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THIRTEEN
Noelle
Kiss me, please? I whispered, and suddenly my whole life had changed. In an instant, in a flash. Because Matthew Harper’s lips were against mine—his hands gently holding my face, kissing me like I was someone who he cherished, who was worthy of it—I wanted to sink into it.
And when he pulled away, asking me if something was wrong, it was all I could do to pull him back to me. To kiss him back with everything I had. And when he tugged me and lifted me off the ground, allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist so I could kiss him with more ease—as he pressed my back into the tree with its beautiful twinkly lights, I thought, this is it. How could I come back from this?
A moan escaped from my lips, and I knew he could feel it—how much he was affecting me. I could feel how much I was affecting him. Every delicious, beautiful inch of him was currently pressed up against me. All hard, no soft bits to Matthew. Especially not the one that was positioned right over my—
“Matthew,” I murmured, tugging at the hair at the nape of his neck. I wanted to kiss him again. I knew that, and yet… “Matthew, we shouldn’t…”
His lips were swollen when he pulled back, hands still curled under me to support me, and when he realized where we were—what we were so close to doing, his cheeks pinked.
Matthew Harper was blushing.
“Oh, you beautiful man,” I cooed, and he set me down gently onto the ground.
I wasn’t sure if the sound that escaped my mouth was a giggle, a disappointed sigh, or somewhere in the middle, but it didn’t matter.
Because the spell was broken.
And did Matthew look a little mortified over our kiss, or was that my imagination?
Oh. Had he not been enjoying it? Because I thought he had. I had felt him, after all. If we had gone on for just a few moments longer, he would have been grinding against me. I frowned up at him, just staring at his blue eyes.
Matthew just shook his head, his fingers trailing over his lips like he couldn’t believe what we had just done. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you back to campus and get you home.”
I took in a deep inhale of breath and bit my lip as he slipped his hand back in mine, the feeling finally tethering me back down to earth. But I couldn’t ignore the butterflies in my stomach, or the heat that had blossomed inside of me.
I had to ignore it, though, or else I was going to lose my mind just from being around him. This physical pull I felt in his presence—the way I felt when our hands connected, or when we touched, when he held me… it was all too much to try to resist.
And when we got back to the truck, it seemed like Matthew couldn’t resist either—not when his hands went around my waist to help me get in, not as we drove back and his palm rested on my thigh, like he couldn’t stop touching me. Like he would die if he had to.
Once at my dorm building, I stared up at him, leaning against the front door and wondered if I could get him to kiss me again. Watching his eyes as they darted down to my lips once more. But even though my tongue ran over my lips, moistening them, he didn’t move in any closer.
“Goodnight, Matthew,” I whispered.
“Goodnight, Noelle,” he responded, placing a kiss on the crown of my head, before moving away from me and back towards his truck.
I stood there, on the sidewalk, watching as he drove away.
And when I got back to my room, I collapsed against my bed thinking only of one thing. His lips on mine, and how badly I wanted more.
No—needed more.
So much for your, no men rule, Noelle, I scolded myself.
But maybe he was different.
Maybe he would stay.
~ ~ ~
I tossed and turned all night, and when I pulled myself out of bed on Monday morning, I had barely gotten a wink of sleep. Still, I dragged myself to the coffee shop, desperately needing the caffeine, the familiar routine to keep me awake, keep me from thinking about Matthew and his touch.
But I was barely been able to keep my eyes open, and the longer I sat there, the more my eyes drooped as I typed on my laptop. I didn’t even realize I had dozed off until I felt a strong hand reach out and lightly shake my shoulder. My eyes flew open, and to my surprise, there he was—standing in front of me in the flesh. Matthew Harper.
“Noelle.” His quiet voice dragged me from my thoughts before I could even open my mouth to explain. Well. I guess that wasn’t happening. I could see the concern in his eyes, and I felt bad. Was he… worried about me? “Is everything okay?”
