Intimate Friends Read Online Free Page A

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    Was it Noah ?
    God, this could not be happening. He was her best friend. Her Best. Friend . How could she ruin that by sleeping with him? Why did she have to screw up the one decent relationship in her life?
    As she entered the building and rounded the corner to her office, she was both relieved and disappointed to see that the hallway was empty. She sighed heavily, and jammed her key in her office door. She was late, very late, so there was no time to try to analyse whether she was happy to avoid him or not. She dumped her purse, grabbed her papers and books, and scurried down the hall towards her classroom. One quick stop in the break room to refresh her coffee.
    Noah. Standing by the coffeepot. He knew she'd stop there if he didn't deliver a fresh cup to her office.
    “Noah,” she said dumbly, feeling the color rise to her cheeks. “Morning.”
    “Morning.” His voice was soft, and he looked wary. His glasses slipped down his nose, but he didn't even bother to push them up. “How are you feeling?”
    “Umm...like I was hit by a truck?” She brushed past him to grab the coffeepot off the counter. She filled her cup, sloshing a bit in her haste. He grabbed a paper towel and handed it to her, never wavering in his gaze. She wiped away the spill, and then took a deep, fortifying breath before facing the proverbial music.
    “Look, I know this is awkward. We can do a post-mortem after school, or maybe at lunch...no, no, wait, not lunch, I've got--”
    “A dentist's appointment,” he finished. She nodded, then closed her eyes briefly. This was just weird. The guy who made her come three times last night should not know this much about her oral hygiene.
    “I'm sorry,” she mumbled.
    “For what?”
    “I don't know.” She didn't know.
    “Emma,” he moved closer, and she felt her heart begin to flutter, from nerves, from embarrassment, from the memory of what they'd done the night before. He reached to brush her hair behind her ear. The touch of his fingers against her cheek sparked the memory of those same fingers, teasing her nipples, grazing down her ribcage, slipping between her legs, then reaching up to paint her mouth with her own slick wetness. Holy crap. She needed to go to class.
    “Noah, I've got to go. So do you. We're late.”
    He nodded slowly. “Okay.” He squeezed her shoulder gently, then leaned forward until his lips were almost touching her ear. “But for what it's worth...I'm not sorry.” And then he turned his head and kissed her. It was a dirty trick, right in the middle of the break room, where anyone could walk in. But she couldn't help kissing him back, smelling his scent, familiar as always, but now somehow new--it made her shiver. But when she finally leaned into him, to steady herself, to let him steady her, he wrapped his hands around her upper arms and moved her back, just an inch. Then he placed one final, close-mouthed kiss on her primed lips. “Have a nice class, Emma.” Then he turned and walked away. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Then opened and closed it again. Giving up, she crossed her arms, rubbing the skin that Noah had just touched. And she was ten minutes late for class.
    ****
    Noah slung his briefcase over his shoulder as he closed and locked his office door, happy to be leaving. It had been a long, tense day, but he was free this afternoon—no math club, no papers to grade, no after-school meetings. He couldn't wait to get to Emma's office, drag her away from whatever packing or organizing project she was no doubt enmeshed in, and talk. Really talk. He was going to tell her how he felt, tell her he loved her, beg her not to go to London, and then...well, worst case scenario, she freaked out and their friendship was over. But he couldn't go on like this. Last night wasn't supposed to happen, but it did, and dammit, he couldn't go back to being just friends now.
    As he approached her office, his steps faltered, and he stopped