Sylvan

Chapter 6

"Human games?" I repeated in my head, puzzled, but didn't question him. Noah looked seconds away from snapping, and I didn't want to be the one who push him.

We crossed the living room and it wasn't until we started ascending stairs that I decided to speak. "Where are we going?"

"Away from crowd," he gritted.

I didn't say further and let him guide us. I wanted to get away from the crowd too. I had never mingled with any of the people present here and my encounter with Jason's friends left a bad taste in my mouth to even try.

Noah pulled us into a room upstairs, and before I could blink I was trapped between him and the slammed shut door.

My breath hitched and stomach fluttered uncontrollably. He was so close. His hands were on either side of my head, keeping his body inches away from mine. Our faces almost touched. He smelled of whiskey, expensive cologne and very addictive musky scent that only belonged to him.

"So tell me Martin why some stupid jock managed to bring you here but not me?!" He hissed, making me realize now wasn't the time to admire him.

"B-because he asked me," I replied and cringed how tiny my voice came out.

"He asked you?" His brows knitted further.

I straightened my spine and finally recovered to meet his angry gaze head on. "Yeah. He asked me and wasn't a jerk about it. Unlike someone else." I jutted my chin which was a wrong move because our noses brushed.

His nostrils flared and pupils dilated. His eyes dropped on my lips and I almost expected him to close the remaining distance between us. But suddenly he pulled away, leaving the cold empty air before me.

"So I'm a jerk." Noah scoffed, now standing few feet away. "If Jason is such a nice guy then why did he let his friends talk to you like that?"

I didn't have the answer. Jason's silence disappointed me too. But more than that I was disappointed in myself. I didn't have the guts to stand up for myself. I was tongue tied, cowardly looking for a way out, as they put me down. Their comments about my family and my weight hurt. They clawed at my biggest insecurities.

"Don't fret over it. You're not any of those things they were insinuating," Noah said, his face softening as he studied me. It seemed I wasn't good at hiding my thoughts. Or maybe he was just good at reading me. "Abigail and her bunch are bitches to say that kind of shit to you."

"Well, I am poor. And fat," my mouth moved before I could stop.

Noah shook his head. "You're perfect."

My heart skipped a beat.

He didn't flinch. His intense green eyes watched me, prodding me to spill every deep embarrassing thing that went inside my mind. And I wanted to. There was some connection that pulled me to him, made me trust him with all my secrets.

A knock from behind me broke whatever that held us. I stepped away from the door and opened it. Silas's smiling face greeted us.

"I hope I'm not disturbing anything," he said and entered inside without any reservation. I noticed a bottle of gin and liqueur in each of his hand as he strutted to a glass cabinet on the other side of room.

"What are you doing here?" Noah asked him brusquely.

"I thought why stay downstairs when my friends are here." He kept the bottles on a side table before rummaging through the cabinet and pulling out three glasses. "Besides real party is going to be here."

"Leave."

"Don't be a kill joy Sylvan. Elijah and Gordon already left me. Now not you and Giselle too." He threw a teasing smirk. He walked to me, took the fruit punch out of my hand- that I had forgotten about- and replaced it with a glass.