"Roni." He hesitated, not sure if he'd be opening a can a worms. In the last few days, he'd decided even if it hadn't been said, he and Roni were in a relationship. No matter what she said or how much she put off making it official, what was happening between them now was very real. He felt it every night when they said goodnight, and he knew she did too. There was no denying it, and like he'd told her before, if she had seen the picture of Rita wrapped around him, she deserved an explanation.
She was looking at him now a bit confused, but the nervous smile was still there. "What is it?"
"Did you, uh . . . Did you by chance see the picture Rita texted me this week?" The smile was gone instantly, and he knew then that she had. He hurried to her. "Why didn't you tell me? I would've explained."
She shook her head, avoiding his eyes, but he saw the pained look on her face, and he took her hand.
"Look, she jumped on my bike just as I was leaving Gio's uncle's house. She told Hector to take the picture, but that was it. Then she got off and I left."
He pulled her closer, and she finally looked at him. "You said you two don't have a relationship outside of the holidays."
"We don't," he said then added firmly, "and we don't during the holidays anymore either."
"Did you ask her to come see your fight?" She was angry. He could hear in her questions, see it in her glare, but he was glad. This meant she felt she had the right to be.
"No, I didn't. Is this why you've been so weird all week?" He caressed her face, and she closed her eyes at his touch, but she didn't answer. "You should've said something, Roni. When did you see it?"
"Sunday," she whispered, "when we were watching TV that night. I didn't mean to, it just popped up and—"
"Is that why you went to bed early? When you said you were suddenly feeling sick?"
She nodded, and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling like scum. "I'm sorry. But I swear nothing happened." He pulled away to look at her, suddenly worried. "You believe me, right?"
Thoughts of seeing the picture in her darkroom way back came to him. Just seeing her name in connection with another guy had turned his stomach and nothing had even happened between him and Roni at that point. Not only was this picture of him and Rita so much worse but the circumstances were totally different now.
He held his breath as he waited for her response.
"I know she's Gio's cousin and your friend, but I don't like her anymore."
Not exactly the answer he was expecting, but he understood completely. He'd keep Rita's comment about not having a problem with sharing to himself, but he knew that's where Roni's thinking was.
"I know we're not—"
"We are." Noah corrected her. "Maybe not officially, not until you're ready and you can take all the time you want, but right here," he tapped his heart, "I'm already in."
Roni smiled, and then her expression went serious again. "And she thinks we are right? So why is she still doing stuff like that?"
"I don't know, but I'll take care of it." His phone went off in his hand, and he glanced at it. It was Abel. "It won't happen again, not with her, not with anyone else. I promise." Before he'd check out Abel's text, which was probably just him wondering where he was at, Noah knew it was getting late, but there was something he needed to get clear with Roni first. "You do believe me, right?"
This was probably the biggest hurdle he had to get over with her. Everything else aside, he knew this was her biggest holdup, that he wasn't ready to be serious—wasn't ready to give up all other female attention because of his age—but he'd never felt so ready for anything in his life. The only attention, the only company he wanted now was hers. And he needed her to believe this.
She stared at him for a moment and then nodded, a faint smile lifting the corner of her lips. The relief was so overwhelming that before she could say anything, his lips were on hers. Noah kissed her long and deep like he had all week. He'd felt it all week, and he felt it now. This kissing only at night wasn't going to stand much longer. He wanted to be able to do this with her whenever and wherever he felt like it. Every time he kissed her now, he could feel her giving in more and more to the idea.
As excited as this made him, he finally had to stop kissing her when his phone buzzed in his hand again. "Gotta go," he whispered against her lips.
She licked her lips and crinkled her nose. "Is it okay to admit I'm even more nervous this time than the last?"
He smiled, hoping that was because she cared more about him now than before. Things definitely had changed a lot since then. "Yeah, it's okay. But don't worry. I'll be fine."
He kissed her one last time before reluctantly having to let go and got his things in the car.