Page 36 of Noah
“Noah,” she gasped.
“Just like old times, eh?” I asked. “And you didn’t think I was heroic enough.”
“Noah, what are you doing here?” a reporter suddenly asked. “Are you with her? Molly, are you and Noah an item?”
That started another avalanche of questions, and I could see that this was only going to get worse if we didn’t give them something else to chew on.
“Yes, we’re together. That’s why I’m in a suit and she’s in her pajamas. God, Jimmy, get a grip,” I said, shooting for sarcasm. My voice was strained, though, and if they knew me as well as I worried they did, they’d hear that I was lying.
“The suit you were wearing yesterday, if I’m not mistaken,” Jimmy answered, his mouth curved in a cruel smile. “Is that because you didn’t sleep in your own room? Maybe you slept in Molly’s?”
I wanted to grab his pen and shove it right up his ass, but I didn’t. That would probably just make things worse. Instead, I made a face at him. “If I did, it wouldn’t be the first time. She’s my best friend and has been since I was ten. If I need a safe place to land, Jimmy, Molly’s it.”
His face went even craftier, and I realized that I’d just said the worst thing possible. Maybe none of these assholes had known that Molly was my best friend. Judging by the looks on their faces, they definitely hadn’t known that I regularly slept in her room, particularly if there was thunder or lightning. They didn’t understand that we’d grown up together and had a bond tighter than siblings.
And I’d just told them that I slept in her room all the time. It wouldn’t take them much to jump to the conclusion that I’d slept there last night and that we’d done more than just sleeping, with Molly out here marching around in her pajamas and me in yesterday’s clothes.
God.
I grabbed her without saying anything else–I’d already done enough damage–and ran in the other direction, shooting down the hall with her trailing along behind me. We made a left and then a right, then another left, and found a hallway at least a little bit deserted. I could hear the press coming after us, though, and knew we needed a place to actually hide.
A closet appeared in front of us as if by magic, and I yanked open the door and shoved her in, following closely on her heels. We came to an abrupt stop against the back wall of the closet, her back against my chest and zero space between us, and I froze.
God, this felt familiar.
“Just like old times, eh?” I asked, trying desperately to turn this into a joke. My cock was already lengthening at how close her tight little ass was, memories of last night flooding through me. I’d never even thought of her as anything more than a friend but the last two days had been one non-stop temptation. And now she was underneath me again, hot and breathing heavily, and my body had forgotten all about the trouble my mind knew we were in.
I wanted her again.
Now.
She pushed back against me like she was thinking the same thing, rubbing her ass up and down on my cock, and then suddenly stiffened and turned, shoving at me to get me to back off. “Get away from me, Noah!” she hissed.
I stumbled back, surprised and confused. “What the fuck?”
“I said get away from me!”
“What? Why? I just saved you from the press out there!”
“You told them we slept in the same room!” she whisper shouted. “You told them we did it all the time! And then you shoved me in a closet again, like you were ashamed of it! What do you mean, why? Which is it? Am I your best friend who you just slept with or some girl you want to hide?”
I opened my mouth, but didn’t have any words. Which was the right answer? Were either of them? I was thinking that hiding her was probably the wrong one, but having been there and seen her face when I told the press that we were best friends and slept in the same room all the time, I didn’t think that was right either.
Shit, what was I supposed to say? What could I say to wipe that anger off her face? I wanted the sweet version of Molly back. Not this pissed off, confusing girl who was way too strong for me and way too angry to deal with.
“I was trying to get them off our backs,” I started.
She narrowed her eyes, made a face at me, and then shoved past me and left the closet. And I stood there like some dumbass, completely confused about what I’d done or how I’d done it.
Evidently I’d chosen the wrong answer, after all.
And I didn’t have a damn clue what the right one was.
23
MOLLY
Istumbled into my room in shock, my feelings jumbled and confused. What the fuck just happened? One minute I’d been in the elevator lobby, handling the press—many of whom I knew personally—and telling them a story about having been up late talking with Noah and needing coffee. Sure, there had been questions and they’d been loud, but I’d had everything under control.
