“Rachel!” Emery gasped and hit her arm playfully. Rachel was the only person Emery would let touch her. It sounded easy, but it wasn’t. It’s actually a difficult feat to bypass normal pats on the arm and grazes of shoulders as you walk by someone—heaven forbid if someone wants to hug! It was something Emily Sanders was working on.
“Look what I got for the birthday girl!” Noah said coming from the kitchen with a brown paper bag. “I would’ve been here sooner, but the line kicked my ass.” He threw the bag to her and laughed as she missed it. It landed next to her with a thud.
Emery looked up at Noah, blushing. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” She was floored he’d not only got her a present, but stood in line for it.
He walked back to the kitchen and brought out a round chocolate store bought cake. “I got you a cake too. Happy birthday, Em.”
On the top it read, “Happy Birthday, Emily.” In her foggy mind it was funny that it said Emily. She snorted, then covered her mouth, embarrassed. Noah had done all this for someone he didn’t even know. She couldn’t stop laughing at the tragedy of it. Emery tucked her hair behind her ear and focused on the bag he’d given her. She opened the bag and pulled out her favorite book by their favorite author.
“You met Chuck Palahnuik?”
“I did.” Noah’s dimples showed.
She realized there was another book in the bag too. She pulled it out. The cover of the book was filled with a devil’s face, the title Damned.
“That’s his new book; it’s not out yet.” Noah smiled. “Sounds pretty interesting.”
“T-thank you.” Emery was speechless and tried to remember when she’d talked to him about this book. Was it the first day? She couldn’t believe he’d remembered what her favorite book was. Emery eyed him curiously.
“Open it,” he prodded.
She flipped it open and it was signed by the author. Her entire face lit up and she jumped up, closed the distance between them, and threw her arms around him, not thinking. “Thank you so much! This is amazing!”
Noah stiffened for a minute and then draped his arms around her. “You’re welcome,” he said into her hair.
She smiled in foggy realization that she’d hugged him and nothing bad happened. He’d unexpectedly gotten her a very considerate gift. This was turning into the best birthday ever.
“Very cool, Noah,” Rachel said from the couch, examining the exchange. “It was very thoughtful, not like you at all.”
“I have a proposition,” Rachel slurred hours later, now thoroughly drunk and high.
“What’s that?” Emery asked, a little scared by the gleam in Rachel’s eye.
Rachel’s ringtone, Jay-Z’s “Dirt off Your Shoulder,” blared through the room. She squealed in delight. “It’s Derrick! I’ll be back.” She took her phone and ran into Emery’s room.
Emery made a mental note to ask Rachel about Derrick later; she hadn’t heard about what was going on with them in a while. It seemed like Rachel’s crush hadn’t waned in the slightest.
Noah was sitting on the floor eating a piece of chocolate cake. “Good day?” he asked with a smile.
“Amazing day,” she answered honestly. “You seriously didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. I know this has got to be hard.” Noah leaned in and smoothed her brown waves back. She saw something in his eyes that surprised her and she felt pulled in his strong gaze. “Em,” he whispered in a husky voice.
She didn’t know if it was because she was drunk or high or because Noah had given her an amazing gift, but Emery leaned toward him hesitantly, her body moving of its own accord. His lips caught hers swiftly. Soft, but firm, his lips parted her own slowly and his tongue entered her mouth. It felt foreign, but right somehow. A feeling of euphoria spread throughout her body, her nipples hardening and chill bumps rising on her arms. Noah pulled her gently onto his lap. She straddled him, giving herself over to the kiss. His hands ran through her hair; his mouth tasted of chocolate. She moaned into his mouth. She was being touched everywhere. It was a hungry kiss, like he was consuming her or they were consuming each other. Everywhere he touched her left little sparks that chipped away at her armor. He pulled back and she missed his mouth on her immediately.
They were panting and staring at each other. Why had she waited so long to do that? Oh yeah, him. He’d taken everything from her. This she would do again. This was phenomenal.
Noah smiled lazily. “Sorry.”
“For what?” she asked.