Page 77 of The Keeper

I shifted in a discreet attempt to relieve the pressure. Unfortunately, the light turned green at that exact moment, and the forward momentum caused me to press even more firmly against his leg.

Oh God. My breath expelled in a sharp gust of air, and my clit throbbed, low and heavy.

Noah’s thigh tensed. He was still talking to Whitney, but his voice faltered for a millisecond before he resumed speaking.

I forced a deep inhale. The heat was getting unbearable. It took all my willpower not to grind against him even though I wanted to. Desperately. My whole body ached for more friction—for release—but we weren’t alone. Noah wasn’t even looking at me. The humiliation of that was the strongest thing keeping my self-control intact.

This was what happened when I eschewed sex for too long. My body went rogue. Hopefully, we’d get to Samson’s house soon, or⁠—

“Watch out!” Yasmin shouted.

I didn’t have time to brace myself. The car hit a giant speed bump without slowing down, and everyone jolted forward with bone-rattling force.

I yelped. Whitney and I were seated the most precariously so we got the worst of it. Or I would’ve, had Noah’s hands not shot out and caught my waist, preventing me from smashing my face against the back of the passenger headrest.

“Oops. Sorry!” Adil shouted. “That speed bump came out of nowhere.”

Yasmin said something, but I couldn’t make out the exact words. I was too focused on the firm grip bracketing my waist. I turned my head, my heart racing from adrenaline and a smidge of something else.

Noah was finally looking at me. No, that was the wrong word to use. He was examining me, his gaze frantically scanning my face with panicked concern. After a moment, the concern melted into relief, and his eyes slid up to meet mine.

He was still holding my waist, his hand resting on the soft curve between my ribcage and hips. If his body heat had been scorching, his touch was an inferno.

My thank-you turned to ash in my throat. The air pulsed, and a warm haze permeated my mind.

Noah’s gaze darkened at the edges. A muscle jumped in his jaw, and he held me for a beat too long before he abruptly released me and shifted his attention to Whitney.

“Are you okay?” he asked. His voice was a little too crisp, a little too sharp-edged to sound fully natural.

She nodded. No one had caught her, so she looked a little mussed and flustered, but she seemed fine. However, her eyes darted between us with understandable confusion.

I was fucking confused too. Noah should’ve been worried about his date, but he’d reached for me first. And maybe it wasn’t that deep, but my gut told me it was. Instead of making me feel better, it frustrated me more.

I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake his true feelings out of him. I was getting sick of his hot-and-cold attitude. We’d shared some intensely intimate moments, and he could be so sweet and thoughtful in private. But in public? He was the opposite. Perhaps he was embarrassed of me, or he didn’t want to give anything away to our friends. Either way, I was over it.

Noah, Whitney, and I didn’t speak for the rest of the ride. If it weren’t for Adil and Yasmin’s spirited debate about otters versus beavers, of all things, it would’ve been dead silent.

Thankfully, we arrived at Samson’s house soon after. I was the first one out of the car, but the sight of the sprawling mansion seemed to shake Whitney out of her funk. We barely made it into the house before she curled around Noah like a koala around a tree. He let her. It was a miracle they could walk properly.

Irritation chafed beneath my skin.

I’m over it. I. Am. Over. It. If I repeated it enough times, it’d sink in.

“You guys made it!” Samson pushed past a group of revelers to greet us. “Welcome to the party. It’s good to see you. Especially you, Cece.” He gave me a charming smile. He said something else, but I couldn’t hear it over the escalating drum of my heartbeat.

Whitney’s laugh mingled with the low rumble of Noah’s voice in the background. I stiffened, the phantom imprint of Noah’s hand still seared into my waist. And Samson…he was right there, looking so handsome and, more importantly, so uncomplicated.

I could’ve blamed what happened next on a multitude of things. Jealousy. Aggravation. How open Samson had been about what he wanted, and my own desire to take back control. The truth was probably a combination of all the above. It didn’t matter.

I said I was over Noah. I said I wanted to be more proactive. It was time to really put my money where my mouth was.

So, before I could talk myself out of it, I closed the remaining gap between me and Samson, grabbed him by the lapel of his shirt, and kissed him right on the lips.

CHAPTER 31

NOAH

My kiss with Carina ruined me, but her kiss with Samson fucking destroyed me.