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Leaning forward in his chair, Liam said, “Not only are you showing her you care about what she cares about, but manual labor gives you the perfect excuse to show off your physique.”
“Spare me,” Caroline muttered in exasperation.
“Wait, when did this turn into something physical? This is about her seeing me as more than the best sex of her life.”
Liam shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt, right?”
“Noah needs to leave the physical out of it. Gaby needs to see he has depth.”
Jerking my chin at Caroline, I asked, “Can you hook me up with her number?”
While Caroline’s brows shot up in surprise, Liam winced. “Damn, dude. She didn’t give you her digits after you banged her all night?”
“No, asshole, she didn’t.”
He leaned back in his chair. “It’s not looking good.”
“Shut up,” I grumbled.
“I don’t think I have her number, but I’m sure Maya or Sara does.”
“Okay,” I replied, as I picked up my phone.
Caroline reached over to squeeze my hand. “Good luck.”
“Thanks. Knowing Gaby, I’m really going to need it.”
Chapter Ten: Gaby
It had been five hours, thirty-three minutes, and twelve seconds since I’d left Noah. Considering how I’d run out on him, it felt like a prison bust. I felt like a fugitive on the run—afuckingfugitive since that’s what had caused me to flee from him. After escaping back to Bella’s and my room, I thankfully heard the sound of the shower. With my jangled emotions, the last thing in the world I wanted was to undergo Bella’s interrogation about last night.
I’m not proud to admit it, but that’s when my second escape of the morning happened. After stripping out of my bridesmaids dress at almost the same record speed I had with Noah, I threw on a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt before stuffing my suitcase and sprinting out the door. Before streaking down the hall, I dug out a pair of sunglasses along with my baseball cap bearing the logo for CD Guadalajara—the soccer team from my abuelos’ hometown. I mean, fugitives needed a disguise, right?
After Ubering back home, I made a beeline for the shower where I tried washing away last night’s sins. Of course, as I scrubbed myself down, a movie reel of my sexcapades played in my mind. It didn’t help that every time I shifted my legs I felt a delicious burn between them. Considering his size, no wonder Noah was so cocky.
“Fuck!” I grunted as I let my head fall back against the marble tile.
If I was honest with myself, it wasn’t the sex that had me all wigged out. It was the fact that even after the sex was over, Noah still wanted to see me. Mr. Golden Sex God, King of the Swim Groupies, actually wanted more.
Withme.
But I’d turned him down. Why? Because I was a neurotic idiot who couldn’t handle the thought of having to constantly worry if he was going to cheat on me with some swim slut when he was thousands of miles away. Yep, that was my story, and I was sticking to it.
The kinder side of my brain said I’d turned him down in an act of self-preservation. That past traumas, coupled with my raging insecurity, had caused me to react the way that I did. It really all boiled down to the fact that I liked Noah, but I liked my sanity more.
When Ashton and I broke up, it triggered a deeper fear that I hadn’t realized had been lurking.I didn’t trust that who I was would make someone stay.And given my distrust of Noah for so many years, it was truly hard to simply let that go when it came to trusting him with my heart. Especially with someone with Noah’s charisma, sex appeal, and identity.
After my shower, I turned on the TV in my room and tried to get into the latest episode of True Crime. But no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn’t get Noah off my mind. I knew I needed something to occupy my mind, so I grabbed my keys and decided to get the hell out of the house.
One Starbucks stop later and I was pulling into the complex where my school was. Each and every time I unlocked the front door, a rush of pride entered my chest. It was the one place where I felt total and complete peace. It was somewhere that was just for me. I knew Bella felt the same way about her design studio.
I made my way to the back where I started trying to inventory some of the latest shipments. I’d made a little headway when a bang at the front door caused me to jump out of my skin. Rubbing my hear over my shirt, I started to make my way to the front. Another bang came followed by a persistent pounding. Considering the office was shrouded in darkness and I was alone, I couldn’t help the apprehension that pricked up my spine.
“W-Who is i-it?”
“It’s me, Noah.”
Holy shit! Noah was outside my office. After unlocking the door, I threw it open. At the mere sight of him, my heartbeat broke into a wild gallop “Um, hey.”
