Page 68 of Play On

We leave the den, and I begin to fill the space between us with endless chatter as we make our way towards the part of the house that is on display to the public. As soon as we shut the door shut behind us to the private family wing, Noah stops me dead in my tracks by putting his hands gently around my waist.

“Don’t let your dad get in your head,” he says firmly.

I blink. “Wh—what?”

Noah escorts me to an old bench lining the hallway. “Let’s sit for a second.”

I take a seat, stunned. He sits next to me and takes my hand again, interlocking our fingers and resting them on the top of his muscular thigh.

“You tensed the second he called you a butterfly,” Noah says quietly. “Your hand got cold, and you withdrew from me. It got into your head, and I’m here to get it out.”

Emotions rise to the surface. How did I end up here, with Noah in my hallway? With this man who has managed to see beyond the surface, to someone I’m still trying to be?

Despite what I’ve done, he’s not afraid.

And now he’s here to champion for me.

I swallow hard, unable to speak. I shift my gaze to the floor, scared that if I look him in those beautiful dark eyes, I’ll begin to cry.

“You know,” Noah says softly, “I have a different definition of butterfly.”

Despite myself, my head jerks up to look at him. Noah releases my hand and cups the side of my face.

“I see a butterfly as something beautiful,” he says, his fingertips now gliding along my cheekbone, “and delicate. But strong because they canchange. They evolve from something completely different. Grow into something new. And that’s what you’re doing, Violet. You’re so brave.”

Brave.

A word I’ve never heard associated with my name.

“Thank you,” I whisper, doing everything I can to stem the flow of tears that threaten to break free. “Thank you so much for saying that.”

“I mean it. You are brave. Braver than I am, that’s for sure.”

“I am not,” I declare.

“You are.”

“Are we going to argue about this?” I tease.

He grins, and I swear to God, my heart skips a beat.

“No. Because I’m right.”

I grin up at him, too, and his hand slides to the nape of my neck, his fingertips dancing along it now.

“Come on. We’d better leave before I get myself into trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

Noah lifts a brow. “The kind of trouble where I kiss you right here with the chance of your family walking in on us. No offence to your family.”

I lean my head against his shoulder and laugh softly. “None taken.”

I lift my head so I can stare at this man, this footballer who is beginning to turn my life into something completely different than it was before.

And I can’t wait to see where we go tonight with each other.

Chapter Seventeen

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