The Troublemaker's Return

Chapter No. 31

Noah

It was hard to be this close to her and not kiss her. Her lips looked so tempting, as if pulling me towards her with an invisible thread. So when she licked her lips, I lost every last inch of control I had and leaned towards her to do what I have been dying to do for the past three months now.

My lips hovered over hers, not yet touching.

It was hard to stop when every cell in my body was urging me to erase the distance between us.

But it was harder to kiss her, knowing for the first time in my life, I was in a serious relationship.

I didn't want to be like my father, a man who ruined the lives of two women because of his selfishness. I couldn't be like him, I couldn't do that to Emma and Sophia what he did to my Mom and Adam's mother.

One thing I would never do, cheat.

With that thought in mind, I pulled away. Sophia's eyes opened, her pupil dilated with desire and her face filled with confusion.

"We shouldn't do this." I said, fighting my every instinct.

Her face was flushed red, her mouth parted slightly. She tried to comprehend what I said and when she did, her face contorted in embarrassment.

"Y... Yeah. We shouldn't... Of course." she mumbled under her breath and stood up.

"I am sorry." I murmured softly.

"It's okay." she said, without looking at me.

She swam back to the shore and I followed her along. A part of me wanted to kiss her desperately, to hold her in my arms, to feel her soft skin against me, to feel her warm touch on my skin. I knew I was attracted to her but this was something deeper, something alarming. A craving.

She walked behind a tree to change, her skin gleaming under the moonlight. I tore my eyes away from her and changed into my clothes too.

The car ride back to the apartment was the most awkward ride of my life. She kept her face to the window and I kept my focus on the front. I could hear her harsh breathing in sync with mine. Once we reached the building, I turned to the elevator and she used the stairs.

Once I was finally my room, I let out a string of curses at myself for making things awkward between us.

..........

I spent the whole night thinking about our almost kiss. I couldn't understand if she felt something for me or if it was just in the heat of moment. I wanted to know, I needed to know.

I have never felt like this before. Yeah, I have been attracted to girl's bodies before but I never craved for someone's time, someone's attention. Sometimes, I just want to hold her in my arms and cuddle with her.

If there was any chance that we could be together, I wanted that but not on the expense of Emma's feeling. I needed to know if Sophia felt something for me, so I could be honest with Emma and break up with her before I ended up hurting her badly.

God, I need to do something before it messes with my brain badly.

With that thought in my mind, I left my room when I heard the shuffling of utensils from outside. Sophia was leaned against the counter, making coffee in the coffee machine, her hair a beautiful mess.

"Hey," I said and she jumped up in alarm.

Once she realised it was me, the alarm changed into awkwardness. She tried to pass me a smile but it came out as a sigh.

"About last night," I started to say but she stopped me.

"Yeah, that was obviously a mistake." she responded carelessly and my heart dropped. "We were alone and cold, the place was very romantic, so we weren't thinking straight at all."

"Yeah," I whispered, forcing myself to manage a smile on my face.

"I mean Thank God you decided to be the sane one otherwise we would have regretted it for the whole life." she laughed dryly and I just stood there, embarrassed of thinking she would actually be interested in be.

"Yeah," I fake laughed. "Besides, I am with Emma now. And she is amazing. It would have crushed her if I went on with that stupid kiss." I said.

"Yeah," she mumbled, her eyes darting between the floor and my eyes. She looked confused, as if she didn't know if after last night, we could be normal with each other.

I decided to put her out of misery and said, "I should go change now."

Once I was back inside my room, I took a deep breath and scolded myself for being so stupid.

..........

Sophia

"Why did you say that?" Tessa asked as soon as I finished telling her everything.

"What else could I say? That I was heartbroken that he didn't kiss me. I didn't want to look like a loser, for going after a man already in relationship." I tried to reason my actions.

"So do you like him or not?" she asked. We were sitting on the back side of the café's kitchen which is mostly unoccupied.

"No. Yes. I don't know." I slapped my forehead in agitation. "It's confusing because yes, I am sometimes attracted to him but that's not enough. Noah and I, we are too similar. We are not a good match."

"Sophia, I don't know why you're making things complicated. If you like him, just tell him. How can you say you aren't a good match when you haven't tried giving him a chance?" she did her best to make her understand.

She was right. But I couldn't do that. There was a constant alarming voice in my head, telling me to stay away from Noah. If I let him in romantically, he would break my heart in pieces. Besides, it wasn't like I had a choice. He obviously liked Emma more than he liked me so there was no point in arguing with myself.

"I'm tired, Tess. I need to move on. I want to stop feeling pathetic." I exhaled loudly. "I wasn't like that. Men weren't the biggest concern of my life. I need to stop being so serious and try to live in the moment for now."

"Maybe you are right. You deserve a break. You are young and beautiful, you deserve to be irresponsible and have fun." she said, nodding her head in agreement.

"And the customers out there deserves to be served at time." The manager's voice reached my ears and we both dashed back to the dining hall.

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I was free for a couple of days so that explains all the updates.