Bittersweet // Complete

05.

Chapter 5

"So Friday was a total flop," Eleanor huffed, as I sipped on a caramel latte and she was chomping on her salad, "He wasn't even looking at me, like at all. I even wore that cute dress we bought at the mall, you know the one with the silver things on..." I couldn't hear more of it, I really couldn't. But Eleanor was not noticing the antipathy on my face, "Finally I got the chance to like, talk to him, and he was on his phone the whole time! It looked like he might even be stalking some girl's Insta page, you know?"

It lined up with the time he had been liking all my photos, down to the first one I'd posted, almost a whole year ago.

"So I was thinking," Eleanor wrapped up her salad, "maybe I'm too good for him, you know?" Oh thank god! 'But he's so hot, it's kind of obvious he'd be a little bit of a dick, you know?"

Fuck.

I didn't have to worry about forming a response, because Eleanor was already getting up to leave, "I've to see Benjamin for a bit before class, you'll be fine?"

I nodded, pointing at the laptop screen opened in front of me. On one tab I had Eleanor's assignment and on another, a blank sheet where I was supposed to write something presentable. I had procrastinated all weekend watching the same medical drama. I guess I had a thing for doctors who always wanted to do the right thing, even if it got them in a shit ton of trouble later. A world of pain could have been avoided if they could have been just a little bit of an asshole once.

El kissed my cheek before walking out, leaving a trail of her signature rose perfume behind her.

And then there was one. The cafe was probably one of my favorite places to be around in town, coming awfully close to Pizza Palace due to it's cozy vibe and amazingly warm decor. And they served the best caramel lattes in town. I ordered a refill before starting on the assignment, switching up paragraphs and finding obscure but professional sounding synonyms for common words so it would not appear copied.

The barista dropped my coffee at the table with a slight smile, and I reminded myself to tip her as much as I possibly could before leaving. I would probably be here for a while. As I leaned down to write, my hair kept falling over my shoulders and on to my face, making it increasingly difficult to focus. My hairdryer had died on me this morning, and allowing my hair to air dry in this weather was basically inviting trouble, but it wasn't like I had plenty of options. I hated tucking my hair behind my ears because it always created an unnatural wave for the rest of the time till I washed my hair again.

Sighing in frustration, I ran my fingers over my hair, pushing them all to the back and almost to the other side.

"You look cute when you're bothered," I could have recognised that sound anywhere, and I didn't have to look up to see the stupid jaw dropping smirk on Noah's face.

"What do you want, Nolan?" I asked, not removing my attention from the assignment. As soon as the words spilled out of my mouth, I realised the mistake I had made.

"Noah," he corrected, "Good thing you asked, I want you to go out with me on a date." He pulled the chair where Eleanor had been sitting, taking my bag off the seat and almost setting it down when I screamed in horror, "No!"

Jaw clenched, I held my hand out for him to hand the bag over, "It's white and it'll get dirty if you put it down." He shrugged and sat down, holding my bag hostage in his lap instead. It was ridiculously funny to see the denim jacket I'm-better-than-you guy holding on to a baby pink and white women's purse, but I wasn't going to let him know that. As he held the bag to his chest like a teddy, I returned to my work, already halfway through the assignment. Now if only I could fix a new conclusion. I didn't like the one Eleanor had written, and I wasn't going to screw up my grade over a bullshit assignment.

"I'm waiting for a response, honey."

"I have a name," I responded in a dead tone.

"Alright Brianna Louise Winters, will you go out on a date with me?" He raised an eyebrow. I was surprised he knew my middle name too, but it wasn't exactly a secret from everyone, so I quickly masked my face with feigned ignorance.

Well, this shit was annoying. Setting my pen down, I turned my full attention towards him. I took the effort to plaster a sweet smile on my face and rested my chin on the palm of my hand, "Nicholas," it disgusted me with how sickeningly sweet I sounded. Maybe I'd have a cavity at the end of this.

He copied my posture, leaning forward, elbow on the table, chin resting on his palm, "Noah, but go ahead. Yes, honey?"

"I will gladly," I paused, fluttering my eyelashes in what I hoped was a flirty attempt, "jump off a cliff before I go out with you."

"Oof," Noah put a hand on his heart, like I had wounded him deeply. "How about a deal then? I'll apologise to your friend, if you promise to go out with me."

I thought of Eleanor for a moment. My mind instantly flashed the image of her crying in this exact cafe when Sophie and I had first broken the news to her. That he was not intending to date her, and that he was misleading her with the jersey had been my discovery, and my decision to bring it up with Eleanor. I had brought down this chain of events; I had been the one to set the dominos in motion.

And now I had to stop it.

"I'll send the apology right now, so you can see the proof for yourself," his offer was tempting, but was I really going to make a deal with Noah Sterling? I doubted his intentions to the core, but I also wished he would give Eleanor the apology she deserved.

Well, I'd rather he irritate me than play with Eleanor's feelings. I could handle him. After him, handling anyone else should be a piece of cake, right?

"I have terms and conditions," I said finally.

He exhaled sharply, as if covering an amused laugh, "Okay, lay it on me."

"Eleanor should never find out about this deal or about the date," I didn't want her to ever be under the impression that I was cheating on her or backstabbing her.

"I don't talk to her anyway." He shrugged. Of course, it was on me to keep this thing a secret from Eleanor.

"You have no more than two hours, which includes picking me up and dropping me home."

"Accepted. It's a time crunch, but I'll manage."

"You will leave Eleanor alone after this."

"I wasn't interested in her, anyway."

"You will not try to touch me when I'm out with you."

Noah had an amused smirk on his face. Leaning forward he stared right into my eyes, enticing me to lean in and take in more of whatever heavenly perfume he was wearing.

Snap out of it!

"Trust me, princess, by the end of our date, you'll be begging me to touch you."

Fuck.