‘That is Noah,’ I say slowly.
‘And who is Noah?’ Paige says, smirking.
Sara’s features, on the other hand, are pinched so hard that they knot in the middle of her face.
‘Noah is my roommate,’ I say calmly.
‘You booked a room with a stranger?’ Paige asks cautiously.
‘Not a stranger, per se... we’re, erm, well, we’re travelling together,’ I manage to say.
I watch as Paige’s mouth falls open, corners raising into a smile.
‘Are you still with us, Sar?’ she asks, lapping this up.
Sara’s frozen in real time. Buffering, even, without the fault of the Wi-Fi.
‘Put your roommate on the phone,’ she eventually says.
Her voice is strained – frailer, but still incredibly chilling. Paige’s eyes are alight, excited at this new development as my heart picks up tenfold in my chest.
‘I don’t think that’s—’
‘Amorie. Put him on the phone. Now,’ Sara says.
I glance up at Noah, still standing across from me in his towel. He looks as nervous as I feel, but I beckon him over nonetheless. I watch the girls’ faces contort as his wet, bare-chested frame sidles up next to me on the bed. Paige gasps immediately, the sound shocking Noah out of his nerves and back to his regular chilled smile. Oh, how I envy that smile. I am anything but chill as I eye Sara’s shift from quiet rage to something far louder.
‘Hi, I’m Noah, orBarrier Boy; I go by both. You must be Sara and Paige. I’ve heard so much about you,’ he says warmly, filling the silence.
‘Barrier Boy... as in your first date?’ Paige gasps again. ‘Oh, this isfun. You’re travelling together? I must have missed this in the column.’
Noah laughs at her excitement and Paige takes the moment of levity to lean closer to her phone and shamelessly ogle his water-speckled abs. She nods in approval, sending a not-so-subtle thumbs-up my way, which Noah clocks immediately and throws me a smug wink in response. If I could feel anything I’d cringe, I’m sure. Paige definitely just broke a rule by proxy. But unfortunately, I can’t feel. I can’t move. I can’t speak. I’m frozen under the lasers Sara’s shooting at me through the screen.
‘Yep,thatBarrier Boy!’ Noah continues proudly. ‘And no, it is not in the column. We’re keeping this part low-key... premium intel only.’
He nudges me playfully, attempting to snap me out of my inertia, but, unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done. Although the contact from his wet elbow does send a fizz of something incredibly dizzying through my bloodstream. I shake it off.
‘So how long hasthisbeen going on?’ Paige asks excitedly.
‘Since we first met. Amorie here just couldn’t get enough of me after our first night together,’ Noah replies.
‘Your first night together?’Paige squeals.
I watch Sara’s eye twitch. It’s enough to bring my voice back.
‘Thedatewe went on our first night together! The drinks at the first bar – the ones I spoke about in the column! Nothing more,’ I say.
I can make out Noah trying to catch my eye over the ‘nothing more’ comment, but I dare not look his way. The guilt will be clear on my face and I cannot have Sara kill me over misconstrued information.
‘It’s so nice to meet you both!’ Noah says, impervious to all tension. ‘You must be Paige, which makes you... Sara?’
I shudder as he addresses her directly. When she doesn’t reply, I risk a glance her way and spot her looking just as taken aback at his cool-headedness as I am.
‘Yes, that’s me.’ She finally speaks, her voice frosty and unwelcoming.
‘You must hate the idea of her travelling with me. I’d be the same way if I had a younger sister and she was hopping around countries with some random man she met abroad. What can I do to ease your worries?’
It is an incredibly bold move – one I honestly didn’t expect from him. I risk a glance back at the screen and am surprised to see that it is working... Sara’s icy exterior is thawing, likely due to the shock.
