The heat in my cheeks burned brighter—first from his comment and then because of the truth. “I never said that. I had attention—more than I would have liked sometimes. It’s just that the kind of attention I got didn’t require the effort of pickup lines, if you know what I mean.”
He stopped walking for a second, his expression a mix of horror and rage before wiping it blank and starting forward again. “Did it ever bother you? Seeing him with other girls?”
“I told you, it wasn’t like that with us. I was never jealous of him with other girls.”
“Well, the boys on this world are morons. I don’t care what tier you were. I would have used every line in the book on you.”
“Oh yeah?”
He held a hand to his heart and flashed me a smile. “Of all the beautiful curves of your body, your smile is my favorite.”
“Pretty tame,” I said, while on the inside I swooned just a little.
“On a scale of one to ten, you’re a nine. I’m the one you need.”
I rolled my eyes and faked a yawn, but I was fighting a grin.
He waggled his brow. Challenge accepted. “You’re so damn hot, you’d make the devil himself sweat,” he said. “Is your car battery dead? Because I’d like to jump you.”
I snickered. “Better, but still…”
He stopped walking and took my hand. I tried to ignore the tingles it sent up and down my arm. Kneeling down in front of me, he waved his free hand and announced, “My attraction to you is like diarrhea—I just can’t hold it in.”
I burst out laughing—which, from the look on his face, was exactly what he’d been aiming for. He stood and laughed with me, but only for a moment before turning serious. He didn’t say anything, but seemed to stand just a bit closer than before. I was about to match the move—even though every cell in my body screamed for me to move away, but then I caught sight of the rock.
“There!” I dashed ahead and circled the thing, amazed at how much of the original picture was still there. The elements hadn’t ravaged it quite as much as I’d expected, and a part of me ached, knowing that eventually it would fade. It was one of the few, rare bits of an amazing talent the world would never get to experience. Corey had been a breathtaking artist, but Cora had forbidden him to pursue it. I’d overheard them fighting about it one night. One of the few times Corey had stood up to her. He begged and pleaded and threatened to leave if she wouldn’t let him attend school. In the end, though, he caved. He always did. Noah might have had the strength to walk away from the family’s money and privilege. Corey never would have.
I reached the boulder and spun in a slow circle, looking for the small grate. It took a moment, but I finally spotted it a few feet away, covered in overgrowth and flora.
“Watch out.” Noah shouldered me aside, shrugged out of his leather jacket, and wrapped his fingers around the rusted bars as he went to work. It took several tries—and a whole lot of cursing—but he finally managed to pry the thing loose. I didn’t miss the way his muscles flexed beneath the thin black T-shirt, or the way the sleeves rode up to reveal a series of dark black lines peeking out from beneath the material.
“Thanks,” I said as he stepped aside to let me pass. As I went, our hands brushed, skin on skin, and a jolt like static zapped me. It left pins and needles in its wake. I bit down on the inside of my cheek and started down the long opening.
The narrow tunnel was dark and smelled of mildew. We walked for a few minutes in silence before Noah cleared his throat. “So are we just avoiding the whole thing?”
“Whole thing?” I was thankful for the dark because I knew exactly what he was talking about and felt my cheeks flame. I was fairly pale skinned, so the smallest hint of reaction and my face lit up like a traffic light. “Oh. Yeah. You win. Your lines are way cheesier than his were.” It wasn’t what he meant and we both knew it.
“That kiss back at Rabbit’s was pretty intense.”
What was I supposed to say here? That the kiss had basically almost stopped my heart? That it curled my toes and made me itch in ways I never imagined? Out of the blue and totally fierce, it’d been like he couldn’t not kiss me. It made me think back to the night I’d kissed my Noah with an even mix of guilt and longing. It’d been a great kiss, but this one? This one had been cosmic.
Comparison number five: This Noah was a better kisser. “Of course it was. You assaulted me.”
He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. “I don’t remember you pushing me away.”
I jerked free and narrowed my eyes. “Really? We’re doing this now?”
He spread his arms. “Just trying to get the elephant out of the room—err, tunnel. That’s all.”
I rolled my eyes and started moving forward again. “Wasn’t aware there was one.” But he was right. Ever since Phil busted in, I’d felt it. This heaviness in the air between us. I kept sneaking glances at him, and I’d caught him looking at me, too. The conversation outside had been a nice detour, but it hadn’t lasted.
“I’m sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable?” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. It was achingly familiar. He was right behind me. I felt his breath on my neck. “How about you just answer one question, then I’ll let it drop.”
If it would get him to leave it alone, I would have flashed him. I stopped and whirled around. “Fine.”
“How did it feel?”
“Feel?” I stared at him. “This is about stroking your ego? Rest easy, then. It wasn’t a bad kiss.”
“Not what I mean,” he said, then grinned. “And no shit. I know it wasn’t a bad kiss. I don’t give bad kisses.”
“Another thing you have in common,” I mumbled. “Inflated ego.”
“Do you feel like you want to do it again?”
I stopped again, this time refusing to turn around. Did I want to do it again? Yes, please! Would I? Hell no! This was Noah’s look-alike. His double. This guy was a poor substitution for the loyal rock I’d known nearly my entire life. So what if the kiss had nearly singed my nerve endings? Big deal if I felt the need to do it again.
“If you’re trying to ask if I felt some kind of cosmic connection with you, then the answer is no. The kiss was just a kiss—and not even a great one. My Noah was far better at it than you are.” There. That sounded convincing, right?
“Far better?” His face contorted, eyes scrunching and lips twisting. “Far—”
“Hit a nerve, did I?” I said, mimicking his earlier statement. I should have let it go. We weren’t down here for a nice evening stroll, but his expression goaded me. That, and a healthy dose of guilt. I’d kissed my Noah, but we weren’t a thing. We were never going to be a thing. It was just me losing a grip on the weird connection we’d always had. Still, a small part of me felt like I’d betrayed him when I didn’t push this Noah away back at Phil’s cabin. “Don’t feel bad. Like I said, it was a decent kiss. You’ve obviously had a little practice. Your hand? Maybe on an orange or some other kind of fruit?”
“I’ve kissed more girls than you,” he snapped.
I threw up my hands. “I sure hope so. I’ve never kissed another girl.”
The light in here was horrible, but I was pretty sure his face was turning a funky shade of scarlet. We were on a time crunch, but this was just too damn fun. My Noah hadn’t been even tempered by any stretch of the imagination. But he tended to keep his cool when people tried to rattle him. Seeing him like this, so torqued and ready to pop, was pure entertainment.
“You—I—” he stammered.
“Maybe you used to be better at it?” I prodded. “I mean, you probably don’t get a lot of time to date while skipping all over creation, right? Maybe you’re just out of practice?”
“I’m not out of practice.” He seethed.
“It’s okay! It’s nothing to be ashamed of—” For the second time since we’d met, he assaulted me.
One second I was having the time of my life pushing his buttons—ridiculously easy to do—the n
ext I was against the wall, Noah’s body covering mine. His lips moved furiously, scorchingly hot and with a level of passion I’d never felt before. His tongue slipped between my lips and despite having told other guys that I hated that, I melted, reveling in the millions of electrical tingles the action sent shooting through my body. His hands gripped my head on either side. No roaming, no exploration. Somehow it made the whole thing hotter. Like he couldn’t bear to release me in fear that I’d move. That I’d get away and he’d have to stop. And stop? No. That was a dirty word. A softly whispered sin in the darkest corners of the earth. Stopping this would be a crime of the highest caliber.
Except he did. Stop, that was.
He pulled away just far enough to look me in the eye, not yet letting go of my head. With an extremely satisfied tilt of his lip, he said, “Decent my ass.” Then he let go and took a long step back, gesturing with a flourish in the direction we’d been walking. “We should probably get moving.”
I nodded and pushed off the wall, unable to speak. Hell, I was barely able to walk, terrified that I wobbled as I went. If the kiss with my Noah had gone like that, things would have turned out a hell of a lot differently.
Chapter Nine
Noah
We reached the end of the tunnel, then slipped through the basement and up the stairs. I followed behind, mentally kicking my own ass for allowing her to poke me like that, but smug as hell for proving her wrong.
Holy shit did I prove her wrong…
When we got to the top of the steps, Ash poked her head around the corner. “Follow me. His room is upstairs.”
We crept up the stairs and moved quietly down to the end of a long hallway decorated with gaudy knickknacks and obnoxious gold foil trim. Everything in the house was done in shades of tacky. My mother would die if she could see this. Her style was what she liked to call farmhouse chic. Nothing fancy or overdone. Just simple rustic accents against neutral colors. This place was giving me a damn headache.
“Here.” Ash stopped outside the last room on the right. She slipped inside and gently closed the door behind us—just as something creaked downstairs. She froze, paling. “Someone’s here!”
Keys jingled and a door creaked from downstairs. I pressed myself against the door, dangerously close to her. I felt the shift of her body as she inhaled sharply, the action creating just enough friction to be distracting. Twice now I’d kissed her. Twice now I’d been unable to control myself. “Great. This is just what I need right now.” I wasn’t sure if I meant the person who’d just entered the house—or my inability to keep my lips off Ash.
Ash’s face turned a sickly shade of yellow and her mouth fell open. “No one is supposed to—”
I clamped a hand across her mouth and pressed an ear to the door. I even managed to ignore the feel of her warm, soft lips pressed against the inside of my palm. Yep. Definitely someone here. Multiple someones.
“What are we doing here, exactly?” a man’s voice said. He didn’t sound thrilled to be here.
“Anderson wants us to watch the place. He thinks the Calvert girl might try breaking in,” another said.
Wonderful. I turned to Ash, who was staring at the door. “Well?” I whispered. “Can we do this quietly or not?”
“Should be able to. The house is huge. They’ll probably set up in the sitting room. There’s no reason for them to come up here.”
I was sure this was a bad idea, but nodded. Whatever information this world’s Noah had, I needed it to get Rabbit to fix the cuffs. “Where do we start?”
The panicked look in her eyes faded and she squared her shoulders. With a nod toward the desk, she said, “You try over there. I’ll take the closet.”
We set to work, moving as quietly as we could—which wasn’t as easy as one might think. Like me, this world’s Noah was not only a pack-rat, but a slob. Cade would have a meltdown if he could see this place.
I checked each drawer, pulling everything out and sifting through all the papers. Receipts, ticket stubs, lots of junk. By the time I was done, the most telling thing I’d found was a day planner. It was mostly unused, with only several notes made this month—all benign things.
“Anything?” Ash had moved onto the dresser after clearing the closet, nightstand, and under the bed. She looked like she’d had just as much luck as I had.
She sank to the floor and sighed. “Nothing.” Bracing her elbows against her knees, she let her head fall forward into her hands. “Maybe there’s nothing here. Maybe we were just wrong. Maybe what Phil said about feeling—”
“Do you think you were wrong?” I crossed the room and settled in front of her. “Do you believe he killed himself?”
She lifted her head and our eyes met, and something stirred deep inside. Something I’d been refusing to acknowledge. A beast that I’d buried beneath layers and layers of snark and sarcasm. When I’d seen the first few versions of us together, I’d scoffed. I’d laughed and made fun of Cade when he told me she was my constant. The idea that there was someone out there—a single, perfect person who complimented me in every way—I’d thought it absurd. Fate? Destiny? Love at first sight? What crap. That shit was for losers. I set out to prove, if anything, it was attraction at first sight and nothing more—and I did. Every Ash who hadn’t been with a version of me already had sparked and ignited. Then I found this one. This annoying, impossible, twisted-up-in-knots version. One that actually set all the alarms ringing and made me twitch for all the wrong—and right—reasons.
The first kiss had been me falling into old habits. See an Ash, kiss the crap out of her, prove how easy it was to walk away. Boom. Done. The second kiss had been all about proving her wrong. She’d gotten under my skin, coaxed out my inner competitive asshole. I did it to teach her a lesson. And I had. It was equal parts passion, pride, spite, and anger. She’d pissed me off and I’d showed her how hot it could have been between us and what she’d have to be going without. That kiss had left one hell of an impression. The problem was, it’d backfired. I was hyper aware of her now. Where she went, my gaze followed. I found myself leaning forward, just to be closer to her.
“No,” she whispered, leaning just a bit closer as well. Her lips parted, just enough for a tiny pink tongue to dart out and skate across their surface. That stupid, simple little action was enthralling to watch. Mesmerizing in a way that had the potential to hold me captive, to keep me chained. She was in the zone, too, but before either of us could do something stupid, she froze. “What’s that?”
My pulse was doing triple-time and it was a struggle to keep my breathing even. “Hmm?”
The warmth from her nearness dissipated as she scrambled away from me. When I turned, I saw that she’d picked up the day planner I’d found on other-me’s desk.
“This is Noah’s planner.”
“So?” I wasn’t sure if I was relieved by the interruption or pissed. Obviously a gropefest in the middle of a potentially life-threatening situation was a bad idea. Bad in a way that even I wasn’t normally into. But, holy shit. This girl made my head spin. She made all common sense and logic pack the hell up and shuffle off. She’d managed to get under my skin without even trying. “Doesn’t look like he really used it. Didn’t see anything useful.”
She ignored me and flipped through, skimming the pages with a renewed sense of hope. “This is weird…”
“What?” I shifted—mainly because the slowly receding tightness in my pants was starting to become uncomfortable—and moved to sit in front of her. She set the book down on the floor between us and jabbed a finger at one of the small squares. It was today’s date with the notation I. G. CP. Cleaver. In small, almost illegible print, beneath that, it read doing the Duchess – 11 p.m.
“IGCP.” She thought about it for a moment. “That has to be the Infinity Gala Costume Party.”
“Okay…?” I still wasn’t seeing the big deal. “And Cleaver?”
She thought about it for a minute. “Only thing that comes to mind is one of t
he graphic novels Noah loved, Dark Tide Ridge. Cleaver is one of the main characters.”
“So, maybe he was going to this shindig as Cleaver? Maybe he had a hot date at 11 with some duchess?”
“They throw this thing every year. Cora and Karl guilt Corey into going, but never Noah. He hates this stuff.”
“Still not seeing the big deal.”
She shook her head. “This is it. This is the clue I was looking for.”
“You think he left you a clue by telling you he was going to his parents’ costume party dressed as a character from a graphic novel, then planned to screw some duchess at eleven?” I closed the book and pushed it away. “I think you’re reaching here.”
“Obviously it can’t be that simple.” She slumped back. “I don’t get the duchess thing…”
“Maybe he just had a date, Ash.”
“He wasn’t dating anyone.” Her reply came too fast and with far too much insistence. “And he’d never pencil it in his book. I mean, seriously? If you were going on a date, would you write it down as doing the duchess? Even you’re not that big an asshole.”
Ouch. “And if he was, would you be jealous?” Because as monumentally insane as it was, the idea that she’d be jealous made me jealous.
“I told you it wasn’t like that. We weren’t a couple so why would I be—”
“—just gonna do a round.” One of the voices from downstairs grew louder. “Then we’ll head out.”
“That’s our cue.” I jumped up and dragged her with me as the footsteps on the stairs grew closer. Shoving her toward the window, I raced back to lock the door. A second later, I was hauling myself over the sill, onto the small balcony right behind Ash.
We raced across the property and didn’t stop until we’d made it almost back to the house we’d been squatting in. I was all for getting off the street, but Ash had stopped, watching me with an odd expression.
“What?” I said. “What’d I do now?”
“Tell me,” she said, voice barely above a whisper. “I can see the way you look at me—even when you’re being an asshole. There’s never been anyone who looked at me like you do. Not even, well, you… Tell me what we were to each other where you come from.”