Touch (Will not be completed on Wattpad)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Noah

I tell myself to stop being selfish. I need to man up and call the apartment manager about delivering the bed they owe Leah to my apartment while they work on hers. Every time I reach for my phone I find something else to distract me. If I'm being honest, I don't want her sleeping anywhere but in my bed. I don't deserve that, but there was something about having her tucked up against me that stops me from making that call every time.

I tap the screen on my phone and see that it is almost 4pm. I have about an hour before Leah should be here. I pull the chicken out of the refrigerator and hope that she hasn't eaten while she was out. I haven't been able to get the image of her in that towel out of my head since she slipped into my room this morning. Waiting for her to come back to my place has been torture but I'm finally getting close to the moment she's back.

A buzz from the hallway lets me know that my sheets are done drying so I grab them and make my way to my room. When I hear the front door open my heart beat picks up and I take a moment to close my eyes and tell myself to calm down before she sees how frantic I'm being around her.

"Noah?" Her gentle voice calls out and I love the way my name sounds on her lips.

"Back here!" I yell as I separate the bottom sheet from the top and begin to stretch it across my mattress. I hear the sound of her footsteps fall just outside my door and then she cautiously pushes it open and peeks inside.

"Hey," she greets me and with just that word she has my complete attention. I smile at how ridiculous I'm being. Her simple greeting shouldn't spread through me like a wave of happiness but it does. I begin to wonder when I turned back into a 15 year old version of myself.

"What's up?" I ask, trying to be nonchalant.

"I'm back early. I thought maybe you would want to grab a bite to eat before we get started. I see you put out some chicken. What were you planning on making?" She crosses her arms and leans against my doorframe. I love how easy it is for her to be beautiful. She is back in an old tee and jeans with her dark hair pulled into a ponytail.

"I guess that all depends on what you like." I pull one corner of the fitted sheet over my mattress and watch as she makes her way to the opposite corner and helps to slip it on. Her smile is brilliant.

"I'm not picky," she says making her way to another corner. "If you're cooking, I'm eating." She pulls the sheet down and I stretch the last corner into place. We don't say anything else as we effortlessly work together to straighten out the top sheet. I feel her tug it to her side and I can't resist pulling it back more my way. At first she chases her end, not realizing I am doing it on purpose, but when I do it again she looks up to my eyes with a look of sheer determination and quickly yanks the sheet out of my hand.

I can't help but to laugh and regain the edge as she beings to run her hand across the top. I pull it back in my direction but she digs in and refuses to let me gain much ground. With the simple raise of an eyebrow she issues a warning and now the battle is on. I can't remember the last time I was this playful. I gather as much as I can in my hand and begin to pull. She does the same and within seconds a full battle of tug-o-war is happening.

I twist the sheets around my arm and dig my feet in. With one more big pull, she slides along the floor losing ground quickly and then flips onto my bed as soon as her shins meet my mattress. I stumble back a few steps from the slack it creates in the sheet, and then I release my end and throw my hands up in the air in victory. Leah laughs out loud and rolls onto her back, breathing in deep to catch her breath.

Bending over, I put my hands on my knees and laugh along with her. "This means war, Noah." She tries to say between giggles and I feel her playfulness all the way in my soul. She seems so familiar and yet we are practically strangers. "You got me on this one but I won't just roll over. Just wait. I'll get you."

"You can try, but I would like to point out that my skills are clearly far superior." I stand next to where she lay on the bed and my comment earns me a light kick to my stomach. I grab her foot and she yelps with surprise. I lightly brush my fingers along the sole of her foot and she starts to wiggle.

"Noah. Don't." She is trying to sound stern but she is clearly very ticklish and is having a hard time. "Please," she says but the laugh that follows is louder than the word. Now she is desperate to get her foot back and I refuse to give it up. I am so focused on driving her mad that I hardly pay attention to my footing. Leah quickly jerks her foot back to her body and I topple over onto the mattress.

I release her foot to catch myself and land next to her, both of us laughing until we can't breathe. I watch has her chest heaves from the breaths she is sucking in and decide I should make it harder to watch her since it is only making me want to reach out and touch her. I roll onto my back and throw an arm over my eyes. When we finally stop laughing we lie in silence.

"Now you've done it," she says seriously. And I feel her gaze on the side of my face. I turn my head to face her and our eyes meet. She smiles and I return it.

"Ms. Leah, are you threatening me?" I play.

"It's more like a promise," she laughs and pokes me with her finger in my side.

"Haven't had enough?" I grab her wrist and in one quick move I straddle her body. I capture her other arm and slowly raise them both above her head. I make a tsk tsk sound as I secure them with one hand and begin to lightly run the index finger of my free hand down the sensitive skin of her wrist and arm.

"Noah," she says seriously. She is wiggling underneath me and I smile down on her. She laughs out loud again and I almost feel guilty not warning her what that sound does to me. "Please," she whispers and while I know it's because I'm tickling her, my brain begins to get ideas about how it would sound if she were asking for something else. Her breathing is picking up and she has sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.

I hold my hand up just above her side and she laughs and shakes her head no. I pretend to consider it for a second before reaching to down and tickling her side. She struggles against my hold and I tip myself forward so she doesn't wiggle out from under me. This is a mistake. I have given her enough room to bring her heels up closer to her butt and she uses them as leverage to buck up against me. Her movement sends me forward further and we both still when my face lands just an inch above hers.

I want so badly to kiss her. What logic is telling me is so different from what my heart wants. I loosen my hold on her arms so that she can pull them away if she wants. She doesn't. Instead we stay like this, my hands lightly on her wrists and our faces close enough to touch. I move my gaze from her eyes to her lips and decide that I am powerless to resist this. Just as I brush my lower lip against hers, the phone in her pocket begins to play a song.

I look up to her eyes and watch as they express a sharp pain before closing. I know immediately who is calling her. I lift myself up and stand at the edge of the bed. The ring begins to repeat and I know she is trying to ignore it for my benefit. I want to stay here so she won't answer it, but she needs to find some closure and I would only be in the way. Her eyes open and find mine so I reach my hand out to her and pull her up to a sitting position at the edge of my bed.

"Be strong, beautiful," I whisper before gently pressing a kiss to her forehead. Then I do the exact opposite of what my heart is telling me. I take a step back and then turn and leave my room, closing the door behind me.

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