He leaned down to her ear again. "From what I heard, and from what I felt, I definitely won. Don't be too upset about it. A lot of women can't win against me in that area."
He pulled back, still grinning, and Melanie wanted to wipe that grin off his face.
"See, you think reverse psychology is going to work on me again, but it won't," Melanie said as she placed her bag on her shoulder. "Besides, I know what I saw."
She glanced down suggestively, and Noah's eyes widened in shock. Melanie grinned in triumph before walking to the door.
"Let's go."
CHAPTER
25
MELANIE
W
HEN MELANIE, NOAH, AND ABIGAIL STEPPED INSIDE THE CAR DEALERSHIP, they were immediately greeted by Damon, who was just finishing up with a client when he saw them. His chocolate, brown eyes were bright with happiness as he greeted them. Melanie hadn't seen Damon since the game, though he had texted her a few times since their first acquaintance. When she realized she would have no choice but to buy a new car, the first person she thought of was him. She thought this would be a great opportunity to see the type of person he was. Well, until Noah tagged along.
"Hello, ladies. I'm glad you could come."
And when he said that, his eyes were directly on Melanie. Overwhelmed by his obvious attention, she gave a small smile before looking down. Damon grinned before his attention turned to Noah, who stood close behind her. Damon's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Noah.
"Noah 'the Beast' Walker," Damon said, astonished before lifting his hand to dap him up. It was times like this that Melanie realized Noah was quite popular and soon would be a name known all over the country. "I love your plays, man."
"Hey," Noah said. "Thanks. You come to the last game?"
"Yeah, I did," Damon said. "I was sitting next to Melanie. I was surprised when she said she was your professor."
Damon looked at Melanie again. "I could have mistaken you both for grad students."
"Aww, thanks," Abigail said, flattered as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"You sat together at the game?" Noah asked with a raised brow. During the game, when Noah had seen her in the bleachers, he probably hadn't been paying attention to notice that she was sitting by a man. He probably saw Damon as just another face in the crowd.
Instead of responding to that question, Melanie decided to direct her attention to what she had really come here for. And though she didn't necessarily have anything to do after this, she didn't want to spend her entire day in a car dealership either.
"So, I'm just looking for a car that's going to get me back and forth to work. It doesn't have to be anything special, just reliable."
"Any color in particular or type of car you're looking for?" Damon asked, and Melanie shrugged. She wasn't much of a car person, and maybe that's another reason why she never switched out her old car besides it being her grandfather’s. It got her from A to B, and that's all that really mattered until it gave out on her, which Melanie was still a little heartbroken about. She could afford another car with her savings, but she definitely wasn't going to splurge on a car to impress other people that she didn't care about.
"Okay, let me show you around," Damon said as he walked over to a line of cars, and they followed after him. Damon went over each of the cars that fit Melanie's description, and from time to time, Noah would add his input on what he knew about those cars, which were a lot considering that his father was into cars and had many of them. They walked around for another forty minutes until Melanie was stuck on three cars in particular— Kia Optima Hybrid, Ford Fusion, and a Honda Civic LX.
Melanie wasn't sure which one she wanted.
"I think you should get this one," Abigail said as she pointed to the red Kia Optima Hybrid.
"Why?" Melanie asked, curiously, wondering if Abigail had noticed something she didn't.
"It's cute," Abigail said.
Melanie rolled her eyes, and Abigail shrugged before walking over to an empty table. "My feet hurt. I'm going to sit down for a while."
"Personally," Damon said, "I suggest the Ford Fusion. It's reliable in the way you want, and it has plenty of mileage for it to last many years."
Melanie bit her lip as she tried to figure out what would be best for her before she looked back at Noah, who was perched against a railing.
"What do you think?" Melanie asked, wanting his input on the situation. He knew about cars more than what she would have thought, and right now, she was having a hard time choosing.
