Noah laughed a little like I was joking.
“No, really, I mean it,” I said.
He re-arranged his face into a suitably serious expression, all hints of laughter erased. “What do you mean?”
“Noah, you’ve got it together. You’ve a plan. You’re headed somewhere, and I’m not. I can barely figure out what I’m doing tomorrow, let alone next year. You should be with someone like Lana.” I pushed my hands together, threading my fingers. “You fit.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?” he said angrily.
“It isn’t bullshit. It’s the natural rule of the universe that like attracts like.”
“There are many things wrong with your theory, Grace. It’s a good thing that you don’t plan on being a scientist. Who cares that you don’t have a major? What about magnetic poles drawing each other together? Where in the laws of crazy Grace universe does that actual scientific fact fall?”
I decided that Noah couldn’t actually hear me, so I laid it out for him. “I’m afraid that I’ll fall hard for you and that you’ll hurt me again. My insecurity would end up driving you nuts and embarrass me.” I looked down at my hands that were now clenched together. “While I may not know what I want to be, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be that girl.”
“Is your insecurity going to play itself out by you trying out other guys to make me jealous?” he demanded.
“What? No! I’m sure my issues would be more with the clinging and stalking. Maybe overtexting.”
Noah laid his hand over my clenched fingers. “Why don’t we try it out and see if I get fed up with that.”
“And then what?”
“Grace,” he brought his hand up behind my head and slid closer to me, forcing me to look at him. “You worry too much,” he observed. “You don’t have to have the answer for everything right now and today.”
“I hate uncertainty,” I whispered.
“I can tell,” he smiled softly. “Here’s what I know. I want to be with you tonight, tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future. Nothing you’ve said tonight scares me.”
“You should be scared. Didn’t you guys watch Fatal Attraction, or are you too young for that?”
“Every guy watches Fatal Attraction by the age of sixteen. There’s nudity in it.”
I hadn’t realized that Noah had been drawing me closer until I was cuddled up next to his chest. He feathered kisses along my temple and down my cheek. “Will you give me a try?”
“What about the laws of the universe?” I mumbled into the side of his shirt.
“Let’s pretend we’re magnets. Those fit pretty tightly according to the laws of the universe.”
“Don’t talk that upperclassman speech with me,” I joked.
“Feel free to text me all day. Include pictures and videos if you like,” Noah invited.
He leaned down and pressed a warm kiss against my lips. It may have been a goodnight kiss, but it felt more like a welcome. When his tongue swept lightly across my lips, I couldn’t help but part them in an invitation for more. When his tongue crept into my mouth, I greeted it with my own. My hands reached up to stroke the strands of his hair and mold them against the shape of his beautiful head.
His arms were braced on either side of my head, holding his body just slightly away from mine, and I could feel their tension vibrate next to me. I stroked my hands down the sides of his arms and felt the flex of muscle under my palm. No other part of his body touched mine, just open mouth kisses where he explored and tasted me like I was more delicious than a chocolate soufflé with homemade whipped cream.
He broke away from my mouth and trailed his lips across my jaw and down the side of my neck. The whispered breath, the scratch of his slight stubble, and the wetness of his tongue set my body’s nerves on end. I felt super sensitized, as if I could even feel the dust motes that drifted through the air. As his head drifted downward to nuzzle the expanse of skin above the collar of my T-shirt, my fingers delved into his hair once again. One arm braced at my side and his other moved downward. His hand stroked the skin on my leg, sweeping from the bottom of his borrowed boxers to my knee and up, just below my chest.
I wanted to rub against his touch like a cat, arching into his every stroke. I wanted him to touch me everywhere, and I moved restlessly, trying to position different unattended parts under his sweeping hand. But his movements stilled, and he rested his forehead in the curve of my shoulder. I could feel his breath coming in pants against my chest.
Uncertain now, I simply stroked his back. When the rhythm of his breath evened out, he said, “I’m trying to be a gentleman. I honestly didn’t invite you over today for this.”