by Bee Daniels
The rest of her words were stolen from her when Noah kissed her again.
They shouldn't do this. They shouldn't be this close. His lips shouldn't be covering hers, and her tongue shouldn't be licking his lips. They shouldn't be proving their kissing skills to each other because they were sober this time. Is that what they were really doing? Trying to prove something to each other that really didn't matter? Because Melanie knew that their drunken kiss wasn't just okay. It was more than that. Just like this kiss now was something entirely different. It was lightning in a bottle. It was a moment to be remembered because, after this, she would never kiss Noah again.
But the least she could do now was enjoy it while it lasted. If she were thinking properly, then she would tell herself she shouldn't be enjoying this right now. But she wasn't thinking properly. She was sinking as Noah's soft lips caressed her own, eliciting moans from her. What the hell? Was she moaning? But he felt so good. Melanie ran her hands through Noah's hair and sucked on Noah's bottom lip until a satisfied sigh escaped his mouth.
She didn't know how long they spent kissing in her kitchen. It felt like an eternity, though for some reason, she wasn't tired. How could she be tired of something that felt this good? Her panties were just as wet as her lips were, and her body tingled with the desired to be kissed in more places than just her lips.
But what made Melanie know they had been kissing for a long time was the sound of her doorbell ringing, and also the simple fact that she was no longer pressed against the wall. Instead, she was on top of the counter with Noah's hands splayed across her ass as he stood between her legs. When Melanie pulled back realizing what they were doing, Noah's lips fell from hers and dropped down to her neck, pressing kisses there. Melanie shivered. It felt so freaking good, especially when his tongue trailed a long swipe, and he began to— oh, fuck.
"I thought the bet was to see who could kiss better while sober, not to see— ah." Fuck, this was humiliating. "…not to see if you could suck on my neck."
"Was…that…enough…to…see?" Noah murmured against her neck between kisses. "Because I don't think it was. Do you think it was, Melanie?"
He removed his lips from her neck, and immediately, Melanie wanted his lips back. She loved it when someone kissed her neck, and Noah had been doing an excellent job at it. He looked at her, with his blue eyes blown with lust, and his lips swollen. She could only wonder what hers looked like, especially because Noah liked to bite. She wondered what other places he would nip at.
Ring.
Melanie snapped back to reality when she realized her doorbell had rung again. She gently pushed Noah back and hopped down from her counter, though she made sure to give him a small glare for putting her up there. She didn't even remember how she had gotten up there. Everything had been a blur.
Melanie padded over to the door, suddenly self-conscious of herself and glad that the bell had rung to stop them. What would she have done? Because if she couldn't remember how she had gotten on the counter, would Melanie have remembered how she had gotten in her bed naked with Noah on top of her? No, someone interrupting them was a good thing.
Melanie opened her front door without looking at the peephole, which had been her first mistake. Because if she had realized who was behind the door, she definitely wouldn't have opened it and would have pretended not to be here. Today definitely wasn't one of her best days.
"Why are you here?" Melanie asked Abigail, instead of giving her usual greeting. Abigail's eyebrows rose at her question. That was her second mistake.
"Well, excuse me," Abigail said as she bumped past her into the apartment. "I thought you told me that you wanted me to go with you today to Damon's dealership to help you pick out your new car. Which by the way, thank God. You've been pushing that car for years now even though you can clearly afford a new one."
"There was nothing wrong with that car at first," Melanie said as she closed the door, knowing that Abigail wouldn't go anywhere or leave without questions. And yesterday, Melanie had told Abigail that she would be picking out a new car today and asked her to come. So, technically, that had been her first mistake. But how was she to know that her student would come to her house in the middle of the night for a sleepover and morning make-out session? All of this was a nightmare.
"You shouldn't just get rid of things because there are new things out."
"Yeah, you take the saying riding it till the wheels fall off too literal— Oh, hey Noah."
Melanie cringed as she followed Abigail into the living room that was across from her kitchen, giving a direct view. And this was her last mistake. She should have told Noah to hide so she could sneak him out later. But no, he was in her kitchen, eating an apple with no shirt on.
"Hey, Abi," he greeted, shooting Abigail his signature grin before his heavy, knowing gaze turned on Melanie, who instead opted to take an interest in the wood tiling of her floor. Soon, Melanie wouldn't be able to look Noah in the eye at all anymore. Matter of fact, right now, she was thinking about giving him passing grades so he wouldn't have to come to her class at all anymore.
"What are you doing here?" Abigail asked, surprised before she took in his appearance, noting his lack of clothing before she looked at the couch behind her that still had the blanket Melanie had given him on it. "Wait, you slept here?"
Melanie's initial thought was to deny everything. Abigail wouldn't let her live this down if she told her the truth. But, of course, her favorite student beat her to the punch. And she was being sarcastic about the favorite student part.
"I got really drunk at my friend's party last night, and he lives down the street. The cops came and shut everything down, and I couldn't drive, so I came here."
"Oh, really?" Abigail said in a sing-song tone as she placed her bag on the dining table. "You didn't have any friends who could have driven you home? Any girls who weren't dying to spend the night with the rookie hockey player who wouldn't have mind driving you?"
Noah grinned, taking another bite of his apple. "I had a better place to rest my head."
"I see," Abigail said, matching Noah's grin before turning a mischievous smile on Melanie. "I didn't know you had it in you."
Oh, hell no. This wasn't happening.
"You've gotten your rest now, Noah. You can go," Melanie said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand before she grabbed her friend's arm and tugged her to the bedroom. Immediately, after slamming the door shut, Melanie said, "Nothing happened."
Abigail gave her a 'bitch, please' look before she took in the state of her bed.
"Wait," Abigail said wide-eyed. "He slept in your bed?"
Melanie sighed before she went to her closet to grab her clothes for the day. "I put him on the couch last night, and when I woke up the next morning, he was here."
"Good," Abigail said. "You didn't want to mess up his back before the game."
"Are you freaking serious, Abi?" Melanie said, annoyed as she snatched on a plain t-shirt. "You sound like him."
Abigail bubbled over with laughter as she dropped down on her bed. "I'm just saying. Hockey is a strenuous game. He has to be careful where he sleeps."
"I didn't plan any of this. He just came to my apartment last night because he was drunk. What? Was I supposed to send him away? By the way, I tried to do that."
Abigail's amusement died down with a sigh. "I know, Melanie. There is no way a cookie-cutter girl like you would be doing anything with your student."
Melanie breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God, Abigail wasn't paying too much attention; otherwise, she would have noticed that the state of her disheveled look wasn't because of her just waking out of bed, especially if she took notice of her bruised lips. Abigail would know that her friend wasn't as cookie-cutter as she thought. Melanie could have told Abigail what happened, but she didn't want the 'I told you so,' and she also didn't want to deal with the bad advice. Sometimes, with your friends, you had the ones who gave you great advice, and then yo
u had those who influenced you to do bad things. Abigail was the latter. She was the devil on your shoulder, giving you horrible advice. And Abigail would definitely tell her to do more than kiss Noah when, right now, all Melanie wanted to do was run away from him.
She couldn’t believe what just happened a few moments ago. She and Noah were too hung up on lust and winning, and something terrible had come from it. Now, she would have to have another conversation with him all over again, and this time she would make sure it didn't end with another kiss.
Abigail stood up. "I'll let you keep getting ready. I'm going to watch some TV."
Melanie waved her off as she continued to get dressed. She was glad that Abigail was giving her some space to think because everything that happened today was too much to deal with. It took her another thirty minutes to get dressed as she had to do her make-up and fix her hair before she stepped out of her room. And to her surprise, when she came into the living room, both Abigail and Noah were on her couch watching the highlights of a hockey game.
"That shot was terrible," Abigail said. "You should tell your coach to take him off the team. He's terrible."
"He's new to this and still a little nervous. The coach puts some of the players out during certain games to give them some time on the ice. He'll get better."
Abigail shook her head. "He shouldn't risk it. I need you guys to make it to the frozen four. It's going to be so exciting."
"We will," Noah declared, and Melanie couldn't help but roll her eyes, wondering where he got all of this cockiness from.
"What are you both doing?" Melanie asked as she walked over to grab her purse and wallet from the kitchen table. "Don't you have something to do today, Noah?"
"Not really," he said as he stood from the couch, walking over to her. When he got a step too close, she took a step back, but he didn't acknowledge the distance she made. "Besides, Abigail invited me to go car shopping with you guys."
Melanie gave Abigail a look. Abigail shrugged her shoulders. "What? I'm not that good with cars anyway. Noah knows them better than both of us."
"That's what the car salesmen are for," Melanie said.
"You can't trust them too much," Noah said. "They're just trying to get you to buy a car. It doesn't matter what they sell you."
Melanie sighed. She was hoping to get rid of Noah so she could at least think, but he wouldn't allow that. Noah stared at her before he leaned down to her ear.
He whispered, "Don't make a big deal about it. It wasn't anything. We won't talk about it or mention it anymore."
Melanie should have been relieved, but she wasn't. It was something they should talk about to draw a line in the sand, but on the other hand, did she even want to talk about this again? And, to be honest, Melanie wasn't sure she actually wanted to draw a line in the sand. Of course, she didn't want her relationship with Noah to go anywhere romantically. But she also didn't want to lose her friendship with him either. If she drew a line in the sand, what would they have left?
Melanie swallowed her worries and nodded. Noah grinned as he took some steps back, giving her space she desperately needed. Sometimes, she couldn't think straight around him.
"By the way, I won," he said, "and so my reward will be you taking me with you guys to the car dealership."
Melanie blinked. "How did you win?" she asked, genuinely.
He leaned down to her ear again. "From what I heard, and from what I felt, I definitely won. Don't be too upset about it. A lot of women can't win against me in that area."
He pulled back, still grinning, and Melanie wanted to wipe that grin off his face.
"See, you think reverse psychology is going to work on me again, but it won't," Melanie said as she placed her bag on her shoulder. "Besides, I know what I saw."
She glanced down suggestively, and Noah's eyes widened in shock. Melanie grinned in triumph before walking to the door.
"Let's go."
CHAPTER
25
MELANIE
W
HEN MELANIE, NOAH, AND ABIGAIL STEPPED INSIDE THE CAR DEALERSHIP, they were immediately greeted by Damon, who was just finishing up with a client when he saw them. His chocolate, brown eyes were bright with happiness as he greeted them. Melanie hadn't seen Damon since the game, though he had texted her a few times since their first acquaintance. When she realized she would have no choice but to buy a new car, the first person she thought of was him. She thought this would be a great opportunity to see the type of person he was. Well, until Noah tagged along.
"Hello, ladies. I'm glad you could come."
And when he said that, his eyes were directly on Melanie. Overwhelmed by his obvious attention, she gave a small smile before looking down. Damon grinned before his attention turned to Noah, who stood close behind her. Damon's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Noah.
"Noah 'the Beast' Walker," Damon said, astonished before lifting his hand to dap him up. It was times like this that Melanie realized Noah was quite popular and soon would be a name known all over the country. "I love your plays, man."
"Hey," Noah said. "Thanks. You come to the last game?"
"Yeah, I did," Damon said. "I was sitting next to Melanie. I was surprised when she said she was your professor."
Damon looked at Melanie again. "I could have mistaken you both for grad students."
"Aww, thanks," Abigail said, flattered as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"You sat together at the game?" Noah asked with a raised brow. During the game, when Noah had seen her in the bleachers, he probably hadn't been paying attention to notice that she was sitting by a man. He probably saw Damon as just another face in the crowd.
Instead of responding to that question, Melanie decided to direct her attention to what she had really come here for. And though she didn't necessarily have anything to do after this, she didn't want to spend her entire day in a car dealership either.
"So, I'm just looking for a car that's going to get me back and forth to work. It doesn't have to be anything special, just reliable."
"Any color in particular or type of car you're looking for?" Damon asked, and Melanie shrugged. She wasn't much of a car person, and maybe that's another reason why she never switched out her old car besides it being her grandfather’s. It got her from A to B, and that's all that really mattered until it gave out on her, which Melanie was still a little heartbroken about. She could afford another car with her savings, but she definitely wasn't going to splurge on a car to impress other people that she didn't care about.
"Okay, let me show you around," Damon said as he walked over to a line of cars, and they followed after him. Damon went over each of the cars that fit Melanie's description, and from time to time, Noah would add his input on what he knew about those cars, which were a lot considering that his father was into cars and had many of them. They walked around for another forty minutes until Melanie was stuck on three cars in particular— Kia Optima Hybrid, Ford Fusion, and a Honda Civic LX.
Melanie wasn't sure which one she wanted.
"I think you should get this one," Abigail said as she pointed to the red Kia Optima Hybrid.
"Why?" Melanie asked, curiously, wondering if Abigail had noticed something she didn't.
"It's cute," Abigail said.
Melanie rolled her eyes, and Abigail shrugged before walking over to an empty table. "My feet hurt. I'm going to sit down for a while."
"Personally," Damon said, "I suggest the Ford Fusion. It's reliable in the way you want, and it has plenty of mileage for it to last many years."
Melanie bit her lip as she tried to figure out what would be best for her before she looked back at Noah, who was perched against a railing.
"What do you think?" Melanie asked, wanting his input on the situation. He knew about cars more than what she would have thought, and right now, she was having a hard time choosing.
"What do you want?" Noah asked, grinning playfully.
"Noah," Melanie whined. It was the fact that she couldn't pick which was why she asked him.
"To be honest, all of these cars are good. A little small, but good." She rolled her eyes. "But you got to imagine what you're going to be driving around in for the next three years. If you're asking for my opinion, I would say the Honda Civic."
"Why?"
"Great mileage, not too flashy like you, and unlike the first two, I would actually be able to fit in the passenger seat. Do you know you like really small cars?"
"Well, everyone doesn't drive monster trucks like you," Melanie said as she took a closer look at the car Noah liked.
"First, I'm not driving a monster truck," he said, tugging on her hair, and she swatted his hand before he dropped an arm around her shoulder. "Second, my truck isn't that big. You're just short. I have to help you in every time."
"Since when has 5'6 been considered short?" Melanie asked as she stepped away from Noah and got into the driver's seat. When she sat behind the wheel, she really got the feel of it.
"It's short compared to me being 6'1," he retorted as he got into the passenger seat. "See, if I got in that car over there, I would barely be able to get my knees in."
Melanie laughed. "I'm not picking a car based on whether you can fit in it or not. You have your own vehicle."
"So, you're not going to think about your favorite student?" Noah asked coyly as he pushed some of her hair back from her face and placed it behind her ear. "I don't matter to you at all anymore."
"You're not my favorite student, Noah," Melanie said, though she was starting to wonder how true her words were because she definitely did not have this relationship with any of her other students. And she wouldn't have wanted to spend any time with her students in the way she liked spending time with Noah. Maybe he was her favorite student, but she would never admit that to him. Not in this lifetime.
"If you say so," Noah said, clearly not believing her.
"This does feel nice," Melanie said after a while. "I think this is the one."