Two Weeks to Fall in Love

20. Two Weeks to Accept the Apology

Dazed and confused. That's exactly what I was feeling as I stared at Noah Archer. Who was, apparently without a care in the world, smiling pleasantly at my mom. I could see their lips moving but somehow the words sounded like a jumbled blur, my heart speeding up uncomfortably.

Then they both turned and stared at me, the initial questioning gaze on Mom's face turning into one of concern.

"Skyler, honey?"

The words sounded like they were coming at me through a tunnel. I held my breath for a few short moments, inhaled and nodded.

"Yes, uh, yes?" I stammered out.

"I said that dinner will be done in about an hour."

"Oh, ah, yes, yes, great." Swallowing hard I cast a look at Noah who had one amused eyebrow raised. This little shit. Threw me to the lions and now he was enjoying the mauling. "We'll go hang out upstairs until then."

"Okay, honey, have fun," she said but then stopped, narrowed her eyes and waved a finger in my face. "But not too much fun, okay?"

"Mom!" I shrieked, feeling intense heat climb up my neck and consume my face. "We will have the normal amount of fun." If by fun you consider making Noah regret the day he was born.

"Mhmm." She gave me one last look, and turned to smile at Public Enemy Number 1. "Hope you like casserole, Noah."

"I love casserole, Serena. I can't wait to try yours, I'm sure it will taste amazing." Another pearly white smile. Just one glance at how soft my mom's face went was enough to tell me she was already falling for his bullshit.

She turned around and left to the kitchen while mumbling, "What a polite boy..."

A freaking kiss-ass is what he was.

Noah chuckled, clearly having heard my mom's silent musings. I turned toward him and instantly wanted to punch that smile off his face. Just when I was starting to think he maybe wasn't so bad, he pulls this shit.

"You." I moved toward him and pulled on his shirt, bringing myself dangerously close into his personal space.

Unfortunately, that little action did not have the menacing effect I'd hoped for, in fact he towered over me.

Not to mention having his face that close to mine was only making the heat in my cheeks grow exponentially. Especially with that smile of his still in full effect. And those eyes, glistening with curiosity and something else I couldn't decipher. It wasn't until he licked his lips, and my anger started morphing into something of a different intensity, that I realized how truly, truly bad this decision had actually been.

I instantly let go of him and shook my head to clear it of his spell.

Moving toward the stairs, I hissed back at him. "Come with me."

My angry footsteps were a deep contrast to his calmer, casual ones. It stoked my anger again. This was out of line, even for someone like him. I purposefully didn't want Mom to be aware of his existence, and now tha Archer was out of the bag.

I flung my door open and made a little demonstrative gesture with my hands to usher him inside. As soon as he was in, I closed my door and swiveled to face him. Noah was glancing around my room, back turned to me.

"You," I said again, poking him in the back this time. He turned around, and I continued my little jab attack by poking him in the chest. "What the hell is your problem? Why would you come to someone's house announced? What were you-"

"I'm really sorry, Skyler."

That made me halt. I hated when people apologized right away when I wanted to yell at them. It was like a needle poking my little balloon of anger.