Page 54 of Chasing Infinity

“Why? You’re not the one who threw the punch.”

“Yeah, but he’s my friend,” I argue back. “He can be hotheaded sometimes. I just can’t believe he actually hit you. Why didn’t you fight back?”

Noah pauses, then looks up at me through his dark eyelashes, his blue eyes smoldering me. “You know I wouldn't be opposed to handing Eli’s ass to him on a silver platter, but I figured he could have this one.”

“Why?”

“Because I have something that he doesn’t now. He feels like I took something from him.”

“Did you?”

“You tell me.”

I press my lips together in a thin line, considering the question. The truth is clear, but I’m not sure how he’ll respond to it. Drawing back on the confidence I felt this morning in the shower with him, I blurt it out. “You know I’ve always been yours, Noah.”

His pupils dilate as he stares at me, his breath catching in his throat. “And that’s why I let him take the win today. It won’t happen again, though, that’s for damn sure. He’s got one hell of a right hook.”

“Well, it’s stopped bleeding,” I tell him, pulling the cloth back and dropping it in the bathtub. “Do you want to stay up here today? Just rest it off?”

“Hell no,” he shoots back. “I’ve got a lot of pent-up energy now, and staying up here by myself is only going to make it worse. I’ll go down with you still.”

Together we finish getting ready for the day and then go downstairs to the diner. Grace has already got everything opened and running. A few customers linger up at the counter, waiting for their breakfasts.

“Hey, babes,” Grace says, looking up and glancing between Noah and me before frowning. “What the hell happened to you?”

Noah scowls but walks straight past her. “I’ll be on the grill today, don’t feel like facing any more of the loonies in this town.”

I press my lips together, watching him disappear, then I turn to Grace. “Eli came by this morning in a tizzy and ended up punching Noahtwice.”

Grace’s dark eyes widen in shock. “And Noah just let him?” I shrug, and her jaw falls open before she regains her composure. “Well shit. Here I was thinking you two were getting up to something kinky.”

Her response takes me off guard, and I bust out laughing. “No, nothing like that.”

“No judgment, if you were…but man, I don’t know why you’d want to mess up a pretty face like his.”

I laugh again with her and shake my head before wandering back to my office to get started...

Thankfully, the rest of the day passes smoothly. Noah keeps to his word on not wanting to deal with customers today and sticks to the kitchen area. I see him pop out every once in a while, but he mostly keeps to himself. Grace, Jack, and I run the show like normal. I’m forever grateful that I have the two of them to help me. I don’t know what I’d do without either of them.

After the dinner rush slows down, I go back to my office to finish a few things before leaving for the night. Jack’s on closing duty this evening which means the diner is in good hands, so I can take off. I decide to run next door to Monty’s Market to grab a few things for dinner and head out with a wave.

When I get back from the market, I head straight to the kitchen, dropping my bags on the counter, and set to work pulling out what I’ll need for dinner. I’m not in the mood to cook up anything fancy, so I’m sticking to tacos. The recognizable sound of the shower running hits my ears, alerting me that Noah’s home too. He always likes to shower after working the grill at the diner.

As soon as my supplies are set out on the counter, I put my favorite playlist on, link it to the Bluetooth speaker in my living room, and start chopping the onions, tomatoes, and lettuce.

The knife slides smoothly through the tomato, cutting it into tiny pieces. I press my lips together, focusing on my task. I can hear the shower turn off right as the next song picks up from my playlist. The familiar few opening notes and beat of the melody have me closing my eyes and exhaling a long breath, taking me back to a different time, a different night, the same song.

I lean my hips against the counter, my fingers gripping the edge as I let the music wash over me, the knife forgotten on the cutting board. The sound of bare footsteps pad behind me, and suddenly I’m swept around and up. A breath escapes me as I open my eyes to come face to face with Noah, fresh from his shower. The smell of his body wash assaults my senses, apple and mahogany, a blend of both sweet and spice, just like Noah. His silver-blue eyes are steely as he scours my face, the past haunting him as much as me.

First, I feel his large hands rest on my shoulders. Slowly he turns me around to face him. I find him staring down at me, eyes heated with unspoken words, and my mouth goes dry. Noah’s arms wrap around my waist, pulling me closer towards him until we’re flush together. My breasts press up against the hard planes of his chest, and I wonder if he can feel my rapidly beating heart. One of his hands finds mine, and he lifts and holds our hands together. We sway together to the music.

“I wasn’t sure you’d remember,” I whisper to him, keeping my voice low so that the moment isn’t broken.

Noah’s lips twitch, and he pulls me impossibly tighter, his hand splaying flat against my low back to bring me closer to him. “How could I forget? You were beautiful that night.”

My heart flutters, butterflies setting loose and making me feel tingly as if we’re back dancing together for the first time. I watch the man in front of me carefully as I ask him my next question, testing the waters to see how he’s feeling. There’s still so much I don’t know about Noah-the-Man. I thought I knew all there was to know about Noah-the-Boy, and I ended up getting burned in the end—both literally and figuratively.

“Would you do anything differently? If you could go back?”

---