Chapter 9
Emma
“So, what do you think about him?” Demi asked me about Noah, completely clueless about the inner storm I was experiencing at the moment.
“He looks nice.” Just like the girl next to him.
I widened my eyes, silently cursing myself. Had that actually crossed my mind? I was acting jealous!
I cringed inwardly, disappointed at myself. And so, what if he was with a girl? He was nothing to me. Nothing.
I told myself not to look for him anymore, but this proved to be hard, because my body was betraying me. I peeped over my shoulder, biting into my lip when my eyes fell on his face. He was talking to his friend sitting across from him, gesticulating something with his hands, and my mind went in the gutter. Those hands...
Goosebumps appeared on my arm, and I quickly looked away before he turned to face me. Melanie was currently busy texting her boyfriend, while Clarissa had gone to sit at some guy’s table in the other part of the bar. That left Demi, but even she was busy, it seemed, talking to a guy next to her.
I needed a distraction. Even if I had to talk with some guy.
As luck would have it, a decent-looking guy stopped next to me to order a drink, and I decided to start up a conversation.
“Hello,” I told him, offering him a dazzling smile.
He turned to look at me, his eyes lowering to my lips and then going even lower. I smirked when I spotted lust in his gaze.
“Hello to you too,” he replied in a deep voice.
“Like what you see?” I winked at him and smiled widely when I saw him lick his lips before he looked at my bosom again.
“Definitely. How about I get you a drink?” he pointed at my almost empty glass.
“Sure.”
“The same?”
“The same.”
As he ordered our drinks, I glanced in Noah’s direction and gasped when our eyes met.
Oh. My. God.
A pang hit my chest, followed by the flutters in my belly and quickened heartbeat. II couldn’t look away from him, long seconds ticking by as the whole world stopped to exist.
Just like that—with one simple gaze, yet the most complicated—I was returned to that time when Noah and I were one and I felt like the luckiest girl alive for having him. Breathing became difficult, a strange pull playing my body like a puppet.
Damn it. I was acting like a complete fool. Angry with myself, I returned my gaze to the man next to me, realizing that he had said something to me.
“Sorry?” I asked.
“I said, you’re truly beautiful.”
“Why, thank you.”
“So beautiful that I wonder why someone hasn’t already stolen you from here.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at that, but I resisted it. “Maybe I didn’t want to be stolen.”
“Or maybe you’re waiting for the right man.”
I could feel Noah’s eyes on me. My breathing turned shallower, and I could swear I was blushing. The confusing part of me wondered what he was thinking right now. Did he feel anything? Did the feel the high tension in the air that I felt?
I allowed myself one quick glance at him and found him looking between me and the guy next to me. He didn’t look pleased in the slightest, and something in me rejoiced at that. Good. Let him see that I had moved on and didn’t care about him at all.
I checked out the man next to me again. I would turn up my flirting, even though I couldn’t really see anything going with the guy. I hated admitting this, but he could never compare to Noah. He was nice enough, however, he didn’t make me feel anything. My body didn’t long to be in his arms or to feel his lips on mine.
I wasn’t curious to know If his lips were as soft as they looked. My eyes met Noah’s again, and it was then when I saw just how pathetic I was. Snap out of it, Emma!
“How about you?” I asked him. “I’m surprised someone like you is single.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Someone like me?”
“Yeah. You’re handsome.” Not as handsome as Noah, my mind piped in, and I bit into my tongue. Just great.
He leaned toward me with a smirk. “And what makes you think I’m single?”
I recoiled, widening my eyes. “You are not? Then—”
“Hey, relax.” He raised his hands in the air, laughing. “You should’ve seen your reaction. I’m just teasing you. Besides, if I actually had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t be talking with you now.”
I smiled in relief. “That’s good to know. There are already too many cheaters out there.”
His face turned serious. “Why does that sound like you speak from a personal experience?”
I took a sip of my cocktail. “Don’t we all have some personal experience with cheaters?”
“True.”
“But don’t worry. It wasn’t anything heartbreaking or serious. I didn’t love the guy and we were dating only for a short period of time, so… I don’t want to bore you with the details.”
He returned me a smile. “You don’t bore me at all.”
“Wait until I start talking about my favorite TV shows. I’m sure I’d bore you to death with it.”
“Oh, so you like watching TV shows?”
“Like? It’s more like adore. I’m obsessed with TV shows.”
“What kind of shows do you like?”
“Anything that has to do with horror, adventure, or drama.”
He raised his brows. “Horror? Interesting. I didn’t peg you as the type of a girl who likes horror.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. I pegged you more as a hardcore romance type of a girl.”
I burst into laughter. “But why?”
“Because you look that sweet and nice. Not that you aren’t sweet or nice because you like horror.” He winked at me, and I remembered that Noah had told me something similar to this before.
He told me I was a perfect combination of innocent and naughty. I had a sweet, beautiful face that hid how naughty I could actually be in bed. He kept repeating he wasn’t going to let me go ever, yet here we were.
“What’s wrong?” he asked me.
I must have made a face unintentionally. I cast him a one hundred percent fake smile. “Nothing. So, what do you like to watch?”
“I like horror too, but I’m also up for a romantic comedy.”
I did a double take. “You don’t say. Really?”
He flashed his pearly whites at me, which reminded me of how beautiful Noah’s smile was. No, stop this.
“Yeah. Who would have thought? I blame it on my little sister. She forced me to watch them with her when we were teenagers, so they kinda grew on me.”
“That’s so sweet of you. You’re a good brother.”
He shook his head, his smile betraying him. “Yeah, right. My sister would beg to differ. She keeps telling me I’m the most annoying brother ever. What a gratitude for my sacrifices, right?” He took a sip of his whiskey. “Anyway, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Josh.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Josh. I’m Emma.”
“Emma? That’s a pretty name.”
He winked at me, and we shook hands. My mind, the rebel, started comparing Josh and Noah again. Josh’s hand was big and warm, but not as big as Noah. Also, his fingers were rather short, unlike Noah’s. Noah’s fingers were long and whenever he held my hand I felt safe and loved…
The image of Noah’s long fingers brought some less innocent memories to my mind, and my pussy throbbed at this instantly. I just loved Noah’s fingers deep in my pussy, working me to my new orgasm before he rammed into me and owned me and my whole world…
No! What was wrong with me? This was bad. Very, very bad.
The whole night I couldn’t stop thinking about Noah, and now that he was here I was letting myself fall into that old loop. I was letting him mess with me and make me forget the pain he’d caused me. After seven years and a major heartbreak, Noah still had a huge power over me, which was terrible. I wanted to slap some sense into me and remind myself that I was stronger than this.
I couldn’t desire him. I just couldn’t.
I took a big swallow of my cocktail, wishing that the alcohol could somehow magically erase Noah from my mind. This was going to be a long night.