Page 35 of Echoes of Us

I nodded. I moved to look down at him again, and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

“So that was for my benefit?” I asked.

“I like how you look at me.”

My eyes flicked down to his lips.

“You’re terrible at hiding how much you like me—at least how much you like how I look,” he added, his smile stretching wider.

“It’s not just how you look,” I told him, meeting his eyes again.

His smile faded a bit, replaced by a softer expression. I let my hand slip to his back, feeling the warmth of his skin through his shirt. He shifted to make room for me.

“I’d have to be very fucking hot to get you to clean my apartment and do my laundry,” he said.

My smile broke out, and then I laughed, resting my forehead on his shoulder. He joined in, running his nails up and down my back. I breathed him in, let my weight drop on him, and rested my head close to his neck. I moved my other arm towards his back, hugging him.

“Atty,” he said, his voice slightly strained.

“Yeah?” I asked, moving closer and kissing his neck again.

“What you’re doing right now, it’s pretty cute, and I don’t want you to move, but…”

I smiled, knowing what he was going to say. I held on to him a little tighter, and he groaned.

“But…” I repeated after him.

“You’re fucking heavy.”

I chuckled softly, pulling my arms from under him and lifting some of my weight off him. He breathed in relief.

“You were the one that wanted me over you,” I reminded him.

“I did, I do. I love how it feels. I just can’t breathe,” Noah said, making me smile again. He pulled on my shirt. “Hey, why did you stop kissing me? Come back up here,” he said.

I kissed his neck again. “I just really like feeling you this close,” I said, looking down at his face again.

His expression clouded, and his eyes wandered to my lips. He touched his fingertips to the side of my face. “Atty, I need you to know something.”

I waited for him to go on. His gaze were serious, almost pleading.

“I’m shit at this, at being with someone. I don’t know how to do it, and I always screw it up. I don’t want to hurt you, so it’s up to you, okay? You have to be the one putting on the brakes.”

“I don’t know what that means,” I said.

He gave a short, frustrated chuckle.

“I’m serious. Explain it to me,” I added quietly.

His face softened again. “I don’t know how to savor it. I sort of burn through it fast,” he tried to explain. Knowing him, that made sense. It sounded like him. His tousled hair fell into his eyes, and I had to resist the urge to brush it away.

“I’ll slow you down. That’s what you want me to do, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s exactly right, and I just know it’s going to be worse with you, so you need to stick with it,” he told me.

“Why would it be worse with me?”

“Because you’ve seen me, the real me, and for some reason, you still want me, and I just really fucking want you, so, so bad. You’ve seen how bad it can get. I don’t have to pretend anymore, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing,” Noah told me.

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