I slide back my chair. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“You barely touched your pancakes,” Cole says, one eyebrow raised in question. Does he have to look so concerned? Can’t he just be rude and uncaring for once in his life?
I offer an unconvincing smile. “Yeah, I’m not feeling well, so I’m not going to risk it.”
He doesn’t look convinced, but I flee the room before he can say another word. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep myself from climbing him like a tree.
So much for getting my head straight.
Chapter six
Cole
Noellesprintsupthestairs, her cheeks flushed and my clothes clinging to her curves. I wait until she’s out of sight before throwing back my head with a sigh of relief, my palm running down my hard length.
I shouldn’t have touched her like that.
Now I want more.
I want her so bad it’s painful—I’ve never felt that for anyone else. It shouldn’t surprise me; nothing I feel for Noelle have I felt for anyone else, so it makes sense my physical reactions would be like that, too. Would it be like that during sex? Would I be able to feel more deeply, connect more deeply, if it’s Noelle I’m doing it with? The thought excites me, though the knowledge I’ll never find out is like a cold shower, ruining the whole thing.
At this moment, though, none of that matters. I need to figure out what’s bothering her. She was unusually distracted just now, and running off like that? That’s not like her at all.
Maybe it’s food poisoning. I haven’t seen her eat anything while she’s been here, but Noelle is always snacking on the café’sleftovers. Add in bad bacteria and you’d get sick alright. She also tends to get flu-ish when she’s on her period; could that be it?
I keep my bathrooms well-stocked with everything she might need—I want her to feel at home here, because it’s not home to me without her—so if that is it, at least she has everything she needs. Still, something just doesn’t feel right.
I have to check on her.
I’m about to knock on the bathroom door when I hear it. Soft, like the coo of a dove, Noelle moans.
Fuck. Is she in pain? Throwing up? I should have stocked up on flu medication and asked the pharmacy lady which pain reliever works best for period pain. That way I might actually be able to help her.
“Cole,” she gasps, and my cock twitches at the sound. My fist lingers on the wood of the door as it dawns on me. She’s not hurt at all.
She’s getting herself off.
Tome.
HOLY FUCK. The realization leaves me painfully hard, my cock straining against the fabric of my underwear. You can see the outline through my pants clear as day, twitching and throbbing when Noelle moans my name again.
I have to get the fuck out of here. Noelle can’t see me like this—she can’t know I heard her. I want to kick open that door and fuck her just the way she likes, tasting her before making her come again and again on my cock until she can’t speak a coherent sentence to save her life. But I can’t.
I can’t betray her trust like that. Noelle is my best friend, and though she is the love of my life, I’m not hers. So even if she were to open that door right now and beg for me, I can’t let anything happen between us.
Not until she sees me as something more than a good fuck.
I rush down the stairs and lock myself in the downstairs bathroom, needing the privacy of a closed door. My cock glistens with pre cum when I thrust it into my fist, my forehead resting against the cold tile.
My mind drifts to Noelle, picturing her splayed out on the shower bench, her perfectly manicured fingers teasing her pretty pink clit before sinking deep into her pussy. Wet fingertips circling stiff nipples. Those pretty lips slightly parted, my name on her tongue. It’s easy to imagine sliding my cock between those lips. Those big brown eyes looking up at me as I move her tongue up and down my shaft. I wouldn’t let myself come that way, if I can help it, but I’m such a sucker for her that I just might.
But, if given the chance, I’d come deep inside of her with her walls clenching down around me and her voice screaming my name into the night.
My orgasm is fast and unsatisfactory, just like it always is when I have to do it myself.
I clean myself off with a sigh before leaning my palms against the edge of the counter. The window is covered in snow, blocking the view of the woods beyond. It’s fitting, I guess. A metaphor for me and Noelle. Being so close to yet so far away, to know exactly what something looks like but never be able to see it. Wishing she was able to see me the way I see her.
Wait. If she’s up there thinking about me while she comes, that means I’m on her mind. I got under her skin, enough to turn her on. And that means that, defying all logic, I might actually have a shot with her.
