Noah’s hands moved on instinct, wrapping around Aspen’s lower back. He ducked his head, aiming to kiss their forehead, but Aspen tipped their head and caught his mouth in a kiss.
It was gentle and sweet, and he’d have to report back to Charlie that, unlike almost everything else in his life right now, it felt Gordy Simple. Having Aspen in his arms made it clear that, at least on a physical level, there was nothing to untangle or work through. He was very attracted to Aspen, and he wanted this, whatever this was, to continue.
Aspen dropped back onto their heels and grinned up at him. “Okay, good. I just wanted to check before we started talking.”
“Check?” Noah asked, taking a chance and pulling Aspen a little tighter against his chest.
“That kissing you still feels as good as I remembered.”
“And…does it?”
Aspen slowly licked their bottom lip. “It feels like everything I’ve been hoping for.”
Ah, there was that mess of emotions again. Hope, dreams, expectations. Noah didn’t tend to do well with those, or so he’d been told.
“I’m glad,” he said, working to unclench his jaw. “I really like kissing you, too.”
Aspen tipped their head towards the couch. “Do you want to talk more about that?”
Truthfully, no. All Noah wanted was to gather Aspen up in his arms and nuzzle his nose into the soft hairs on the side of their head. That wasn’t going to get them anywhere, though. So, he let Aspen lead him over to the couch, and he took up his usual spot in the corner. Aspen sat down next to him, turning sideways to sit crisscross on the middle seat.
“Okay, so we’ve established that we like kissing, but aside from that, neither of us is entirely sure where we go from here?” Aspen asked.
Noah noticed a string hanging off the cuff of his joggers, so he brought his foot up to rest on his thigh and began winding it around his finger. “I think that’s right. I talked to Charlie a bit about it today and came to a similar conclusion. I like kissing you and would definitely be interested in being physically intimate with you, but aside from that, I’m not sure what else I could offer you.”
His apartment fell silent, a blaring red flag when Aspen was around. Just like earlier with Charlie, Noah wasn’t really sure if he wanted to look, but he knew he had to. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before forcing his gaze away from his pants.
He found stormy hazel eyes glaring daggers at him. “Asp?—”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Aspen snapped, crossing their arms over their flattened chest.
God, what was Noah supposed to do if even hinting that he wasn’t ready for a relationship resulted in this? Aspen was usually so patient with him—probably more patient than he deserved—but was this where Aspen drew the line?
“It means… I’m not sure what you’re looking for and if I can be the one to offer you whatever it is that you want,” Noah said slowly.
“Oh,” Aspen said, and they immediately unfolded their arms and rested one of their warm hands on his leg. “That’s fine, babe. I thought you meant thatyoudon’t have anything to offer, and I was going to put you in a headlock.”
Noah snorted. Aspen wasn’t very good at it, but they play-wrestled sometimes when one or both of them was bored.
“No, that’s not what I meant. Although…” Noah wasn’t sure if this was going to end with him in a headlock anyway, but he thought maybe it was important to bring it up. “If you ask any of my exes, that might be what they have to say about dating me.”
Aspen scrunched up their face, flicking their neck to get their hair out of their eyes. “Why on earth would I take anything your exes have to say into consideration? I’m pretty sure I hate all of them.”
That wasn’t really what Noah had been trying to get at. “I mean, Veronica was okay–”
“She broke up with you over text, on your birthday!” Aspen said indignantly.
“Well, yes, but she had every right to. I wasn’t giving her what she needed. And then there was Chris?—”
“He literally cheated on you!” Aspen said, shaking Noah’s leg back and forth three times fast.
“And then you threatened to cut all his hair off,” Noah said with a small laugh. He’d mostly forgotten about that, but the memory always made him smile.
“I also threatened to cut off Morgan’s hair after?—”
“They broke up with me in front of my boss at the company picnic,” Noah said with a grimace. “They also had every right to end things?—”
“But not like that. Never like that, Noah. It doesn’t matter if your relationship wasn’t working out. They shouldn’t have done that.”
