Page 73 of Best Served Cold

Noah was distracted by something, and had been for days. Was he still fucked up over what happened at the club?

For some reason that thought didn’t thrill me the way it should have. I didn’t know what to do with this version of Noah. He still smiled and joked and was his usual annoying self, but it was…forced.

His smiles didn’t reach his eyes, and he spent most of our breaks at work sitting by himself and playing on his phone or disappearing into the wooded area behind the jobsite.

“How’re the kids?” River asked.

This time Noah’s smile was real, but still a muted version of his usual one. “They’re good.”

“Kids?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

Noah had kids? How did I not know that?

Was he with their mom? Was that why he’d been different since that night at the club?

Had he gone home and crawled into bed with his girlfriend after coming down my throat? After he’d sucked me off and made me come so hard I almost blacked out?

Anger clawed at my chest and tightened my lungs to the point it was hard to breathe.

“My niece and nephew,” Noah said, barely sparing me a glance. “I help my sister with them.”

“How old are they?” River asked.

“Aria’s two, and Felix is eighteen weeks.”

“Bet they keep you busy.” River tugged his phone out of his pocket and frowned at the screen.

“That they do.” He tipped back the last of his drink. My eyes fell to his mouth as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip and toyed with first one, then the other snake bite stud.

My own lips tingled at the memories of cool metal and warm skin against my mouth. My cock.

Smirking, Noah looked pointedly at the bulge in my pants.

I crossed my arms and schooled my expression into my usual bored neutral. “We’re surrounded by hot women and you think this is because of you? Conceited much?”

Noah’s smirk flickered and then dropped, his eyes going from teasing to haunted before flipping to unbothered.

The hell?

My barb might have been harsh, but it wasn’t any worse than the shit we usually said to each other.

He tossed his cup into a nearby trash can. “I’m going for a smoke.”

“That shit will kill you,” River said, his eyes still on his phone.

“So they say.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, Noah spun on his heel and stalked away.

I glanced at my brother but he was engrossed in whatever was on his screen.

My obsession with Noah was getting out of control. Why did I give a shit about how he was feeling or what he had going on?

He was nothing to me. Just the annoying asshat who pissed me off more than anyone ever had, and that was saying something.

But he was also the only person who’d ever sparked any sort of fire in me.

It had to be this dumb competition between us. I knew it wasn’t. But it had to be.

Seeing Noah’s stupidly handsome face twist up in pleasure was the most satisfying thing I’d ever experienced. The sounds he made while he tried to resist me, and the shit he said as he desperately tried to not give in, were hot as fuck. But nothing beat that moment when he reached his threshold and switched from combative to desperate.

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