No Strings Attached

Chapter Five

Waking up beside him, Norma's first instinct was to close her eyes again, to pretend for just a second longer that she wasn't in his bed. The warmth of his arm wrapped around her, the steady rise and fall of his breathing, it was all too real, too tender, and it stirred up a mix of vulnerability and panic she wasn't used to feeling. She was used to waking up after one night stands, but what they did last night didn't feel like a one night stand. It felt deeper, somehow.
She lay still, almost holding her breath, as she tried to push away the sense of dread that bubbled up at the thought of morning.
But her hesitation wasn't enough to change reality. She felt him shift, his arm tightening around her waist as he woke, and before she could steel herself, he was already looking at her, a softness in his gaze that made her heart clench.
"Morning," he muttered, his voice a sleepy, gruff whisper that made her skin tingle all over again.
Norma hesitated, giving him a quick, forced smile, as if trying to pretend that waking up in his arms was no big deal. "Good morning," she said, her voice a touch too bright, too casual, as she avoided his gaze, focusing on the edge of the blanket instead.
A heavy silence filled the room and she could feel his eyes lingering on her, studying her expression as if he could see every flicker of unease crossing her face. She tried to pull herself together, forcing herself to meet his eyes, but the intensity there caught her off guard, making her heart race in a way that only added to her nerves.
"This...this doesn't have to be anything complicated," she says, her tone light but guarded, trying to build a barrier between the closeness they'd shared in the night and the reality that felt so daunting in the daylight. "We just...got a little carried away, that's all."
Alex's jaw tightened and she saw a flash of something, maybe hurt or disappointment, but he covered it quickly, his gaze softening as he gave her a small nod. "If that's what you want," he said, his voice quiet but steady, holding back the questions she knew he wanted to ask.
Norma felt a pang of guilt, but she pushed it down, offering him a brighter smile as she sat up, letting the sheet slip around her. "I mean...it was fun, right?" she said, her voice wavering slightly, betraying the tightness in her chest as she forced herself to pretend it didn't mean more.
But as she looked back at him, she could see he wasn't fooled. He was watching her with that piercing, unrelenting gaze that always seemed to see past her defenses, the look that reminded her just how deeply he could see into her soul. And for a moment she was afraid that he would reach out, that he'd say something that would make her walls crumble.
But he didn't. He simply sat up beside her, brushing a strand of hair from her face with a gentleness that made her breath hitch, his touch lingering for just a heartbeat longer than necessary.
"If that's all it was, then yea. Fun." He paused, his eyes holding hers, a glimmer of something unspoken in his gaze. "But I think we both know that was something more, Norma," he adds softly, and though his words were simple, they felt like a punch to her chest.
For a second, she couldn't move, couldn't breathe, as the weight of his words hung between them. She wanted to push him away, to retreat back behind her walls like she always did when she started to feel too much. But part of her, a deep, fragile part, wanted to believe him.
She swallowed hard, nodding as she looked away. "I...I should get dressed," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, but she didn't move, her hand still resting on the bed beside his. And in that moment, she knew, no matter how hard she tried to deny it or pretend otherwise, she had let him in.
And that thought alone was enough to scare her out of bed. She dressed quickly, her eyes refusing to look back in his direction as she did so. It was only when she finally reached the door that she dared a glance back at him, and her eyes lingered for a moment, as if trying to prolong the inevitable. As soon as she walked out that door, their time together was over, and she didn't quite know if she was relieved or devastated at that.
Nevertheless, she opened the door without another word, closing it behind her with a sigh of relief. As she began her walk back up to the house, she was determined to convince herself that their night together was a one time thing, a moment of weakness. She repeated it like a mantra as she walked up her front steps, trying to stuff away the rush of memories every time they surfaced.
But no matter how hard she tried to brush it off, she couldn't shake the feeling of Alex's touch. The warmth of his hands, the steady way he'd look at her, like she was the only person in the world.
In the following days, Norma kept herself at a careful distance, holding tight to the casual arrangement she'd insisted on.
She thought of Alex more than she'd ever admit, each memory sharp and electric. But each time their paths crossed, he was back to being his stoic self. Perfectly polite, and perfectly indifferent, and it irritated her more than she expected. Alex, it seemed, had no trouble pretending nothing happened between them.
Anytime she saw him, her pulse quickened, but his impassive expression never wavered, giving her nothing in return. He would nod in greeting as he got his coffee, sometimes say hello, but otherwise was unaffected, or at least pretending to be. If this was a game, he was winning, and that frustrated her more than she expected.
Determined to take her mind off of him, she agreed to go out with George, feeling a need to regain control and remind herself that she was in charge. He had been asking for a while and he was a nice guy. He was easygoing, attentive, charming in his own way, and he was so unlike Alex. He was safe.
Being with him should have been a welcome distraction, but as she chatted with him over dinner, laughing in all the right places, she caught her thoughts drifting back to Alex, her frustration simmering beneath the surface.
As they pulled back into the motel lot, Norma spotted Alex immediately, sitting on the front porch once again, bottle in hand. She saw his gaze linger on her and George as they step out of the car in front of the motel office. His expression didn't shift, but she knew him well enough to sense the tension in his posture, the way his shoulders stiffened as they met at the front of the car.
She felt a strange satisfaction, an excitement even, watching his jaw tighten as George slips an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. She had to really focus to keep her gaze on George as he softly told her good night, forcing a smile as she said it back sweetly. But before he could move away, Norma pulled his face down to hers, pressing her lips firmly to his cheek, her eyes darting over his shoulder to Alex's dark gaze. The intensity of it sent a shiver down her spine and made her skin buzz all over again.
That night, as she lay in bed, her mind was still on him, her frustration only growing. She had wanted control, to set boundaries, to define how things went between them, but now she wasn't so sure.
Alex had taken the terms she'd set and used them to keep her at arm's length, giving her the casual distance she'd demanded, and she hated how well he could play along. She was supposed to be the one keeping him at a distance, but somehow, he'd taken her rules and held them against her.
And the worst part was, she found herself wanting to see him again, wanting to push at the edges of that composure, to find out how well he could really keep it together.
She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep things casual, but she wasn't about to be the first one to break. If he wanted to keep it cool and professional, then she would. But seeing him with that hint of jealousy, knowing she could make him feel that way, gave her just enough of an edge to keep her in the game.