Page 41 of All of Him
“Ready, Amanda?”
“Aw,” Brayden prodded. “Let’s hang out!”
“I have to get up early,” I lied. “I have to help my sister with something.” Noah stood after throwing some cash on the bar, butting past Brayden’s friends and out the door without another word.
“Well, he’s moody,” Brayden joked, making the other guys with him chuckle. It sounded like a laugh track that needed to be muted permanently.
I stood confidently from my stool. Glancing at Brayden one more time, I so badly wanted to slap that smirk off of his face. I was proud of myself though, that he no longer made my knees go weak. I wanted to shove that in his face, so I left him with a one-liner that hopefully wouldn’t get me sent to HR.
“I’d rather spend all night with a moody Noah than another minute with any version of you.”
22
Noah
THERE WAS JUST SOMETHINGabout that guy that I hated. Everything from his loafers to his coral polo and the way he’d ditched Amanda made me want to punch him in the face. Since I wasn’t trying to punch the CFO’s nephew, I left the bar instead. I’d never ordered my second beer, but I either needed another one somewhere else or a Xanax. Soon.
Amanda climbed into the truck next to me and apologized. “I swear I’ve never seen him here before.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “Can we just go hang out at your place?”
She nodded, surprised, and I threw the truck into gear.
“Thank you, by the way,” she whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“For what?”
“The drinks,” she explained. “You put enough on the bar to cover both and a tip. I assumed…Shit. I should have gotten you some change.”
“No,” I huffed, unintentionally sounding aggravated. “I meant to tell you that I was going to buy one for you for your help lately. I just didn’t have the chance because that asshole showed up.”
Amanda watched the side of my face as I drove, my jaw still tense over what had happened at the bar. I’d wanted to explain to her beforehandwhyI was buying her a drink in order to make sure that she wasn’t misinterpreting the gesture. Things between us were solid and the boat didn’t need to be rocked.
“Thank you,” she repeated, cutting the silence. “But it really is my pleasure to spend time with you—in any way.”
When we got to her apartment, the lights were off, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Not that I wanted even Amanda to see me in the state I was in, but I barely knew her sister or her sister’s fiancée. I certainly wasn’t in the mood to meet new people.
“Beer?” Amanda asked, holding one out to me.
I grabbed it and found a spot on the couch, then watched as she made herself a drink at the kitchen island. The jeans she was wearing fit her so perfectly, hugging all the right places. All the clothes she wore to work were looser-fitting, and I hadn’t noticed until that moment that she had a figure at all.
An amazing figure.
“You okay?” she asked, looking over at me cautiously.
“Yeah.” I tried to recover from my thought. “I just don’t like that guy.”
“Me neither,” she answered, smiling. “Still need that story?”
“Please,” I sighed, making room for her on the couch.
She turned to face me, leaning against the arm of the couch, cross-legged. I tried not to notice a small hole on the inseam of her thigh. I’d tell her, but only once the night was over. It wasn’t a big deal, and I didn’t need her to feel awkward about it in front of me.
“Okay, so this one is not at my expense, but I still had to live it.”
I smiled as she took a deep breath and looked around the room, as if for inspiration.
“I was having sex with a guy in my dorm this one time. He was a friend of a friend—a terrible blind date. Well, it turned out that he was a furry.”
