Drowning the Past

32

He was standing in the middle of the living room, and he put his phone away when he saw her. "She didn't answer. Going home already? Wait, how did you get here? How are you getting home?"

"Uber. Look I_."

"You can't just take an Uber. Quinn, those are just strangers with a car."

She smirked. "And taxis are different?"

"At least they have certificates and stuff. Whatever, I'll take you home. How long till you truck is fixed?"

"A few days and no, you're not going to taxi me around."

"I can take your ass home."

"No, you can't. If you do that, then I'll watch your hands on the steering wheel and I'll want them on me, and it will turn into this whole thing."

He stilled, which was saying a lot since he hadn't been moving in the first place.

"Before you know it, we'll be right back where we started. You don't deserve that. You deserve nice, young things that glance at you with stars in their eyes. The way she looks at you is a freaking work of art. Like the world is perfect and there's happy ever after for everyone. I'm never going to be able to look at you like that."

"I never asked you to." His heart was right there in his eyes.

"I'm the one who did the scholarship. And don't even say you're not going to use it. I already paid for it, and I told them if you didn't use it to give it to someone who wasn't so high and mighty and doesn't mind a helping hand. You might not know it, Noah, but I see you too. I just thought you liked cooking shows, then you cooked for me. Your passion for it was spell bounding so, yeah, I see you. I always have. Even when we were kids, and Jake and I would hide from you and refused to let you be in our club. You were never jealous or upset, you would laugh and let us have our fun, but as soon as I fell and scape my knee or something, you were always there. Checking me over, making sure it got cleaned. You wouldn't even let mom carry me because you were afraid, she would bump into it. So, you're wrong. I'm not his. I belong to you, and if I want to pay for you to do something you love to do, then I'm damn sure going to do it. So, deal with it. I might as well put blackmailing my dad to good use."

She didn't deserve it, but he was looking at her the way Jensen's cousin had been looking at him. The damn dude just screwed up royally. If that damn girl ever touched him again, there was a ninety-nine percent change, she'd go missing.

"I don't believe in happily ever after and I damn sure don't believe in the man saving the damsel in distressed thing. You didn't save me." She sighed and dropped her purse. "You didn't save me, Noah Scott, but you were the one who saw that I was dying. You're the one who started the CPR and opened the door for all the other people that it took to save me. Jake. Mr. Rivera. Hell, even my dad and Piper. Without her pushing me to be my absolute worst I would have never realized that I didn't want you to look at me and see a person who would sleep with a guy just to rack up points. My dad reminded me I can still find my mom if I look hard enough. I've decided I don't even hate him. We talked. He's going to sell the house and buy us a condo or something. I'm not saying he's a hero or something, but he doesn't have to be a villain ether."

The look in his eyes was enough that she had to sit, or she would have fallen flat on her face. How in the hell was it that he wanted her? By the way he was looking at her, he more than wanted her.

Every barrier around her heart came crashing down. Maybe she could learn to believe in happy endings.

"The school is close enough that you don't have to leave your brother. I knew that would be important to you. You never gave up on me, did you? Even after I dumped you?"

"You dumping me, that kiss you gave me. That was the first time I saw the real you in a really long time. It gave me hope. Do you really think that after all this time of finally getting some hope that I would want someone else? Touch someone else? I see you too. I always have. I just didn't know how to find you."

"I think I had to find myself. I'm still a bitch. Drinking got pushed to weekends, but I still do it. Still smoke even though I cut back a few packs. If you're expecting__."

"I see you, Quinn. I know who you are. Anyway, I bet I can have you quit smoking by the time I go to that fancy school you paid for."

Her eyes narrowed. Stronger now, she stood and undid her shorts so she could push them down her legs. "How do you think you can imagine that?"

His shirt went over his head. "I've noticed that you like to take care of me, too. As soon as you realize how much I worry about you and your smoking, you'll at least try to stop. And anything you put your mind to, you can do."

Her shirt joined her shorts.

"Eww! If this is a game, I don't want to play."

Quinn didn't even look Jake's way. She did something she never did. She let Noah see her vulnerable side. "I never meant to hurt you. All those other guys were me trying to keep from getting too close to you. It was to keep you from getting too close to me, but more than anything, I was just seriously messed up. It won't happen again. You might not believe that__."

"I believe you."

"Then why are you still all the way over there?"

"I told myself that I would give you time. That I would let you come to me when you were ready for a real relationship."

She grimaced at the real relationship part, and he nodded with a gleam in his eyes.

"I may suck at that."

"You're off to a really good start, Quinn."

As she walked his way, she unclamped her bra and dropped it, then she wrapped her arms around his neck. Feeling his hands on her waist, she surrendered with a sigh. "Okay. If you want a real relationship, then you're going to get one so real it's going to hurt."

"I'll go easy on you. You might not realize it, Quinn, but I love the bitch in you as much as I love the sweetheart in you. I love the vulgar mouth and the crude humor as much as I love the tender side that clings to me when you're sleeping."

"Noah, I love you too, but stop with the fucking talking already. I need you."

Smiling, he melted her with a kiss that led to her legs around his waist and him making his way to his room.