Page 27 of Rook
Silence stretched between them, thick and charged.
He smelled like leather and soap and something warm she remembered too well. His presence wrapped around her like a storm, dangerous, familiar, impossible to ignore.
Avery’s chest tightened — not from the tension, but from the memory that blindsided her. They’d been in this exact aisle when she was seventeen.
She’d been standing on her tiptoes, reaching for a bag of sugar she couldn’t quite grab. Noah had stepped behind her, one hand braced on the shelf beside her head, the other plucking the bag down with ease.
“You’re short,” he’d teased.
“You’re annoying.”
He’d grinned, eyes warm. “You like me anyway.”
She’d rolled her eyes, but her heart had thudded so hard she was sure he heard it.
Avery blinked hard, dragging herself back to the present.
She cleared her throat. “I should finish shopping.”
He nodded, stepping back. “Yeah. Okay.”
But he didn’t walk away.
He followed her.
Not close enough to be obvious. Not far enough to be accidental.
Just… there.
Watching. Hovering. Protecting.
It made her stomach twist in ways she didn’t want to examine.
By the time she reached the checkout line, she was flustered, annoyed, and way too aware of him.
The cashier scanned her items while a guy behind her, mid-twenties in a baseball cap andwearing too much cologne, leaned on his cart and smiled.
“Hey,” he said. “You new in town?”
Avery blinked. “Um… yeah.”
“Thought so. Haven’t seen you around.” He looked her up and down. “You got a name?”
Before she could answer, a voice cut through the air like a blade.
“She’s not interested.”
Avery whipped around.
Noah stood behind them, arms crossed, expression lethal. The guy’s smile faltered.
“Whoa, man,” he said. “Just talking.”
“Talk somewhere else.”
The guy scoffed. “You her boyfriend or something?”
Noah didn’t hesitate. “No.” Then, lower—dangerous: “But she’s still not interested.”
