Page 104 of The Addict

“I’m sorry, but–” I shifted nervously on my toes. My breathing was fast. I was cornered. I didn’t really know if I was afraid...or perhaps just overwhelmed by his attitude. I had never in my life met someone like Noah. I had no idea how to perceive him or his intentions. As it was, he was reading me perfectly. I did want to know him more, but I didn’t want either of us to get hurt.

Not only that, but his level of experience was no match to my own. Someone like Noah had to have had multiple partners. I had no clue what I was doing in the dating department, let alone this level of…

…chemistry? Could I even call it that?

I didn’t even know what I was feeling at this point. But I was squirming. Literally.

“Just let me have your number,” he said, shrugging as though his request was simple.

I shook from the hungry look he gave off, wondering how I was going to get out of this one.

He held his cell phone between his two forefingers and offered it to me. “If I give you my number,” I said, grabbing it. “Will you let me go?”

He howled with laughter. “Who ever said you were a prisoner?”

I did a retake and examined our current position, nearly body to body against the wall. “But–”

“I’m not going to hold you against your will.” He took a step back from me, waiting and watching as I stared at his phone.

His contacts were open for me and ready for me to plug my number in. I considered wickedly that I could just put in a fake number and call it a day.

“But if you leave without giving me answers, I’ll just ask Chelsea out. That way, you’ll have to see me again, by default,” he added, and his eyes shined with wicked glee at my horror.

Okay, so he’s crazy. Confirmed.

“Fine.” I groaned and programmed the buttons I knew too well into his phone.

“There!” I threw it back at him, hoping for a moment that he wouldn’t catch it and it would break. It didn’t, and like a perfect athlete, Noah reached up and snatched the cell with one hand before gravity had time to think about making it hit the floor.

“Thank you,” he said with a little nod.

I considered telling him everything for a split second. The threats from Silas. How I was terrified when he called my house, and that I wasn’t sure who to trust anymore. If Noah discovered that Silas had threatened me, I deliberated what he would do. Was he going to defend me? Tell me it would be better if I got lost?

I decided that it would be smarter to say nothing to him. It wasn’t like I would take his calls anyway. That was the easy part: ignoring him once I got out of here. Getting him to quit calling was going to be tricky.

Noah’s grinning brought me back down to Earth. I rolled my eyes, hating how cute he looked when he smiled. “What were you thinking about?” he questioned, his expression peaked with curiosity.

The question caught me off guard, and I stopped myself before saying, “You.”

“Nothing.”

He snickered. “You make weird faces when you think.”

“Well, excuse me for having unique facial expressions.”

He touched under my chin with a finger. “No, I think it’s sorta cute.”

I stiffened. His touch was captivating, and I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t want more of it. I needed to leave this place. Fast. Before want drowned out reason.

“I’m going home. Nice talking to you.”

He gave me a little wave as I finally walked out of the theater, wishing that I hadn’t waited to make a run for it in the first place. My cell phone rang before I reached the curb.

“Hello?”

“Oh good, you didn’t give me a fake number.” Noah’s chipper tone came from the other end.

“I should’ve...” I mumbled to myself.