She wished she could turn her brain off and not think about the future. She wished she could turn her brain off and not think about how their plans didn’t align. Melanie wanted to get married and have children, and she wasn’t getting any younger. She was twenty-seven years old, and she had already pushed her plans back because she hadn’t found the person she wanted to be with forever. But Noah was still young. He still had things to do and things to accomplish. He would soon be on the road, traveling throughout the country to play hockey. He would be busy, and he wouldn’t have time for kids or marriage.
Melanie imagined herself with someone who could give her stability and have enough time to be home with their children. One, Melanie wasn’t sure if Noah wanted any of those things. She had never seen him in an environment around children, and though some people wanted kids, sometimes they weren’t ready for the responsibility of it. And two, even if he did want them, he probably wouldn’t want them until later. How long would Melanie have to wait? How long would she have to push back her plans for Noah to be ready?
Deep down, Melanie knew she should put on the breaks with their relationship. If she wanted the simple love story, marrying a nice man, having kids together, and spending the rest of their lives together working to keep their marriage through good and bad times, then she wasn't sure if Noah was it. With Noah, she couldn’t see their future at all. But also, deep within her heart, she wanted to throw caution at the wind.
She wanted to be with Noah no matter what the future brought. So, Melanie kissed him back, falling into the abyss, ignoring every rule that she had made, ignoring her plans because she wanted him. She wanted this badly. She wanted to believe there was a future for them.
“Love me, Melanie,” Noah pleaded. “Just love me and stay by me. Don’t leave me.”
She looked into his eyes, seeing a blurry future, and decided that sometimes, life didn’t have to be planned. Sometimes, relationships didn’t have to follow a set of rules. She wanted to be with him, and that was all that mattered to her now.
“I love you, Noah,” she confessed to him. Noah blinked, surprised by her words before he tackled her, pressing kisses all over her. Melanie giggled, mist in her eyes from the feeling of being loved and loving someone else. His kisses turned feverish, setting her body on fire as Noah’s hands roamed over every inch of her body, loving on every part of her.
Technically, this should be their first time making love as Noah stroked deep inside of her, cloaking her body with his own as if she would slip away. But Melanie realized this was no different from the times before because Noah had always cherished and loved her body like this. Melanie realized that love might have been there all along without them realizing it.
“I love you,” Noah told her again as he rocked inside of her. “I fucking love you.”
Melanie moaned, her fingers tangled in Noah’s hair. He stroked in deeper and deeper until Melanie couldn't control the flame inside of her anymore, and she burst, orgasming with him inside of her. Soon after, Noah followed her with his own orgasm.
Breathing heavily, Noah whispered in her ear, "A new beginning."
Melanie smiled, just thinking about it.
“A new beginning,” she repeated back, and he kissed her again. Melanie drowned herself in the moment, ignoring every worry she ever had. They were in love, and hopefully, that love would be enough to overcome everything. Hopefully, one day, both of their plans would be realized.
CHAPTER
44
MELANIE
T
HERE WEREN’T MANY THINGS THAT SURPRISED MELANIE, BUT SHE DEFINITELY FELT IT when Alice Griffin-Walker stepped into her office. Melanie hadn't expected this visit at all, so much so that her heart raced a mile a minute. It was so loud that she could hear it, and she was sure if Noah's mom listened hard enough, she could hear it too. Melanie tried to recall if during that night at the celebration for Noah's win if she ever told Mrs. Walker to visit her, but they never did have that conversation. So, why was she here?
Melanie put a smile on her face that threatened to fall with each second that passed. She stood from her seat to greet Noah's mom, who had come to her office uninvited. Under different circumstances, maybe even five months ago specifically, when Melanie saw Noah as only her student, then she wouldn't have a problem with Mrs. Walker popping up unannounced. But now, with Melanie having an intimate relationship with her son, Melanie felt nothing but nervousness, and to be honest, a touch of fear.
She wasn't one to believe in coincidences, and Melanie had a feeling with the determined look on Mrs. Walker's face, that she didn't just happen to stumble across her office.
"Hello, Professor Bryant. You probably don't remember me, but I'm Noah's mom, Alice."
"Yes, I remember meeting you after the hockey game," Melanie said as she stepped from behind her desk and shook Mrs. Walker's hand. "I must say that I'm surprised to get a visit from you.”
"Oh, why is that?"
"Well, because Noah isn't my student anymore."
"Yeah, you aren't his professor anymore, but once is close to always, right?" Mrs. Walker said with a small smile that did not reach her eyes.
Melanie blinked, somewhat confused. "Umm, I guess, though, I doubt your son will be taking courses anymore with me. But is there any way I can help you? Are you looking for Noah?"
"No," she said, shaking her head quickly. "I came here to see you. I wanted to speak to you privately, but"—she glanced at cracked office door seeing many students pass by on their way from and to their classes—"I think it might be best that we have this conversation elsewhere."
Melanie gulped, her nerves jacking up. Mrs. Walker definitely knew. If she wanted to speak to her, she had to know about her relationship with her son. But how did she know? Noah wouldn't have told her, right? Or maybe she was jumping to conclusions? Maybe Mrs. Walker needed therapy and assumed Melanie could help her because she was a psychologist. It wasn't like people hadn't made that mistake before and asked her to be their marriage counselor, which was something Melanie didn't do. Married couples were messy and only gave her migraines.
"Well, I was getting ready to go on break soon anyway. If you want, we can go to one of the—"
"I think it would be best if it were off-campus," Mrs. Walker said with a dismissive wave of her hand, and Melanie pressed her lips together. "There's a little coffee shop just off the corner. If you could meet me there in the next fifteen minutes, that would be delightful."
