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“No, I didn’t mean it like that.” Noah let me take the greasy burger bag so she could dismount and remove her helmet. “It’s just, we’re on the top floor of a parking garage. Isn’t exactly riveting stuff.”
“Hey now,” I warned as I shoved the helmets into storage. “You haven’t seen all it has to offer.”
Noah did a dramatic three-sixty. “Um…there’s concrete, white parking lines, and a staircase. I’m not seeing a plethora of things here, Sage.”
I grabbed her hand; I didn’t want to waste even the briefest opportunity to touch her. Noah was supposed to be the girl I needed gone, the girl I wanted out of Harpy and off Inkmic. Just a few months ago, I prayed she’d stop breathing down my neck in the charts. A few minutes ago, I wanted her to press her cheek against my shoulder blades and never let go. My loneliness slowly but surely melted with each smile she gave. This was trouble—I was in trouble. Instead of being vigilant, I fell headfirst, no longer a girl with a plan. I hadn’t been since my breakdown and probably never would be again. I wasn’t scared about that—not tonight anyways.
“Look.” I spread my arms out to the view of palm trees and the ocean. “They knocked down a creepy motel two summers ago. For now, this is the only parking garage that has an unobstructed view of the beach.”
“Ah.” Noah nodded with a smile. “Very…beautiful?”
I laughed and went over to the wall’s edge to sit. The concrete reached my hip, but you’d think it didn’t go past my ankle with how Noah gasped.
“Careful.” She held out a hand, as if she could pull me back to safety from her position a few feet away.
“I’m fine,” I assured her, swinging my leg over to straddle the wall. I glanced down, which made Noah sigh. “It’s what? Four stories high?”
“I counted six,” she said, point blank.
I nodded, impressed. “Okay, probably not surviving that fall.”
“I would like for you to come back here.”
“But I’m not planning on falling,” I insisted as I gestured to her. “And neither are you.”
“Exactly, which is why I’m standing right here.”
“What about the burger you nearly got us into an accident for?” I picked up the bag, swinging it back and forth in an attempt to entice her.
She held up her hands. “Toss it here.”
“Or you could join me.” I swung my legs back and forth. She didn’t like that, but I enjoyed her impatient exhale.
“And here I thought you were ready to be romantic,” Noah grumbled. “But no, still trying me.”
Noah sighed and crept closer. She leaned her upper body forward, peering over the edge of the wall without getting too close.
“You’re right,” I said around a mouthful of burger. “These do taste amazing.”
She glared, and I could hear her stomach growl from where she was standing. “I’m a bottomless pit today.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” I offered her the paper-wrapped burger as she finally decided between a six-story fall and food.
“I suppose, if you look past the grimy sidewalks and overplanted palm trees, the view’s not that bad.” Noah sat with both legs carefully planted on the ground. She had to twist her torso to look at the ocean.
“And you were thinking of going on Venom tonight?” I asked.
“I always close my eyes on roller coasters.” She shrugged. “So it wasn’t going to be that bad.”
"You're so scary," I teased.
Noah made a face and laughed. "Why do you like it up here? What's so special about a parking garage?"
I paused, taking a second to truly consider my answer. "It's quiet and a bird's eye. Everything's smaller up here. I like getting that perspective."
"I get that." Noah admired the view, and I nodded, quiet for a second as I watched her readjust her top. The v-neck kept dipping—it was as much cleavage as I'd ever seen from her.
“Trying something new?” I gestured to her shirt.
