I wasn’t sure what that meant for the people that studied movies, but I never said that to her.
“It must have been hard,” I said.
“Yeah, at first it was. It’s tough for a young kid to realize that not every girl Daddy brings home is going to be his new mommy.” He shrugged ruefully and I wanted to touch his face, but resisted. “Eventually I got used to it.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“It’s in the past.” He grinned at me.
I was a little surprised at his honesty. I halfway expected him to make a joke, maybe say he was jealous of his dad, but there was something emotionally insecure in his response that made me shift my weight toward him.
He smiled back at me. Things had been comfortable between us all night; he had kept the perverted jokes to a minimum, and I didn’t spend too much time imagining his hands running along my bare hips. For the first time since we sat together by the bell tower, I felt like he actually gave a shit about me as a person, and I wasn’t just another girl in his own infinite string.
“Listen, Noah,” I began, hesitating. He cocked his head at me.
“What’s up?”
I felt unsure of myself. He clearly had a complicated relationship with his father, and I thought that maybe bringing up my mother could do more harm than good. Then again, it was important everything was out in the air. At least, it was important to me. I hated living with secrets, and if there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was a liar.
“I talked to my mom about your dad,” I said.
“Oh yeah? What did she say?” he said, grinning. I took a deep breath, nervous.
“Apparently, they had some kind of feud, back in the day.”
Noah nodded his head and leaned his body toward me. I could smell his minty breath. He had never been that close before, and my mind suddenly drew a blank.
“I know. What about it?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m not sure,” I stuttered.
He gave me a breathtaking half smile, and before I could say anything further, he leaned forward and kissed me.
At first, I was shocked. Noah Carterson, gorgeous bad boy, was kissing me in an empty movie theater. But after half a second, I relaxed into him, and our mouths parted, his soft tongue grazing mine. He tasted perfect, like mint and flowers and spring, and I melted into his soft lips. He reached out and touched my face softly, and I felt a hunger well up inside of me. I imagined going down on him, right there, in the front row of the theater. I wanted his hard body more than anything in that moment, and any hesitation was forgotten. It felt right, like the steam from a kettle.
I leaned further over the arm of the chair and pressed myself into him. I ran my fingers through his air and I felt him return my intensity. I felt like I was boiling over, every moment of fantasizing about his lips and body suddenly coming to a head. I wanted him more than anything as I felt his hands grab onto my waist and pull me closer to him. I was halfway out of my seat, practically in his lap, when we heard the door to the theater slam open.
“Yo, Noah, closing time,” Chuck yelled out.
Immediately I pulled away from him and slid back into my seat. Noah grinned at me, stifling a laugh. I could tell my cheeks were bright red from embarrassment. I had no idea if Chuck saw anything, but it was typical of the Wonder Twins to walk in at the worst possible moment. At least I wasn’t giving Noah head yet.
“I’ll be there in a second,” Noah said. Chuck gave him a thumbs up then left. Noah looked back at me, still grinning.
“He has great timing,” he said.
“Yeah, exactly.” I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Listen, what are you doing after this?”
I shrugged, not sure how to answer. I was still shaken from the kiss and breathing deep, and I wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Did I want to go home with Noah? Was that even a possibility?
“I’m not sure,” I said, feeling stupid.
“Feel like grabbing some food at the diner?”
I felt a little relieved. Maybe he was in it for the long play, but I felt a little bit better than he hadn’t just asked me back to his apartment for a continuation of our kiss. As much as I would have loved that, to see his chiseled body and to get a better look at his tattoo, I knew I needed to take it a little bit slower. At least one date before I ended up letting him ravage me. That was the right thing to do.
I realized I was having a hard time convincing myself.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” I said.
“Cool. I’ll meet you back out there in a second.”
I stood, giving him a weird look. “Come on, let’s just head out together. Nothing suspicious in that.”