Page 31 of Falling for Fury

He stops, and I watch his expression crumple. He rubs his hands up and down his face before dragging them through his hair. His arms flex at the movement, and as he reaches up to his head, the bottom of his shirt lifts slightly to reveal the muscled V pointing south. I quickly move my eyes, trying to hide the blush that rises on my cheeks, and I look for his eyes. Eyes that are squeezed closed.

“Noah, you’re worrying me, is everything okay? Did something happe—”

“No, no… well… yes, but I just… I don’t know…” He releases a sigh. My brain goes straight for the worst possible situation.

“Oh, my god. Did something happen to Matt? Are Mia and Ava okay? Where are they?” I move to reach for my phone, and Noah reaches for my wrists, taking steps to close the space between us.

“No, no, no no, I promise, everyone is okay. It’s not… no, everyone is fine, I am just…” He releases my wrists, and the heat of his hands linger as he sits at the end of the bed opposite of where I am standing. The look of pain across his face is so tangible I want to do something to make it go away. God, what is it?

I walk towards him and plant a hand on each cheek and raise his head to look up at me.

“Noah, please talk to me, is everything okay?” I whisper to him.

“I… Addison…” he whispers as his hands, dangling between his legs, move to the back of my calves, grazing so lightly they feel like feathers. I inch forward at the touch, now standing between his parted knees, my stomach almost completely against his chest. What am I doing?

“I think… I think I really …like you… Addison.”

Oh.my.god.

He looks at me with vulnerable sad eyes, my stomach does a colossal swoop as my heart nearly skips out of my chest. I hold my breath at his confession, unsure if he is aware of what he has just said, and I try to scan his eyes again for traces of alcohol. Maybe he is drunk.

“The thought of you being hurt… or someone hurting you… it just… I don’t know what these feelings are, I’ve never… and this scares me. I—” He squeezes his eyes shut before he leans his head against my stomach, looking down at our feet, releasing a sigh and continues, his words barely a whisper “—I have so much riding on this deal, I can’t screw this up. I can’t be distracted and I don’t do relationships.” The grip on my claves grows firmer, the words make my heart sink while also giving me butterflies. If I wasn’t already confused, I certainly am now. What the hell happened tonight?

“Noah, I don’t understand what work thing are you talking about… screw what up? Wait, is this about Jake?”

His head snaps up. “What? No—”

“Then what… what is it? What distraction are you talking about?”

His eyes dart to my lips before they slowly blink up to my eyes again.

He looks like there are a million words running through his brain, like he isn’t sure which ones to use, how to speak what he needs to say. The pain in his face slowly fades, and a different look seems to take shape—determination, or maybe need. “You. You are my biggest distraction.” The words aren’t cruel. In fact, they feel laced with promise in the deep way his voice teases me.

Thoughts and questions evade me. I’m too distracted by the feel of his hands gripping my calves. My hands move from his cheeks to the side of his neck, and my head tilts slightly as my thumbs run along the sharp line of his jaw. My eyes slowly scan his face, not wanting to leave his chocolate eyes, but make their way to his mouth. His tongue dashes out quickly to wet his lips, and I instantly wonder what he tastes like.

I try to blink the lust away and snap back to reality, but his grip on my legs tightens before I can push away. His hands slowly trace their way up my legs, his calluses softly grazing a burning path behind my knees and up the back of my thighs, stopping short of my ass. I am speechless and lost in his eyes. “Noah,” I say on a whisper, as his eyes darken. “You can’t keep looking at me like that.”

“Looking like what,” he says, with a grin slowly taking shape across that beautiful face, knowing exactly what he is doing. I force my lungs to remember how to breathe and will my body to stop the warmth that is spreading between my legs.

“Wait, stop,” I say quickly and out of breath. His hands drop immediately as he leans back on the bed to put distance between us.

“Fuck, Addy, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable…” he scolds himself, and his face becomes the picture of pain once again as he brings his hands to his face. “What the fuck is happening to me?” he swears to himself under his breath, and I back away towards the wall opposite the bed.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I am sorry. I shouldn’t…. we can’t…” I can’t get the words out. We can’t do this, Noah. What even is this? We barely know each other, and I am not even remotely cut out for a relationship. Handling a boyfriend’s expectations? Hard pass. Also, there is no way he has feelings for me other than probably wanting to fuck me.

He looks up at me, and his eyes narrow in confusion.

“Addy… I didn’t come here to… do… that, or anything.” He gestures to the bed, his eyes implying enough.

“Oh…” Of course he didn’t, but he didn’t have to sound so… disgusted. His eyes snap back to me as he searches my face. His eyes tweak at the corners as his arrogant smile grows back.

“Don’t mistake my words, Addison, I have most definitely thought about it. Almost impossible to go a day without doing so.” His voice is low and rough and my body wins the battle over the growing warmth.

“Noah, I am a mess. Today was okay, but yesterday wasn’t,” I blurt out like word vomit, looking down at my feet and shuffle uncomfortably. “Tomorrow might be good… or it might not.” How do you explain to someone the unbalanced nature of your brain chemistry? He stands and slowly closes the distance between us, leaving only inches as my back is pressed up against the wall.

“You don’t have to give me an explanation, Addison, but you should know by now that your emotions don’t scare me.” My stomach sours at the choice of words. His eyes are burning a path across my face as his jaw clenches and his gaze turns hungry.

“What do you mean?”

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