Page 25 of Wicked Games We Play

“Coming right up, Flower,” he told me as he kissed my temple again and began walking toward Spare Grill, the small burger counter nestled inside of the bowling alley. I watched as he approached the counter, knocking twice to get the attention of one of the young women working. He peeked at me as he waited for her to be available, and my heart swooned with the wink he tossed in my direction.

Sweet baby Jesus.

I told him to keep it PG, but now I was doubting if that was how I really wanted the night to progress. How someone could be so incredibly sexy by just winking was beyond me.

I made myself busy by testing the weight of the various bowling balls, finding the perfect one for me to use. I was ecstatic to see that it was pink, because yes, I was that girly. After setting my ball into the ball rack, I took a seat, watching the group next to me engaged competitively in their game. My stomach rumbled, and I twisted in my seat to see if Noah had ordered yet. I about came out of my skin to find him two seats over, watching me yet again.

“Would you quit sneaking up on me? You’ve given me about four mini heart attacks since we got here!” I scolded him, mildly annoyed. The feeling that you get when something scares you is one of my least favorite feelings in the world. Adjusting my body, I leaned forward on my elbows against my knees, resting my chin in my hands as I blew out a startled breath, hoping my heart would stop racing.

“I would never intentionally scare you, Flower, it’s just loud in here.” He slid down the chairs to take the one next to me, his arm moving to drape lazily behind me. His fingertips brushed along the nape of my neck and sent a shiver down my spine. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” he asked with nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

Noah and I seemed to have a trend of running into each other when I was put together nicely, whether it be because of a night out with Alana, headed to a date, or just getting off work. I always had my hair done, makeup relatively flawless, and a great outfit on. Tonight, I wanted to shake things up and show him a side of me he had never experienced. The Lily who said“eff it”to getting ready and just relaxed.

I had dressed in a worn pair of light wash high waisted jeans, a Rose Apothecary tee shirt (becauseSchitt’sCreekis life), and classic black Vans. My face only housed concealer and a dusting of finishing powder to matte my skin, and a layer of mascara, while I tossed my blonde hair—and I do mean tossed—into a messy bun. It was completely bowling alley appropriate, comfy, and I figured it would be a good way to see if it was reallymeNoah liked, or the bright and shiny Lily he had put onto a pedestal.

The fact that he just told me I looked beautiful caught me off guard. Out of habit, I tucked a flyaway piece of hair behind my ear. “Thank you,” I told him. My eyes locked with his and I felt the pressure to break the eye contact, yet somehow couldn’t. “This is my every day. I only really get dressed up on days I go out or for work.”

“You’re gorgeous every day, Lily, but especially right now.”

I was suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious under his gaze. “I barely have any makeup on.”

“You don’t need any makeup.” Leaning toward me, he pressed a kiss to my cheek before pulling away slightly, letting his lips hover. “You are the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen, Lils. You always have been. No one has ever held a candle to you, and no one ever will. With makeup, without, it doesn’t matter, because you could wear rags and have a paper bag over your head and I’d still think you were, without a doubt, the most divine woman on the planet.”

Before I had the chance to utter a word in response, the buzzer in Noah’s hand began to vibrate, letting us know that our food was ready to be picked up at the counter. He said nothing, just stood and walked away, leaving me to sit and process what he had just said.

When he returned with a tray of food in hand, I was still sitting exactly how he had left me, lost in my own thoughts and absolutely conflicted about what to feel. He made me want to betray myself by rushing into his arms and promising to be his forever.

Noah sat as he handed me my burger and dug into his. We ate in comfortable silence while watching the games go on around us. Once finished, the anticipation of my impending gutter balls rippled through me as we began our game.

* * *

“Thank you for a fun night,”I told Noah, leaning forward to wrap my arms around his middle. He buried his hand in my hair and stroked his thumb against my jawline, holding me close against his solid chest.

“I should thank you, Flower. This night was your idea.”

“Well, I thought it’d be fun to do something normal for a change instead of just constantly tormenting each other.” I tipped my head to look up at him. “It doesn’t all have to be games with us, Noah. A long time ago, we were friends.”

“Ahh, but Lils, I love the wicked games we play, don’t you?” His voice was playful and when his eyes connected with mine, I could see the mischievous glint in them while a smirk pulled at his lips.

Saying nothing, I rolled my eyes, and I pulled away from him, getting ready to head home for the night. His hands lingered as I stepped away, the grip on my hip tightening as if he wasn’t ready to let go. “I’m sure we’ll be back to the games in no time, won’t we?” I asked, my tone light, though my heart was constricting in my chest. Why was it so easy to play along, yet so hard to either walk away or just admit defeat and become something more with him?

Noah followed me to my car and opened the door, allowing me to sink into the driver’s seat. I gasped as he leaned into the car, his full frame taking up more space than I thought possible. “Noah! What are you—” and then I heard the click of my seatbelt. “I—thank you.”

“Get home safe, Flower,” he told me, kissing my cheek before backing out of the way of my door. He closed it, then pushed his hands into his pockets while he stepped back, allowing me space to reverse.

My hands were shaky, and my heart raced while I put the key into the ignition. I exhaled to calm myself, trying to figure out why I felt so rattled. My feelings about Noah were confusing the hell out of me and I needed to get a handle on them quickly. Before I said or did something stupid, like tell him I was his forever.

Not yet Lily.

I constantly had to remind myself that I wasn’t ready. This wasmytime.

But when he looked at me like he was right now, and when he did sweet things like buckle me in, or whisper words of adoration in my ear, it made it so hard to push my feelings aside. Every bone in my body wanted to leap from the car and wrap my arms around him once more, which is exactly why I put my car in reverse and hightailed it out of there, driving toward my lonely, empty house.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

Ireplayed my date with Lily throughout my day at work and I couldn’t get the image of her out of my mind. Lily was gorgeous, but something about her with hardly any makeup on her face and her hair piled on top of her head had me feeling like a very, very weak man. What I wouldn’t give to see her like that every day for the rest of my fucking life. She made it hard to concentrate on the case I was working on when the desire to text her was so overwhelming. It felt like something between us had shifted last night, and I was confident it hadn’t been one sided.

“Whitlock.” Wes’s voice snapped me out of my daydream, my brown eyes flicking up to connect with his blue. “You in there, Detective?” He snapped his fingers in front of my face, a smug look on his face as he did so.

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