Page 137 of After All This Time

“You’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

I laugh, closing my eyes.

The front door slams shut.

I go into full panic mode until I see Noah standing in the doorway. My eyes lift up to fully meet his gaze.

I hear Bella laughing through her breath. “Say hi to Noah for me.”

My mouth shifts to one side of my face. “You can say hi to him yourself.”

I flip the camera around, so Noah’s in the frame. He waves to the camera with a goofy smile slapped across his cute face. “Hi, Bella.”

“Hi, Noah.” Her eyebrows raise up and down, making a kissy face at me.

My eyes wander around the room to avoid the awkwardness that’s happening right now, but they keep landing back on Noah.

It’s hard not to look at him and it’s so much harder to look away.

For starters, he’s dripping in sweat. The front of his t-shirt is soaking wet, showing off his stupidly muscular torso. He’s in gym shorts with a backward baseball cap on his head.

I nod my head, flattening my lips. “If you two are done reacquainting yourselves, I’m going to hang up now.”

“Noah, Dani has something to tell you!” Bella shouts out of the speakers from my phone.

“Bye, you idiot.” I roll my eyes and shake my head.

“Bye!” She winks at me.

I hang up the FaceTime call, feeling relieved and anxious all at the same time.

“What is it you have to tell me?” He licks his lips in anticipation of my official love confession that’s not happening.

Not right now, at least.

“Bella was just being her usual annoying self. It’s nothing.”

Biting down on my tongue, my eyes roam all over his wet torso until my eyes bounce up to meet his.

He folds his arms in front of his broad chest. “Are you done yet, Sunshine?” He seductively raises his eyebrows a few times in a row.

My lips curve up to form a smirk. “Not just yet.”

“Come over here, get your fine ass out of bed, and fucking kiss me already.”

Ripping the covers off my body, I run into his arms.

Our lips crash into each other. His face is full of sweat, but I don’t care. My hands cup his flushed, sweaty cheeks. He picks me up by my ass, my arms wrapping around his neck.

I pull my lips away from his. “What was the errand you had to run?”

“I told you not to miss me too much.” He smiles into my mouth.

I huff. “That’s not funny. I was scared when I woke up and saw you were gone. I thought you used me, so you could lose your virginity.”

He backs his head away and has the most irritated look on his face. “If you thought that, then you don’t know me at all. I’m sorry I scared you. I just went for a run around the neighborhood. I go for morning runs sometimes because they help clear my mind. Then, I went to pick up something for breakfast.”

---