He knows I’ve been working on it for months, losing sleep and missing meals just to make today’s show perfect.
He’s worried about my hard work when he’s bleeding and probably has cuts all over his body.
A stray tear falls from my eyes at his selfless care, but I quickly wipe it away.
Ezra takes a step forward, agreeing with Noah, “Yes. We’ll get it done.”
Once the captain announces, the entire team follows, coming to stand next to Ezra and Noah. It’s surely a sight, seeing these tall and built hockey players standing together and commandeering a room.
If I weren’t already enamored with one of them, I’d swoon at the sight of all of them—except for my brother, of course.
“Fuck, he’s hot,” Kaeli sighs in my ear.
“Yeah,” I breathe, unable to take my eyes off of him.
Kaeli’s head swivels to me. “What?”
My eyes widen, promptly realizing my mistake. It’s too wrong to call my brother hot and too dangerous to let her know about Noah. “Oh…umm…nothing! Just saying that it’s too hot in here,” I lie, fanning myself to emphasize my point.
Kaeli’s lips lift into a knowing smirk, her arms crossing over her chest as she nods her head. “Sure.”
“Mhmm. I gotta go and check up on everything,” I say, pointing over my shoulder, my feet already moving to get away.
“Go, go,” she waves me away, the smile spread across her face now.
I cast one last lingering look at the man who feels like an extension of my soul.
I walk away with my heart aching from the pain in his shoulder that he keeps moving in discomfort.
Nonetheless, I can’t let myself mull over it for too long, or I won’t be able to concentrate on the task at hand.
So, I do my best to prove myself with the chance Noah got me and put on a show an hour later when the team has done the impossible.
When I receive high praises from the senior staff and Mr. Gates, my eyes thank Noah for everything he did for me, realizing one thing with every single drop of my blood.
Noah Miller is my undoing.
Thirty Five
Andie
Noah exhales a heavy breath as he falls beside me.
Pulling my naked body closer to him, he wraps his hands around me.
I’m absolutely spent and relieved after he cleaned me up with a warm washcloth.
“Wow, that was intense. You must’ve really missed me,” I sigh, joking, over his chest.
A deep chuckle rumbles in his chest against my cheek, shaking me along with his body. “So much that I could barely breathe.” Hesqueezes me to him.
“I was only joking,” I mutter, draping my hand over his toned stomach.
“I wasn’t.”
A smile inadvertently makes its way to my lips, but it slips back again when I remember how much he hurt himself while trying to save me tonight. I despise the fact that he doesn’t seem to care about himself.
“What is it?” he asks when I stay quiet.