He sighed again and ruffled a hand through his hair, trying to get his mind back on the task at hand. Mexican. Maybe he would try Mexican tonight instead. He picked up a few things in that aisle, not really paying attention to his surroundings.
The trip to the grocery store was needed sadly.
Noa sighed, figuring she would make a traditional japanese dinner tonight and maybe call over one of her besties. Ever since the night at the club, she has done everything she could to just remove that man from her mind. Granted she wasn't feeling teary which thank god, hormones are a b***h sometimes. She was humming the song to Wasted on you by Evanescence while shopping down the international aisle. Avoiding looking anywhere but where she needed to, she started pickling up ingredients, singing softly.
He turned down the next aisle and stopped. Stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped everything. He should turn away, skip this aisle and go down the next one, or maybe just leave the store altogether. He could go to another store. But he couldn’t make himself move. God, she was beautiful. It was like he was struck dumb just by the sight of her and she couldn’t know what she did to him. She couldn’t know the kind of power she had over him. Faintly, he could hear her singing and the lyrics broke his heart. Had he done that? There was an urge inside him to go fix it, to make her feel better but how was he supposed to do that when he was the one who did it? He wouldn’t even know where to begin. He was sure he would just ******** up again.
Noa was in her own world when she felt a strange burning, like someone was watching her. Because of her job, getting over the fear of people seeing you or starting was paramount. But she wasn't at work, she was at the grocery store. Preparing to maybe fuss this person out, she tapped on her earbuds and turned only to stiffen. Great, the gods just couldn't do her a solid and allow her to have time alone?! She took a calming breath, her face falling into a neutral stare. It didn't matter, she was over it and even if she wasn't, she was good at pretending.
Without a wave or anything to acknowledge that man’s blasted existence, she walked right past him, heading for the produce section.
He deserved that. And he should absolutely leave it there because she clearly did not want to talk to him. He should not follow her. He clenched his fists over the handle of his cart, wincing at the pain in his still raw knuckles. But he felt like he needed to apologize. He shouldn’t. He should just leave her alone and let them both forget about whatever this might have been between them.
And he tried. But every time he caught a glimpse of her in another aisle, it hit him again. The need to be close to her one more time. Like a punch in the gut that stole his breath every time she came into view. He got so distracted that he kept having to retrace his steps to get items he missed the first time around because he was too busy thinking about her.
She wasn't dumb, nor was she unaware of her surroundings.
Seeing Idirian whenever she would turn a corner, catching glimpse of him walking by had her in a pretty bad chokehold. He didn't seem like he wanted to pursue whatever this was between them so why?! When she saw him in the same aisle as her, she snapped. Following him this time, she waited till he came to a stop, walking past him to stand in front of his cart. Her green eyes narrowed ever so slightly, “What?” That was practically a hiss but whatever, it would get the point across all the same. HE was the one that walked away NOT her, so clearly he would be the one to explain just why he was running or following her like a lost got damned puppy. <********. He should have, but he hadn’t expected her to confront him. Maybe he should have made himself leave. His brain stopped working. “I’m sorry.”
That…was not what he meant to say. He meant it, but he wanted to be more composed. Maybe that was his whole problem. “About the other night. I’m sorry.” Maybe he needed to stop thinking and just…feel. All he knew for sure was that it didn’t seem to matter how hard he tried, he would never stop thinking about Noa.
Now Noa could just walk away, nothing was stopping her at all. She could just walk away, forget Idri ever existed and she would get over it eventually. Time was an amazing healer, her last relationship had taught her that. But, that stupid feeling, that catalyst was just urging her to forgive him. Idri wasn't good with socializing, something she already knew from that first moment they clashed at Ross. That being said, she promised herself…She ******** promised. So why did her feet start moving on their own and WHY did she get closer?
“You're a** at communication, you know this right?”
She was still glaring at him, but it was less intense at the moment. Noa did keep some distance, just in case she had to leave and if it came to that, feelings be damned it would be permanent. She’d tell him to delete her number and she WOULD move on regardless.
He waited for her to do the same thing he had done to her. He would deserve that. But as usual, she surprised him. A smile tugged at his lips but he crushed the urge, unsure of where she was going with her words. But she had gotten closer to him. He could smell a hint of her perfume and he wanted to pull her closer and get a lungful of it.
“Yeah, I uh, I do know that, actually.” He wasn’t good at apologies either, even the one he had given to her wasn’t something he did a lot. That spark in his chest that he had spent days wishing would go away was growing, just a little bit. He looked at her as if memorizing the planes of her face, resisting another urge that wanted to cup her cheek in his hand.
“You deserve better,” he said quietly.
Well, at least he was aware.
Noa attempted to move closer, almost giving into the urge to place her hands on his chest or his hands, noting the bandages there. But then she picked up on his last sentence, the hand that was just barely lifted dropping to her side. “If I deserve better, why are we even doing this?” clearly there was a connection here, the chemistry between the two of them is just too great to ignore. So she found herself asking yet again just why. “Better yet why are you pulling away?” Those stupid hormones were about to kick in and she gritted her teeth, fists clenching, “If you don't want…Whatever this is then leave me alone Idirian…Please.” That was a plea for her thoughts as well. Life was easy till she met this man at her job that day and she swears she's starting to regret it.
She did deserve better than him, but he wanted, needed, her so much that he was beginning to think that maybe it didn’t matter. They seemed to have some kind of connection, something that kept them crossing paths even when they tried not to. “I don’t know why, but I can’t stop thinking about you.” Maybe if he stopped trying so hard and just let the words come out on their own…
“To be completely honest,” he started, his voice still quiet, “it’s ******** terrifying. And yet, I want you so badly that it hurts.” If she walked away from him now, he would let her. He didn’t know if he could leave her alone, but he would try. If that was what she wanted.
“I don’t know how to…be in a relationship. The examples that I’ve had? Not the best. I want this, whatever this is between us, but I don’t know how.” There. For once in his life, he said exactly what he was feeling. It sucked. But he was finding that he would do anything for her to smile at him again.
The more Idri talked, the more her body started to relax. It helped to know that she affected him the same way he affected her. Noa couldn't help but laugh sadly, they were apparently two peas in a pod when it came to relationships apparently. Sighing with a small smile, she walked up to him and reached up to place her hand on his cheek. “I don't know how this works either apparently, but…I'm willing to try.” Maybe if they just go with the flow things would be easier? At least she was finally ready to admit that this was something and she did have feelings for the man before her. “That night at the club?” She could feel her face turning red, “All I could see was you. It even got to the point where no matter how I tried to think otherwise, I wanted your hands on me, not that other dudes”
She wasn't about to talk about the mediocre sex either. The thought that Idri had ruined her for other guys made her want to tear her hair out. But she would figure that out later.
He inhaled sharply when she laid her hand on his cheek, leaning into her touch slightly. She wanted to try? He winced when she began talking about the other night, but the tension flowed out of him as she continued. He huffed a soft laugh and laid his hand over hers. “I wanted to punch him,” he confessed. He still knew he had no right to feel jealous but he had. There was still a twinge of jealousy in his chest just thinking about her with someone else.
“I want to try, with you,” he said, looking into her eyes. He would try just about anything to keep her close.
It was her turn to do a sharp inhale, shaking her head. “And you would’ve been thrown out of the club. Trust me, he wasn't worth it.” The man wasn't a bad guy, he just sucked in bed. “Then let's try. We don't have to jump into anything right away. We can go slow and see where this goes~” But she was sure once this flame, this catalyst explodes, there will be nothing and no one stopping it.
She hoped he was ready.
”Dragon Berri”
