Page 39 of My Kind of Trouble
They sounded like Alex’s worst nightmare.
So, in an effort to bait him, Noa and Marcus had spent their plane journey taking much delight in ribbing him about being a travel snob. And the second he discovered she would be in a mixed gender dorm, Marcus included, Alex had been quick to want to prove them wrong. Despite Alex thinking he behaved with stealth, Noa knew that he didn’t like Marcus. Where testosterone was involved, men were just so obvioussometimes, and Alex was no exception. The only thing she could assume was that it was fuelled by Marcus’s obvious attraction to her, and the idea that this bothered Alex sent a thrill through her body. He probably got similar vibes from the guy that she did and wanted to protect her, but either way, she could definitely use it to her advantage. And she had.
It was clear that Marcus was the kind of fuckboy that liked to set himself a challenge and then persist until he’d won the trophy. But it was nice to be desired, even if it was only for one thing. And it was nice to flirt, even if she knew she wouldn’t take it any further.
Marcus was harmless and fun, but Noa wasn’t naive enough to think that a night with him would solve any of her problems and would likely only lead to his entire group of friends hearing about it.
However, every time she batted her eyelashes in flirtation with him, she’d watch Alex’s nostrils flair, and his jaw become locked with tension.
So, she’d made sure to emphasise the fact that her and Marcus would be sharing a dorm. She took too much pleasure from provoking Alex, and it had led to their current stand-off. He refused to back down to the challenge, which was why they currently stood on the threshold of an eight-bed mixed dorm room.
To Noa’s delight, Alex gaped at the dingy room in front of them. Barely a few inches of floor space separated the opposite bunks, and the slither of light that was creeping in from the tiny window in the corner did nothing but highlight how basic it all was. For her, this was no different to any of her previous nights on her travels, but Alex looked like he was in physical pain.
Noa unsuccessfully tried to hold back a snicker as she watched him try and fail to wipe the horrified look off his face. Alex could be just as stubborn as she was, and she knew he wouldn’t back out now he’d said he could do it. This would be so much fun.
‘What? No. I’m fine. More than fine, actually. It’s great,’ he coughed and muttered something undistinguishable under his breath.
Noa just smiled sweetly at him. She turned before he could notice just how much she was enjoying this and started to lift her very heavy rucksack onto the top bunk, feigning innocence that her master plan to make his life a little more difficult was going perfectly.
Before she could lift her bag above her head, large and sturdy tattooed arms came around either side of her, boxing her in against the bunks. Alex’s chest was pressed against her back, and she could smell his musky and rich cologne. He smelt like tobacco and spices, and breathing him in at this proximity almost made her go faint.What on earth is happening?
Maybe it had nothing to do with the giant hunk of a man pressed against her but was, instead, the early morning and lack of sleep that was currently making her weak at the knees. Yes, that must be it. She needed food and sleep. Nothing else. Definitely not his hands on her. Food and sleep. Her body’s reaction could not be trusted until then.
Oblivious to her racing thoughts, Alex placed his hands on top of hers and took the bag from her grip, lifting it with ease onto her bed. His hands were large, with bulging veins snaking across them and up his muscular forearms. She was starting to rethink the whole not-wanting-them-on-her thing. It was clear that he could likely inflict all kinds of pain and pleasure with those things, and even just the thought alonemade the blood coursing through her veins feel like it had hit the boiling point. Her entire body felt molten hot, and Noa prayed that Alex couldn’t feel it emanating off her. She watched out of her periphery as his muscles flexed and rippled against the strain of his white T-shirt and, suddenly, all the heat pooled and settled in her core. She was quite sure it was visible on her cheeks, making her want to hide from his gaze that was no longer on the bag but fixed on her.
Aiming for anger rather than lust, she turned around to chastise him for the fact that she could, in fact, do it herself. But that was an error on her part and the words quickly died on her tongue as she scrutinised him. He was so close and devastatingly gorgeous. She could feel his breath fan across her face, but he didn’t pull away. Not at first. He kept his eyes on hers, their chests touching. Was he holding his breath? But then, his demeanour changed. As if she had imagined the whole thing, a coldness took over his features and he rushed away from her like he would catch fire just from being in her vicinity.
She ignored the sting that she felt from that. They were friends, nothing more. He was her brother’s best friend. She needed to remember that she had not invited him here, and she needed to make sure she reminded him of that, too. They’d clearly forgotten and had gotten way too close lately. She would have to be more careful not to get sucked into romanticising things between them again. That was a road that could lead nowhere good.
The two of them busied themselves in silence for the next hour, brushing past each other in the small confines of the room as they unpacked and got themselves ready for the rest of the day.
After both of them engaged in separate activities for the day, they had made their way back to the dorm. Noa tossed and turned in her bed, only feet from where Alex lay, and she couldn’t stop playing those moments from earlier in her head over and over.
Chapter 23
Alex
After another near miss yesterday, where it had taken everything in Alex not to kiss Noa, he had come to the conclusion that he was well and truly fucked. Well, he’d known that before, but he had clearly been in denial. The way he’d wanted to devour her last night was completely inappropriate. Nothing about how he’d imagined tearing off her clothes when he was in bed last night was friendly, and it meant that it was time for him to put somedistance between them.
They’d both spent the entire day doing their own thing after barely speaking at breakfast and he could tell there was tension there. Then, she’d come out of their shared shower in nothing but a towel, looking like a goddamn goddess with her damp hair clinging to her tanned shoulders, and he thought he would have a heart attack. He’d had to force himself to stop staring after he’d let his eyes follow the route a droplet of water took from her collar bone, down the middle of her full breasts. He’d felt an irrational level of jealousy towards said water droplet in that moment.
She’d eyed him sceptically for a second before carrying on applying her make up for their night out that evening. He’d thought he could be friends with her, but now he knew that was a naive concept and that he needed to put space there sooner rather than later. She needed to see him again as the playboy he had always been, the version of him that he’d seemed to have forgotten about since they’d been away, and so had she. Maybe a good fuck was all he needed to rid himself of these intrusive thoughts when it came to her. And a night out felt like the perfect time to make that happen.
Alex waited in the bar with Marcus and Tom, playing pool and waiting for the girls to finish getting ready. He liked this hostel more than most of the ones they had stayed in so far. The bar had a very outside-inside feel to it. Plants grew from pots scattered across the stone floor and hung from every rafter, or any place they could gain purchase. Cool fairy lights and colourful Vietnamese lanterns looked like they were raining from the ceiling, and it made him want to do something similar with The Brew back home. The constantflashing lights and noise of the city of Ho Chi Minh felt relentless, and it was nice to be somewhere that quietened the soul for a while. Even if they were about to venture out into the chaos again later.
Alex sat on a bar stool, a pool cue in one hand and a beer in the other, as he found himself zoning in and out of the game currently underway. Since they’d met, Alex had been perpetually irritated by Marcus. So, blocking the guy out as much as possible seemed like the safest thing to do.
His and Noa’s ‘date’ thankfully never came to fruition, but that didn’t mean Marcus didn’t give her eyes that said he was imagining her with her clothes off every time she walked past. The last time he’d done that was when they’d left the dorm tonight, and Alex had practically growled in response.
But he must be either completely stupid and oblivious or have some kind of death wish, because the wolfish smirk he’d given Alex in return told him that he was completely unfazed.
Alex only tolerated him now because, for whatever reason, Noa did. And he’d given his best friend a promise that he’d look out for her. So, if that meant biting his tongue and waiting with a floppy haired douche-for-brains whilst she got ready for their night, then so be it.
Seriously, Ryan owed him.
A blonde little thing had been eyeing him from the bar since he’d arrived, and he watched her as he took long pulls on his beer. Deciding to really move forward with his plan to put space between him and Noa, he tipped the neck of his bottle in her direction as his eyes made contact with hers, a subtle gesture to let her know he was interested. She shuffled on her seat, a little bit flustered that she’d been caught, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. His gazed followed it, but his body didn’t react the way he’d expected it to. He didn’t have the urgeto bite along the path her tongue had just travelled. And, as he watched her hand reach up to play with straight blonde locks, he didn’t want to wrap them round his fists and tug.
Not the way he had when he stared at rich brunette waves. He closed his eyes in frustration and a pattern of soft freckles danced across the back of his eyelids, but when he opened them, the blonde’s face in front of him was clear.
