“I know, right?” I lift my left hand in the air. “You’d better put a ring on it if you want it,” I joke, using something similar to Beyoncé’s line.
Todd’s face doesn’t flicker as he looks right into my eyes. “I don’t make a habit of losing what’s mine.” He laughs it off again.
My stomach somersaults five times before calming down.
“I like a man who knows what he wants and goes for it,” Edith says.
My eyes flicker to her to keep from losing myself in Todd’s heartwarming ones.
“My late husband was a guy who couldn’t be messed with. He stole me from right under his best friend’s nose.”
“Oh.” I’m taken aback that she said it so casually.
“I know it sounds bad, but he was the right one for me. He sacrificed more than me. He lost his friend to have me, but he always reminded me that he’d won so much by having me on his arm.”
Her eyes light up with love, and envy grows in me.
“My dad was quite the romantic,” Karla adds, patting her mom’s arm.
“He sounds like it.” I bring my water glass back to my lips.
“He was a lot like Todd.” Edith nods his way.
He smiles from ear to ear.
“It’s one of the reasons I’ve asked you here tonight,” she adds.
“Excuse me.” I stand before they begin discussing work things. “I’m just going to the restroom.”
Todd stands like a proper gentleman, and the two ladies smile, waiting for me to leave.
I’m sliding out past Todd when his hand wraps around my waist, and he pulls me in for a hug.
“Hurry up. I’ll miss you.” His lips brush along mine.
I draw back, studying his eyes. “I will . . . baby.”
I raise my eyebrows at him, but his face never changes course from the loving and doting boyfriend.
An hour later, I’m leaning against the brick wall, waving my hand, as Todd escorts Edith and Karla into a taxicab.
Once their cab fades down the street, Todd approaches me.
“So, baby, when do we say, ‘I do’?” I question.
He laughs. Breaking the distance, his body locks mine against the brick wall. “They want someone who’s mature, someone they feel they can depend on.” His eyes ping all around my head, but he never looks straight into my eyes.
“Someone who is already dating someone else?”
“I should have told you.”
“Yes, so why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know. It was fun, though, wasn’t it?” His hand grazes down my arm until my hand is tucked in his.
“Depends on what kind of ring I get out of this whole act,” I joke.
He releases my hand, swinging his arm over my shoulder. “Anything you want, baby. Anything you want,” he mumbles.
I nuzzle into his chest as his hand tightens around my shoulder, and I’m sure to some we look like a couple.
I feel our relationship evolving into . . . I have no idea . . . a fake engagement? No, that’s not it. Something more, and I need to smash it before I ruin my friendship with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Todd
This is nice, being next to someone who gives a shit about me.
What Noodle did for me tonight speaks volumes over anything she could tell me. All my life, people have spouted off things I should believe, telling me I could trust them or someone else, but I couldn’t. Each and every time, they failed me. The blame isn’t solely on them. I’m to blame, too. Look at Noodle. I’ve lived next door to her for six months, and not once have I taken the time to discover the amazing person she is. Due to my own selfishness, I pushed her into the arms of another man.
“Hey, you want to watch a movie?” I ask, unable to be apart from her.
She glances up to me, her eyes widening in surprise. “Sure.”
“Is Tati home?”
Please say no.
“I think so. I’m sure she wouldn’t care. Nowadays, her head is in her computer.”
“Let’s go to my place then.” My heart beats faster, wondering if she’ll see through my act to lure her to my apartment so we can be alone.
“Okay.” She shrugs and continues walking.
Phew.
She looks beat by the time we make it to my apartment, and I figure this might not happen. But she follows me to my door and plops down on my couch.
Grabbing us two beers, I bring them over and sit down closer than normal to her. I hand her the remote to pick a movie.
“You’re letting me choose? Usually, I fall asleep during a military or action movie.” She doesn’t hesitate to take charge and goes right to a romantic comedy.
“Maybe I’ll fall asleep tonight.”
She elbows me, and I grab my ribs, as though she hurt me.
“I think the movies I make you watch show you how to fight,” I say, rubbing my side.
“Maybe my movies will help you learn how to love only one person.” She raises her eyebrows.
I shake my head.
If she only knew . . .
“Have you talked to Davis?” I have to know if he’s keeping in contact with her.
“He’s busy out there.”
She clicks on the movie but quickly pauses it. “Is this okay?”
I read the blurb of what the movie is about. A girl gets in an accident, loses her memory, and forgets her fiancée. Classic chick flick.
“It’s great.” I grab the remote and press Play.
The movie surprisingly captures my interest. Lia begins cracking her neck half an hour in, so I turn her back to me to massage her shoulders.
Moans and heavy breathing leak out of her mouth as my fingers work on the knots in her muscles. She has no idea the effect she’s having on me right now.
“That feels so good.” Her head dips down, and her long hair cascades down the sides.
I stop myself from kissing the spot right on the back of her neck. Having her in this position, my mind races with the million different things I could do to show her how beautiful she is. But I stay back because it wouldn’t be right to put her in that position. I have to remind myself that she’s with Davis right now.
“I can do you now?” she asks after I’ve loosened her up a little.
“Nah, I’m okay.”
I guarantee, if her hands relax me, I’ll be sure to get excited. Then, I’m not so sure I could withhold myself from taking her. With her permission, of course.
She leans back against my chest, and that smell of strawberries from her hair is there each time I inhale. Almost immediately, her body weighs heavier against me, and her head falls to the side.
She’s asleep.
Her cell phone buzzes on the coffee table, and Davis’s name flashes on the screen. I laugh inside because little does he know, I have his girl in my arms. She stirs and nuzzles into my body more with the sound. She must be exhausted.
I figure that if I move her, she’ll leave, so I situate my own body because I want her to be closer to me, if only for tonight.
Soon, the drowsiness from the day hits me, and my eyelids drop. I fight myself, so I can watch her sleep. I might never be in this position again, so I want to take full advantage of it in this moment.
The next morning, the light streams in through my windows, and I squint from the beam hitting me square in my eyes. Noodle is still asleep on my chest, so I slide out and place her head on a pillow.
I take the time to stare at the woman who is challenging my beliefs in love. Sharing a future with someone is not something I thought was possible for my life. But Noodle has shown me a flicker of light I thought was buried deep in the earth.
Her hair is sprawled over the pillow, and her hands are tucked under her cheek. I should call her Angel instead of Noodle. My Angel.
Doing what I do best, I tiptoe over to the kitchen. I grab the ingredients I need to make the cinnamon rolls I made for her a few months ago. She loved them so much. They won’t be as good as the diner down the street, but if Noodle likes them, that’s all I care about.
I’m washing my hands while they cook in the oven when I spot a mop of brown hair moving on the couch. I chuckle, watching her find her surroundings. It doesn’t take her long before she stands and finds me in the kitchen.