“Yep.” I straightened up, tilting my head as I grinned at him. “It’s your fault for having a prettyvoice.”
His gaze held mine, a deep smirk reaching his eyes as he slowly strummed a few notes. “You know thisone?”
He plucked out a few chords, slow and steady. “No.”
“You will.” He glanced down at his fingers, dropping his chin and subtly swaying along with the melody that filled the room. A low “oh” slipped through his lips, his eyes squeezing shut as he held it out. And then, I recognizedit.
“‘One More Time’ by George Michael,” I blurted. He grinned and nodded before singing the first few words. The emotion and vulnerability in his voice made my chest go tight. The faded jeans, the tattoos, and rugged jawline covered in stubble made him attractive, but there was so much more to Noah. There was this amazingly kind person that he hid behind a hard exterior, but when he sang, the veil lifted. All his heartbreak poured out in his voice, and maybe that’s why every word he sang broke my heart just alittle.
As far as he was concerned, his world had fallen apart long ago. And minewasfalling apart. He told me all he wanted to do was make me smile, and all I wanted to do was make him feel like he was good enough. I trailed my fingers over his arm, tracing over his tattoos before slowly sweeping up his arm and taking his chin in my hand. I turned his face toward mine and pressed my lips against his. When I brushed my tongue against his, he dropped the guitar to the floor with a clang of chords. On a groan, his hands went to my waist. The kiss grew deeper, more desperate, and all I could think about was being closer to him, touching him. Cupping the sides of his face, I shifted on the couch and threw one leg over his thighs to straddle him. “Hannah,” he groaned while his fingers dug into my hips. “Don’t do this tome.”
I pulled away just enough to look at him. A feral, wild flickering drowned his eyes, and I bit down on my lip, my chest heaving. There were things about me that Noah didn’t know—things I didn’t want him to know, because as bad as he thought he was, he wasn’t. “I’m not doing anything to you,” I whispered, pressing my body tight against his before I kissed him again. His hands went to my hair, fisting and pulling. The kiss grew brutal. It turned into the kind of kiss you’d expect from a guy like him, and I reveled in that. His hands roamed over my body, lifting and tugging at my shirt like I was something he needed just as badly as I needed him. Feeling that kind of pure want and lust, it did something to me that I was pretty sure would never be undone. He lifted my shirt up and I raised my arms, my heart fluttering with anxiety and excitement as he peeled the material over my head and dropped it to the couch. His gaze dragged over me, heating me. I liked him looking at me. I liked the way it made me feel, the way it made me want him. Kissing along the side of my throat, he placed an arm behind my back and lowered me onto the couch before ripping his shirt off and settling between my thighs. “Shit,” he whispered running his hand over my leg. “Your skin’s sosmooth.”
The heat of his chest pressed against mine sent a delicious swimming feeling through my stomach. I swallowed. Was I going to lose my virginity to a guy everyone said was bad for me, on his couch, without him knowing? Was that right? Shit… I wanted it to be. There was something about him that my soul wanted, some part of him I wanted forever. No matter the consequences. He kissed my thoat, his hand skimming my waist while more of his weight rested between my legs. It was just enough heat, just enough pressure that left me desperate for more. I threaded my fingers through his hair, tilting my head back on the cushion to grant him better access to my neck. “I would do so many things to you,” he whispered beside my ear, his tongue trailing its shell. “So many fuckingthings.”
I wanted to say something, but all that came out was a deepbreath.
“Shit…” he huffed before dropping his head into the curve of my neck. His grip tightened on my hips and he pushed himself against me harder. Heat tingled up my spine. And then… he sat up, dragging his hands through his hair before sinking back against his couch and staring atme.
I clumsily pushed up onto my elbows, my cheeks heating. “What?”
“You have no idea the moral dilemma I’m having right now.” His eyes dropped to my chest. I suddenly felt vulnerable, judged. I quickly covered myself with my arms. He bit down on his bottom lip and groaned. “I just… I can’t do that toyou.”
“Dowhatto me?” My face burned red-hot. I snatched my shirt from the arm of the couch and tugged it over myhead.
He shook his head. “You’re someone I don’t wanna lose. I care a lot about you andI—”
“It’s fine.” I dusted an imaginary piece of lint from mysleeve.
“Look, I fuck everything up.” He grabbed my face. “I don’t want to fuck this up,okay?”
“Okay.”
Silence settled between us like a barricade. “Don’t be allpissed.”
“I’m not, I’m just…” I glanced at my watch and sighed. “I probably need to get backhome.”
His eyes went all puppy dog. “I don’t want you toleave.”
“Well, I can’t stayhere.”
“Whynot?”
“I…” I felt guilty that I wasn’t at home. Home… the panic crept around me. I didn’t want to go home, but at the same time, how would it look to my father, the preacher, if Noah dropped me off in the morning? That man gave me a promise ring on my twelfth birthday. So while I may have been twenty, I didn’t want to disappoint him. “I just…shouldn’t.”
“Okay.” He nodded, then stood up and grabbed his shirt. “Come on, I’ll take youhome.”
24
Hannah
Meg sat on the swing next to me, blinking. “Wait, he didn’t screw you?” Meg whispered like the idea itself would summon thedevil.
“No.” I glanced across to the field, watching Noah and Bo pull green beans from thepoles.
“You were gonna screwhim?”
“I mean, maybe, I don’t know. Ijust…”
