Page 83 of It Was Always You

I sat up straighter, pulling myself away from Noah just before he could see us. It took a moment for me to find my voice. "It's the timer for the cupcakes. They're done."

I didn't want to get up. Not when the last twenty minutes had been so perfect. But I forced myself to stand, and when I did, I immediately felt cold without Noah right beside me.

"Do you want any help?" Noah asked when I was at the base of the staircase.

I darted my gaze to Easton. He was back in his game, so I said, "That would be nice." And then I turned around and headed up the stairs, listening to the sound of Noah coming up right behind me.

I pulled the cupcakes out of the oven and set them on the stove to cool.

"Did you want to help me frost these ones?" I gestured to the cupcakes that had already cooled.

He leaned against the counter with a half-smile on his lips. "I think I'll just watch."

I shook my head and smiled. "You didn't really want to help, did you?"

He chuckled. "No, I just wanted to be with you."

My smile grew bigger at his words.He just wanted tobe with me.I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't just dreaming.

Nope, this was really happening right now.

I pulled the frosting out of the fridge and grabbed a small spatula. As I worked at the counter, Noah stepped behind me—the warmth of his body against my back made it really hard to concentrate on my work. I slowly spread the frosting on the cupcake with a shaky hand. Noah pressed his lips to the top of my head, taking my shoulders in his hands and massaging them.

"I really like you, Lexi," he whispered. "Even though I shouldn't."

He brushed the hair off my neck and kissed me there, too. Chills raced down my spine. I tried to draw in a decent breath, but his closeness and the way I was feeling was making it impossible.

"Tell me you want me, too?" His voice was low and husky. He kissed the skin near the neckline of my dress.

I released a shaky breath. "I do," I whispered as his hands ran down my shoulders, along my arms, and up again, and it felt so amazing.

I couldn't concentrate on frosting the cupcakes anymore. I set the spatula back in the frosting bowl and the half-frosted cupcake on the counter. "You're making it really hard to work, you know." I peeked over my shoulder at him.

"And you're making it really hard for me to get you outof my head," he whispered in my ear before spinning me around to face him. He stepped closer, trapping me between the counter and his strong body. My heart, which was already racing, catapulted to new speeds that I was sure would put me at risk for a heart attack.

And before I could register what was happening, he tilted his face down and pressed his lips to mine. His warm lips moved slowly as he kissed me tentatively—giving me a chance to move away. But I didn't. I leaned closer, sliding my hands up his neck until they could tangle in his hair—the hair I'd been dying to touch all week. It was even softer than I'd imagined.

"I think I need to warn you now about how much I love to have my hair played with," he whispered against my lips, his hot breath making me tingle all over.

"Y-you do?" I couldn't breathe. Couldn't concentrate on anything but how much I wanted his lips back on mine.

"Yeah," he said before closing the distance between our mouths once again. Electricity sparked in my veins as he coaxed my lips to move with his. He kissed me slowly, passionately, and all I could think about was how he'd said that he liked me. I'd waited years for him to notice me the way a guy notices a girl, but I never thought it was really possible. So I moved on. Then I found someone else to crush on...but I should have known my feelings for Noah would never really go away.

I had liked Noah from almost the moment we'd met.

"If someone told you a week ago that we'd be doing this, would you have believed them?" he asked, briefly breaking the lock he had on my lips.

"Definitely not." I sighed. Wished for, yes. But actually happen? Never in a million years.

And then he was kissing me again. His soft lips sent shivers through my nerves, shivers that made my whole body tremble in a way it never had before. When he'd kissed me yesterday, it had been because of our arrangement. But this wasn't an agreed-upon kiss. He was kissing me because he wanted to.

And the thought that Noah Taylor wanted to kiss me, when he could be kissing any other girl at school, made my muscles go weak. He really did like me, right? It couldn't just be a physical thing, could it? He would have taken Raven up on her obvious offers if this was just to fill some sort of physical need, wouldn't he?

"Do you think it's possible to know someone for years but never really see them?" he asked, his voice low.

I swallowed. "I think so."

His hands rubbed circles along my spine, raising goosebumps everywhere. He leaned his forehead against mine. "But..." He sighed. "Getting mixed up with me is probably the last thing you want."

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