Page 31
Noah chuckled. “Yeah, but Jonathan’s been working on him. He’s only thirteen, so he can still learn. The girl forgave him when he apologized, but she still wanted nothing to do with him. I don’t blame her. I saw some of the texts.” He whistled low. “Her dad basically forbids them from communicating at all now. Anyway, I’m not so hard up for sex that I can’t be friends with a woman.”
“I would hope not.” She picked her backpack up from the sidewalk, where Noah set it before kissing her.
“Listen, just forget that happened. I promise it’s not a big deal.”
Somehow, that disappointed her. While she didn’t have time to invest in a relationship, to have him water down what happened as insignificant felt bad. Made her feel cheap, like sharing a kiss with her meant nothing.
It’s college, Charlotte. You’re nineteen. This is how it works.
She never liked the “pep talks” her mind gave her. College life or not, she wanted something meaningful, if she had anything at all. That Noah could blow off what happened showed her he wasn’t right for her. Sure, he showed respect, but he didn’t have to downplay it. Full of yourself, much?
No. Plenty of girls wanted relationships with substance and depth. Probably the same amount of girls who would rather have a quick hookup to scratch the itch. There was nothing wrong with either; she just fell into the former category.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked up at him. “Nothing. Why?”
“You look mad. Did I do something?”
“Nope. Just tired.” And a little off-kilter from the kiss. “I think I’m gonna get going before I miss the bus.”
Noah tucked his hands in his jean pockets. “If you get to feeling sick later, text me. You can come over to our place or we can take you back to Rachel’s.”
“Sure.”
“I’m serious. Promise you’ll let me know?”
“Yes, Dad.”
He snorted. “I never thought I’d hear you call me daddy.”
“Oh, gross. I will never—no.”
“Did you just kink shame me?”
She balked, spluttering at his serious expression. “No, I—”
He threw his head back, laughing loudly.
“Oh, you ass.” She shoved him and he stumbled, putting his hands on his knees as he continued to laugh until she couldn’t help but join him.
“That’s more like it. I’m glad to see you perk up a little. Go on and get going. I’ll have my phone on me if you need me.”
Pulling her cell phone out of the front pocket of her backpack, she held it up in acknowledgment. Hitching her backpack on her back again, she turned, heading toward the bus stop, hoping to get there before Noah went inside. She didn’t want to ask him to wait to avoid unnecessary questions, but she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to have someone watching whom she knew.
She hummed to herself as she approached the intersection near the bus stop. Before she crossed the intersection, a low distressed sound caught her attention. She turned and saw a small cat limping and yowling as if in pain.
Stuffing the phone in her back pocket, she detoured in the cat’s direction, following the illuminated sidewalk to where the cat circled a light post.
When she got close, she said in a soothing voice, “Hey sweetie, are you okay?”
The cat hissed and darted into the alley beside the apartment building she passed.
She put her hands on her hips and frowned. “Not that injured if you can run away like that.”
Turning toward the intersection, she began the trek back the way she came. Before she even made it a few feet, the hairs on the back of her neck rose like a sixth sense alerting her to danger. The same feeling that always came when she knew someone was following her.
Her sandals’ steady rhythm faltered on the sidewalk. She could see the intersection but had moved far away in her pursuit of the cat.
