Page 104 of After All This Time

Mom is trailing behind me as slow as a snail.

“Hey, Lover Boy!” I shout, pulling the earbuds out of his ears.

It takes him a minute to notice me behind him.

When he does, he jumps and rapidly blinks his eyes. “Don’t do that shit to me! You wouldn’t like it if I did that to you, right?”

I do a little dance, scrunching my nose. “You deserve it after all the times you’ve scared me.”

“I have to say. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

And the happy dance comes to a screeching halt. “C’mon, can you just let me have this win?”

“Haven’t you learned by now that I don’t admit defeat?”

Asshole.

My mouth drops open, and a grunting noise comes out of it. “You’re not going to get a reaction out of me.”

“I just did.” He gives me the side eye.

It’s hard to hate him because he’s still wearing those glasses that make him look so fucking hot. I don’t know what it is about men and glasses, but it’s such an attractive combination.

For some reason, Noah makes it even more attractive.

He runs his fingers through his perfectly tousled dirty blonde hair.

God, I want to run my fingers through his hair.

I roll my eyes, letting out a deep breath.

“Well, it’s nice to see you two arguing for a change.” Mom interrupts our mini edition of War of Words.

It’s weird to hear her say it’s nice that we’re arguing for a change. We did it all the time when we were younger. We haven’t argued about anything in the past month. I originally didn’t want to come because I knew I’d see Noah and have to deal with him for God knows how long.

I’m so happy I came.

For Laura and Lizzie, of course.

Noah is just a happy accident.

He’s a happy accident that makes butterflies flutter around in my stomach, turns my cheeks bright red, calls me cute nicknames, and compliments the shit out of me.

Oh God, he’s my happy accident.

Mom’s voice brings me back to reality. “Honey, is everything okay?”

My eyes land on Noah who meets my gaze in an instant. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Well, I’m going to go grab some things I forgot to bring with me the first time around. I can always come back home if I forget something again. It’s not that far away. Get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow’s a big day.”

Her shoulder bumps into mine.

She winks at me, kissing me on the forehead. “Love you,” she mouths to me before she disappears into the master bedroom.

It takes Mom an hour for her to pack up the things she needs to bring over. Well, her essentials. She just walks out the laundry room door, slamming it behind her.

MOM

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