Page 92 of After All This Time

“That’s all you get, Lover Boy.”

“Do you know how attractive you are when you talk about writing? The way passion radiates off your body, shooting straight through the person you’re talking to.”

Shut the fuck up, Noah. Why did I just say that? I’m just going to dig a hole, jump into it, and never come out of it.

She raises her eyebrows, looking around the elevator in disbelief.

When we arrive at the lobby of the hospital, we head straight for the sliding glass doors.

There’s this deafening silence, consuming the air around us. It’s making sweat drip down from my forehead to my chin.

My heart is beating so damn fast.

Please make it stop.

She opens her mouth to say something to me, slightly cocking her head. “You think I’m attractive?” she asks, smirking before she bites on her tongue to rile me up even more.

Consider me riled over the goddamn edge.

Fuck, the things I want to do to her.

I want to make her pay for torturing me this past month with those beautiful brown eyes of hers. The way her smile lights up every goddamn room she walks in. Her laugh has become my favorite sound. But most importantly, those full pink lips. It’s taken everything in my power not to push her up against one of these hospital walls and have our lips collide.

We make it out of the hospital and walk towards my car.

She has my arm slung around her neck, dangling at the level of her shoulder. I wait to answer her until we reach my car.

She digs for the key in my back pocket. I didn’t even tell her that’s where it is. Feeling her hand dig around back there is the closest I’m going to have her being intimately close to me.

God, she’s really digging in there.

If she keeps this up, I’m definitely not afraid to kiss the fucking shit out of her on top of my car until she’s unable to breathe like a normal human being.

How the hell am I going to answer her question? Don’t sound desperate, you idiot.

Maybe I’m the captain of The Idiot Club instead of Grayson.

“I said the way you talk about writing is attractive. I didn’t say you were.”

I can immediately see the hurt written all over her face. She huffs out a soft breath, walking ahead of me.

You blew that one, jackass.

I speak up again, hoping that more dumb shit doesn’t come spewing out of my mouth. “I’m sorry. None of that came out right.”

“Yeah, it didn’t.”

I don’t know how to respond to her. I’m frozen, wishing I could turn back time to steer this conversation in a more positive direction.

The original plan was to keep all this shit to myself until I found a time that was right to tell her how I feel about her.

I don’t know how much longer I can go through with this plan.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

dani

Noah told me he finds me attractive.