Entangled by Annie Brewer Page A

He’s thinking of moving here.” James glances from me to Noah and smiles.
    “Well, I have plenty to show you. Any preferences? One bedroom? Two bedroom?”
    Noah taps his pointer finger to his lip, contemplating. “No, I guess we can just look and go from there.”
    “Alright, let’s go.” We follow James to several apartments on both sides of the complex. I mostly stay behind while they talk about whatever they talk about. I notice Noah glancing back at me, making sure I’m still there. If I met his gaze, he winked at me. It made me blush a time or two like a teenager, which was annoying. He really confuses me but also intrigues me at the same time, which is why I keep hanging around him. He’s different around just me. I’m still wondering if he doesn’t date then what does he do? Once the thought crosses my mind I realize how stupid I was for wondering it in the first place. Hello, if he doesn’t date then he does the same thing Landon does, sex, no strings attached, no commitment. I want the opposite, which is why Landon and I aren’t an item. Of course it’s also the fact that I’m not in love with him too.
    God, guys are infuriating.
    “Maddy?” Noah’s voice pulls me from my muddled head. I look up and see his confused or concerned expression.
    “What?” I sound annoyed, but I am.
    “You look pissed or spaced out. Are you okay?” Oh, so now he’s concerned all of a sudden.
    “Yeah, I’m fine.” I push past him, uncertain where I’m going but know I need to breathe. It’s warm, even with my shorts and tank, I feel stifled.
    “Wait up!” I hear him call after me. I walk away from the office and I hear his footsteps close behind me. “Where are you going?”
    “I’m gonna walk home.” I keep walking, he follows.
    “But your car is at my aunt’s house.”
    “Shit.”

Chapter 13
 
    Noah
    James showed me three one-bedroom and two two-bedroom apartments, all pretty much similar in floor plans; a bedroom or two, living room, storage, kitchen, walk-in closets(which is really not needed for me but whatever), bathroom…I think that was it. But really I don’t need so much space for just me. I just like big living rooms and kitchens. Back in New York, my father paid for a lot of my stuff as far as furniture goes, and his taste is expensive. I just need a place to rest my head, eat my food and watch TV. Hell I don’t even have furniture for it. Bean bag chairs it is and Spencer will just have to deal with it.
    On the drive back to my aunt’s house, it’s quiet. Maddy is staring out her window with her head in the clouds. She seems pissed at me. She was reluctanct to let me drive her back to get her car. What is her problem? “So did you like any of the apartments?” She finally speaks, breaking the silence. I glance at her, her expression is guarded but her tone is neutral.
    “I think so. I’ll probably go with one of the one-bedroom apartments I saw.” She nods and looks away. “My best friend is coming to visit me in a month or something.”
    “I hope he’s more pleasant than you.”
    I flinch and narrow my gaze at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, irritated. She doesn’t know me, whether she’s heard shit about my life, she’s no right to judge. But I know she’s right too.
    “Nothing.” Is all she says. Did I do something? I shake my head and blink my anger back. I know she’s right. I set out to keep to myself when I moved here. I didn’t want to meet people. Wait, that’s not entirely true. But meeting people meant I had to play nice, and I didn’t do nice. Except the whole purpose for moving here was to change the way I was in New York. The closed off, arrogant, selfish Noah was supposed to be left behind. But is it really that easy, to change? I’m not good with change. I’m not saying I wanted to live my life completely alone but I planned to keep everyone out, the only way I knew how. But that’s no way to live either. The guilt has consumed