CHAPTER
29
NOAH
“Y
OU’RE HEADING WITH US TO THE NEXT CLUB?” Dale asked Noah. They stood with their group of friends outside of the bar. After hanging out at the bar, one of their friends suggested going to a club for more fun, and everyone agreed to it. Everyone except for Noah.
"No," Noah said, shaking his head. "I'm going to call it a night."
"What?" Dale asked, wide-eyed. "You're heading in already? You're usually up to the wee hours of the morning with us."
"You're leaving, Noah?" Alexis, one of the girls that had come with them, asked. "Aww, don't leave. It's going to be no fun without you."
Noah chuckled, having a feeling that Alexis meant it since she spent the whole night flirting with him. "Sorry, I've got a lot of things to do tomorrow."
Noah waved his goodbyes, ignoring their pleas for him to stay as he headed to his truck. Actually, he didn't have anything to do tomorrow. He just wanted to spend the rest of his night doing something he wanted to do, and right now, that was being with his favorite professor.
Noah got in his truck, and within less than an hour, he was at Melanie's apartment.
For the past two weeks, she had been avoiding him, but Noah wasn't going to let that continue to happen. He got it. She was scared. He was her student, and she didn't want to give into that. But what they had, he wasn't going to let go of so easily. He would tell her that tonight. They couldn't lose what they had.
When Noah knocked on Melanie's door, he didn't know what he expected— her greeting him, telling him he shouldn't be there, but him coxing her into letting him stay. But he hadn't expected this. No, not at all.
"Noah, what are you doing here?" Melanie asked with a frown as she opened the door halfway. But even with the door halfway open, he saw the car salesman, Damon, sitting on Melanie's couch. There was an open bottle of wine on the table with two empty glasses, and Melanie wore a tight black strapless dress that pushed her cleavage up to eye-level. Her usual straight hair was curled, and her glasses were gone. She looked amazing, and she had done it for another man, not him.
"I came here to see you," Noah replied as he stepped around her to come inside.
When Damon saw him step inside, his eyes widened with surprise as he sat up stiffly changing his relaxed posture from before. But the surprise of the car salesman was little in comparison to what Noah felt right now, amongst other things— betrayal, jealousy, fear. Noah knew Melanie had been avoiding him as of late, especially after the incident of them kissing, but he would have never expected her to go this far. When he came here tonight, he would have never imagined seeing her here on a date with another man, and from the revealing dress she wore and the dim lighting of the room, along with the empty wine glasses, their plans of dinner would lead to her bedroom. But Noah wasn't going to let that happen, not with his professor.
"Hey, Noah," Damon said, a startled look in his eyes as he stood up like a kid caught doing something wrong— and he was doing something wrong by being alone with Melanie in such an intimate setting. Noah was beyond annoyed, and that showed in his stiff posture as Damon offered his hand. Childishly, Noah wanted to slap his hand away and tell him to get out now, but he knew that would not bode over well with Melanie at all. She was already running away from him; if he pushed that far, she would build a wall that he would never be able to get past.
"Hey," Noah said as he shook Damon's hand back with a nice firm grip.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked. Noah arched a brow. It was the question Noah should have asked him. Noah was no stranger to Melanie's place, unlike Damon. Noah had come to Melanie's place plenty of times before. The anomaly in this room wasn't him, it was Damon. Noah wanted to explain that himself, but he had a feeling that wasn't the right thing to say. From the perspective of Damon, he had the right to be surprised by Noah's presence at this time of night. After all, he was Melanie's student. For an outsider, this was strange.
"I came here to get the paperwork I need for extra-credit," Noah said, lying smoothly, glancing at Melanie, who tried to put on a calm face as her brown eyes glared lasers at him. "I was supposed to come earlier, but I got a little hung up. I'm sorry for interrupting you guys…"
Damon chuckled, a light blush appearing across his neck as he sheepishly looked down. "It must be weird seeing your professor on a date."
"Yeah," Noah agreed as he gave Melanie his full attention, not backing down from her glare. "It is."
Melanie cleared her voice. "Well, I guess I'll go get you that extra-credit now. It's back here." Melanie stormed off to the back, and without a word, Noah followed her. He heard Damon say something, but Noah ignored him. Noah had been in every part of this apartment before, including the bedroom. No place was off-limits to him, and it wouldn't be now for Damon's comfort either.
Melanie looked at him, surprised when she saw him come in after her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Melanie whispered harshly, and her eyes widened astronomically when Noah closed the door behind himself.
"Open the door," she demanded. Noah sighed as he leaned against it, clenching his fists as he tried to hold onto his anger. Right now, he was pissed. No. Right now, he was livid. These past few days, all he could think about was her, but here she was trying to get rid of him by going on a date with another man. It wasn't okay. Noah wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't let her run him off because she was scared.
"Why are you on a date with him?" Noah asked, ending the deafening silence between them. Melanie looked down at her shoes without responding to him. Noah watched her and couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she was. Even in the semi-darkness of her room, only lit by a few candles, Noah could see just how lovely Melanie was. If only she had dressed this way for him, he would have been happy. But it wasn't for him. And with the way things were going, it would never be.
"Why wouldn't I be on a date?" Melanie asked as she finally looked at him, placing her hands on her hips. And there it was; the bricks were piling up as she started to place a wall between them. But Noah wouldn't allow it. He would break down every barrier between them, so Melanie could see what they could be if she let him in. Noah pushed himself off the door and crossed the space between them until he stood directly in front of her, very close, so close that his nose bumped her forehead, and she had no choice but to look up at him with a defiant look in her eyes.
"Why would you go on a date when we have something?" he asked again, but this time, cornering her. Melanie's eyes widened ever so slightly before she shook her head, taking a step back and placing a hand between them. But Noah quickly took one step forward, once again, closing any distance between them, giving her no chance to place up any more walls that would further distance himself from her.
"We don't have anything," she said, and the moment those words fell from her lips, they came out as a lie, something so untrue, it left her face pinched.
