AllFreeNovel
Share Us
SIXTEEN
Matthew
We were standing outside of the Blazers Stadium—inches apart—and I thought if I didn’t kiss her again I might lose my mind. And…just friends? Was that all she wanted us to be? All she thought I wanted us to be?
I didn’t kiss my friends like that. In truth, I hadn’t kissed anyone like that—ever—not until Noelle, but I didn’t want to freak her out by telling her that. The passion and intensity I felt for her… I had never experienced anything like this with anyone. But if all she wanted was for us to be friends, then I guessed I would take what I could get to continue to be around her. I enjoyed her presence too much to risk that. Every conversation, every laugh, every smile… I was convinced that Noelle was the most captivating woman I had ever met.
But I couldn’t help myself, standing this close to her. I could smell her perfume, like sweet-smelling roses, and she was right there. And I wanted more of her. “Do you… think I kiss my friends like that?” I asked, voice a little hoarser than I had hoped.
Noelle just looked at me, and then I caught her face. Our gazes connected and I could feel the sparks as we just stared at each other, inches apart, and finally—Noelle shook her head. “No.” Her voice was all breathless. I watched her run her tongue over her bottom lip, and then I leaned in closer to her, close enough that she would be able to feel my breath on her skin when I spoke.
“How about we try again?” I murmured, running a finger across her jawbone. “And you can tell me if I kiss you like a friend, sweetheart.”
Noelle sucked in a deep breath, brown eyes connecting straight with mine, and then she nodded. Permission.
I closed the distance between our lips in a heartbeat. I did what I had wanted to do since the kiss cam had left us. This kiss was slow, at first, just a few gentle presses to her mouth. Exploratory pecks. And then, I kissed her harder as she parted her lips for me. And we were losing ourselves in each other, in this kiss. Her hands found my chest, clutching onto my shirt, fists in tiny little balls as both of mine cupped her face.
Kissing her—ah. Kissing her made me feel like everything was right in the world. Tasting the sweetness on her tongue, feeling her body pressed up against mine as she moaned into my mouth… Was there any experience in the world that was as good as this? If I could be kissing her… Why would I bother doing anything else?
By the time we broke apart, we were both breathing heavily, lips swollen and I knew—I could see it in her eyes. The lust. Her lust, for me. The thing that had been building, growing, and festering since the very first time we saw each other, the first time we spoke. I had known, even then, that I wanted her. And I couldn’t ignore it anymore, couldn’t ignore the way my body responded to hers, the way she made me feel things I didn’t even know I could feel. Things I hadn’t ever felt for anyone, ever.
She ran a finger over her pink lips and frowned at me, the desire and lust slowly disappearing from her eyes as she seemed to remember where we were.
“Fuck,” I groaned, looking down at the ground. “Noelle—”
“Don’t apologize,” came Noelle’s response. And then she blinked a few times before meeting my eyes again. “Matthew, I—”
“We should get you home, Noelle,” I said as I tucked her hand into mine and headed towards the parking garage.
Before I do something stupid and ask you to stay the night at my house. Before we let our lust rush us into bed with each other.
Noelle nestled into the warmth of my body heat and held onto the arm I had wrapped around her. I couldn’t help it—touching her was second nature at this point, and it felt so right to have her here, like this. We drove the truck in silence, the only noise you could hear was the cars on the busy roads, and I just wished I could have her like this, forever.
I had to find a way to make her mine, really mine, and hold on tight.
Because I wanted to keep her.
~ ~ ~
Noelle was beautiful as she stood outside her dorm building, wrapped up in the sweatshirt she had found in my car. It was huge on her, but I liked seeing her in it—it made me feel a touch possessive, but I decided right then and there that there was nothing that I liked more than the sight of her in my clothes.
“How long are we going to ignore this thing between us?” Noelle whispered to me, stepping in closer as we stood by the truck. Not leaving. I didn’t want to say goodbye, and I could tell she didn’t want to go inside either. “Do you not… Are you not interested in me like that?” She bit her lip, looking more insecure than I had ever seen her.
“Not interested in you?” I muttered, a low growl coming from my diaphragm.
She blinked back in surprise. “I—what?”
In all of the time we had spent together, up till now, we had never talked about it, this thing that I knew was between us.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and tilted her head towards me. “How can you even think I wouldn’t be interested in you like that, Noelle?” I shook my head. It was maddening how much I wanted this girl. How attracted I was, had always been, to her.
“Well—every time we kiss, you stop it before it can go any further.”
“Because we’re always in public. Because I’m trying not to fuck this up before it’s even started. Because I like you so much, I think I would die if I did something to scare you away.”
“I just thought…” Noelle closed her eyes. She looked a little mortified, and I hated it. Hated that I had created any doubt for her. “That you didn’t think I was pretty enough.” She mumbled under her breath. There was something else, too, but I didn’t catch it.
“Noelle. You’re… You don’t even know what you do to me, sweetheart. How much I want you, all the time. How much I want to take you inside right now and fuck you all night long.” I cupped my hands over her cheeks. “Tell me you feel this too, Noelle.”
