Page 59 of Echoes of Us

Page List Listen Audio Download Book

Font:

“I’m going to miss you, Noah.”

“I’m going to miss you too,” he whispered against my lips.

I felt it again. It was like falling into a spell. I wondered if anybody else felt like this around him or if I had somehow fallen into this trance where I couldn’t look away from him. I ran my hand over his jaw, the soft glow of the TV casting light on his face, growing dimmer and stronger with whatever was playing. His eyes stared into mine, and I tried to memorize everything about him: the straight shape of his nose, thecurve of his eyebrows, the size and color of that tiny beauty mark over his cheekbone, the way his lips curved, and the slow movement of his tongue running over them. I touched my thumb to his lip, feeling his soft exhale as I traced its shape. Noah was everything.

“I love how you look at me.” The left corner of his lip pulled upwards. “What do you see when you do that?”

I met his eyes. “You,” I answered simply and watched his eyebrows move towards one another, his face morphing into yearning.

He kissed me again, his lips soft and open. “If you keep this up, I’m going to end up falling in love with you,” he said against my lips, his words moving over my skin like a shiver.

I kissed him again, and he gripped me harder, deepening our kiss and pressing closer. I moved over him, sliding in between his legs, not parting from his lips.

I couldn’t pull away from him. I didn’t want to.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

AFTER

Ihated dating. It was beyond awkward, and going through it right now just made me angry. After a month of ghosting him, I forced myself to call Mathew and ask him out. Here we were, in a poorly lit restaurant, sitting across from each other while he went on about his week. I couldn’t be more bored. I had no idea what he was talking about. It wasn’t even his fault; there was nothing wrong with him. He was attractive, engaging, and flirty, but I couldn’t get into it.

Noah had ruined me. I couldn’t have a conversation with someone without thinking about him. The crazy things he would say that brought on involuntary laughs out of me at the worst possible moments. How he always had a song in mind, singing and dancing effortlessly, knowing every word. The way he would lick his lips, barely smiling, his eyes shining with delight when he was about to ask me to do something ridiculously outrageous. The way he pulled metowards him, kissing me or hugging me, making me feel like I was part of him. He could talk to anybody. He charmed people like it was his job, he was so good at it. And that fucking laugh. He always had it on the tip of his tongue, waiting to come bursting out of him, but when something struck him, he’d throw his head back and laugh so hard. It was impossible not to laugh with him. Even people around us would look over, smiling, like they wanted to be in on the joke. It was that type of contagious laughter. It had been branded in my soul, as well as so many other things about him.

Mathew looked at me like he was expecting an answer. Shit. If he had asked me something, I had no clue what it was.

“Sorry, what?” I asked, flooded with embarrassment and annoyance.

“I asked if you’d had a good week,” he said, smiling and tilting his head to the side attractively.

“Yeah, it’s been good,” I lied.

Mathew sat there looking at me, and his smile grew. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said.”

“No, that’s not it at all,” I said quickly.

But he just smiled. “It’s okay to be distracted. I figured something must have happened when you stopped calling. Is that what has your head in the clouds?” he asked patiently.