Page 73 of The Cuffing Game
He shivered as he got out of the tub. Without looking back at her, he said, “God, it’s cold. Don’t stay out here like that for too long, Mia. You’ll get hypothermia.”
After all that, he’s still looking out for me.
She grabbed his hand, finally fast enough to make contact. “Wait, are you okay to drive like this?”
Noah froze. Still expressionless, he stared down at their joined hands until she let go.
“I am, thanks,” he said flatly.
He walked away, and Mia watched in silence as he was swallowed up by the snow.
Chapter Thirty-One
Noah
Noah hated everything. He hated the snow. The wind. And perhaps most significantly at this very moment, himself.
“I am, thanks,”he repeated his own words to Mia in a mocking way as he leaned his forehead on the steering wheel of his stalled Jeep.
The colorful row of rubber ducks on his dashboard smiled at him in a vaguely sinister way. Or maybe Noah was just tired.
His Jeep had all-season tiresandsnow chains, so Noah thought he’d be fine. But then a deer had crossed in front of him, and he’d swerved, driving off the road and into the snow.
All things considered, Noah knew he’d been very lucky. His car could have easily veered into a tree or off a cliff. And fortunately, he hadn’t been going fast enough to cause significant damage.
But he was stuck. He was miserable. And he just wanted to go home.
Thankfully, he’d charged his phone up before he left the lodge, so he’d been able to call for help. A tow truck was on the way, but with no real ETA because of “a heightened number of accidents in the area.” Noah had heard about how dangerous the roads in the Big Bear area were during snowstorms. And he’d still decided to drive. All because he’d wanted to run away from a girl.
What a loser,he thought.
Noah stretched his hands out in front of him as he thought about how Mia had grabbed him. And howhe’dtouched her cheek, before everything blew up in his face.
Even when he’d been mad at her, her touch hadstillfelt nice. It was a new experience for him, not just liking butwantingto be touched by someone else.
Even when that someone hated him.
Noah was hopeless.
From everything that had happened this past week, and after everything he and Mia had talked about over the last couple of days, he was now sure he needed therapy. Jae-hyun had first suggested it to him a couple years ago, claiming it’d “worked wonders” and helped him move on from their “hellhole of a childhood.” But Noah had replied he was too busy. And he really had been, back then. But now that he was about to graduate in a few months, things were a lot more chill. And he definitely had plenty of time now, alone in his snowbound car.
He picked up his phone from where he’d tossed it on the passenger seat and started looking for therapists nearMarlon. He had only one bar of cell service, and it seemed unable to decide if it wanted to stick around, so he didn’t make much progress before he got a call from Thad.
“Bro. Bro!” Thad’s voice was distorted from the bad cell service, but Noah could still make out what he was saying. “Wow, you’re finally picking up! I’ve been trying to call you all week! Are you still in the game?”
Noah frowned. “What game?”
“The Cuffing Game!The show you’re on!”
Ah. So, Thadhadbeen watching.
“I’m not in it anymore,” he said. “I’m actually on my way back home.”
“Oh, bummer. I’m sure you gave it your all, though. Everyone in Alpha Tau has been talking about it these past few days.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. He’d never thought Thad—or anyone in his fraternity, really—would be the type to watch reality TV shows. But he stood corrected.
“Wow, you guys must really be into it,” Noah said.
