Page 30 of Fractured Fate

The muggy night air made breathing uncomfortable, and Charlotte already felt her curls sticking to her neck as Noah led her down to street level.

Once they reached the sidewalk, he turned to her. “I was gonna ask you about going out to dinner tonight, but I didn’t expect the project to need revising. I don’t know why the hell those two changed things.” He looked back toward Rachel’s apartment. “It was fine as is.”

“I thought so too, but they meant well.” She shrugged. “Besides, the new additions will go a long way in improving the presentation. I mean, now that the data is right.”

Noah turned to her. “Yeah, well, it’s done now.” He pulled his T-shirt away from his stomach and fluttered it a few times, fanning himself. “Damn, it’s hot out here. You sure you’re good to wait for the bus?”

“Yeah. I mean, aren’t you gonna do the same?”

“Nah. My roommate is picking me up in half an hour. We have some stuff to take care of before going home.”

“At almost midnight?”

His shoulders lifted in a light shrug. “No rest for the wicked.” His easy-going smile made her roll her eyes.

“How cliché.”

“I’ll have you know, we know how to show out when we want to. Super wicked. The baddest.”

She scoff-laughed, her hand pushing his arm. “You’re so weird.”

The laughter died in her throat when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her in, stepping closer until they were almost touching. She looked up at him, her mouth parting to ask him what he was doing, but he cut her off by reaching up and running his fingers over her cheek with gentle strokes. She hoped he didn’t hear her swallow; it sounded so loud to her ears.

Before she could process the move, his head lowered, tilting as he closed the distance between them. When his lips touched hers, her body went rigid.

He lifted his head, a frown marring his brows. “Charlotte?”

When his grip on her wrist fell away, she stepped back. Clearing her throat and shaking her head, a shaky laugh slipped past her lips.

“Hey…” Noah stepped forward.

She put both hands up, resting them on his ribs, and looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t think—”

“Hey, no.” He stepped back, allowing her hands to fall, and scratched the dark scruff on his jawline. “It was stupid of me to assume you were interested like that.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t know what my plans are.” She scratched at her palm in front of her, looking down at her feet. “I need to focus on my schooling. Until I get any of that sorted, I can’t even think about this”—she motioned between them—“kind of thing.”

She looked up, expecting disappointment, maybe anger. Not the gentle understanding she saw in the way his eyes crinkled with his smile.

“Look, I like you, Charlotte. But I get it.” He reached out and lifted her arm, his hand trailing down until he clasped her hand in his. “This doesn’t have to be anything more than what it’s been. Your schooling is more important. I’m not going anywhere, okay?” His hand squeezed hers. “And if you decide to never see where it can go between us? No worries. I’ll still be your friend. It doesn’t have to be anything.”

In her experience, boys didn’t act this way. Men didn’t either. Entire forums existed on the internet that put men on blast for acting entitled to a woman’s time and vice versa. People seldom responded well to the friend zone.

She looked down at their joined hands. “How are you okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her lips twisted to the side. “Just the way it usually goes.”

Maybe her experience made her jaded. Former classmates from high school often got angry when she dismissed their advances. They accused her of leading them on when she hadn’t. She never wanted to hurt anyone. She only wanted friends.

“Yeah, my roommate’s little brother got into hot water for not taking no for an answer last year.”

Her eyes rounded. “He didn’t…”

“Oh, shit, no. No. He didn’t, like, assault the girl or anything. Jesus.” He cleared his throat. “My roommate Jonathan told me his brother spent months harping on it and spamming the poor girl through texts after she told him she wasn’t interested. She wanted to be friends, but he wouldn’t let up trying to get her to agree to more. Eventually she ghosted him, and her dad paid his parents a visit when he saw her phone.”

“That’s… something else.”