Page 31 of After All This Time

He needs you.

Her words hit me straight in the chest, shooting into my heart.

She switches gears on me. “While we’re on the subject of Noah, how was it seeing him for the first time in five years?”

Confusing as hell. Can we just go?

“The same. He’s still the same irritating piece of shit. Nothing’s really changed.”

She squints her eyes at me. It’s like she knows I’m lying and telling the truth at the same time. “Yeah, yeah, that’s great and all. Not surprising he hasn’t grown out of his ‘I’m an asshole and I don’t care’ phase. I want to know what he looks like compared to the last time you saw him.”

I lift one of my eyebrows up, expressing my confusion. I hesitate before asking this, but I end up blurting it out anyway. “Why?”

She looks at me, puckering her lips out and her eyes start looking around in different directions. “Oh, you know, for research purposes.”

I roll my eyes, giving her my best sarcasm-filled laugh. “Right, sure. For research purposes.” I wink at her, shaking my head.

She raises her eyebrows up and down and a wicked grin appears across her face. “This is important information. Now, spill it.”

I let out a breath. “I don’t know. He looks the same. Just older.”

“Well, duh. Of course, he looks older. You’re going to need to be more specific. I can say if he looks anything like he did five years ago, you’re in trouble. Deep. Trouble.”

Not helping, Bella.

I close my eyes, letting silence consume the car for a couple of minutes, there’s no way I could look at her right now.

Bella takes a quick glance at me, her mouth opening wide despite trying to keep her focus on the road. “Danielle Solomon, are you telling me he got even more attractive?”

I place my hands on my warm cheeks. A half smile appears on my face, eventually turning into a full smile. “This is ridiculous.”

She smirks. “He did, didn’t he?”

“I can’t confirm, nor deny.”

“You’re so full of shit. C’mon, tell me. I’m dying to know. You didn’t text me at all yesterday to rant about him or anything. Something’s obviously changed.”

“To be completely honest with you, we were able to be in the same room without murdering each other for the first time in…forever. When I was in the elevator going up to the fourth floor, I was dreading having to see his stupid face again. That all changed when he had two panic attacks.”

Her mischievous facial expression transforms into one that reeks of motherly instincts. “Oh, Dani.”

“I saw too much of myself in him both times and it freaked me the hell out. I knew I had to help him. I mean, I was helping Noah—a guy I’ve hated since we were kids. A guy who always tried to crush me at everything. Whether it was school or a dumb board game.” I pause to catch my breath. “I ended up holding his hand. He fell asleep in the crook of my neck. That’s not even the crazy part, though.”

Eagerness is written all over Bella’s face. “There’s more? Please tell me there’s more!”

“Oh, there’s more…I slept over at the hospital last night to keep an eye on Lizzie. He brought me an iced tea this morning because he knows I don’t like coffee. He sang the Mickey Mouse March song to me. I haven’t heard that song since I was a kid. Anyways, my dumbass forgot I took off my bra the night before. He kept staring at my breasts!”

“Oh, shit!” She brings her hands to her mouth, covering it as the white part of her eyes gets bigger.

“I put my clothes on so fast. My eyes may or may not have wandered to his ass to get back at him.” My lips pucker out towards the right side of my face and I shrug my shoulders.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You were checking each other out?” A psychotic laugh comes out of Bella’s mouth, catching me off guard so much it makes me jump.

I nod my head. “Uh-huh. Well, at least, I think so.”

Hearing myself say all this stuff out loud to Bella makes it even more real.

It terrifies me because Noah has never been “sweet” to me. He’s always been egotistical, annoying, and a total dickhead. He never used to compliment me, or dared to stare at my chest.

---