Page 35 of Bond Strength

“I’m okay to discuss this subject,” I said.

His shoulders relaxed. “My god, you’re fucking amazing.”

“From giving you basic communication?”

“By explaining. You’re so direct it doesn’t give my anxiety a chance to fester, and that’s…fucking everything, Dec.”

Heat rushed through me at the praise, at him appreciating me for…being me. Normally, everyone had to adjust to my bluntness and need for clarity. My family accepted me mask-free, but I had to don it on the daily with the rest of the world, and the process was exhausting. The fact that Noah accepted me as is too? The gravity of that settled deep in my bones.

Noah sucked in a deep breath. “So, how come you aren’t working in a field revolving around space engineering? It’s always been obvious that was where your interests were.”

“The company I’m at was where I’d interned at college, and I got comfortable.” The truth lay stark out there, and once the words hit the air, I picked them apart. Here I was commenting on his unwillingness to change, when I was mired in my own.

“It’s tough, right?” Noah reached over with one hand and squeezed my thigh.

My heart fluttered. “Yeah, it is. But that doesn’t mean I should stay stagnant like this.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Noah said, his voice growing soft. “The idea of starting over somewhere new makes my head hurt. Masons are in high demand, but what if I left and the next guy is just like Brandon?”

I shook my head. “I know plenty of guys in the industry are not like Brandon.” My brothers Cor and Ollie were a prime example, and they’d talked about Brandon and how shitty the way he ran his company was. “And if they are, then you try again. And again until you find the right spot.” I heaved a sigh. “Which is what I should be doing as well.”

A small smile teased Noah’s lips. “I didn’t say anything.”

The signs for Reading came into view far faster than I’d expected. Maybe the quickness had been from the company. An ease existed between Noah and me that I’d forgotten about when we’d gone divergent paths. After date after failed date, I’d begun to give up hope I’d find someone who could accept me as is, that I’d have to settle for being alone, but hope flared through me like a gamma-ray burst. I clutched on to the feeling. Noah had shown up today, and if we could continue to make steps forward together…maybe, maybe.

He turned into the lot for the Reading Public Museum. The circular gray building of the Neag Planetarium was accented by white and blue, lit up by spotlights in the early evening. The sky had slowly faded into darkness like it’d be skipping the glorious blaze of the sunset tonight. Cars filled the parking lot, and people entered the planetarium in droves. My stomach flipped at the whole contained space with a bunch of people aspect, but the focus would be on the planetarium’s showcase rather than interaction.

“How did you find out about this?” I asked.

“I sometimes still come up here, so I keep tabs on their events.” He pulled into a space and shut off the ignition.

“Bring any other dates here?” I asked, my heart thumping a little harder. A possessiveness curled through me that surprised me. After finally getting Noah’s attention, I didn’t want him to belong to anyone else. He already had so many distractions in his life, but the idea of being able to inhabit this one space with him—fuck, it was heady.

“What other dates,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “I don’t date, Dec. Whenever I tried when I was younger, my attempts ended in disaster. My partners would get mad at me, I wouldn’t understand why until it was too late, and we’d break up. So I don’t bother.” He licked his lips. The intensity in his gaze knocked the breath from my chest. “You’ve always been the exception.”

I leaned in, and he met me midway. Our lips clashed together with a sweet ferocity I was fast becoming addicted to. Noah wrapped his hand around my nape, keeping me in place, and I savored the taste of his mouth a moment more, then pulled back for breath.

“Okay,” he said. “We should get to the planetarium before we miss anything.” He let go of my neck, and I hated the loss of contact at once. Wild, because normally, I hated it when people touched me apart frommy family. Maybe because Noah was touchingme, not the projection of Declan the rest of the world saw. That made all the difference.

We both got out of the car and walked to the planetarium, the place buzzing with chatter and clacking of shoes. The darkness helped my nerves, unlike the sudden kind that had happened during the storm, mostly because I knew what to anticipate. It was dark with the purpose of showcasing the night sky and far reaches of space, and my body thrummed in readiness.

“What’s the focus for tonight?” I asked. I’d seen many shows here, and the subjects could vary.

“Planets visible in the night sky.” Noah led us over to the rows of seating. Some people were still milling around and talking, but the chairs had filled up. “Nothing new information-wise, but—”

“I don’t need new information to appreciate something. Planetariums are comfortable, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be than comfortable with you.” The words leaped from me, but it wasn’t until I’d admitted them that the reality settled in my veins. Noah was a far more social creature than me, and guaranteed there’d be plenty of times he’d be off to parties or big gatherings, and I’d want nothing to do with that.

But as long as he understood as much, that he didn’t try to push me to be someone I wasn’t…maybe we could make this thing between us work. Hesitation still tugged from years of conditioning. We’d gone different paths for a long time. However, each moment I spent with him helped degrade those memories a bit more. My hope was that eventually the hesitation would disintegrate, and all that would remain was this.

The comfort, the thrill, and the deep emotion stirring in my chest.

He found a spot in the back row and plunked into the seat. I flashed him a grateful smile. I wasn’t sure if he’d done it on purpose becauseI hated being flanked by people, but I appreciated our location either way.

Noah rested his arm on the back of my seat. It was irritatingly close enough to feel his presence there but not touching me, and the sensation would drive me nuts the entire time.

I reached for his hand and tugged his arm around my shoulders. Relief settled through me at once.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Noah said, his breath tickling my ear.

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