Page 40 of Echoes of Us

His eyes flickered with surprise. He slipped off me and moved to my side. “Oh.” His gaze drifted away.

“Does that…” I started, and he met my eyes. “Are you going to change your mind?”

“No, Atty, I’m not. I guess I should have seen that coming. It just never crossed my mind.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“I am. It just makes me a little nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because of what I told you yesterday. I’m not so good at this, and I don’t think I’m qualified to be the responsible party, you know?” he said with a sigh.

“The responsible party?”

“Well, yeah. First times are a big deal, especially if you’ve waited this long,” he said, looking nervous.

“Noah, I’m not forty. I just turned eighteen,” I told him.

He started smiling, then broke into a wide grin. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his face in his hands. “Fuck, you’re right, it’s not a big deal. I’m sorry for getting weird about it.”

My brows knitted together. Itwasa big deal, but I didn’t want to make him feel worse.

“Can we just go back to making out?”

“I wanted to go out for a jog.” I glanced at my watch.

“For a jog?” he asked, baffled.

“Yeah, I usually run in the mornings before class and on weekends. I missed the gym yesterday, and I have a couple of things due for class,” I explained, already thinking about how behind I was.

“To the gym? There’s no training on the weekend,” he said, confused.

“No, the gym to work out, that gym,” I clarified, noticing the smile spreading across his face.

“Yeah? Tell me more about that,” he teased.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I go three times a week. It’s not much.”

“Atty, you run every day, train with the team five days a week, and go to the gym three times a week, and that’s not much? It’s no wonder you look like that,” he said, reaching for my shirt and pulling it up.

I quickly pushed it back down. “I’m on—” I started, but he rolled his eyes with a smile.

“On an athletic scholarship, yeah, yeah, I know. Let me look at you and see if the university is getting its money’s worth.” He straddled my lap again.

“Noah,” I protested, but I still smiled at him.

He gave me a look and licked his lips. I stayed still as he grabbed my shirt again and edged it up, exposing my abdomen and chest. He tilted his head to the side, and his tongue peeked from his mouth.

“They made a sound investment. I can attest to that,” he said.

I bit my lip, pulling my shirt down again. “Come on,” I said, but he pushed it back up.

“Your body is fucking unreal. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody this ripped. I guess that’s what obsessive body training will do for you.”

I tugged my shirt down again. “Stop looking at me like that,” I told him.

“I’m sorry, but that image is forever burned in my brain. I will never be able to see you again and not think about how you look under there,” he said.

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