Noah (47 page)

Her hands were at her mouth now and she took the steps down the stairs to approach him as he backed up even more. “I
never said
I believed him, I said I was curious. I didn’t know what to think. He said it was a long time ago. People do things they regret, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt
. Even if it were true it wouldn’t matter. None of it matters.
”

That confirmed it. She did believe all those things about him even after what he’d just told her. “I just said…” He started to
articulate
then spun around
;
he couldn’t stay there even another minute. “You know what? Believe whatever the fuck you want. How ‘bout that? I don’t give a shit anymore.”
He was done trying to convince her that he was worthy of
being part of her life
. 

“Noah
,
I’m sorry. If you say you didn’t then I believe you.”

Wonderful now she was going to humor him.
He jumped on his bike and pulled his helmet o
n
glad it muffled her words because he couldn’t bear to hear another word. If he was anything like the type of
young immature
punk
she clearly thought him
to be
he might’ve had thoughts
of
flip
ping
her off, instead all he could think of
as he pulled out of her driveway
was how the hell was he
supposed to get over
her
?
This felt a million times worse than
his breakup
with Tessa.

He drove stupidly fast around the area for a while before deciding
on a destination
. He didn’t want to be
near
anyone. It was crazy the effect Roni had on him. Emotionally he was a wreck. She’d only been in his life a few months and
the thought of not having her in
it anymore
was unbearable.

Twenty minutes later h
e sat at the edge of the
boxing
ring at the gym. He hadn’t bothered turning on the lights when he got there. The only light was the bright moonlight that came in through the windows and the streetlight just outside the front door that flooded in through the glass doors.

H
e realized that he wouldn’t have blown up the way he did if he hadn’t already been so worked up. Hearing about Roni spending time with the ex she probably still had feelings for had really done a number on him. He’d never felt so pissed and hurt at the same time in his life.

The whole damn week had been buil
ding
intense
ly until he’d just come apart
. Maybe if he would’ve explained to Roni about what really happened in high school with the girl he got pregnant
instead of going off on her she would’ve understood
. He
might have
even convince
d
her of what he’d been trying to all this time. That he was mature
enough
to handle things like an adult,
and had been
even back then. 

The front door opening jerked him out of his thoughts. He’d been so damn heated when he burst through it tonight he hadn’t thought to lock it and this wasn’t the best of neighborhoods. He jumped off
where he sat
to his feet fully expecting to have to take on homeless person or two
w
hen he heard Roni.

“Noah, is that you?”

She came around the corner into view and she may as well have been an angel because that’s how
blissful
the si
ght
of her was. She stopped when she saw him.

“I believe you, Noah. I
believe you
.”

He took a deep breath unbelievably ready to forgive and forget everything that had happened earlier and just run to her but he had to say something to her first.
“I dropped out to get a full time job when I found out she was pregnant.”

The shadow over her face prevented him from seeing her expression clearly.
But she stood motionless for a moment as he held his breath in preparation for her response.

~*~

Afraid to say
the wrong thing Veronica chose her words carefully. She’d hated seeing him so hurt and she was not about to say something that would hurt him again. She started walking to him
. “So you’re a dad?”

He shook his head. “Nope. When she first told me it scared the hell out of me.
But t
hen the more I thought about it
,
t
he more it hit me. I was going to have a child. My own flesh and blood. She said she didn’t wanna have it. She was too young. That’s when I dropped out of school. I told her
I was getting a job and
I’d  raise the kid myself.
She’s
the one that disappeared not me. Her parents set out looking for me, sure that it was me she’d run away with, but I had no idea where she was either. The next time I saw her, she’d already had the abortion and then
she and
he
r family
moved away.”

Veronica didn’t think her heart could break anymore for him than it already had. “Where you in love with her?” she asked as she reached him, touching his face.

He shook his head again
bringing his hand over hers then brought it to his mouth and kissed it
. “The only person I’ve ever been in love with is you.”

Overwhelmed with emotion,
Veronica hugged him hard
,
furious with herself for ever questioning what or why she felt for him. “I love you, too,” she pulled away
to look him in the eyes. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you—us.”

His eyes were wide and almost wild, but not in that horrible way they’d been earlier when he’d been so angry
. Now
he was smiling. “You love me?”

“Yes!” She hugged him again. “And I’m so sorry about
doubting you
.”

“Don’t be.
Kratz
didn’t know what happened. Nobody in school did and after she aborted I was so pissed and let down I didn’t bother going back to school.
I took my GED and
kept
working.
I was done with all the fucking high school drama. But he knew the truth about the drug trafficking bullshit.” Noah’s eyes were hard again. “He could
’ve
explained that to you.”

He explained to her about the girl who’d
broken his heart and how he spiraled out of control for a while there. How it was the only time he’d done weed in his life and that was only to numb the pain.

“I shared a locker with Abel and Gio because mine was
in
a suck ass
temp
building
. I let the guy that sold me the weed use the locker I wasn’t using. I didn’t think he’
d
be stupid enough to stash his shit
in
it. Every few months they did a raid. Brought in the dogs and everything and found his stash. Since the locker was in my name, my ass got hauled in but everyone knew I never used that locker.” He shook his head. “I’d been in so much trouble leading up to that,
Kratz
wasn’t buying anything I said
anymore
. But in the end they had enough people vouching for who actually used th
e
damn locker and they never got enough evidence to make the charges stick. So
my name was cleared
.
He knew this.”

His expression changed suddenly and his eyes were now full  of concern. “Roni, I don’t think I could deal with you being friends with this guy. I hated him so much back then and now I have even more reason to hate hi
m
.”

Veronica touched his lips with her finger. “I don’t wanna be his friend anymore. You’re right. I need loyalty and friends I can count on, but most importantly I don’t want anyone in my life that doesn’t believe in us. And obviously he doesn’t.”

“Us?”

She smiled nodding. “I’m ready for
us
. I love you, Noah and I want the whole world to know it.”

The
glimmer
in his eye at that moment was something she hadn’t seen before. He’d been so emotional earlier but this, this took her breath away. He kissed her so soft and so tenderly she sighed against his lips. Noah was exactly what she
needed
in her life. She wasn’t afraid to admit it anymore.
Who wouldn’t need what she was feeling right that moment?
And it had nothing to do with being afraid to be alone. She could easily have Derek’s company if she wanted to and Nellie was definitely going to be around more now.

Veronica realized one thing earlier, the terrifying moment it hit her that maybe Noah wouldn’t be coming back tonight.
She was in love with him
and s
he wasn’t afraid of being alone, she was afraid of being without
him
.

Noah’s kiss grew heavier and deeper and just when she thought she couldn’t feel any more content than how she was feeling at that moment he nearly growled then whispered in that same strained voice she’d heard that morning, “I wanna taste you.”

When he said it that morning she hadn’t been entirely sure what he meant but she
’d
had a feeling
and it’d been enough to get her heart pumping
. It was something she’d only read about
and could only imagine what it must feel like. Now that not only did she know exactly what he meant but what she’d be in for, her legs nearly gave out on her.

“I want to
now
,” he added as he sucked her bottom lip.

“Here?” she gasped pulling away.

The
blaze
in his
lit
eyes was all the answer she needed. “Wait here.”

He hurried away to the front door leaving her standing
wobbly
as he locked door
s
.
She watched him walk
to where the
stretching
mats
were stacked
up by the wall
and t
a
k
e
one
. He
grabbed some towels
, his eyes locked on hers, a slim smile on his face.

Her body had already begun to
shudder
in anticipation.
The tingling that had started that morning
when
he’d kissed her brea
s
t
began
going
insane
the moment
s
he he
ard his
scandalous
request
.

Trying hard to calm
her breathing as he neared her
she
watched him throw the mat into the boxing ring behind her along with the towel then he reached for her and in one swoop she was in his arms again as he kissed
her
madly.

In the next second his hands were on her behind and he squeezed as he picked her up
.
Never had she known she could even feel this level of arousal but she felt as wild as an untamed animal cradling his face in her hands as she kissed and sucked those beautiful lips of his.

The moment he set her on the edge of the boxing ring she climbed under the ropes and was in the ring. They toppled over as he jumped in behind her and came over her continuing their
frantic
kissing
as he pressed her to the mat
. She thought maybe he’d work his way down like he had that morning but instead his hands went right to her pants
and
pull
ed
them down the side of her hips. Her panties went down with them and before she knew it she was naked from the waist down.

Unlike that morning Noah wasn’t taking his time. His fingers were already in her making her moan loudly. That only arouse
d
him further
and
he groaned in her mouth then pulled away. “I can’t wait any
longer
.”

He moved down
,
spreading her legs. Veronica brought her trembling hand to her mouth and fisted it
,
right before
she felt it his hot mouth on her, sucking
,
his tongue teasing. The sensation was so amazing she could hardly stand it.

Like that morning he went slow
now
driving her insane as the pleasure built
quicker
this time. She squirmed as his tongue went deeper moving faster in such a perfect motion her entire body quivered in response.
Her hips lifted
of
their own
accord
and incredibly she felt his tongue go even deeper.