Noah squinted. "You're laughing at my pain?"
"Yes, I am," Melanie said as she sat down and dug into her own plate of eggs and spinach. "Why were you in my bed?"
"I got lost," Noah said.
Melanie stared at him in disbelief. "It's an apartment, not a three-story house."
"Honestly, I think I was seeing double last night. I don't even know how I made it here. I was so freaking tired."
"Hmm," Melanie hummed, still annoyed with the fact that he had been in her bed. They had already crossed way too many boundaries, and just when she had planned on setting them, he was already crossing new ones.
"My bad," he said apologetically. "But your bed did feel good, and it'll help me for practice."
"Practice my ass," Melanie mumbled, and Noah cracked a smile before he grimaced.
They ate in silence, and not in the comfortable silence they usually sat in. It wasn't because it was morning. It wasn't even because Noah was still trying to get over his hangover. It had all to do with what happened a night ago. Melanie could feel it. A part of her hoped that they could get past this without talking about it. But she knew that she was the adult here and that this was something she couldn't ignore. What happened that night was wrong, and she shouldn't have engaged in it.
Melanie sighed deeply, trying to find the right words to say without making everything more awkward than it was. She laid her fork against the table, and Noah glanced at her curiously before he paused in his eating, sitting his fork down.
"Noah," she started uncomfortably. Now, it was even hard to look at him because all she could think about was that kiss. She couldn't believe she had kissed him. And it wasn't just some small peck on the lips, but a full-blown hormonal teenage make-out. For Christ sake's, she had been grinding against him.
"You know we don't have to do this," Noah said.
Melanie frowned. "Do what?"
"We don't have to talk about this," he said, shrugging. "We don't have to talk about what happened that night."
Melanie wished it was just that simple, but it wasn't. If she could sweep this under the rug without ever thinking about it again, then she would, but it wasn't possible. First, she needed to own up to what she did, and then she needed to draw some lines in the sand because, clearly, there weren't any. Because if there were, Noah wouldn't be in her house right now after coming here at two o'clock in the morning drunk and then sleeping in her bed.
"We do have to talk about it, Noah. I'm sorry for what happened that night. As you know, I was drunk, but even then, that isn't an excuse for my actions and sexually ass—"
"Hold up, hold up," Noah said, chuckling. "Please don't say what I think you're going to say."
"Noah," Melanie said, sighing. "I'm being serious here."
"I'm being serious too. Don't make a big deal about this. So, we made out?" He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal that he had gotten drunk with his professor and kissed her. "It definitely wasn't what you were implying."
"Would you say the same thing if the roles were reversed?" Melanie asked. She had spoken to many of her male patients before who seemed to think they were exempt from sexual assault because they were males. And maybe they couldn't necessarily classify this situation as such, but nothing could change the truth that what happened was inappropriate.
"If she's the same age as me, then I don't see the problem. I'm not a little boy. I don't get carted at the door. I was drunk, you were drunk, and something happened. Nothing to make a big deal about."
"I'm yourprofessor," Melanie said, emphasizing the professor part because sometimes she thought they both forgot this fact. They weretoocomfortable. "As your professor, I shouldn't have done anything like that. Can't we both agree on that?"
Noah sighed and picked up his fork again. "It's fine, Mel. I wasn't bothered by it, and I know you were drunk. You're not like that. But if you're adamant about it, I accept your apology. And we don't have to speak about it again."
Melanie stared at him for a moment before she nodded, knowing this was all she was going to be able to get from him. She at least felt relieved that she apologized for what she had done. Now, the weight on her shoulders felt like it had been lifted. She picked up her fork and started to shovel into her spinach when Noah spoke again.
"Besides, it's not like the kiss was that great anyway."
Her fork clattered against her plate.
"Excuse you?" she uttered in shock as she stared at Noah wide-eyed. What the hell? Was he calling her a bad kisser? Now, Melanie wouldn't go around bragging about her kissing skills, but she never had complaints before. And from what she remembered about that kiss, if she were being honest, it had been more than great; it had been spectacular. Not that she would ever admit that to Noah.
Noah shrugged as he picked up his empty plate and carried it over to the sink. "I'm just saying we shouldn't make a big deal about something like that. It wasn't anything to write home about."
Okay. He had to be fucking with her. She knew he was. She was a freaking psychologist, so she knew the whole reverse psychology thing. But that didn't change the fact that right now her pride was bruised, and she didn't like the idea of Noah implying that she was a bad kisser when she wasn't.
Melanie stiffly stood from the table and brought over her plate as well, placing it in the sink, before she turned to look at him, placing her hands on her hips.
