Noah paused at the door. “Do you want me to come back and pick you up for classes? Since it’s my fault you don’t have a vehicle.”
I’d almost forgotten about everything with my car. Other than making a brief call to have it towed to a collision repair place, I hadn’t given it a second thought.
I was about to tell him that I would get a ride with Stray since we had the same classes but caught myself before saying as much. “Sure. That would be great. Text me when you’re on your way back.”
“Will do.” Noah pulled me in for a hug, clouding me with the scent of sex and his own unique aroma. When he pulled back, he pressed a kiss to my lips. “See you soon, prince.”
Then he was gone. Strolling down the front walk to his rental car. I closed the door, leaning against it as I sucked in a deep breath. I would probably never know why he made me feel this way. So damn high on him. Like his mere presence was enough to lighten any load I carried. The whole world seemed brighter when he was around.
“Prince, huh? That’s adorable.”
I whirled around to find Codie standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She wore a huge smile, her hazel eyes shining.
“You heard nothing.” Shoving away from the front door, I stalked into the kitchen in search of coffee. She beamed at me as I passed, following me into the room.
She clutched a coffee mug in one hand, taking a sip as she eyed me over the rim. “I’m sorry, Dom. I’m not trying to embarrass you. I think it’s really precious. I’m so glad you have someone.”
I frowned when I didn’t find my favorite mug in the cupboard. When a quick search revealed it to be dirty in the dishwasher, I sighed and chose another. “I’m not sure if that’swhat this is. Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on with Noah and me.”
“Seems pretty obvious to me. You’re crazy into each other. Although I think we all knew that a while ago. It’s nice that the two of you have figured it out for yourselves.” Codie slid onto a stool at the island. She watched me put way too much cream and sugar in my cup.
“He caused me to crash my car last night. In retaliation for me planting a bomb on his car. Does that sound like love to you?” I glanced up at her, genuinely wanting her reaction.
Holding her mug between both hands, she gnawed her bottom lip, pondering my question. Finally, she nodded. “I get that things are complicated between the two of you. But what I just saw at the front door wasn’t two guys who want to kill each other. I saw two guys who can’t get enough of each other. Am I wrong?”
I stirred my cream and sugar into my coffee hard enough to make the spoon clink loudly against the ceramic. “No, you’re not wrong. I just don’t know what that means. There’s a lot of bad blood between Noah and me. I’m not sure if we can ever really trust each other.”
“You’re afraid of getting hurt,” Codie said, a knowing look in her eyes. “I get that. Some things are worth the risk though. And when it’s the right person, you don’t have to worry about that for long. You just know. Is Noah worth the risk?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. All I knew was that I didn’t want whatever was going on between us to end. I wanted to know him in every way. I wanted him to be mine. Maybe that was the answer right there.
“Would you be cool with that?” I asked, understanding that me bringing someone like Noah around here might not be okay for her. “If something happened with Noah and me. I don’t have to bring him here if it’s uncomfortable for you.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She dismissed my concerns with a wave. “I’m over it. After what happened with Colt, I think we’re all ready to leave the past in the past.”
Noah and Colt had used Codie to lure Stray and Rebel into a trap. They tied her up and tormented her. Colt threatened to assault her, which was why he was dead now. I appreciated her willingness to let go of the grudge she had every right to hold onto.
“Thanks for the pep talk, Codie. I’m going to grab a shower.” Taking my coffee with me, I headed back down to the basement to my bathroom. I had a lot to think about.
By the time Noah texted me that he was on his way, I was freshly showered and changed. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, I pulled a hoodie on because of the cold as well as a leather jacket over top. My dark hair was slightly damp but still managed to look good thanks to a recent haircut keeping my style fresh. Shorter on the sides and back, a little longer on top.
Codie and Stray were already gone by the time I came up from the basement. Auryn was upstairs getting ready. Nobody was around to watch me leave the house and get into Noah’s rental car.
“Damn you clean up nice.” Noah greeted me with a flirtatious smile as I got into the car. “Fuck you smell good too.”
“You clean up pretty well yourself.” I took a moment to admire the sight of him.
Dirty blonde hair slightly tousled, his face freshly shaven, the hood of his gray hoodie tugged up onto the back of his head. Noah had a way of making casual sexy as hell.
He put the car in gear, backing out of the driveway. I continued to sneak glances at him, wanting to drink in as much of him as possible. It boggled my mind how so much could change in a night. The desire to dominate him, to pin him downand hurt him a little, still gripped me. Although I didn’t want to kill him anymore.
“How are you feeling about everything?” Noah adjusted the heat, turning it up a notch. “Maybe it’s a good thing that Project X is forcing us all to work together. Maybe we should have all worked together a lot sooner.”
I nodded, understanding what he meant. A lot of bad decisions and vengeance would have been avoided. “Do you think it’s really possible for us all to work together? There’s not a lot of room for trust.”
“Right now we don’t have a choice. This is our city, and we have to protect it. When this is all over, I don’t want to go back to the way things were before. I don’t want to walk away from this. From us.” Noah’s gaze briefly met mine. The vicious, hateful man I’d once seen in his eyes had vanished. Now I saw someone hopeful. Someone who wanted more.
Nerves gripped me. My palms grew moist so I rubbed them on my pants. Hating him had been so much easier than whatever this was.
