Page 48 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 27

She stared at the clock on her bedside table and noted the time. Still early for a late night. The clock, more a memento now than serving any useful function, had been a present from her mom when she worried that her daughter might have problems waking up on time. Her mother couldn’t get her head around the idea that these days Melissa used her cell phone for pretty much everything else, including relying on it to wake her up on time.

Including now, when she stared at the text message from Matt. He’d sent her another one a few hours ago. This time with a different photo of her: it was tamer than the first one she’d seen in Zoot. She still had her blouse on in this one. Perhaps he had finally understood something.

What r u doing? Where r u?

Call me

She remembered this picture. It had been the first one he’d taken—that first time they’d ever had sex. She’d held out for months and in the end it hadn’t quite happened the way she’d hoped it would. That had been the first time he’d asked her to pose suggestively.

Why had she complied?

She’d woken up and only read the message now. He’d sent it around five in the morning. Five in the morning as they’d all walked home once the party wound down.

She’d fallen asleep in Noah’s arms. Three hours of sleep after a good many hours of heavy making out. They’d fallen asleep until Heather’s shouting outside the locked door broke their sweet slumber.

He’d gone home and she’d come back with Heather and Finn. Last night had meshed into early morning and she’d fallen asleep on her bed still in her day clothes. She’d been too tired and drunk on Noah to think rationally about anything else.

A heavy feeling settled in the base of her stomach as she glanced at her cell phone. He’d called her eight times since midnight. So much for giving her breathing space. She turned it off knowing that he’d call her again today and the last thing she wanted was for him to intrude into her life.

Today she wanted to think about Noah. They’d been so busy swapping feelings and touches and kisses that they’d forgotten to swap contact details.

Her heart raced at the memories and the way he’d kissed her and held her, the way his hands had roamed all over. She didn’t want to go too long without feeling that again. Without wanting more of it, now that her body was ripe for Noah.

“You up?” Heather shouted outside her door.

“Yeah,” she replied, wearily. Her chance of wallowing in Noah moments were now shot to pieces.

Heather walked in slowly, balancing a small tray in her hands. She seemed remarkably cheerful despite the lack of sleep. “How long have you been up?” she asked, walking over to the bed. Melissa’s gaze fixed on the coffee cups on the tray.

“Not long. Did Finn stay over?” Melissa asked, as she sat up and gratefully took her cup.

“He crashed here a while, then left a couple of hours later. He said he wanted to walk back instead of waiting until the morning.” She sat down beside Melissa and crossed her legs, making herself at home.

“Commitment issues?” Melissa took a sip and felt the bitter liquid glide down her throat. Damn good. She took another sip. How anyone made it to eleven o’clock without a shot of caffeine was beyond her.

Heather said nothing, but her eyes, as wide as saucers, examined Melissa. Melissa knew exactly why—she’d been spared the MI5 interrogation last night because Finn and Heather had disappeared into her bedroom once they got back. There was a reason her friend had brought her coffee this morning. Heather cleared her throat noisily. “When are you going to tell me about this gorgeous new guy of yours? I didn’t know coffee shop pickups were your thing.”

“He’s not a coffee shop pickup.”

“You’ve never said a thing about him before. I’m not having a go at you or anything—but you seemed kind of into him last night. And he’s so into you. It’s so obvious. Even before the two of you got into lip lockdown mode.”

Melissa clutched her coffee cup tightly. She’d never mentioned anything to Heather about Noah before because it had all been so subtle. He’d crept up on her slowly like a tide that had come in on a sun-kissed beach.

“I used to see him in the coffee shop most mornings.”

Heather placed her cup down, fluffed up a pillow and laid it up against the headboard. She made herself comfortable against it. “I’m ready. Now, tell me more.”

“There’s nothing more to tell.” Melissa snorted. She wanted to keep everything about Noah to herself. Until she got things sorted out with Matt, and only then could figure out where she and Noah were headed.

“You see this guy in the coffee shop and all of a sudden you’re locking lips with him in a wrestle that a WWE fighter would be proud of?” Heather was at her finest when seeking new information and doling out advice. “Talking of barbarians, what do you think your psycho ex is going to say about this?”

Melissa groaned into her coffee cup. She was going to have to do something quickly. She couldn’t start anything with Noah until Matt was out of the picture.

“How do you suppose he’s going to handle the news of you seeing someone so quickly after dumping him? And remember, right now, as far as he’s concerned, the two of you are still together. You’re having a break.” She said the last bit in air-quotes. “Don’t be surprised if he thinks you were cheating on him.”

Melissa swallowed hard. Heather was right. He already thought that. When Matt had accused her of finding someone else, she’d told him the truth. There was no one else. Nothing had happened with Noah at that point.

---