The Dealers

Chapter 14 - Noah

Things were not going according to plan and I was basically flying in the dark with Lena. As smoothly as I wanted dinner to go, we pretty much argued the entire time. I wasn't trying to be controlling but she had to know how much it bugged me that she was going to be with Jacob.

The fact remained that in the black and white world she lived in, Lena and I weren't together and I had no say in what she did. Regardless, I was struggling to stay in my lane and keep my opinions to myself. When she told me that she was going to spend time with Jacob the following day, I almost jumped out of my chair at dinner.

Still, she gave me the benefit of the doubt and invited me to her place for wine. No matter how many times I screwed up, she still gave me chance after chance. In a more comfortable setting then, we were getting close on her couch and it took every ounce of control for me not to make a move.

I told myself that when she was ready, she would initiate being physical. I just had to sit back and control my own hormones in the meantime. With every move I made closer to her, she responded. Her body reacted to mine and she was so tempting.

"We should watch a movie." I said to her as she bit her lip at me with frustrated angst on her face.

Pulling back with slight confusion, Lena looked at me with concern and I smirked at her. The last thing I wanted to do with her was watch a movie but I was being a gentleman and needed to occupy myself with something else.

"A movie?" Lena asked as if she were slightly offended.

Still, I didn't want to push things too fast. It was already tempting being at her place alone with a bottle of wine. The last time we were at that crossroads in the back of her truck at the lookout, she hit the gas and then the brakes because she was conflicted. I wasn't sure if anything had changed since then but, I needed to make sure that she knew what she wanted first.

"Why not?" I asked her, half-jokingly.

Reluctantly, Lena slid away from me and picked up the T.V remote. Flipping through some apps on the screen, she found the horror category and we unanimously decided on something to watch.

"Better?" She teased as the sass returned to her voice.

I nodded obnoxiously but it was somewhat comical. Eventually, we genuinely did settle down on the couch to watch the movie.

"Favorite genre?" I asked her as she began scooting closer to me and eventually rested against me as we zoned out on the T.V.

"Definitely horror." She shrugged. "You?"

"It's a tie between horror and comedy." I admitted. "But, I don't get a lot of time to watch movies and it mostly depends on what mood I'm in."

"I get that." She yawned.

"We can pick this up another time." I assured her as I examined her face for signs of exhaustion but she only looked a little sleepy—no doubt from the wine.

"No way." She smiled at me through heavy eyelids. "Besides, you drank as much as I did and you can't drive."

"I can drive but I shouldn't drive." I explained but she just ignored me as I felt her breath grow heavier beside me.

"Either way," she yawned again, "you should stay here. See, the couch is comfy."

There was no doubt that I could easily drift off beside her for the night but staying over was not something that I did. Falling asleep in the back of her truck was one thing but staying overnight at her house, was something else entirely.

My own exhaustion weighed down on me as Lena promised me that she was okay with me staying over. The drive back to the hotel wasn't too far and it was unlikely that I'd encounter anyone else on the roads around there at that time but still, I didn't want to be the asshat driving impaired.