know a great place but they take forever to deliver. If you don't mind I'll go order it now so that it arrives in time for dinner."

"Take your time" I sing after him as he leaves the room, needing to get myself together. He makes me so nervous and I don't want to turn this into an awkward situation. I don't know what to say, or how to act around him. The thought of us being alone in his bedroom makes my hands feel sweaty and cold. I close my eyes and wipe them on my skirt, concentrating on steadying my breathing until I feel more relaxed. I take another look around trying to get my mind off my own anxieties.

I think someone's bedroom can say a lot about them. If they're anything like me, that's where they spend most of their time, so it tends to reflect at least a little bit of their personality. My room, for example, is filled with pictures, drawings and decorations scattered all over the place. It definitely exhibits how messy I am in every way. But this room is a big question mark for me. The desaturated colors of the wallpaper and the carpeted floor, the pristine sheets, and the fact that everything is so perfectly organized make it seem like this room lacks life, or personality.

While I'm lost in thought, Noah comes back and goes to turn on the TV that's hanging over his desk. "What kind of movies do you like?" he asks, browsing through an assortment of films on the screen.

"Hmm, I like comedies, romance movies, old classics...Oh and I also really like documentaries about criminal cases. I find them fascinating, but I guess that's a bit too somber for a first date."

"That's...interesting," he smiles "But you're right, we should probably stick to something more lighthearted. Let's see, classics, comedies..." He trails off trying to find the right movie. "What about 'Grease'?" he asks.

"I love that movie! It's one of my favorites," I say excited before pausing to think. "Have you been asking Tyler for tips about me?" I ask skeptical, "I find it hard to believe that you're just taking wild guesses here."

He approaches, resting both arms on the edge of the bed and leaning towards me, "You, have very little faith in me." he displays his seductive smile, causing a stir inside of me. "And no, I didn't ask Tyler for advice. Please don't take offense to this, but I haven't told anyone about us actually. I just like keeping things private, that's all. It's nobody else's business what I do," he pauses, a devilish glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips "Or who with."

I blush, tucking my hands under my thighs and casually leaning back to put a little distance between us. I can't think straight when he's this close to me "Fine, I might be underestimating you just a bit."

"Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet," he says with a grin, sending a spiraling heatwave that starts behind my belly button traveling south. He moves to lay on the bed with his back resting against the frame "Now come here," he says. I don't move and he pats the spot next to him making me smile. I crawl on the bed and sit beside him as the movie starts playing.

Time ticks by and I concentrate on the screen in front of me, beginning to loosen up and feeling a bit more comfortable in Noah's company. He slides his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. I nuzzle into his chest, basking in the warmth and comfort of his embrace, the smell of his cologne engulfing me. I can hear his steady heart beating, and as he runs his fingers delicately through my hair, the last bit of nervousness inside me melts away. I could get used to this.

I stay in his arms and he keeps stroking my hair until the movie ends. Just as the credits start rolling, the doorbell rings, startling both of us.

"That's our food," Noah says getting up from the bed. "Wait here, I'll be right back." and he rushes out the door.

I stand up and look at my reflection in the mirror, smoothing out my hair and my outfit. A smile spreads across my face. Laying with him stirred something inside me I've never felt before, I just hope he feels the same way.

I sit back down, and in comes Noah, balancing a brown takeout bag, two bowls, two glasses, and a bottle of water stacked in his arms.

"You want to eat in here?" I ask confused.

"Yeah, why not?" he says, laying everything out on the bed.

"Everything is so clean and tidy." I point out, though he already knows that and doesn't seem to care.

"There's nothing wrong with getting messy once in a while." he winks at me.

"Says the guy whose room looks straight out of a magazine." I say pretending I don't know what he's hinting at. He laughs as he takes the food containers out of the bag and sets them on the comforter. I grab a bowl for myself, handing the other one to him as he sits cross-legged across from me and we start having dinner.

"So what's the verdict?" he asks referring to the food.

"My god, this is the best sushi I've ever tasted," I say with a mouthful of rice and fish in a very ladylike manner.

"Right? What did I tell you?" he looks pleased with himself which makes me smile.

Seeing as we don't know much about each other we decide to go back and forth asking the other questions as we enjoy our meal.

"What are you planning on studying next year?" I start off easy.

"Finance, I'm applying to a few different Ivy Leagues, but if I don't secure a scholarship, there's no way I'll be able to get into any of them." he explains.

"You sir, have very little faith in yourself," I say, throwing his own words back at him.

He chuckles, "What about you?"

"Architecture." I reply. "Come on you get another question, that one doesn't count." I say bringing the chopsticks to my mouth.

He rubs his jaw, contemplating "What's your biggest dream?"

"Oh, that's a good one," I point out, and hesitate to answer truthfully, but we promised we would, "To be a writer."

"Then why are you settling for being an architect?" he asks the question I haven't been able to answer myself.

"It's not your turn to ask." I avoid slyly, and he nods his head knowingly. "What's one thing not many people know about you?"

He looks up thinking "I like to dance." he replies.

"Really?" I ask incredulously. With his build, I wouldn't expect him to be much of a dancer.

"Hey, I never said I was good at it," he admits.

"Fair point," I laugh "I'm going to have to see some of your moves though. Judge your skills for myself."

"Oh you're not getting that lucky," he says suggestively "At least not tonight," he smirks and I feel the heat on my cheeks.

"Okay, your turn," I deflect.

"What's your biggest fear?"

"Losing the people I love, in any way." I say without hesitating for even a second and he nods slowly. "Oh and frogs, I'm deathly afraid of frogs." I add and he bursts in a fit of laughter. "Hey don't judge me," I nudge his shoulder back.

"I'm not, I swear." he lifts his hands pleading innocence but a huge smile is still etched on his face.

I'm hesitant to ask the next question I have in mind because I feel it would be crossing a line, but I need to know if the rumors are true before letting things go any further with him. "How many people have you slept with?"

He raises both eyebrows and bites his lower lip trying to suppress a cheeky grin, the implicit question «Do you really want to know the answer to that?» held in his gaze. I look at him pressingly.

"Ten." he responds, locking eyes with me, "Or at least no more than that." My eyes widen incredulously, having previously thought his body-count would be much higher. "What about you?" he asks and I just stare at him, knowing full well he already knows the answer. "Got it," he nods in understanding.

As he gathers our dishes and puts them on the floor beside the bed, the cuffs of his jeans ride up and I notice a hint of black ink peeking out near his ankle. That helps me formulate my next question.

"Can I see your tattoo?"

As an answer he proceeds to pull up the cuff further, revealing a small four-leaf clover. It's not colored, but plain black, and very detailed for such a small design.

"Does it have a story?" I wonder.

"You're violating your turn," he says "But you look way too curious, so I'll let it slide." he rubs his palms together and stares at them as he speaks, "See, when I was little, during the summertime our backyard would be filled with clovers. Most of them had just three leaves, so my grandma used to take me out there and make a game out of trying to find one that had four. She said they were a good luck charm. I would look for hours but never find one, and grandma would just stand there watching me ,glued to her spot until I gave up. After that, she'd close her eyes, point at a random spot, and say 'There'. I'd follow her finger and I swear, every time, no matter where she pointed, I would always find a four-leaf clover there. I used to think it was magic or something. To this day I still don't know how she did it, the old lady never reveals her tricks."

"That's beautiful." I smile at his surprisingly sweet story.

"I always knew I wanted to dedicate my first ink to her, and she loves it. Whenever we're together she asks if I'll let her see it, and you should watch the way her face lights up whenever I do. It's priceless."

I laugh, "She sounds like a very sweet woman."

"She really is. And who knows?" he says leaning in as if to let me in on a secret, "If you play your cards right, maybe you'll get to meet her one day."

"Did it hurt?" I ask trying to distract him from the very obvious redness on my face.

"Not this one."

"You've got another one?"

He nods, pulling his jeans down to cover the clover.

"Can I see it?"

Noah hesitates, unsurely taking a look at me "You asked for it." he says lifting up his shirt to reveal two names tattooed in beautiful, black, cursive letters on his ribcage. The sight of his bare skin and defined abdomen have my face feeling hotter than the surface of the sun. Without thinking, I reach my hand out and trace my fingers over the ink. "Might I ask whose names they are?"

"My brother and my sister." he replies.

"Oh right, I forgot you had siblings."

"I have four actually."

"Four?! Then how do you manage to get the house all to yourself so often? And why do you only have two of their names tattooed?" I feel like I'm prying into his life too much, but I can't help being intrigued by Noah and everything that surrounds him.

He sighs and puts his shirt back on. "It's a long, and confusing story."

"We've got time," I reply, determined to get to know him.

"Okay," he stops resisting, "but don't say I didn't warn you," he shifts on his spot looking uncomfortable.

"So I have two sisters and two brothers, I'm the youngest of five children." he begins. "One of my sisters, Monica, and one of my brothers, Damian, are in their 30′s. Both married, with kids and a place of their own, so I rarely see them. Those two are my dad's children from a previous marriage, we don't share the same mom."

"My other two siblings are the ones I have tattooed. My sister Ophelia is 27 and we share the same mom, but not the same dad. Which doesn't really matter because my dad has taken care of her as his own since she was a baby. And the last of my brothers, Aiden, is 21 and he's the only one who shares both parents with me."

I try to draw a mental family tree to make sense of what he just said, but I'm extremely confused. I don't have enough time to process it before Noah continues.

"As to why I get the house to myself all the time, there's a bunch of reasons. By the time I was born, my oldest siblings had already left home and were living on their own. That left only my parents, Ophelia, Aiden and I living in this house. After my parents got divorced, right around the time I was ten years old, my dad moved to an apartment in the city. When Aiden started college, he moved in with my dad to be closer to school, but he still visits on weekends sometimes. "

So only my mom, Ophelia, and I live here permanently. My mom is always away for business, and my sister is a flight attendant, so she often isn't home; which means most of the time I live here by myself."

I can see the pain in his expression as he finishes, but he quickly shakes it away. He wasn't lying when he said it was complicated. I'm still trying to put some of the puzzle pieces together, but I think I got the picture. It must be awfully lonely having such a big family only for them to be scattered all over the place, and having such a big house only to be occupied by one person. "I'm so sorry to hear that Noah, it must have been really hard for you growing up."

He lets out a chuckle but there's no humor behind it "You don't even know the half of it." he looks deep in thought for a second before lifting his gaze back up to my face and clearing his throat, "Anyway, it's all in the past, no use being sad about it now."

"Thank you, for opening up to me." I hesitantly take his hand in mine to show him how much I mean it. By the look on his face, it's clear it must be a sensitive topic, so it means a lot that he would talk about it with me.

"Thank you for listening." he smiles. "It's weird, I don't really talk about these things with anyone. Like I said, I like to keep my personal life private, but I'm comfortable with you. I trust you."

I didn't expect him to be this vulnerable and open with me so quickly, but I'm very pleasantly surprised. I have to stop pushing him away. He's been nothing but sweet and respectful to me, and I've been so wrapped up in my own head, filling my own mind with doubts, that I hadn't realized I've been unfair with him.

"I trust you too" I say and he looks at me in disbelief. To show him I'm being serious I lean in to place a soft kiss on his lips. His hands cup my face and his thumbs caress my cheeks as our lips move in sync, slowly and tenderly.

I lean backward and he lays on top of me, our hands carefully exploring each other's bodies. I run mine up his muscular arms, making my way to get my fingers tangled in his hair. One of his hands slides down my side to grab my waist, and he uses the other one to prop himself up.

Our lips separate so that I can leave a trail of small kisses along his jawline, leading up to his ear. He moves down to my neck and I suck lightly on his earlobe, trailing back down his perfectly shaved cheek to meet his lips again.

This kiss is different from the others we've shared. Instead of feeling like I'm being struck by lightning, I'm completely at ease, a warmth growing inside me and butterflies dancing in my stomach. With each brush of his lips against mine, the walls I've built around me over the years start crumbling down to let him in.

***

By now it's pretty late, and I tell Noah I should probably be heading back home. He leads me down the stairs to the front door and opens it for me. We stand outside holding hands and staring at each other, wide smiles plastered across our faces. I wish this night could last forever.

"Thank you for tonight Noah, I had a great time," I say genuinely.

"I did too." he strokes my hair pushing it out of my face. "I just wish I could take you home, it would give us a little more time together," he says brushing his thumb over my cheek.

"That would be lovely, but I drove here, I can't just leave my car."

"I know, I know" he says reluctantly.

We go silent again and his tender eyes meet mine "So..." he starts "Did I prove you wrong about 'boys like me'?"

"You did," I

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