Page 102 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

Gasping, I turned to meet his gaze. “Stop it, Noah. You’re making it worse!”

Noah blew out a breath, and I thought I heard him curse.

The heat inside me grew. I was suddenly beginning to see there were many layers to Noah’s personality. After the night before at his parent’s house, I’d started to think the intense Noah I’d seen at TJ’s had just been the result of a stressful situation, but watching him now, I realized that wasn’t the case. That intensity was definitely a part of him.

And damn if it didn’t turn me on.

Shit.

I needed to get my mind onto something else. Searching my brain, I tried to think of a safe topic.

“So…what did you do this afternoon?”

He glanced at me and I saw his features relax a little. A tiny amused smile even appeared on his lips. “I went to see Mom and Dad.”

Oh, that was right. He’d already told me that. “How are they?”

He smirked a little more. “About the same as they were last night.”

Smart ass. Was he trying to make this harder for me? “Of course. What did you do?”

He was full on smiling now, the shit. He had to know that smile made me stupid.

“I actually went there to run something by them.”

I really didn’t want to take the bait this time, but he had me curious. “And what was that?”

His gaze intensified. “Well, considering I’m being forced to lie low for an uncertain amount of time, I thought I might go to college to get a degree in criminal justice.”

I gaped at him. Seriously. My mouth actually hung open as I stared at him. When my brain caught up, I swallowed. “Are you serious?”

He gave me cautious glance. “I am. What do you think?”

“Is that something you want to do?”

I watched him inhale deeply as he thought. “I want to be able to work my way higher in the department, so yeah, it’s something I want to do.”

“Then I think it’s a great idea.”

He exhaled then, his shoulders relaxing a bit more. Scrunching my eyebrows together, I tried to figure out why that was. Surely he couldn’t be worried about what I’d think? Studying him, I suddenly realized I might just be right.

“Were you worried about what I’d think?” I asked cautiously.

His gaze was open and honest when he finally turned it on me. “What you think will always be more important to me than anything else.”

I blinked at him, lost for words. Holy…

Chapter 62

Noah

I could feel Kaeli watching me as I drove into her friend’s street, and it was making me feel a little uneasy. I felt like an open book, exposed and raw.

My damned emotions had been all over the place since I left the graduation ceremony that afternoon. It was like they had their own agenda, leaving me completely in the dark about what they were going to do next. It made me anxious.

After I’d left Mom and Dad’s place, I’d gone back to my apartment to kill time, but it’d only left me alone with my own thoughts. My own insecurities.

The psychologist had told me I could still be up and down for a while yet, so reason told me it was norm

---