I tell him what I did, minus the trip to see Dallas play, and he fills me in on his family and teammates, because Tanner apparently has a girlfriend now, and Donovan and his latest flame broke up.
“I didn’t know you liked to gossip.”
“More so you’re not totally offended if she snubs you next time you see her in public.”
To be honest, I’ve never seen Donovan with the same girl (either with him or in his seats) more than once, but the girl he was with at the party had been nice and said she would see me at the arena.
“Does that mean Donovan called me in the breakup?”
“I guess it does.” Noah laughs.
* * *
After dinner, we settle on my bed with my laptop to watch a hockey movie Noah recommends, which is nice. He decides the best position to watch is him propped up against the headboard with a mountain of pillows while I lay beside him with my head on his chest, paying more attention to him than the screen.
I start out with my hand on his chest, awareness in every breath, but by the end of the movie, I’m trailing my fingers over the taut surface, trying to even out my breathing and slow my heart, because Noah was right earlier; I want to rip his clothes off.
I slide my fingers down to his treasure trail, but his hand covers mine before I even reach the band of his sweatpants.
“Not tonight,” he says, but his voice is gruff. He’s looking at me with hooded eyes, and I must look disappointed, because he lifts my chin and kisses me, taking his time, sending heat through me until it pools between my thighs. I press them together, to remind them nothing is happening, but they don’t get the memo, because I’m suddenly launching one leg over to straddle him, deepening the kiss, and finding out that while he said not tonight, it’s in no way because he isn’t raring to go.
Noah’s hands go to my hips, and I’m afraid he’ll lift me off him, because the friction feels amazing, but instead he holds me in place as I rock my hips, seeking more of him, and he lets out a groan that I feel in my core.
“Should I be stopping this?” he asks, but his hands have already travelled from my hips to my stomach, slipping under the material of my bra to cup my aching breasts.
“Oh, God no,” I answer his question with a moan. “As long as my pants stay on.”
“Challenge accepted.” He smiles into my mouth, not breaking the kiss other than to remove my t-shirt. Before long, the bra is off too, and his mouth travels down the column of my throat, to the swell of my breasts, until he’s sucking on my nipples, and I can’t catch my breath.
His mouth finds mine again as his hands take my hips and press me harder into him. He arches his hips, and I grind against him, moaning as my release builds to a point I never could have imagined without taking my clothes off. Then I’m coming, mouth open in surprise, riding it through until it registers that he’s panting, his breathing coming quick, and “Oh fuck, Sav,” he says before finding his own release.
For a second, he looks embarrassed, but then we’re both laughing and he’s kissing me.
“That hasn’t happened to me since high school,” he admits, kissing the top of my nose.
“That has never happened to me.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“It was meant as one.”
* * *
I get cleaned up and ready for bed, but didn’t think about finding my shirt first, so I come back with my arms folded over my chest.
“You can stay, if you want. If it’s easier,” I offer.
I hate that I’m so nervous, but even though Noah says all these sweet things, there must be a reason we’re not dating, so I don’t want to overstep into acting like a girlfriend. While I know what I want, deep down, there’s also a lot I’m finding I’ll put up with, because I don’t want to lose him.
Noah retrieves his t-shirt from under the bed, and I think he’s about to put it on and leave with some half-hearted promise to see me around, but instead, he puts it over my head and kisses me.
“I’ll just be a minute.”
I watch him go and feel like my heart is going to burst inside my chest. Everything that happened tonight, from the moment he insisted on coming over to lending me his t-shirt and choosing to stay…it feels like everything I shouldn’t allow myself to want.
I put the chain on the door, then slide into bed. It isn’t long before Noah climbs in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist so his hands rest on my stomach, his chest pressed against my back so I can feel his heart.
“Goodnight, Peaches,” he whispers into my neck with a kiss.
