Page 92 of Wanted You More

Do I order fries with my fancy chicken? Yes, I do. I should be embarrassed, since this is the type of place you choose the soup special and whatever vegetable is in season, but carbs are my real soul mate in life.

Plus, it’s Noah.

The last person I need to impress is him.

The last person I shouldwantto impress.

His eyes go to the bracelet I’m toying with, watching me twirl the newest charm. “Why did you ask me to lunch?”

The bread stops halfway to my mouth. Do I tell him the truth? I smile before taking an unladylike bite of the carbs. “None of my friends were free, and I wanted to hang out with someone.”

He watches me eat, studying me a little too much for comfort. Just when I think he’s buying it, he says, “Now tell me the real reason.”

Slowly chewing, I lower the bread onto my plate and lean back. “Dad is seeing someone. And before you say it, I’m not mad at him. I’m trying to be happy. He told me it doesn’t replace Mom, but…”

Noah nods in understanding. “It doesn’t make it easier,” he finishes for me, grabbing a piece of bread for himself and stealing the butter back. “Who is she?”

Cringing, I lean my chin against the heel of my palm and sigh. “My professor. Her name is Susan. They work together. Just like him and Mom used to.”

His face softens. “Is she nice?”

I don’t have to think too hard before nodding, not that I want to. “I don’t know her well, but she seems it. I signed up for her class to spy on her more.” Noah’s lips twitch up at the corners. “Wolfe doesn’t say much about it, but I can tell he’s struggling. So, I’m trying to be the bigger person for once.”

The way his lips curl upward makes my eyes narrow.

I grab my cloth napkin and whip him with it, which is another reason people shouldn’t take me to fancy restaurants. “Don’t look so amused by that! I can be the bigger person.”

All he does is nod like he refuses to believe I could be nice, chuckling as I move the napkin back to whip him with it again. He manages to catch it, a cocky grin on his face when he sees how impressed I am by the smoothness.

We each keep hold of an end.

Noah’s eyes go back to my bracelet. “Do you like it?”

I know he’s asking about the charm. “I don’t get why you got it for me,” is how I answer, tightening my hold on the napkin.

He mimics me, clenching his end and tugging it closer to his side of the table. “As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to get it for your bracelet.”

Rubbing my lips together, I ask the obvious question. “Because of your job or because of Halloween night?”

Noah doesn’t pause. “Both.”

Both.

His eyes shift to the napkin we’re playing with before lifting back to mine. “I told Mom and Dad that I thought it was a good idea if they stopped checking in on you. That way you could live your life without any pressure from us. It never made them hesitate to ask your dad or brother about you if they saw them out.”

My appetite dwindles as I stare at the bread on my plate. “You need to stop assuming you know what’s best for people. When your dad picked me up from the police station, I nearly bit his head off for not caring about me anymore.”

“That’s never going to be the case.”

I shake my head and peek up at him. “But I’ll never know that for sure because ofyou. You run hot and cold all the time and make people do things because it’s what you think is easier. It’s not. Being around you is like having whiplash sometimes, Noah. How can I ever know that people want to be in my life when you’re pushing them away?”

“Because the real ones will never go anywhere,” he says quietly, keeping eye contact with me as my grip loosens on the cloth.

When I let it go, his arm jerks back, smacking him in the face.

“Your dad said that to me at the police station when he picked me up,” I murmur, playing with my bread. “Does that make you a real one?”

His little huff of a laugh causes one of my eyebrows to rise. “A real pain in the ass maybe.”

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