AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I don’t bother defending my word choice. My focus needs to be on getting us out of here, not on soothing her ego.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shake the feelings churning inside of me away and step up to her suitcase. When I lift the lid I can’t help the curse that slips from my lips. Variations of lace and silk lay before me and my first thought is ‘Who the fuck is she wearing this for’, before I realize that’s not any of my business.
Damn you, Jack for asking me to come here.
Throwing her clothes in the suitcase, I slam it shut, zipping it up and lifting it off the stand. I wait impatiently by the door for her to finish up in the bathroom.
Savannah returns to the room and acquiesces with a heavy sigh before following behind me as I lead the way out of the room and toward the elevator.
It feels like an eternity as we wait in silence, the sounds of the other residents filling the void. When the elevator does arrive, we step inside and I push the button for the lobby. Neither of us utters a word. I don’t even know where to start with what to say. How do you act toward the one person you’ve always wanted but can’t have? Especially when you haven’t seen them in years.
I know what she’s been up to because of Jack, but has she ever asked him about me?
The rational side of my brain tells me no. She would have reached out if she wanted to know anything.
The doors slide open with a ding and I step out, not checking to make sure she’s following.
I can already tell that having Savannah O’Riley living in my apartment is going to be hazardous. Do I want her living there? No. Will I set her up in another more reputable hotel? Also no.
When I told Jack she could stay with me, I meant just that. Savannah will be staying with me, at least until she has somewhere more permanent to live.
Now to break the news to Sutton.
FOUR
Savannah
Surely Noah Parker, my brother’s best friend—who I haven’t seen in over five years—doesn’t trulywantme to stay with him.
Noah’s only doing this as a favor to Jack, not because he wants to.
He has to be crazy to think I would ever live with him, even temporarily. Anyway, I’m fairly certain he has a girlfriend, and I have no intention of listening to the two of them bumping and grinding into the early hours of the morning.
I just know he’d have stamina.
What is wrong with me?
I can only blame the fact that I haven’t seen him in so long for the way my body reacted to him. It was like that first time in the school hallway all over again. Only this time, I knew what was happening to me and that trying to stop it would be useless.
I pull in a breath as I practically run after Noah. His stride is at least twice as long as mine, but he doesn’t seem to take this into consideration. Either that or he just doesn’t care.
Maybe I can turn around and go back inside. Surely staying here has got to be marginally better than staying with him.
When I opened the hotel room door it was like seeing the boy I’d loved but in man form. A million emotions ran through me, and for half a second, before he spoke, it was like everything that happened between us hadn’t.
There’s a hardness to him now, but I’m certain it’s just the black suit he’s wearing and that underneath it, he’s still the boy that called me angel and told me how much he loved my hair as he ran his fingers through it.
“I’m sorry, angel. You’re like a sister to me.”
Heavens, even now, it still hurts. A wave of embarrassment crashes over me and I shake my head, clearing the bad memory and bringing myself back to the present.
My gaze drinks him in as he stalks toward a black town car that’s idling at the curb. The material of his suit stretches over his magnificent shoulders. He was always built, way more than any other boy in school, but now he’s a man and he’s even bigger than I could have imagined.
Of course, I’ve thought about him occasionally since I last saw him, but my imagination never did him justice. He didn’t have a beard in any of my thoughts, but it suits him. He looks like a viking that’s been dropped into Manhattan, but with short hair.
A light breeze whips around me and I curse myself again for having forgotten my duffel bags. Goosebumps form on my skin and I rub my hands up and down my bare arms. It’s unseasonably cold tonight for this time of year. Perhaps it’s a foreshadowing of what’s to come should I get into the car.
Or perhaps it’s just the weather, Savannah.
