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Wedidn’ttalk at home. We didn’t talk anywhere. Every time we ended up in the same room for the rest of the day, an invisible tether pulled me to Noah and I found a way to connect our mouths in less than a minute.

Maybe it was the novelty. Or maybe I was just meant to be addicted to Noah’s kisses.

It felt like I was making up for years of not kissing him even though I’d just accepted my feelings for him.

I loved having my mouth on him. I loved the vibration of his moans when I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth. I loved how hard he was every time he pressed up against me before pulling away.

I was already obsessed with him before he let me taste him, so I wasn’t prepared for how much that obsession would morph into the compulsion to kiss him whenever we were in the same room.

“Grey,” Noah gasped, grasping my chin and pulling his mouth away from me.

“Hmm?” I hadn’t drank a sip of anything but water today, but I felt intoxicated. My head was swimming in new sensations Noah had unlocked. And all I knew was that I wanted more.

“I know this feels good, but I need you to be sure. Before I get my hopes up and before I tell True.”

Before I get my hopes up…

The slight crack in his voice had a sobering effect and I stood up straighter in our living room, pacing to the couch and back again.

“If all you want to do is make out with me and then go on like nothing happened, I need you to tell me that?—”

“That’s not all I want from you. It’s never been all I wanted from you, Noah. Iwantyou and I’m still figuring out what that means, but I know for damn sure it’s not a one time thing. I have thought about you for every second of almost every day for the last two months. This is not about fucking making out with you.”

The edge in my voice almost made me flinch. I sounded harsher than I wanted to, but when I looked at Noah, a shy smile rested on his swollen lips. I was the reason his lips were swollen. And god damn it, I wanted to kiss him again.

The last time I felt this unhinged was in that hallway with True at Noir.

How was this possible? How had two people gotten under my skin this much in a few short months when I’d gone years without being tied to anyone?And why had I let them?

Instead of giving in to my need to taste his lips again, I walked into the kitchen to pour myself a drink.

Before I get my hopes up and before I tell True.

Why was Noah thinking more level-headed than me right now?

“Whiskey?” I called over my shoulder, fishing the tumbler I wanted out of the cabinet.

Noah surprised me by saying yes and I poured us two fingers of whiskey each, ignoring the subtle shake in my hand when I handed him his drink.

A second later, he took a sip and screwed his face up so hard, it broke the rest of the tension filling the room.

His glass landed against the counter with a loud thump and he went to the fridge. Standing in front of the open door, he chugged at least a fourth of the carton of orange juice and stared at me with a scowl.

“How do you drink that?”

“Acquired taste,” I muttered, my eyes trained on him.

“I never want to get used to that.” A dramatic shudder made his shoulders shake and my smile grew.

“You don’t have to. I’ll enjoy it for the both of us.”

His thick brow quirked at my words as he let out a shaky breath. “I’m not breaking up with True. I just need to say that. I’m still trying to figure out a way to get her to stay in Bliss Peak after she finishes her book.” He scratched his head, falling serious. “Or I might be moving to King’s Town with her. You can come with us, but I’m not picking you over her or vice versa. I just can’t?—”

His rambling faltered, so I walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him until he was pressed up against me again.

Anxiety knitted his brows and doubt turned his lips down in a frown.

I was so used to studying his reactions from afar that I fell into a bit of a daze seeing it up close. His curly lashes fluttered against his cheek and a peek of gold glowed under the kitchenlight when he licked his lips. Noah was perfect. So unfairly perfect.