Page 83 of Sweet Ruin

“I’m glad we got most of the assignment done,” I said as we made our way down the darkened corridor that led from the library. I was trying to fill the silence. Talking seemed so much safer than the quiet, which left me with only the tension between us to focus on.

“See, a study date with me wasn’t so bad, was it, Crash?”

“It wasn’t a date. And that’s not my name.”

He didn’t seem phased by my response, and there was a carefree smile on his lips as he glanced at me. “Whatever you say.” Clearly, he had no intention of listening to me.

He pushed through the door that led outside, and I immediately felt like my outfit was justified when the icy air struck me. “Stop calling me that nickname. I’m with someone else, Noah.”

“For now.” He shrugged.

“Noah…”

“I told you I would respect your choice to be with Wes,” he said. “And I care about you enough that I just want you to be with the guy that makes you the happiest. But I’m sure it won’t be long before you realize that’s me.”

“You sound awfully confident.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I know what we had. I know what we felt. Nothing else comes close.”

I stopped. “You can’t honestly be so certain of that.”

He’d taken a couple of steps past me, but he turned. “Isobel, I’ve known you’re the one for me since the moment you crashed into me in the woods. And every day since has only convinced me more. So, if I have to wait until you see that too, then I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

I shook my head at him. “Well, it’s going to take a very, very long time.”

“Perhaps,” Noah said. “But it’ll be worth it.”

As he spoke, a small white speck fluttered past him. And then another. I lifted out a hand and watched as a snowflake softly fell upon it. It was light and cold and tickled my skin.

“It’s snowing,” I whispered before glancing up at Noah, a wide smile on my face. Tiny flakes of snow were fluttering down around us, catching in our hair, and lightly settling on our clothes. All across the courtyard, the snow was silently falling through the air and coming to rest on the bushes and statues.

“Noah, it’s snowing!” I laughed. I knew I was probably acting like a small child, but it was hard to contain my excitement as I swung myself around, the tension that had been rising in my chest from our conversation suddenly gone.

He chuckled as he watched my reaction.

“Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” I asked.

“No, I haven’t.”

Noah wasn’t looking at the snow as he spoke. He was looking at me.

I swallowed and tried my best to mask my reaction. I wanted to stay out here all night and watch it snow, but it was already past curfew, and it suddenly felt wrong to be out here with Noah.

“It’s late,” I said. “We should get back to our rooms.”

Noah released a breath and nodded. “We should.”

We didn’t move on right away though. For a moment, we simply stared at each other. Small snowflakes were caught in Noah’s hair, and his eyes were still bright from laughing at me. He was unbelievably gorgeous, and it was hard to stop my heart from beating a little quicker after all the things he’d just said.

As I looked at him, a part of me wished things were different. That our families hadn’t been enemies. That he could have told me what he was up to. That we could have fallen for each other in another place and time.

There was no changing the past though. Noah and I had our time, but it was over. No matter how much Noah might believe otherwise, I didn’t know if I could go back to that place. No matter how much this beautiful boy wanted my heart, I needed to walk away from him because I’d already given it to someone else.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

“Isobel, wake up!”

I was jerked awake as Cress shook me by the shoulders. I groaned as I slowly blinked my eyes open. It felt way too early even for me.

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