Quiver arrowed book 3, p.3
Quiver (Arrowed Book 3), page 3
As panicked as I was, I had no regrets about getting such a good night’s sleep. The feeling of Noah’s arms around me was one I didn’t think I’d ever get over. I loved the way we slept together, the little touches we gave each other with a foot or a hand, just to stay connected in the times we weren’t tightly intertwined. It was blissful, but even more enjoyable was seeing Noah’s sleepy grin and mussed up hair first thing in the morning. He walked to the window like a zombie, stepping over the sill and dropping to the ground like it was a single step down a staircase rather than the length of a house.
I did feel a little guilty about making him leave so sneakily in the morning, but there was no way I could be so open with my dad about having him as an overnight guest.
Things would be a lot less complicated if I had my own place.
The more I thought about it, the more I warmed up to the idea. I could get a small apartment in town, closer to both campus and work. I had the job at Wilson’s and my mom had left me almost everything she had, so money wasn’t an issue. I initially moved to Montana to live with my dad, it was under the advisement of my uncle with the shared hope that my father and I would reconnect. Unfortunately, he was always away on work trips, and when he was home he was so tired we only shared fleeting moments. It was taking longer than expected to get the relationship I’d hoped for. There were too many promises unfulfilled. Maybe it was just time to give up.
I thought about it throughout my shift. I wondered what my dad would say if I even attempted to bring it up. Would he be offended? Or relieved? If we weren’t living under the same roof, would we have any relationship at all?
A ping from my phone broke my train of thought. I glanced at the screen, expecting it to be a typical text from Mark, like asking how bad our coworker Meryl smelled of mothballs today, but I read a different name instead.
“Hey!” Tristan messaged. I froze in shock. I hadn’t spoken to Tristan since I left the beach. He had been a good friend to me, but there had been small moments of awkwardness since he initially met me under the false impression that my friends were going to set us up.
An ellipsis appeared on the screen, letting me know he was typing some more. I waited with baited breath, still unsure of how to play the situation.
“How’s Montana? Sorry I’ve neglected to reach out, things have been kind of crazy. Haven’t even seen much of Wes or Mollie. I miss us all being together!”
I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t just that he missed me, he missed everyone. We were just friends in his eyes, and it wasn’t fair to him for me to assume he felt otherwise.
I typed a message back, allowing myself to feel excited to be talking to him again. It was a much welcome distraction from a boring shift. Our conversation kept me entertained up until it was time to clock out, and I was extremely grateful for that. By the end of our chat, I was even more convinced that things between us were safely platonic.
I discovered Noah was outside waiting for me when I walked out. He was leaning against his truck, his arms were crossed emphasizing his biceps, and he had a wry grin on his face.
“Who’s on your phone making you smile like that?” he asked, as I approached him.
“Hi,” I said lightly, throwing my arms around him when I reached him. He kissed me avidly as he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up to the tips of my toes.
“Hi,” he replied when he placed me back down, “ready for the tour?”
“Yeah, just let me take this off first,” I said, removing the green canvas vest that served as my uniform, “I can’t be seen walking around campus in this.”
“It’s a small town, a shíorghrá,” he said with a shake of his head, “I’m pretty sure everyone that goes to that school has seen you working at the grocery store.”
I shushed him and balled up the horrid garment in my fist before tossing it into his truck bed. It wasn’t a hard shot to make, but I celebrated it anyway with a triumphant fist pump.
He threw his head back and laughed. “Wow, nice,” he taunted, when his head came back down. “Unbelievable, even.”
“Your girl’s got skills,” I replied with a shrug.
His responding grin was beatific. “She does indeed,” he agreed, throwing an arm over my shoulder.
We crossed the street and walked our way over to one of the entrances into Bair’s campus. It was a small school, with brick buildings seemingly as old and beautiful as the mountains behind them, a stark contrast from the city school I attended in New York.
We reviewed my class schedule, and he showed me the different buildings my classes would be in. It didn’t take much time at all, and I realized it was naïve of me to think I could get lost.
“Thanks for doing this,” I said when he showed me the last room on the list, “I know it was kind of childish of me to feel anxious about it.”
“It’s not childish,” he insisted, “and I’m happy to do it. It feels good walking around my alma mater with you. I wish we’d been students together. I would have signed up for all your classes, carried your books…” his sentence wore off as he pretended to get lost in dreamy thought.
“You’d be too distracting, I would never get any work done,” I remarked.
That got him to chuckle. He took a moment to glance around the campus before turning his gaze to me with a small smile. “You want to get some ice cream from the Commons?”
“That sounds lovely,” I approved.
He kissed my hand before intertwining it with his. As we slowly made our way over to the Campus Center building, I suddenly noticed he had a dopey grin on his face.
“What is it?” I asked when my impatience got the best of me.
He glanced at me with a quick side-eye. “It’s a little embarrassing,” he said apprehensively, “so before I tell you, do you promise not to laugh at me?”
“Cross my heart,” I insisted, miming the letter X on my chest for emphasis.
He inhaled deeply. “When I went to school here, I didn’t think about romantic things often. It had just been so long since someone in the clan Arrowed, seemed like a waste of time to daydream,” he started, “However, in the rare moments that I allowed myself to believe in the magic, I would fantasize about what it would be like to have that person in my life… what we would do together. I always saw couples on campus going to get ice cream. It was such a simple thing to do, but I was envious of it. I wanted that person to get ice cream with… and now I have you, and we’re doing it! So, long story short: I’m really happy.”
I stopped walking and he looked at me with an embarrassed half smile, raising a shoulder.
“That’s so cute!” I squealed, taking his face in my hands.
He laughed, embarrassed at himself, as I covered him with kisses. “It’s not cute, it’s… whatever,” he said dismissively.
“It’s not ‘whatever’ to me,” I insisted, “I’m really happy we’re getting ice cream, too.”
Unfortunately, for some backwards reason, the ice cream shop was closed on a summer weekend.
“No,” I groaned, pulling as hard as I could on the locked doors.
“Easy there,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder, “Relax. It’s okay!”
“No,” I disagreed, grumpily, “We’re getting ice cream.”
“I love that it’s important to you now, too,” he said with a laugh, “but we can get ice cream another time. I always pictured it as a study break, anyway.”
I stopped pulling on the doors, not completely pacified.
“Okay,” I said, making a sudden decision. I grabbed his hand and walked with purposeful strides. “Come with me!”
“What are we doing now?” he asked, humor in his voice.
“Fulfilling one of my fantasies.”
➹➹➹
Noah
“Uh, what?” I managed to stammer out as I allowed her to keep pulling me toward some unknown destination. I was trying to keep my beating heart at a steady pace but just hearing the word ‘fantasy’ come out of Sophie’s mouth had sent my heart rate into a tailspin.
She continued to reveal nothing, shutting down every question of mine with a quick shush until we were standing directly in front of the entrance to the town’s public library.
“Your fantasy is reading?” I asked, fighting to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“Yes,” she said, her voice solemn as she slowly nodded, “We are going to read some books.”
“Seriously?” I asked, looking down at her in surprise.
She burst into laughter, “No, dork!”
Without any more explanation, she yanked on my arm once more and pulled me into the library. The moment we had stepped inside I was reminded of the first time we had been here, having our first real conversation. I had followed her around the aisles, trying to flirt with her with little success. She’d shut down every advance.
“So,” she said softly, taking my hand and walking us down the center aisle, “Do you remember what book you said you needed to get? The first day we really hung out?”
“James Allen’s,” I responded immediately, keeping my voice low as I glanced around at the other people. I didn’t want anyone to overhear, “It was the book you were reading when I Arrowed on you. I wanted you to know that I noticed.”
“I noticed you noticed,” she quipped, fighting a smile as we continued our walk.
We were moving farther from the more populated areas, to the darker, emptier aisles towards the back of the library. The more we immersed ourselves into privacy, the more my heart started to race. What was this girl up to?
“I know I tried to play it cool during our conversation, but I was really taken by the idea that you had clung to such a small detail about me. It made me feel acknowledged.”
“And yet you rolled your eyes at every flirty thing I said to you,” I recalled, as she suddenly pulled me down an aisle. Our path zig-zagged as we made our way further down.
“Well that was out of self-preservation,” she said dismissively, as she glanced around us, “I didn’t know you weren’t going to reject me — “
“I was practically drooling” —
“I didn’t see it that way, okay?” she said, turning to slap me lightly on the chest, “Don’t interrupt!” She paused our walk in an aisle completely empty and in the shadows, positioning me square in front of her
“Sorry.” I could scarcely breathe trying to discern what she had planned.
“As I was saying, now that I know the things I know… I can do what I wanted to do that first day in this library.”
Suddenly her hands were on my shoulders and she pushed me against the shelf. I fought to swallow the excited lump that had grown in my throat, but before I could even take a breath her mouth was on mine.
I couldn’t contain the groan that escaped me as she pulled me down to her, hitching a leg around my hip. Her fingers raked through my hair, scratching the back of my neck and sending chills down my spine. My heart rate was beating in my ears and it felt like my intestines were on fire. The Arrow filled me with passion on its own, but when Sophie was feeling impassioned it was gunpowder to the fire inside me.
I flipped us around, grabbing her waist and pulling her up to wrap her legs around me. I leaned into her, moving my mouth down her neck and relishing the sound of her panted breaths. I couldn’t believe we were doing this, here. Sophie was always so reserved when it came to public displays of affection, and yet here we were, at total risk of being caught.
I also couldn’t believe that this had been a possibility on that first day. Why the hell hadn’t we done this since Day One?!
I ground my hips into her, my mouth devouring her neck. I bit into her skin softly and she gasped, gripping my face and pulling my mouth back to hers in fervor. It felt like my ears were ringing, warning me that this couldn’t go on for much longer before there was no turning back. This wasn’t the right place or the time, but gosh, did it feel so good that with every passing second my ability to stop was getting weaker and weaker.
“This is what you wanted to do?” I murmured against her mouth, my voice raspy.
“Yes,” she gasped.
Her response sent a jolt through me. We were in very dangerous territory now, and not just because of the physical situation that was developing. To hear and feel her desire for me was like a drug. I couldn’t get enough; I didn’t want to stop—
“AHEM,” a loud cough interrupted us.
Immediately we broke apart. I turned my back to the source of the sound to readjust and recuperate. I was practically seeing spots I was so overworked. I had to lean a hand on the shelf to keep my knees from giving out. Surprisingly, I wasn’t mad at the interruption, I was almost grateful.
“S-sorry,” Sophie whispered to whoever disturbed us.
I could see the pure red color of her cheeks out of the corner of my eye. I was unsure whether the person had left until suddenly, Sophie had her entire head hidden on the shelf in a space between books, hiding from embarrassment. Her face was entirely concealed, but her groaning was audible. Had there been more room on the shelf, she might have climbed into the darkness completely. I looked down at her feet, seeing she was on her tiptoes—her physical tell for being embarrassed.
I hesitated to tap her shoulder. Was she mad at me?
“Sophie, if someone sees you with your head between the books like that, they’d be even more alarmed than after what they saw just now.”
She pulled her head out, her face still red. Her eyes were wide and misty in horror.
“How can you make a joke!” she scolded, her voice hushed in a whisper.
I tried not to laugh. “It looked like you were putting your head in a vice,” I whispered back, my brows furrowed in incredulity.
She ignored me with a vehement shake of her head. She placed her hands on the side of her face and pushed, squishing her cheeks together in an agonized groan as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
This time I couldn’t hold back my laughter. She was just too adorable.
“I want to die, I want to die,” she whispered, bouncing a little.
Immediately, my laughter stopped. “Don’t say that,” I whispered back, pulling her hands from her face and kissing her fingertips, “It’s fine. I’m sure they’ve forgotten it already.”
“I will never forget this,” she vowed, her tone getting serious, “For the rest of my life I will never enter a library or see a book without thinking about what we’ve done here today.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, taking a thoughtful step toward her, “Me neither.”
“Get away from me,” she hissed, shoving me away. Her words were harsh but she was fighting an amused grin on her face. I bit back a smile and reached to place a hand on her hip, and she slapped it away with a quiet laugh. “You’re a bad influence on me, I think,” she said, raising a finger to my face in accusation.
I bit the tip playfully. “As long as you’re only bad with me,” I clarified.
She rolled her eyes and shoved me aside, stalking off in such a speed walk I had to make ample use of my long-legged-stride to catch up with her. She didn’t say anything as made our way out of the library and down the street to the truck. I opened the door for her politely and she got in with a huff, still giving me the silent treatment.
I played along, quietly getting into the driver’s seat and heading out on the road. Finally, when I could stand the silence no longer, I broke, “Well… was it everything you imagined, at least?”
“Apart from the ending,” she said quietly, “Better, actually.”
Chapter Four
Sophia
I waited at the kitchen table with my hands clasped together. I wanted to discuss my idea of moving out with my dad, and I was getting restless during the wait for him to get home. In some ways, I did feel too young to be truly living on my own. On the other hand, I rarely saw my father around the house because he was always going on long business trips, so essentially I was already living on my own. Tristan had encouraged me to at least have a conversation with my dad about it. He made a good point: a simple test of the waters couldn’t hurt.
My dad came in, hanging up his coat in the foyer closet with a loud sigh. He was always so tired, so overworked. I used to feel sorry for him any time I heard one of those sighs, until I realized that it was a personal choice of his to work as much as he did.
“Hey Dad, how was work?” I asked conversationally as he came into the kitchen.
“The usual,” he said, heading straight to the fridge.
“Nice,” I replied, not sure what else to say.
“How was your day? Did you have a shift at the grocery store?” he asked as he peered inside the fridge.
“I did. It was boring.”
“How long until you start school? Do you have everything you need?”
“The 5th, and I bought all my books last week.” It was uncanny how a conversation with my father felt more like a stiff job interview.
“I’m going to be going out of town starting Monday for a couple of weeks, so unfortunately I won’t be here for your first day. If there’s any other school supplies you need, I can leave a credit card for you.”
“I appreciate that, Dad, but the shopping I have left to do won’t be too crazy,” I said, “I’m pretty much all set.”
He set his fork down thoughtfully. “You are, aren’t you?”
A heavy silence followed, and I figured it was the perfect moment. I inhaled quickly. “I wanted to get your opinion on something.”
“What is it?”
“I was thinking it might be time for me to get a place of my own,” I hastened to finish my prepared speech, “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been grateful to have spent my first few months here, I just figure it might be nice to get a place closer to campus and work.”
