Don't Bet On It

Chapter 16 - All Good Things Must Come To An End

KT Tunstall - Heal Over

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I swallowed hard, my eyes never leaving Rae's. Her stare was intense and I knew I was in for trouble, when Rae locks onto you and doesn't look away you know you're expecting  a lecture. Realising I'd been holding my breath the whole time we'd been staring at each other, I shook myself and breathed deeply. Blinking I looked down at my shoes and waited apprehensively for my friend to cross the road.

"Evie, we need to talk about this whole you and Noah thing." I looked up as Rae stood on the doorstep next to me, I knew this had been coming; ever since she'd taken me aside and warned me about Noah before I knew with the two of us growing closer she'd be on my case again.

"Let's go inside." I unlocked the front door and tossed my keys on the dresser in the hallway, my mum hated when I did it in case it scratched the antique, varnished wood. At this point my mum picking an argument over furniture was the least of my worries, I had an angry, worried best friend to deal with first. "My bedroom is probably better, nobody will disturb us then."

Rae followed me upstairs, as I climbed each step my pulse raced a little faster until I was on the verge of hyperventilation at my bedroom door. Shaking the tension from my body I sighed and turned to face my best friend, Rae closed the door and walked calmly over to my desk chair taking a seat. The calm before the storm, I couldn't help but think; she was not happy, not happy at all and I was in for the mother load of all rants.

"What the hell are you doing with Noah?" I opened my mouth to try and explain but Rae stood up and burst into full on rant mode right in front of my eyes. "You're falling for him and you're going to end up getting hurt and he's just going to prey on some other girl. I knew this would happen, I just knew it would happen. I should have stopped this earlier!"

"Hey stop!" I grabbed Rae's shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes, I'd never seen her this intense before she was shaking beneath my hands. Tears rimmed the bottom of her eyes as she stared back at me. "I'm not falling for him and I'm not going get hurt!" Even as I said the words I wasn't sure I believed them myself, it had been creeping up on me over the last week there were feelings there for Noah. I didn't want to admit, especially not to Rae who would go all psycho on me like this but I realised I didn't want to admit it to myself either. I was just another one of those girls that had fallen for Noah McCaskill's charms, become a victim of his chat up lines and addictive personality, surrendered to his sweet, soft lips. Uh-oh, this was not good!

"Admit it Evie, you are falling for him. I've seen the way you look at him, all gooey eyed like there's no one else as good as him; it's the same way I looked at him and every other girl who's fallen for his charms. He's an expert at getting girls to love him, he knows exactly what to say and do to get them falling at his feet weak at the knees with love fo him." I let go of Rae's shoulders and took her place in my desk chair, my body slumped as the reality hit me. I'd let the exact thing that I didn't want to happen start happening without a second thought; and the worst part was part of me wanted it to continue. I didn't want to lose all those intimate moments with just Noah and me, the secret kisses in classrooms, the whispered jokes between just the two of us, the fact he made me feel like the only girl in the world and that I could be beautiful, sexy, funny; someone who deserved his attention  and who he could really fall for. How could I have been so stupid.

"He's going to persuade you he feels the same way just to get in your pants, so he can win the bet. Then he'll dump you and break your heart and you'll. . ."

"Rae stop! I get it, alright, I get it." I sighed, I knew she was only trying to protect me from getting hurt but sometimes it felt like she was smothering me. "I'm not going to get hurt, I know how to protect myself. Yes I've let my guard down a little but it's locked tight from now on. Believe me." I tried to reassure Rae and myself, I needed to protect myself and my heart. Maybe it was time to get serious and put a little distance between myself and Noah, it had been fun and she would never forget those kisses but it was time to get away from the situation. I couldn't play him at his own game not without getting hurt, which only meant both of them would be losing.