Page 30 of Spicy or Sweet
“I feel old.” I don’t mean to say it, I’m just so distracted by her that my mouth moves faster than my brain.
Noelle opens her eyes, staring at me with bright pools of blue. Whatever she sees on my face makes her pupils flare. “I guess you’ve got to find something to make you feel young again, then,” she says, her voice low. Have I ever been so turned on by a soft, southern twang before? Definitely not.
“I guess so,” I agree.
Tension stretches between us like spun sugar, delicate and friable. I swallow, and Noelle tracks the movement with her eyes, her tongue skating over her bottom lip.
“Shay?”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you match with me on Locked?”
I release a long breath. It feels like we’re balancing on glass. “I was filming B-roll when you kissed me. I watched it back. And yeah, you ran away, but you hesitated at the door. It felt like it meant something. And… it was a good kiss,” I answer honestly.
Noelle half-laughs, toying with her hands. “It was a good kiss,” she agrees. “Maybe a little… quick.”
“Maybe. I watched it back in slow-mo,” I admit.
“I, uh, wouldn’t be against seeing that sometime,” she replies, and I might be imagining it, but I swear we’re inching closer together.
“I’ll text it to you,” I offer.
“Thanks.”
She looks down at the ground, pinching her lips together, almost like she’s having a conversation with herself. Every line of her body is taut, her fists clenched at her sides.
“Noelle…?”
When she looks up, her pupils have swallowed her blue eyes.
“Fuck it.”
I don’t have time to ask what she means before she’s in front of me, grasping my face. Her lips hover over mine, and I want to scream that she doesn’t just close the fucking gap.
“I didn’t ask last time. I should’ve asked. Can I kiss you?Please.” The last word falls from her tongue with a groan, and I don’t bother answering her, cutting her off by pressing my lips to hers, because I need to taste her plea.
She gasps, but wastes no time pulling me into her. I feel a soft tug as she pulls the hair tie from my hair, and my ponytailfalls down. Noelle wraps my hair around her fingers, running her tongue across the seam of my lips until they fall apart with a moan for her.
Her tongue slips into my mouth, tentatively teasing mine as she walks me backward until my back hits the island. She tastes even better than I imagined—like cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg and coffee. Simple flavors, but they’re like heaven on her tongue. I could spend years trying to replicate the taste in a cake or a cookie, but I know it would never be quite right because it would be missingher.
She pulls back to inhale a long breath, her gaze searching my face. Her cheeks are flushed a perfect rosy pink, her hair sticking up at all angles from where my hands find purchase.
Noelle brushes her thumb across the apple of my cheek. “God damn. Look at you. You’re so fucking gorgeous.”
I don’t remember the last time someone looked at me with so much fire in their eyes. Her expression is dazzling, knocking the breath from my lungs.
“Shay…” She drags my name out, long and slow, shaking her head softly. “I want to touch you. I need to touch you.”
“Okay,” I answer, even though she never asked me a question.
“I guess you’ve got to find something to make you feel young again.”She has no idea what she does to me.
“Are you sure?” she asks, eyeing me with uncertainty. “I’m aware that I’ve been a complete asshole to you for years and?—”
“Noelle, it’s okay. I understand. And you’ve been sweet to me lately.”
“True, but I’ve still been plenty spicy, too,” she replies, and the guilt on her face makes me step closer to her.
