Page 70 of My Kind of Trouble
‘Sorry?’
‘Well, I’ve been talking to you for the past ten minutes, and I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said whilst you’ve been staring at the man wiping those tables over there with hearts in your eyes. Which, I’m pretty sure, is your job by the way, not his. So, I guess we know who’s wrapped around who’s finger.’
As Tes said it, she silently clapped in Noa’s direction in a teasing sort of praise.
‘Stop it,’ Noa laughed, fighting the urge to fake a bow in response.
‘I’m just saying, if you have feelings for him, like the ones I can see plastered across your face, you need to tell him sooner rather than later. You told me recently that life’s too short to not go after what you want. Didn’t your trip teach you not to sit around and wait for things to come to you? Doesn’t that apply here? Alex has been a player up until now, but peoplechange, Noa. You’ve seen that. Don’t wait until it’s too late… grab onto the man and hold tight.’
The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. Noa knew Tes was right. Her friend could be frustratingly wise sometimes.
‘I know, you’re right. It just feels like things are so good right now, and I don’t want to rock the boat. Once I tell him and, if things get serious, it’ll mean it’s finally time to tell Ryan. I just… I don’t want to ruin it. I like our perfect bubble, you know?’
Tes nodded, and then responded, ‘I hate to break it to you, but the way you two spend every spare second together and the way you both look at each other… it’s already serious. You just need to put your big girl pants on. Grab life by the boobs and take what you want.’
Noa’s eyes drifted to Alex then, who was laughing with Terry Finch, owner of Finches of Freymoor, the local food market, as he carried in crates of sundries for The Brew. She felt her heart beat faster seeing him in these moments, effortlessly happy and completely at one with the town they grew up in. It was contentment and belonging written across his face as other locals joined their conversation.
Home, she thought, with her eyes glued to him. It had taken her too long to figure out, but he was home. Tears pricked behind her eyes as an overwhelming urge to go and wrap herself up in him gripped her. She wanted to bask in the scent of tobacco, vanilla, and spice until it was all she knew.
Sighing in acceptance, and knowing what she needed to do, Noa nodded in response to Tes without even looking at her.
Her eyes remained on him, cataloguing him. The wrinkles at the sides of his eyes looked more pronounced recently. Shedidn’t know if it was just that she noticed him more now, or that he was genuinely happier and his face wore the evidence. She suddenly realised she wanted to bank every change from this point onward. She didn’t want to miss any of it, or wonder when it happened. She wanted to know exactly when his tan started to fade and the exact number of days it took for that five o’clock shadow to develop into something more. She wanted to be there for every wrinkle, and know the source of every scar. To be a part of all his big moments, and the small ones, too.
‘The two of you have wasted too much time, Noa. It’s time to be brave for the both of you,’ Tes voiced quietly, as if in response to Noa’s thoughts.
After their conversation moved on to less profound topics, they spent the rest of the night chatting in between Noa serving and clearing tables like she’d been supposed to all along. When her shift was over, she grabbed a stool next to Tes and decided a few drinks with her best friend sounded like just what she needed.
It wasn’t unusual for men to flirt with her whilst she worked, and she had gotten quite good at either ignoring them or fighting them off. Tonight, though, there was a new group of men in, on a stag night judging from their questionable shirt choices, and were very obviously from out of town. They had clearly drunk too much and, as a blond-haired guy persistently vied for her attention, she became increasingly aware of his green eyes that kept flying in her direction. The guy seemed harmless, though. So, choosing to ignore him and shrug off the feeling of having eyes burning the back of her head, she continued to put the world to rights over a gin or two with her best friend.
Her skin started to feel a little too tight with the feeling of being talked about, as the same man who’d been staring all night continued to do so, his chin lifting in her direction as he spoke to his friend. The feeling was uncomfortable, but not wanting to make an unnecessary scene, she picked up her drink and refocussed on Tes, who spoke in detail about her most recent date fail with a girl from one town over.
Tes was a serial dater, on her quest to find ‘the one’, and this was just another one of many disappointing dates with the men and women she came across online. She had a rule against dating people who lived in Freymoor, and Noa often had to bite her lip against saying that the Tinder pool didn’t appear to be much better.
An hour passed and, when the two of them were appropriately buzzed for a Friday night, Tes’s attention was soon stolen by a beautiful redhead at the other side of the bar. Typical. She was always one to be easily distracted by a pretty face.
With her friend’s barstool now empty, the blond-haired guy from earlier filled the spot and continued his blatant, unapologetic flirting. She was just about to shut him down when he reached out, resting his sweaty palm on her bare thigh, sending a shudder through her body with the contact.
Tingles spread up her legs, but not the good kind that she got whenever Alex touched her like that. No, this didn’t feel right. She brushed him off, but that only caused him to lean in so that he was able to whisper in her ear. His alcohol-soaked breath filling the tiny bit of space between them had her instantly recoiling.
She pulled back in time to hear Tes whisper-shout, ‘Hot and angry boss alert. Hold on to your panties.’
Noa turned her head quickly to see what Tes was referring to, but there was no need. Before she had a chance to even turn fully in her seat, Alex was there. She swore that if they were in a cartoon sketch, he would have a bright red face and steam coming out of his ears, as he not-so-politely demanded the guy leave.
‘You… you can’t do that man.’
‘I can and, more importantly, I am. This is my bar. Get the fuck out before I kick all your buddies out with you. Wouldn’t want to spoil the party, would you?’
The drunk guy scoffed, muttering under his breath, ‘She wasn’t even worth it.’
Noa’s spine straightened, knowing that was not the right thing to say in front of a livid Alex who looked like he was about to explode any second. The guy didn’t get far before Alex had his fist closed around his bicep, tugging him back. The guy stumbled but managed to catch himself before he fell. Not that she thought Alex would care much if he did.
‘Apologise,’ Alex warned with a snarl.
Noa could have sworn his eyes went black as night then, and she would have curled up in a ball if she was the other guy. Despite the discomfort she’d felt only moments ago, there was something exciting about seeing Alex like this. That protective side of him that once filled her with rage now sent arousal thrumming through her. It was insanely attractive to see him sticking up for her like this. Maybe it was how safe she felt around him, or the intense look in his eyes that had a fire burning in her core.
The blond guy didn’t seem to share the same sentiment as he scoffed, ‘You’ve got to be joking.’
He gaped at Alex.
