Page 25 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“Noah?” Angela’s voice draws me out of the darkness.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Can we go? I want a burger.”

She takes one final glance at Marco before tugging me along and away from him. His eyes follow us. I can feel the fire from them burning into my back. The heat disperses the further we get away.

Poor, love-sick little puppy.

Don’t worry, Marco. You can have her back soon enough.

CHAPTER 13

NOAH

NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY

After we ordered, I watched my little rabbit get up and explore the room. She ran her fingers along the edges of the boxes of each game, reading the names and gathering the ones she thought looked like the most fun. When she had four in her arms, she scampered back over to the table with the biggest grin on her face.

She took off her black jacket, showing off the see-through lace fabric covering her arms. The black bodice and skirt of the dress shimmered slightly as the lights illuminated her. When she sat down, she looked over each box in silence for a moment. I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. Fuck, I hardly even breathed. I just watched as her eyes lit up while reading over the different games.

“Okay, I grabbed four different ones. Stratego, Sequence, Life, and Risk. Which would you like to play while we wait?”

“Have you ever played any of these?” I ask as she looks over the boxes again.

“I’ve played Life and Sequence.”

“Well, unless the owner lets us stay here until tomorrow morning, we don’t have enough time for Risk, so I think that one’s out for now.”

“It takes that long? And I thought Monopoly was the longest game in the world. Have you played Sequence before?” she asks as she places the Risk box back up onto the window’s ledge.

“Can’t say that I’ve ever heard of it.”

“It’s one of my favorites. My grandparents taught it to me when I was younger. We used to play it every weekend.”

“Then let’s play that one. How do you play?”

She spends the next couple of minutes explaining the game. The rules are simple. Play a card, place a chip, connect two lines of five. It’s also a simple enough game where I can still keep her talking about herself. I want to know everything. No…I need to know everything.

Where has she been? Why did she disappear? Why is she back? Not that I’m complaining about that last one.

She opens the board and gives me my chips while I shuffle the deck and deal out seven cards to each of us. She picks up her hand and smirks before lifting her drink to her perfect lips.

“Damn, that’s good,” she hums. “How do you like it?”

“Oh. I haven’t tried it yet.”

I pick up the drink and stare at it for a moment. The liquid looks almost creamy, and the swirls of caramel give it a slight burned color. It smells good, and when I take a sip, I can’t help but repeat what she did and hum from the taste.

“You’re right. Damn good.”

She looks up at me and smiles. When that smile hits her eyes, the rest of the world goes quiet. It’s the smile that I remember from my childhood. The one I’ve seen every fucking time I’d dream of those memories. The one she’d give me when I gave her my dessert at lunch or offered to carry her backpack for her as we walked home from school.

Fuck, Little Rabbit…Why don’t you remember me?

She goes first and plays a queen of spades, then places her chip on one of the corresponding spots on the board before drawing a new card.

“So, you said you grew up in the thumb area?” I ask as I play my card, lay my chip on the king of clubs, then draw another.