“I will, swear.”
Satisfied, he backs away. “Night, Juliet.”
I lift my hand, and once I close the door behind me, I only have a single thought.
I wasn’t ready for him to go just yet.
Chapter 14
Arianna
* * *
It’s ten to ten when there’s a knock at the door. Several seconds of groaning into my blankets pass, but Cameron’s feet never stomp along the linoleum floor, and then I remember she poked her head in earlier to tell me she was leaving.
A second knock sounds and I flop onto my back, huffing at the ceiling, slowly pulling myself to my feet.
“Com—” I try to speak, but my voice is a croaky mess, so I clear my throat and try again. “Coming,” I yawn mid-word, using all the muscles that are working right now to unlock and open the door.
My eyes widen, my body freezing, and autopilot has me slamming the thing closed as soon as I’ve opened it.
A deep chuckle echoes through from the other side, and I lightly bang my forehead against the cheap wood.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I whisper.
“Come on, Juliet. Open up.” Humor is clear in his tone. “I’ve already seen you now.”
I groan, shifting slightly to look in the mirror beside the door. I lick my fingers and rub beneath my eyes, attempting to rid myself of some of the black eyeliner that made its way down my face and smooth the Alfalfa-esque hair down that’s sticking up all over the place.
Taking a deep breath, I shake the sleeves of the hoodie I stole from Mason, until it’s swallowed my hands, and bring it up to my mouth.
I pull the door open, and I’m met with a big, bright morning smile, the kind that demands one in return, despite the horror and embarrassment of my appearance.
“Morning, sunshine.”
My eyes narrow playfully and I take a step back, welcoming him inside. “Good morning, Noah.” I close the door and lean against it, crossing my arms over my braless chest.
I watch wordlessly as he takes the few steps toward the kitchen, setting a drink holder ,of what I assume are coffees, and a café bag on the bar-like countertop. Noah pulls a water bottle from the pocket of his hoodie, twists off the cap and sets it down beside the other items. His hand slips into the front pocket of his jeans next, sliding right back out with a small bottle of Excedrin, and finally, my tired, hungover mind catches on.
Noah didn’t only come here to check on me; he came to take care of me.
It’s clear he’s been up for a while. He’s bright-eyed and fresh in a pair of jeans, a lightweight gray hoodie similar to the one I’m wearing, and his dark hair is swiped to the right, like he ran a quick hand through it and called it a day.
He turns to me, his face all-business.
“Here.” He lifts his closed fist, holding my gaze with his.
I suppress a grin as I push off the door and meet him where he stands, opening my hand as requested.
He pushes my sweatshirt back with the inner part of his middle finger and my eyes drop to the contact, confused when the exposed skin of my wrist prickles. Noah sets the pills in my palm, quickly passing me the water bottle.
Water in one hand, pills in the other, my eyes lift to his.
A soft smile forms along his lips as if in answer to the question I didn’t have to ask.
“I wanted to make sure you were all right. Cam showed up at the house about an hour ago and said you were still in bed,” he tells me.
My face transforms into a frown before I can stop it, let alone process the reason why, and Noah laughs.
“I didn’t decide to come after I heard.” He grins. “I was already planning on coming here before I spotted her.”
I squish my lips to the right, fighting the blush threatening to spread.
Noah sees it, the heat rising along my neck, but he’s a gentleman about it and turns away, leaving me to my awkwardness.
Why would it matter if he only came because Cam likely made it sound like I died and came back a zombie? I wasn’t that drunk, and it’s not like I expected him to show at all. Why would he?
I squeeze my eyes shut and give myself a mental shake before dropping the pills in my mouth and finishing off half the water bottle.
“So.” Noah speaks with his back to me. “I got plain coffees to play it safe, figuring if you were a coffee girl, you’d have creamer already, and a couple breakfast sandwiches.”
I walk around him and pull out both Cam’s caramel creamer and my thin mint one, placing them on the counter in front of him.
He looks at the bottles, his eyes narrowing in thought. “I think caramel’s too basic for you.”