Unraveled by Dani Matthews Page B

at him to find he's
watching me. “Why not give it a go?” I force myself to ask.
    Noah's eyes
narrow ever so slightly. “I'm not interested in dating any of her friends.”
    “You should
be.”
    “Why?”
    “Well,
you're a good looking man. You can't be happy being alone,” I point out.
    Noah sets
his fork down and studies me. “Are you suggesting I go out on a date with
someone else?”
    “Yes, I am.”
I chew on my fish while doing everything I can not to feel like I want to bang
my head on a wall for starting this stupid conversation.
    Noah falls
silent, his brown eyes shifting to his plate for a minute before he reaches for
his fork. “I already have plans with you tonight so it's not worth discussing.”
    I wait until
his eyes lift before I say, “We can postpone our little discussion.”
    He gives me
a look. “Over my dead body.”
    “Well, let's
not get overly dramatic,” I tease as I reach for my lemonade, secretly pleased
that he clearly wasn't even going to consider ditching me.
    Of course, a
bit later I am wishing he would. Our meal is done and we are finishing up the
lemon meringue pie he'd brought home for desert.  I know the questions
will begin and I'm anxious to put it off as long as possible. Noah comes back
outside after getting rid of our plates and he drops into his chair, looking
lazy and relaxed.
    “You always
wear that necklace. Why?” I ask curiously when he looks at me.
    He reaches
up and touches the thin gold chain that is just barely visible near the
neckline of his shirt. “It was my mom's. She died when I was eight and it's one
of the few things I have left from her.”
    “Oh. I'm
sorry,” I say quietly.
    “What about
you? Did you keep any personal items of your parents or does Tate have most of
it?”
    I stare at
him. “Tate has my parents’ things?”
    “And some of
yours, I believe.”
    My gaze
shifts as I process this news. I've always wondered why I didn't have any
personal effects of theirs. Not that I want them after my role in their deaths,
but I always wondered where they'd gone. I just assumed my aunt and uncle had
kept them all.
    “Blayre?”
    “Hmm?” I
ask, turning my attention back to him.
    “Where'd you
go off to there?”
    “Nowhere,
it's nothing.”
    Noah's gaze
tells me he doesn't believe me but he lets it go. “You ready to start up where
we left off yesterday?”
    “No.”
    He just
gives me a patient look and waits.
    I roll my
eyes. “Fine. Yes. Start grilling me, Dr. Abraham.”
    “How was
school?”
    “What?” The
last thing I was expecting was for him to ask about school.
    Noah just
leans back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head as he studies me.
“I asked how school went today.”
    “Okay...why?”
    “Did Cole
approach you?”
    Ah. “Nope.
He's currently mad over the kiss you and I shared, so he's ignoring
me.”           
    Noah goes
still. “Wait a minute. Is that why he went off on you here the other day? You
told him we kissed?”
    “He saw the
way you looked at me the day he was here after Blake's death. He didn't like it
and got suspicious. I think it's a bad idea to admit we almost slept together,
so I told him about the kiss because he wasn't going to give up on the
subject.”
    Noah's hands
drop and he rubs his bruised jaw warily. “Let's not let that information get
out. He's bad news and I'd hate to see how he would react.”
    “You and me
both.”
    “Why did you
begin cutting, Blayre?” Noah asks softly, switching the topic.
    My entire
body stiffens up and then I sigh and force myself to relax. This was part of
the deal. I tell Noah the truth so that Tate doesn't learn all the shit I've
gotten myself into. “You know how my parents died, right?” I ask warily.
    “Yes, Tate
filled me in a long time ago when he told me about his background with your
aunt and uncle.”
    I nod.
“Well...” I bite my lip and look at Noah nervously. “You have to promise me
that this will stay between you and