Noah’s smile worked the butterflies in my stomach into a tizzy, and he looked so pleased with himself that I narrowed my eyes. “Boyfriend, then?”
That wiped the smile clean off his face.
“No boyfriend,” Noah said with an unimpressed look.
I let out a slow breath, and my heart beat forcibly against my rib cage. He was single. But my stomach clenched when I remembered the way he’d made Blaise laugh. Just because they weren’t togetheryet, didn’t mean he was available. “Redheaded friend?”
His brow pinched. “No? No redheaded friends.”
“Very interesting.” I wondered if it made me a bad person to feel so relieved by that, but I tried not to show it. Instead, I took another sip of coffee to hide my smile.
Noah wasn’t fooled. “Why do you ask?”
I shrugged, pursing my lips against the rim of my coffee cup. “Just wasn’t sure how a significant other would feel about these little study dates.”
“Dates? These aren’t dates. They’re mandatory for a project.”
Ouch. Time to rewind.
“Of course.” I quickly recovered and set my cup on the piano. “It’s just… I mean, theycouldbe dates, right? If we were both single… and interested.”
Noah blinked back at me, momentarily stunned, before his stoic expression was back with a vengeance.
“You’re pretty forward, Emma,” he said, studying my face.
“I’m also pretty single,” I quipped.And interested, I added silently. Once again, the words left my mouth before I could catch them—not that I was entirely sure I wanted to.
Surprise lit the mix of gold and green in his eyes in a way that had my stomach tightening, and I could’ve sworn he was fighting down a smile. The way the left side of his lips tilted up sent a thrill down my spine that was way too satisfying for my liking.
“Incredibly forward,” he said softly, the sound barely traveling to my ears. But he didn’t wait long before shaking his head and focusing back on the binder. “I’m not looking to get involved right now.”
Ouch again.
“Right,” I said just as softly. I kept a firm hold on my fingers so I wouldn’t start chewing on my nails. “But for the record, I wasn’t saying we needed to take off to Yemen or anything. Just something casual.”
Noah’s breath escaped him in a way that almost could’ve been considered a laugh as he met my gaze.
“I don’t do anything lightly,” Noah said with a shake of his head. “Ever. There’s more to consider than just the logistics.”
… What?
“Okay,” I said, and the smile froze on my face as I gave him a puzzled look. A drop of doubt crept in, but I assured myself that even though he may sound like one sometimes, Noah wasn’t actually a robot. “That sounds… not weird at all?”
He snorted quietly—a very human sound, I noted—before the buzz of his phone broke the quiet. Noah shook his head as he read over the screen. “About those plans I mentioned. I have an appointment on campus with someone, and they just arrived.”
I bit my lip and slid off the piano bench. “Well, I guess that’s my cue. Plus, I’m late for my midmorning coffee cart stop.”
Noah tapped away on his phone, only sparing me a glance. “You already have a coffee.”
I looked down at my cup. “This was from mymorningstop, to tide me over until the midmorning one, which will last until my lunch cup with my roommate.”
He shook his head, clearly not as big a fan of caffeine. “Meet again after class on Monday?”
I grinned, unable to resist teasing a little as I edged toward the exit. “It’s a date.”
My laughter chased me out the door and drowned out Noah’s muttered protests.
* * *
