Page 65 of The Cuffing Game
“I’m not proud of what happened today,” Noah said with a sigh. “But I swear, I was only trying to help. And no, Iwas not leading her on. Iwasactually interested in her. Or at least I was trying to be. If I’m being honest, my first impression of her wasn’t that great. She talked with her mouth full, and—”
Mia groaned again. “No! That’s literally her worst habit. I forgot to tell her not to do that before she went on the show ...” She trailed off as she realized what she was saying.
“Wait,” Noah cut in. “Is Celine yourfriend?”
“Roommate. She’s the reason you were brought on to the show.”
“Right. She said I was her crush on the first day.” He nodded thoughtfully, putting all the puzzle pieces together. “So you and Celine are roommates. She likes me. And that’s why you looped me on to the show as her crush. Okay, everything makes sense now.”
Mia bit her lip and avoided his gaze. Noah cocked his head to the side. There was something else there. Whatever it was, Mia clearly didn’t want him to know. In fact, she looked downright uncomfortable about it.
Noah figured it was best for him to move past it, whatever it was. She respectedhisboundaries, and now it was his turn. “Anyway, bad first impression,” he said. “But I liked her again after the second date, when I got to know her better. I wouldn’t have kissed her, otherwise. But then... today, I don’t know. It really sounded like we just don’t like each other. I mean, she was kissing another guy! Sure, I wason a date with Violet, but we were just talking. And it’s not like I had a choice.”
Noah paused, shocked by how easily the words had tumbled out of his mouth. Here he was, spilling his guts all over the place. And his body wasn’t freaking out like it had with Celine. His heart was still beating fast, sure. But he wasn’t sweating. And he didn’t feel like he needed to run.
It’s because Mia is actually listening to me,he realized.Instead of screaming in my face.
And it was true. Like she had the night at the firepit, Mia was taking in everything he was saying with a thoughtful look on her face. She didn’t try to change the subject, nor did she dismiss him and tell him he was lying or being too much. She just let him be.
This Mia was so different from the Grumpy Mia he knew from class that Noah’s head hurt. But he guessed both sides of hercouldbe true. After all, when things previously got prickly between them, it was usually about their opposing opinions about movies or filmmaking. Not actually important things likefeelings.
When Noah didn’t say anything else for an extended amount of time, Mia blinked once, and then twice. She opened her mouth and closed it again, like she did whenever she was gathering words for a response in class.
The familiarity helped him relax. Just a bit.
“I see what you mean,” Mia said at last, her tone neutral and careful. “Well, we got the conversation on camera. Anddon’t worry. We’re not like those other TV shows that manufacture people’s responses or edit scenes to make people look bad. The viewers will see you as you are. And they’ll interpret everything the way they want.”
Noah shrugged. “And that’s fine with me.” He paused, remembering what had crossed his mind earlier in the forest. “Hey. Do you think it was a mistake for me to come on here?”
Mia furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
Even with his usual ease with Mia, this part was harder to share. He ran a hand through his hair. “I came onto your show because I wanted to meet someone, yeah. But I also came here because it’s hard for me to talk to people.”
When Mia gave him a look that saidWhat the hell are you talking about?he amended, “Yes, being social is part of my job. But I’m bad at havingrealconversations about things like feelings.” A shudder ran through him at just the thought of his conversation with Celine. “I’ve never been in a relationship before. And after today... I’m realizing maybe a person like me shouldn’t have come on adatingshow in the first place.”
Mia stared at him for a moment. And then, she began to laugh.
Noah went cold. He shrank into himself as he looked down at his feet. He’d taken down all his walls, only for Mia to laugh at him.
“Sorry,” she said. “But Noah, have you listened toyourself for the last hour or so? I kind of wish I had a camera with me.”
“Why?” Noah said with a sharp grin. “So everyone can make fun of me?”
“No!” Mia replied. “So you could watch it back. You say you’re bad about talking about yourself, but you’re not. You’re very articulateandrelatable.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m really not. At least, not normally. I’m only like this with...”
You.The last word died on his lips as he met eyes with Mia over the warm glow of the fireplace. Her face reddened, and this time it was unmistakable that she was blushing because ofhim.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a long beat. And then another.
Mia broke away, clearing her throat.
“I mean, you were pretty good at it during your second date with Celine,” she said. “I think you just need more opportunities to practice being more authentic. And what better time to work on that than a reality TV show being watched by thousands of people around the world?”
She gave him a small grin that told Noah she was joking.
I don’t need a whole reality TV show,he thought.The only person I want to talk to is right in front of me.
