AllFreeNovel
Share Us
TWENTY-EIGHT
Matthew
The next two weeks were a blur of activity, and then it was already almost April. After I had dropped Tess off at the airport, Noelle and I tried our best to see each other as often as possible, but even we got caught up in the middle of the semester and all of the different things we had going on. We hadn’t even had a chance to have dinner with our friends yet, much to their disappointment. My friends had met Noelle, of course, and I had met Noelle’s friends at the bar, but that wasn’t the same.
I wanted them to get to know the girl I had fallen in love with.
I hadn’t told her yet, but I couldn’t forget the moment when I realized with absolute clarity that I was in love with her. So far gone that she was all I could think about.
Noelle stayed with me whenever she could—all curled up around me. Most mornings we’d wake up with her leg strewn over mine, her hair all tangled in the pillowcase, and her hand clutching my t-shirt. I had never realized how much I could love this, having a girl in my bed every night, but I came to the realization somewhere along the line that it wasn’t the act that I loved—it was who I shared it with. Noelle was the only person with I could see myself sleeping beside, and she was the only woman I ever wanted to be cuddled against me like the world might end if we broke apart.
It was a chilly morning when I had rolled out of bed, thrown on a pair of track pants and a hoodie, and tried to coax my little redhead—whose face was still buried in my pillow—out of it.
“Come with me,” I pleaded. Snowball’s leash was in my hand. She was sitting at my side, wagging her tail patiently, and while I could have employed the good old ‘get her’ and had my dog lick Noelle awake, I preferred to do it more civilly.
It was still early in the morning anyway, and Noelle had stayed over the night before, but I had gotten used to the fact that it always seemed like getting Noelle outof bed was the hardest part of every morning. Unless…I sat on the bed next to her, rubbing a hand over her bare shoulder.
“I’ll get you cinnamon rolls after,” I said, hoping to entice her. It wasn’t that I needed her to go with me. I could have gone for a run alone, sure, but I wanted her there. Not that I would ever force her to exercise—her body was perfect; I simply wanted her at my side.
“Fine,” she groaned, throwing the pillow off of her head, telling me that she was, in fact, awake. “I will go on this nature hike with you to Forest Park if you pinky promise that you will buy me cinnamon rolls afterward.” I nodded, and she kept looking at me. “With extra icing,” she added.
I sighed, and she narrowed her eyes. “Extra icing. Got it.” At that, Noelle hauled herself out of bed, digging through the duffel bag that seemed to always sit on the floor.
I loved every moment of her being here, staying with me, and I suddenly wanted to give her more. Something permanent, so that she had a place where she could leave things. So that she always felt welcome, and she knew that I wanted her here. Because I did, I really did. But I didn’t want to scare her off or freak her out by moving too quickly, because this was still new. We were still so new, and I didn’t want to push too much on her too quickly. Didn’t want her to realize how attached I had gotten to her being in my life.
Fifteen minutes later, we were on the road. Noelle had pulled on a pair of turquoise spandex leggings and a tight black sweatshirt, and her hair was up in a high ponytail—which I loved because it showed off how long her hair was (I resisted giving it a little tug, to mess with her)—and even without makeup, she looked beautiful as always.
As we walked, jogged, and padded our way through the trails, Noelle had the slight red glow of exertion on her face, and somehow, it even put a smile on mine.
“Water?” I asked her, pulling out the metal water bottle I had packed just for her out of my bag.
She nodded, and we pulled off to the side to sit on a bench as we both drank, and I put a little bit in a bowl for Snowball, too, who was panting from exercise.
“Do you know what I’m thinking about as I’m walking the trails?” Noelle said a few minutes later when we were on our way again.
I shook my head with a small smile. “No, tell me.”
“I’m thinking,” she said, panting a little in the middle, for dramatic effect; I could tell the difference since I had been watching her for so long. “About all that icing that’s going to be dripping down my cinnamon roll, and how I’m going to lick it off with my tongue—”
And I laughed. A pure, belly laugh that I couldn’t have held back even if I tried to. “I think I can manage to find a few better uses of that tongue of yours…” I trailed off, even though there was no one around, and placed a quick peck on her cheek before leaning down to her ear. “And a few other things I’d rather have you lick.”
“Hmm…” Noelle gave me a thoughtful look as she turned around on the path, hiding what I was sure was the blush on her cheeks from me. “I don’t think that was what you promised me for coming, Matthew Harper.”
“I think I would promise you whatever you want for coming, Noelle Hastings.” I raised an eyebrow, innuendo clear in my words. She laughed, but I didn’t miss her happy little blush on her cheeks, and we went back to the blissful silence, hands intertwined as we walked the trail, Snowball between us in the damp forest.
And watching her face light up as she saw the breathtaking view on the top of the mountain of the city? The thoughts that had been scattering through my brain for the last few weeks, an idea that had fully formed into a whole real thing, finally were illuminated just like Noelle’s hair in the sun.
I loved her.
The realization jolted through me, suddenly, but I also realized I had known it to be true for a while. I loved the girl standing in front of me—every quirk, every little part of her that she had laid bare with me, shown to me—I loved every piece of her. She had captured my whole heart, and she didn’t even know it yet. Didn’t know how much I loved her, how much I cared about her.
She had never been more beautiful to me, and I couldn’t wait to tell her how much I loved her.
~ ~ ~
“You’re still coming and bringing Noelle to dinner next week, right?” Bryan asked me over the phone as I buttoned up my dress shirt. I had agreed a week ago, when things were less crazy, and now I was staring at myself in the mirror, trying to tie a tie for a university event as my best friend reminded me of my plans.
The whole gang—officially meeting my girlfriend. The woman I loved. Who still didn’t know that I loved her. I hadn’t been able to tell her, even after we got home.
