Page 76 of After All This Time

“Thank you for stating the obvious, smart ass.”

He gently nudges me in the arm and I return the favor.

Taking out my phone, I turn it on to check the time. It’s almost 3 p.m.

How the hell have we been here for this long and I didn’t get any inspiration to write?

“Can we go eat now?” I ask.

“Yeah, we can.”

Noah walks out of the shop first while I stand in front of the doorway for a bit, taking in all the memories running through my head like an old videotape.

When I walk out, the bell rings as the door closes.

He’s leaning against my car, staring at me.

I suck in my lips, swiping my tongue across the top row of my teeth.

Why are guys so attractive when they lean on shit?

“Do I have something on my face?”

He looks around, a confused expression writing itself all over his face. “No, why?”

“You stare at me a lot.”

“It’s hard not to,” he says as I walk closer to him.

“Why?” I squint my eyes, grinning like crazy.

“Do you want to see what a beautiful woman looks like?”

I cock an eyebrow. “Huh?”

He takes out his phone, opening his camera and shoving into my face. “Who’s that?”

“Me.”

“Exactly.”

Maybe he does have feelings for me. No, this has to be all in my head. This isn’t real. Can I make it a day without overthinking about something? No, that’s never going to happen.

I giggle, feeling my cheeks overheating. “You don’t have to compliment me all the time.”

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You deserve to hear every goddamn compliment that exists.”

My heart just feels like it just sunk down to my stomach. I can’t move or breathe.

When I finally unfreeze myself, I make my way to the edge of the sidewalk.

Walking over the protruded edge, I stumble backwards into Noah. His arms wrap around my waist to catch me from falling on the searing hot ground.

His broad and muscular chest is pressing into my back.

“Thanks for not letting me fall on my ass,” I say.

“Anytime, Princess. I’ll always be here to catch you when you fall.”

---