Wildflower (Colors #4) (13 page)

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Noah’s deep voice spoke up, but it was too late.

I turned to face him just as I sucked down a big gulp, my face instantly scrunching in disgust as the bitterness overwhelmed my taste buds. I choked on the nasty sludge as it traveled down my throat, coughing and sputtering loudly as I beat on my chest.

“Oh, God,” I groaned once I could breathe again. I rushed to the sink and soaked a paper towel in water, wiping furiously at my tongue, trying to get the taste out of my mouth. “Shit. That stuff is awful.”

Noah let out a low, rumbling chuckle, the sound shooting tingles straight between my thighs. “Tried to warn you,” he said, coming closer. It wasn’t until he was a foot away, his spicy, outdoorsy smell filling my nostrils that I realized we were the only ones in the room. Just like every time I’d been around him, my body became instantly aware of his presence.

“Here,” his arm extended toward me, a tall, lidded cup embossed with the Sinful Sweets logo in his hand.

“You got me a coffee?” I asked in bemusement as I took the cup from him.

I watched in fascination as the corner of his lips tilted up. I had to beat back the images of those full lips pressed against mine that filled my head. “Yeah, well, I was getting one for myself anyway and figured it’s your first day teaching a bunch of high school kids. I took a wild guess you might be in need of a little jolt. Turns out I was right.”

“Thank you so much. You so were.” I groaned just before taking a drink. White chocolate mocha, it was to die for. “Oh, yeah,” I moaned. “I could kiss you right now,” I spoke without thinking. Before I could take the words back, his grin morphed into a full-blown smile.

“You’d get no argument from me, wildflower. Do whatever feels right.”

The butterflies that typically fluttered around in my belly whenever Noah was around took off like kamikaze pilots. My skin heated and my heart beat in staccato against my ribs.

“Uh…” I mumbled, completely at a loss for words because part of me was yelling to run for the door while the other was yelling at me to climb Noah like a tree. The latter seemed to be winning out.

Clearly in tune with the uncomfortable riot of emotions taking control of me, Noah let out a loud laugh. “Relax, sweetheart. I’m just joking.” He said it like he meant it, but the way he reached up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear defied his words. His fingertips traced along the shell of my ear, skating down my neck to my collar bone before his hand finally dropped back to his side. His intimate touch left a trail of fire across my skin.

He moved away, taking a seat at one of the small round tables before I had a chance to process what the hell was happening. “Come sit, we still have an hour before our next period, and trust me, you’ll want to relax as much as possible.”

Battling against my traitorous body’s reaction, I slowly walked across the room and moved toward the chair across from him. I was only about two feet from my destination when he kicked out the chair next to him and tipped his chin, indicating I should sit there instead. To refrain from looking like an asshole, I went against my instincts and sat in the closer chair.

“So how’s your first day going so far?” he asked, lifting his own cup of coffee to his lips and taking a sip.

I followed suit with my own latte before asking, “Were we such assholes at that age?” earning another laugh from Noah. My belly swooped low again and I had to clench my legs together. Jesus, if his laugh was enough to turn me on, I was in serious trouble. The last time I’d had sex was the last time with Noah. I’d managed to go
years
without it, only to turn into one giant bundle of raging hormones whenever he was near. Obviously my self-imposed dry spell had been a bad idea.

“I think that exact same thing every day,” he answered, yanking me out of my inner musings. “I mean, we couldn’t have been that self-involved, right? At least I’d like to think that was the case back then.”

“It’s more than that.” I giggled, the change in topic finally settling some of the nerves I was feeling. “It’s like these kids speak another language. They actually
talk
in text. If I hear one more
LOL
or
OMG
I’m going to intentionally deafen myself.”

“And what about
YOLO
?” Noah added. “Seriously, do they even comprehend the meaning behind
you only live once
? ‘Oh, it’s pizza day in the cafeteria.
YOLO!
’ I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard that used in the correct context the entire time I’ve worked here.”

“Oh, oh! And what’s with all the shrugging and mumbling? That’s how they answer
every single question
. It’s like an involuntary tick or something. And get this! When I finished passing out the cameras in my second period class, one of the girls actually asked me if they came with a selfie stick!”

My head fell forward in laughter and I was so lost in the ridiculousness of kids now a days, I hadn’t even noticed I had reached over and placed my hand on his thigh. That was, until I felt the heat coming from his own palm as he wrapped his long fingers around mine, pinning my hand in place. The muscles in his leg tensed and I noticed just how much stronger they were now than when we were younger. His gaze bored into mine, sending a chill up my spine. It was like he could see everything I was feeling from just that one gaze. It was impossible to look away.

The intensity of our stare should have frightened me. Don’t get me wrong, the things I was feeling for him in that moment were unsettling, to say the least, but I couldn’t bring myself to break the hold. And right then, a question that had been plaguing me since my return to Pembrooke shot to the forefront of my mind.

I had to know.

“Why are you here, Noah?” I asked in a voice so quiet it was amazing he heard me.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you coaching high school football? Your dream was to go pro. That was always the plan. What happened?”

He closed those warm whiskey eyes for several seconds. Once they opened again they were clouded by something I couldn’t understand. And his vague answer did nothing to assuage my desire, my
need
, to know.

“Losing you wasn’t the only fuck-up I’ve made in my life, Harlow,” he said cryptically. “For a few years I was hell bent on screwing up anything good I could have had.”

“Noah…” I started, not knowing what to say, but wanting to offer him some sort of comfort. The disappointment in himself was written all over his face. The visceral need to soothe that ache inside of me was so strong it scared me to the core. Was I still attracted to Noah? Yes, there was no denying that. Was that insane connection we’d had since the very beginning still there? Absolutely. But the overwhelming desire to
protect
him caught me off guard. I kept telling myself my reaction to Noah was physical. Finding out otherwise opened up doors I thought I’d locked and nailed shut almost six years ago.

His free hand came up, his rough, calloused fingers running across my cheekbone as he cupped my cheek and rubbed his thumb along my lower lip. “You still stand out from everyone around you, you know that? The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

My eyes stung. My nose burned. I remembered his touch and the passion in his eyes every time he looked at me like it was yesterday. It was like we’d jumped back in time, before it all ended so badly. I didn’t know what I wanted more, for him to be quiet or to keep talking. It was as though I had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever.

I felt myself leaning closer, dangerously closer, as my breathing grew erratic. Something was happening between us, I knew it. Something I had a strong feeling there was no coming back from. His eyes flared with heat. His pupils dilated until the black threatened to overrun the amber. He opened his mouth to speak, but before the words could come out, the door opened with a loud creak, shattering the moment we were so close to having like a delicate piece of china.

“Hey guys,” I heard just as I pulled away from Noah, yanking my hand from his grasp. “How’s it going?” I turned to see Kevin Cinders, one of the biology teachers, walk into the room, his gate carefree, like he hadn’t just interrupted something potentially epic.

I heard a low growl rumble up from Noah’s chest as he glared at the back of the man like he wanted to eviscerate him on sight. It was all too much, too intense, too passionate. The air in the room had grown so thick I had trouble breathing.

“Well, thanks for the coffee,” I sputtered as I shot from the chair, sending it screeching across the floor. “I’ll see you guys later.”

I felt Noah’s eyes burning into me as I scrambled for the door but I didn’t dare look back.

I was in
way
over my head.

Harlow was avoiding me. It had been a week since the situation in the break room where I was pretty damn certain she was about to kiss me. And God knew it was taking everything in me not to throw her down on that piece of shit laminate table and rip her clothes off.

For the past week she’d done everything in her power not to be alone in a room with me. If I was the only one in the teacher’s lounge, she would turn and walk right out. She made certain to keep as many buffers between us as humanly possible, whether they were people, or just an infinite amount of space. Hell, I’d even seen her eating lunch in her fucking
truck
one day. All in order to avoid my presence. I had never wanted to kill someone more than I wanted to kill Kevin Cinders that day. And I wouldn’t have felt any guilt over it either.

I knew she wanted me. Every bone in my goddamned body ached to feel her pressed against me, under me, on top of me, however I could have her just as long as my cock was buried deep inside her and she was moaning my name the way she used to.

Sweet Christ, I fucking
craved
her.

And I was done letting her hide from me.

It was her off-period and her car was still in the parking lot so I knew she was still at the school, but seeing as she wasn’t in the cafeteria, the lounge, or her classroom, I knew just where I’d find her. It was somewhere I’d found her many times back when we were together. She had told me once it was her quiet place. It was the one room she could go into and forget about everything—no problems, no drama, no stress existed for her when she was in there.

It had been years since I’d gone into that room, and in that time, I’d forgotten about all the good memories I had in there with Harlow. Not only was it her quiet place, but it was also our secret make out spot after school would let out.

I spun the rotating light-tight door and stepped into the opening, momentarily blanketed in darkness as the door finished its spin before opening into the red light of the darkroom. Sure enough, Harlow was standing exactly where I suspected.

“You’re avoiding me,” I said as I stepped fully into the room.

Harlow released a sharp gasp and spun around. “Shit, Noah! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“You’re avoiding me,” I repeated as I stepped up next to her, the familiar smell of chemicals reminding me so much of the past.

She let out a long sigh, purposely avoiding answering my question by transferring the photo from one chemical bath to another. Looking down, I studied the photograph she was working on developing, in awe of the natural talent she still had. It was a simple black and white shot of the outside of several storefronts around Sinful Sweets. The boardwalk that made up our small town’s downtown sidewalks had recently been cleared of snow. Everything about the photo was beautiful, from the angle to the people walking through the streets laughing or holding hands. With that one shot, she’d created something so picturesque it looked like a painting.

“You were always so talented, baby,” I spoke reverently, moving in so my chest brushed against her shoulder as I leaned in closer. Her entire body tensed, but the feel of her against me was too desirable for me to pull away. “Why have you been avoiding me, wildflower?” I whispered, my lips near her ear I could feel her tremble.

“Noah, please move back.” Her voice was breathy and thick, the tone belying her words.

“Answer me, baby,” I pressed. For some reason, now that I had her cornered, had her where I wanted her, I couldn’t bring myself to back away until I got an answer. I knew I needed to act cautiously or risk spooking her, but having her within reach unleashed a desperation in me that was growing too strong to ignore.