Page 34 of Sacrifice Bunt

Zara

Some things didn’t make her feel good in life.

One of those was pushing Noah away and leaving town without seeing him again.

Something that did make her feel good? Being with him. Talking to him, laughing with him, having sex with him, and even verbally sparring with him. He made her feel good and that was the scariest thing she’d ever confronted in her life.

There were very few things she feared. Noah Ashe was currently at the top of the list. Not fear of him physically. She knew he’d never hurt her. It was what he could do to her heart and even her brain if she let herself get involved with him.

Wasn’t she already involved now that she’d slept with him?

Celia and her stupid ideas.

Pushing back from her desk, she went in search of Hannah. She needed more advice, and in order to get that, she needed to tell Hannah what happened and hope she had something better than what Celia had told her to do.

She found Hannah in the kitchen, making herself a coffee.

“You’re back,” Hannah said. “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow.”

“I switched my flight.” Because she was a coward. “I need to tell you something.” She twirled a piece of hair around her finger.

“Oh shit, it’s bad, isn’t it? You’re doing that hair-twirling thing, and you only do that when you have bad news.”

She instantly stopped twirling her hair and pushed it off her chest and out of the way. “You need a new hobby.”

Hannah shrugged both shoulders. “I think sex with Edwin keeps me pretty occupied.” They strolled down the hallway toward Zara’s office, both entering, and Zara closing the door behind them.

“Oh shit, this is big. You closed the door.”

She both loved and hated her best friend. “I slept with Noah.”

Hannah had just taken a sip of her coffee and proceeded to spit it out immediately. “You what?”

“We kissed after the meeting with Power Punch, and Celia said maybe I should just sleep with him to get him out of my system because maybe I didn’t like him like I thought I did....” She was rambling, and she knew it, but she wasn't used to being unsure about anything.

“Stop, stop, stop.” Hannah stood up, grabbing a few tissues to wipe her face. “Just stop and start at the beginning. You and Noah kissed? When?”

“In the car after you forced me to go with him to that dinner with Power Punch.” Really this was all Hananh’s fault.

Hannah smiled. “Jesus, it took you guys long enough.”

That had Zara whipping her head up. “What do you mean?”

“Are you kidding me with this? You’ve had a thing for Noah since that night of the fire. Why do you think you claim to hate him so much? You know what they say? There’s a thin line between love and hate.”

“I don’t love Noah.” What did she know about love? And Noah? No, he wasn’t what she wanted.

Except he was.

He was everything she wanted if she wanted love. Which she didn’t.

“I’m not saying you do. Yet. But you like him, and sleeping with him to get him out of your system was not a good idea.”

“Blame Celia for that one.”

“No, I blame you. Celia doesn't have all the information like I have. You are in charge of your own life and never do anything you don’t want to do. If you slept with Noah, it’s because you wanted to.”

“There’s no if to it. We had sex.” Sex that was out of this world and made her crave it again.

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