Page 37 of My Kind of Trouble
And he could have sworn she’d narrowed her eyes directly at him as she said it, as if in some sort of challenge.
Fuck.
Then, when he went back to their hostel that night, he’d had to try to tamper down the rage he felt as Marcus boasted to the guys that he had ‘bagged himself a date with the hot brunette from diving’.
Alex wanted to punch him in his stupid, smug face. The way he’d announced it like he’d won her, accepting the pats on his back he was awarded by his friends as they talked on and on about how ‘hot’ she was. Like that was all he saw. Because, of course, he did. He hadn’t bothered to look any deeper, but Noa’s beauty was impossible for anyone to miss. It stole the breath from his lungs most days. But she was so much more than her physical beauty. And she deserved to date a guy who saw that.
Not Marcus, the douche.
The thought had his fingernails biting half-moons into the inside of his palms as he squeezed his fists painfully tight. Uncurling them, he wriggled his fingers in an attempt to disperse the tension and, with it, the thoughts of Noa and her ‘date’.
He wanted to be in the present, taking in the wonders around him. They were now well into their second day in Krabi, and this was definitely his favourite destination so far. Yesterday, they’d gone with the rest of Noa’s new friends on a walk through a monkey trail, and then to an elephant sanctuary, which Lola had stated was ‘a rite of passage when inThailand’. He was starting to realise that he didn’t entirely hate the company of the rest of the group either, but he wouldn’t tell them that.
Prior to their visit to the sanctuary, Noa had been keen to research the hell out of the most ethical place to go. They had ended up spending an entire afternoon feeding rescue elephants, listening to the guides talk in depth about their background, and then trekking through what was basically a safari by foot. They’d been so close to so many beautiful giants as they roamed freely through knots of waist-high grass, finding shade underneath towering, tangled trees. It was an experience he would never forget.
In fact, he wouldn’t forget a single moment of his travels so far. It’d become abundantly clear to him that he’d spent too long going nowhere but Freymoor. Moreover, whilst remaining in Freymoor for most of his life had been a choice—it was his home, and he loved it—he’d decided that it wouldn’t kill him to get out and see the world some more. He’d spent so long trying to prove to everyone, himself included, that he wasn’t the flighty bastard his dad was, he realised, maybe, he’d taken it too far. He never wanted people to think that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree where his dad was concerned, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of him living his life. Because of that, he wasn’t going to waste a moment of his trip.
The group that they’d clearly inherited wandered through the old town, looking at the picturesque buildings of a multitude of different colours. It really did make the dry stone and red bricks at home seem so lacklustre in comparison. Krabi Old Town was vibrant and full of life. Ambling through the streets, Alex’s eyes caught on a local gift shop, and an idea clicked into place, a vision suddenly playing out in his mind.
‘You go ahead,’ hesaid, ‘I’ll catch up.’
Noa considered him for a moment, but shrugged it off, carrying on down the bustling street, deep in conversation with Lola and Marcus. He paused briefly, debating whether to leave her alone.
The thought of leaving Marcus to weasel his way any further into Noa’s life irked him, but suffocating Noa with his own presence wasn’t the answer either. It was a surefire way to push her further into Marcus’s scrawny arms and drive a wedge back between them.
But that didn’t stop him from wanting to glue himself to her side and never leave. Like hell was Marcus going to be the guy she’d have her ‘holiday rebound’ with. Even though she’d made it perfectly clear that Alex was not to interfere, he would have to keep a closer eye on them. It’s what Ryan would want, after all.
Lola pushed at Noa’s arm, a deep laugh erupting from her at something Noa had said. A rosy blush crept across Noa’s cheeks in response, an adorably bashful look on her face.
So, slipping away from them, Alex decided that, for now, Lola was as good of a buffer as he was going to get.
After finishing up in the shop, Alex caught up with the group in what appeared to be a small family-run café.
A few more additions had joined, some he recognised as guys from their hostel last night, and others he didn’t think he’d seen before. Lola and Thea were curled into each other, lost in their own conversation, but it wasn’t them he was looking for.
His eyes found her immediately. She sat at the table, her white linen dress riding high on her thigh, highlighting hertanned skin that glowed like it had been kissed by the sun. Her rosy cheeks and freckles were on full display as she pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She was giggling, and it made him smile until he looked to see what exactly she was giggling at.
Marcus sat too close to her. His messy, blond curls—that Alex really didn’t think gave the ‘surfer dude’ look he was going for—flying all over the place as he shook his head in some animated impression. Noa’s bare shoulder shook as she laughed some more at whatever he had said and she reached out, her arm wrapping around his bicep and squeezing in response. Alex couldn’t help the irrational anger wanting to bubble up inside of him. He stood there for a second, trying to count to ten and calm himself, but when Marcus turned to wink at the men behind him before his hand fell to Noa’s knee, his legs were moving without his permission.Not in my lifetime, fucker.
Reaching their table, he loomed over them, shooting a glare in Marcus’s direction, hoping it was enough for him to get the message. This guy was definitely not worthy of having his hands on Noa.
Hell,hewasn’t worthy of having his hands on her.
Didn’t stop him thinking about it, though—her soft skin under his, watching that blush creep from her cheeks across her entire body. He thought about it regularly, actually. Usually at night with his hand gripping his cock in the shower. It was the only way to keep from actually reaching out and tugging her to him. Yes, he knew he’d be dancing with Lucifer in the fiery flames of Hell, but that was a battle for another time. Right now, he had to find a way to remove the dipshit in front of him from his and Noa’s vicinity and fast, before the red haze threatening his vision won out.
He couldn’t directly tell Noa that the guy was a dick. She’d only square her shoulders, find a creative way of accusing him of being overprotective, and then stubbornly be even more drawn to the guy than before. Exactly like she had when he and Ryan had tried to convince her against dating Freddie Riley in college.
Luckily, it only took a minute before Marcus must have sensed the steam almost billowing from Alex’s ears, and he quickly lifted his hand from Noa like she was a hot poker. That caused Noa’s head to whip between them as if she was trying to decipher a code. Alex cleared his throat before he looked at her.
‘Want to take a walk?’ he asked.
She didn’t hesitate and started gathering her things.
‘Sure, anywhere in particular?’
‘No, I’ve just got something I want to give you.’
‘Ooooooh. So mysterious,’ she teased before saying her goodbyes to everyone.
