Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“You have no idea how much I wish you did,” she tells me. “I would have accepted you right back. I wouldn’t have cared about the pain or how much time had passed, just as long as I had you.”
“You have me back. I’m home, Zoey. I’m not going anywhere.”
A soft smile hits her lips as she pulls back again, resting on my thighs. Her heated gaze blazes a trail across my chest, over my shoulders, and down my arms. Her hands tremble as they graze the bare skin above my collar, and she trails her fingers over the same path her eyes have carved across my body. “You’re so different now,” she tells me, her fingers lingering on my skin, grazing over the defined muscle from years of training. “In my head, you were always frozen in time.”
A smirk pulls at the corner of my lips. “You’re one to talk,” I say, purposefully dropping my gaze to her chest as my hands fall to her thighs.
“Noah!” she flushes, swatting my chest before dropping her face into her hands as though she’s embarrassed, but I quickly pull them away and tug her back into me, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.
“You’re fucking gorgeous, Zoey. Don’t be embarrassed by that. Trust me, every guy in this school is fantasizing about you and has a bruised ego because you won’t give them the time of day.”
“You’re lying.”
“Wanna bet?”
She rolls her eyes and straightens again, pressing her lips into a hard line. “You know, after the whole leukemia thing, I figured the world kinda owed me a little kindness during puberty.”
“Zoey,” I say, my voice dropping to a low, pained groan. “If you had any idea how hard it’s been for me to keep my hands off you, you wouldn’t dare question how perfect you are.”
Her face flushes again, and her fingers drop to my waist, fidgeting with the material of my shirt. “What does this mean for you and me?”
My hand falls on top of hers, stilling her fingers and bringing her gaze back to mine. “What do you mean?”
“You practically slapped a property of Noah Ryan stamp across my ass in front of the whole school,” she reminds me as though I somehow forgot that I claimed her right in the middle of the cafeteria.
A smile pulls at my lips, liking the idea of stamping those words across her ass more than I’ll ever admit. “It means, Zoey,” I say, annunciating every word, making sure she truly hears me. “That I’m home, and that I’m going to start making up for all the hurt I’ve caused you over the past three years. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m sure as hell not about to let you go again. I want to put your heart back together.”
Her eyes glisten with unshed tears as she lifts her hand right over my chest, feeling the rapid beat of my heart below. “Do you love me, Noah Ryan?”
I nod, lacing my fingers through hers over my heart. “I’ve never been so in love with you.”
“Then you’ve already put me back together.”
30
Noah
The playground looks empty as I pull to a stop and cut the engine. I gaze out over the steering wheel, finding Zoey perched on one of the swings like she used to when we were kids. She doesn’t glance up, and as I watch her, it’s clear she’s lost in thought. She grips the chains on either side with one foot planted on the ground as she slowly rocks back and forth.
I’ve caught her like this a few times this week, and every time it always comes down to the same thing—Tarni Luca.
It’s been almost a week since their fallout in the school cafeteria, and while Tarni has been silent and kept her distance as the school’s newest outcast, she clearly hasn’t been cut up about it. But Zoey hasn’t stopped hurting. Her heart is too big for her own good.
Making my way to the playground, I slip around the back of the swings and come up behind her, my hands coming down on her shoulders. “Stop thinki—”
Zoey screams, leaping from the swing, her eyes wide as she whips around with her fists up, ready to take me out. All I can do is laugh as she realizes it’s just me. “Holy shit, Noah,” she breathes, bracing her hands against her thighs and taking slow, deep breaths. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
I arch a brow, standing back and watching as she tries to get control of her breathing. “Were you going to punch me?”
“Damn straight,” she says. “Your ass was about to get laid out. You’re just lucky I saw you before I started swinging.” She cuts through the swings and steps right into me, pushing up onto her tippy toes to kiss me as my arms circle her waist. “You know, only a man with a death wish sneaks up on a girl like that.”