Page 13 of Sweet Ruin

“What is it?” I turned on him before I’d fully thought it through. I should have been the bigger person. I should have ignored him. But I was now face-to-face with the guy I loathed with every part of my being, demanding he explain himself.

His smirk only grew. “I can give you some better driving advice if you want it.”

So, he had been listening. “Thanks, but I’m okay.”

He ignored me and continued anyway. “No amount of practice is going to help if you don’t stop overthinking it. You should put some music on or something. Relax.”

I couldn’t tell what his angle was. It seemed like sound advice, but I knew I couldn’t trust a word that came out of Noah’s mouth. I also didn’t want anything from him anymore—especially not his opinion. “I told you I don’t need driving advice from you.”

“Suit yourself.” Noah shrugged.

I hated how he was so unaffected by me. Just weeks ago, the feelings between us had been so intense. Like nothing I’d experienced before. Mine had been replaced by anger and hurt. Noah, on the other hand, barely seemed to feel anything for me at all. It wasn’t fair.

I found myself thinking about all the things he’d done this past week. He’d punched my father. He was dating my enemy and seemed to be rubbing it in my face. He’d even barred his friends from coming near me. Those weren’t the actions of a guy who felt nothing at all for me. “Why did you force your friends to pick a side? That was a pretty obnoxious thing to do—even for you. Are you really so insecure?”

He lifted his eyebrows and mimicked my stance as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar.”

His eyes glinted with barely contained delight, and it was all the indication I needed to know I was right.

“I really don’t know what I ever saw in you,” I said.

He shrugged. “I guess you can’t choose who you havechemistrywith.”

My eyes narrowed. It was no surprise Noah had heard the rumors about Wes and me this week. And, clearly, he had thoroughly enjoyed them.

“Wedidn’t have chemistry.”

“Now who’s lying.”

“Whatever we had, it wasn’t chemistry.”

“Well, I’m not sure I trust your judgment when it comes to chemistry. The rumors were one thing, but I just saw you kiss yourboyfriend, and now I’m quite certain you don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Wes and I have plenty of chemistry.”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he just tilted his head and looked at me as though he was expecting me to suddenly realize he was right. That was never going to happen though.

Before I could protest further, a sleek black sedan pulled up to the curb. Noah turned from me without another word and walked toward it. I stood there scowling after him. If our confrontation was a contest, Noah had won it. He’d drawn me in with a simple smirk I couldn’t ignore. I’d taken the bait, and now I was fuming even more than before.

The need to prove him wrong itched beneath my skin. I didn’t want to lower myself to his level. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of letting him know he was getting to me. But right now, my anger was blind to rational thought, and I couldn’t bring myself to let him walk away victorious. He wasn’t the only one who had accused Wes and me of having no chemistry this week, and I’d been doing my best to ignore the rumors, but something about Noah commenting on it made me reach my limit.

I spun around and stormed back along the sidewalk toward the minibus slowly filling with the rowing team. Wes was about to climb up the stairs onto the bus, but I didn’t hesitate as I stormed up to him.

“Isobel?” There was confusion in Wes’s voice as I tugged him around to face me, but I silenced his question by pulling him to me and kissing him firmly.

He was tense at first, probably out of surprise. But it was only for a moment. Then he was kissing me like no one was watching. The kiss was good. No, it wasgreat.It made my heart race and had my lips tingling. Noah had no idea what he was talking about.

When Wes pulled back from me, we were both smiling brightly.

“Where did that come from?” he asked. His cheeks were a soft shade of pink. Understandable, given we’d just made out in front of a bus filled with his rowing teammates.

Now I wasn’t lost in our kiss, I could hear them cheering, whistling, and banging on the windows of the bus as they looked down at us. My cheeks turned a similar color to Wes’s, and I began to wonder what the hell I’d been thinking. I’d been so exasperated by Noah I clearly hadn’t thought this through.

“Sorry.” I answered Wes’s question with a shrug. “Just wanted to give you a good luck kiss before you go.”

“No, I’m not complaining.” Wes chuckled, still seeming slightly embarrassed. “Seems like we put on a good show.”

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