Page 102 of The Addict

I couldn’t forget the voicemail from Silas, warning me to stay away from Noah from here on out. To say I wasn’t complying to that demand was an understatement, especially when I was crammed into a chair two seats away from him.

Like, who the hell was Noah Hansen anyway?

So, he has a boyfriend now? I remembered him telling me he was single. Did he lie? Or worse, that was his normal turn around rate for finding someone new to warm his bed at night.

I was livid and I couldn’t even place why I was giving this guy so much of my time and feelings. I shouldn’t care. I didn’t have a claim on Noah Hansen. For some reason, my idiot self thought we had bonded or had a moment or some shit. Maybe he treated all girls the same—like he’s their savior, like they are his family. Maybe I was overthinking it, but I continued to replay those moments in the shower in my mind, over and over, the moments where our eyes had met in a way I had never experienced before. And now, seeing him kiss another person, I was fuming. I wasn’t going to put myself through that anymore. That, and the movie was stupid as hell. Chelsea was never picking again.

I sped to the building’s entrance and was about to push the door open when my right arm was grabbed.

Who in the hell?

“Hey. Where are you going?”

The hairs on the back of my neck rose slowly. I twisted around, taking my free arm and landing a good punch into the gut of whoever decided they had the nerve to put their hands on me. This was my first reaction. My attackers all roamed free, without consequence, and I was already unnerved from the unspeakable threats Silas had alluded to during his phone call.

“Let go!” I called out, yanking backwards from the person holding me.

It was Noah, holding my arm as a quiet chuckle escaped his mouth.

I blinked, focusing my attention to make sure what I was seeing was real. Then I smacked him again.

“I said, let go of me, now!”

He cringed and took hold of both my wrists this time, pinning them to my side.

“That hurt, y’know,” he grunted, his jaw muscles flexing.

I tried my luck in fighting him off but stopped resisting after two pathetic attempts to retrieve my arms back. I thought about kicking him, but he must have sensed it, for he smirked and steadied himself.

“Look, the more you try to ignore me, the more of your time I’ll waste,” he challenged.

I shifted, eyeing the glass doors and peering into the darkness outside. Was Silas out there? Would he know that we’re talking right now? That he’s touching me?

“What do you want, Noah?” I questioned impatiently, my tone losing its aggression, replacing itself quickly with panic. I stomped my foot and rotated my wrists in his grasp. His hold became lighter. “I just want to go home,” I said, nearly pleading.

“Not before you hear what I have to say, please,” he implored, desperately trying to catch my gaze with a little crane of his head.

I sighed, throwing in the towel. “What is it?”

Noah bit his lip as if he was thinking for the right words. “First of all,” he began, looking deep into my eyes as though he was about to interrogate me. Once he caught my line of sight I was hypnotized, the dark abyss of his eyes like bait, ensnaring me. “I want to know why you’re avoiding me,” he questioned.

I thought of how I could get out of this. I couldn’t tell him the truth about the threat, because that might put him back into danger. Or it might make me a target again. I couldn’t do it. And if I did, what would it matter? It wasn’t as if Noah would protect me any longer. He had no obligation to me, nor I to him.

And I didn’t need his help.

His features softened, and he slid his hands from my wrists to my hands, holding them gently, stroking the top of them with his thumbs. “What’s wrong?”

Resisting the urge to keep my hands there, I quickly snapped them down, back towards my sides. “Nothing is wrong,” I said. “It’s not like we really know each other, so why act like we do?” I shrugged the gesture off as it was nothing to me, trying to remain nonchalant to the whole interaction.

His eyebrows furrowed. “So, you didn’t tell anyone? You should have at least told Chelsea about your situation. Why would you keep your assault from your best friend?”

I swallowed nervously. “How do you know I didn’t tell her?”

He gave me a pointed look that read, I am not that stupid.

“If she already knew that you and I had met each other, why would she bother to introduce me? You’re a terrible liar,” he confirmed.

I scowled. “It’s my business, not yours. And what if I had told her? She might have told someone else, and that could have caused more issues. Issues that could have consequences for you, too. I didn’t want that.”