Page 58 of Echoes of Us

He beamed. “You got it.” He licked his lips and leaned down to take me in his mouth.

My eyes widened at the feel of him over me, sucking me. Then he started to move, and I closed them, letting myself fall back on the floor with a groan.

After I’d finished, we lay side by side on the floor, looking up. Noah had his hand laced in mine, his thumb rubbing over mine. He was humming a melody absently, but I didn’t recognize the song.

“Noah,” I said.

He turned to look at me, stopping abruptly. “Yeah?” He leaned in and kissed my cheek.

“Is this slow? What we have? Because I’m not sure.”

He blinked back at the ceiling. “I’m not sure either. I told you, I can’t tell.”

I watched him again, noticing the movement of his lashes as he blinked. His eyes darted from side to side. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to tell either. I thought I did, but I’ve never done this before, and all I can tell so far is that I’m happy.”

He turned and smiled at me. “I’m happy too.”

“So, how are we going to know?” I asked him.

“I don’t know.”

I bit my lip. I pushed up from the floor and sat, and he followed.

“There’s another thing that’s been bugging me,” I told him. He waited for me to go on. “Winter break.”

“What about it?” he asked. He ran his hand over my face, reaching back into my hair.

“I’m going home after midterms. Next Monday, for three weeks.”

His gaze wandered and he licked his lips, his expression becoming vacant. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

I reached for the side of his face, making him look up at me. “Are you going back home too?”

“I don’t have a home to go back to. I haven’t talked to my mom in a while.”

“But you’re from Seattle, right? Like Colin? Doesn’t your mom live there?”

“Yeah, but she sold our old house. She has an apartment now, downtown. It doesn’t feel like home,” he explained. “I could just stay here.”

I couldn’t think of anything more depressing than spending the holidays alone on an abandoned college campus. “Noah, no. Please don’t.”

He sighed deeply. “I don’t have a lot of options, Atty. Plus,my friends back home aren’t the best influence while I’m trying to quit,” he admitted, making my stomach turn.

“Come on, let’s go back to your bed,” I suggested.

He got up and followed me. We got ready for bed and settled under the sheets. I was still worried about him. I didn’t want him to stay here alone for three weeks. Maybe I could move my plane tickets around, stay for a week during Christmas and New Year, and return to him.

“Atty,” he said quietly, bringing me back to his eyes. “You’re not responsible for me, okay? I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel like that this week. I can take care of myself. I’ll figure out what to do for winter break, and everything will be okay,” he reassured me.

I kissed his cheek. He turned and pressed his lips to mine.

“I know you can. I just want to help.”

“I know you do, but I’m okay,” he insisted. His hand brushed my cheek and folded behind my neck as he pressed his forehead to mine. “I like that you worry about me. It’s sweet.”

He curled his leg around mine, fitting himself closer. I touched his waist and drew him towards me. He came easily.

I was starting to love this closeness with him, this constant need for touch, to feel the warmth of each other. I was going to miss him so much during the break. It was hard to imagine sleeping without him curled around me anymore.

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