Page 17 of It Was Always You

I grabbed his arm to stop him. "Wait."

"What?"

"What about the wholeotherpart of the rumor?" I raised my eyebrows, hoping he'd get what I was talking about without actually having to say the words out loud.

Understanding dawned on his face. "You mean the part about us having s?—"

I clamped my hand over his mouth once more. "Stop trying to say that word."

He laughed. "It's just a word, Lexi."

My cheeks grew hot. "I know. I just don't like to say it."

"So you're worried that people will think we're having—" He paused, trying to think of another way to say it. "Forbidden relations?"

I nodded, unable to speak.

He reached for my hand, lifting it so I could see my purity ring. His hand was warm and calloused, and my skin burned where he touched me. "As long as you keep this on, your reputation should be safe."

I swallowed. "You think so?"

"Yes. Now, don't go spreading this around or anything, but I never did that stuff with Ashlyn, either." He swallowed and let my hand drop. "So, if anyone gives you trouble over it, you can let me deal with them."

He really had never hooked up with Ashlyn? I tried not to let the shock show on my face over his revelation. I thought for sure he did that with every girl he dated. Which had been another one of the reasons why I'd decided we could never be anything more than people who were stuck together because of my brother.

But was it really possible that Noah, the ultimate bad boy who was the kind of guy my dad had nightmares about me dating, really didn't expect that from every girl he was with?

That was such a mind-altering thing to think about.

Noah draped his arm around my shoulder, making my legs go weak. "Now that that's settled, let's give the students of Ridgewater High the show of their lives."

6

NOAH

I keptmy arm around Lexi the whole walk through the cafeteria, hoping those Sarah and Ava girls would get their view and get all worked up over the fact that the rumors they were spreading really did seem true. Instead of finding them, I caught the gaze of that Harrison kid Lexi liked so much.

I knew the moment Lexi had noticed him too, because in the same instant she stepped away just enough that I had to drop my arm.

She looked up at me, anxiety written all over her face. "Maybe this isn't such a great idea."

"Why?" I was doing this for her. Well, okay, maybe I'd told her I was doing this to get Raven off my back. And sure, part of me also really wanted a distraction from the fact that I was kicked out of my house and sleeping in mycar. If we were fake dating, it would give me a reason to hang out at her house even when Easton was working. The less time I spent in my car, the better.

And maybe a tiny part of me also wanted Ashlyn and Luke to see that I had moved on from wanting my ex back.

But this had all started out as a favor to Lexi.

She stepped forward as the line moved. "When you helped me out on Friday, I had no idea how fast it would get out of control."

"Are you embarrassed by me?" I asked.

"Of course not! Why would you think that?"

The surprise on her face did good things for my ego. "I just wanted to make sure I'm not below your usual standard for dateable material." Seriously, what was so awesome about that Harrison guy, anyway?

She shook her head. "Yeah, that's not going to be an issue here."

I grinned and couldn't help myself. "Does that mean you've had a secret crush on me for years and that I'm making all your wildest dreams come true?" I nudged her playfully in the side with my elbow.

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