Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits, #1.5)(105)

Instead of telling me to chill out, he places a hand on the small of my back, leans down and whispers, “Let’s go see something else.”

I nod and with a gentle nudge, Noah guides us through the throngs of people. I smooth down my blue dress and berate myself for the hundredth time for wearing something that rides up when I walk.

“Stop it,” Noah breathes into my ear, and the fine hairs along the nape of my neck deliciously stand on end. “You look great.”

“You’re fine if my butt hangs out.”

Noah chuckles. “Not if other people can see it. And since you brought it up, there’s a broom closet to the left...”

He trails off, and I imagine all of the sweet, sweet naughty things Noah and I could do in a small, private space. For three point one seconds, I consider it. My nerves were shot fifteen minutes into this showing. That was when the first person approached me and told me they loved my work.

Hearing something like that—it’s comparable to being drunk on a high wire. It’s an overwhelming high, and I’m learning I don’t handle overwhelmed well. It sort of makes everything on the inside feel stretched while the smile on the outside becomes bigger.

But one look at Noah, and the sounds and chaos fade away. He’s my secret weapon tonight. The reason I haven’t run screaming from the building. I wish I wasn’t going to be away from him so much this coming year.

“Outside?” Noah jacks his thumb to a door leading to a patio, and I immediately turn right, cutting off a waiter with a tray full of drinks.

I inhale deeply the moment the cool evening air nips at the exposed skin on my arms. The scars have received a few pointed stares, but for the first time in my life I’ve felt nothing about it. I can’t change my scars any more than I can change the color of my eyes. They’re a part of me. It’s who I am, and I like the person I’ve become.

“You cold?” Noah rubs his hands up and down my arms.

I shiver, not from the cold, but from the heat of his palms on my skin. It’s like a flick of a switch and the attraction awakens. “Not when you’re around.”

He cocks his head to the brick wall behind me. “You know, I’ve got a thing about backing you up against walls. It’d be a shame to let that wall go to waste.”

I laugh, and as I start to wind my arms around his neck, I remember Meredith. The high crashes. Meredith and Hunter were arguing. They mentioned me and Meredith and the spot for the program, but... “What happened between Meredith and Hunter?”

Noah rolls his shoulders, attempting to ease the tension. Oh, crap. This is going to be bad.

“Before I tell you this, I want you to know that it’s okay to stay. You earned everything that’s happening to you, but I want you to be prepared for the fallout.”

“Now you’re scaring me.”

“Hunter’s pushing off Meredith’s spot in the program for a year. That’s how he created a space for you.”

My intestines cramp. I had no idea I was stealing anyone’s place, much less Meredith’s. “This is awful. She left her home over this. Her family practically kicked her out.” Panic causes adrenaline to rush in my veins. “Noah, I don’t think she has anywhere else to go.”

Noah cups my face and inches it up so that I’m staring straight into his eyes. “This does not diminish what you’ve worked for. No one can fault you for choices Hunter makes. You didn’t know that you were bumping Meredith out when you accepted, and you still wouldn’t if I hadn’t told you.”

“Until I started the program.” Then plenty of people would have been more than happy to gossip about it, hence why Noah mentioned a fallout. He’s preparing me for the impending rumors.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, Echo. Find Meredith. Make peace with her then take the spot and hold your head high.”

I open my mouth to argue, but the patio door opens. With one glance, my heart jumps to my throat, inhibiting my ability to breathe. Going rigid, Noah wraps an arm around my waist and brings me closer to him.

“Your call on this,” he says so only I can hear.

I nod, because I can’t talk.

“Hello, Echo,” Mom says as she releases the door from her grasp and steps into the night. She’s wearing a form-fitting red dress that spills out near her ankles. Sort of like she was a sparkly mermaid. Her hair is a blazing red and just as curly as mine, but she wears it up, and I wore mine down.

I’m not my mom. My choices are different.

“Hi.” It comes out garbled, and I clear my throat to try again. “Hi.”

“You look beautiful tonight,” Mom offers softly. “And may I ask who your friend is?”

“This...” Can’t seem to think or talk. “This...ah...is Noah. He’s my boyfriend.”

Mom surveys him like he’s one of the paintings in the gallery, and I can’t tell if she likes what she sees. “I’m Cassie, Echo’s mother. It’s nice to meet you.”

I blow out a long stream of air. I can imagine the two million replies Noah would prefer to give her, and I’d bet my brother’s car that most of them begin with a word that starts with the letter f.

“Echo said you would be here,” Noah says.

Oh, Noah, I could kiss you. No bad words. No telling her she’s the antichrist. I don’t kiss him, but I do peek up at him in appreciation. It’s lost on him as his focus remains on my mother.