Chapter 10—Something I Shouldn't Want

Noah's POV

There are moments you can forget.

And then there are moments that replay like they were carved into your brain.

Ava whispered "Maybe" when I asked if she'd been thinking about yesterday. Yeah. That one carved itself in deep.

I went back home after she rushed inside, pretending I wasn't one step away from losing every ounce of self-control I'd ever claimed to have. Jace and Tyler were still tossing the football around in my yard.

Tyler threw it at me. I didn't catch it.

It smacked me in the chest.

"DUDE," he groaned, "you've been useless for two days straight."

I ignored him. My eyes drifted toward the Collins' house like they had magnets attached.

Jace followed my gaze. "Yup. He's gone."

"Shut up," I muttered.

"No," Tyler said, "you shut up. We're observing. This is science."

I grabbed the ball and launched it down the field so hard he had to sprint after it.

"Classic denial," Jace said, nodding like a professor.

"What do you expect me to do?" I snapped. "She's Jacob's sister."

"That didn't stop you from catching her yesterday," Tyler called from the distance.

I pretended I didn't hear that.

But I'd felt something when she fell into me—something I shouldn't want, something I couldn't stop wanting.

The way her breath hitched... The way her fingers curled slightly into my shirt... The way she didn't step back until the last possible second...

I ran a hand over my face.

I was in trouble.

Real trouble.

Later, when the guys finally left, the quiet hit harder. Too much room for my brain to think. Too much room for the memory of her flushed cheeks and wide eyes.

I wandered inside, opened the fridge, then shut it without grabbing anything.

Food wasn't the thing I wanted.

And that was the problem.

I went to my room, leaned against the wall, and tried to breathe.

Stay away. That was the rule.

But Ava's "Maybe" kept replaying in my head like a dare.

A soft knock pulled me from my thoughts.

Before I could even answer, the door cracked open.

And Jacob walked in.

Perfect.

"Yo," he said, grabbing a soda from my mini fridge like he lived here. "Mom said you were acting weird today. What's up?"

"I'm fine," I lied.

He sat on my desk chair, spinning slightly. "Talk to me, man. You never act weird."

If only he knew.

He squinted at me. "This isn't about football, is it?"

"No."

"Then what?"

I froze. He followed my gaze—straight out the window toward Ava's room.

His shoulders tensed.

"No," Jacob said instantly. "Dude. No. Don't even tell me you're thinking about her."

I said nothing.

Which said everything.

Jacob stood so fast the chair rolled into the closet. "Bro! She's my SISTER."

I clenched my jaw. "I know."

"Then what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," I snapped. "Alright? I don't know. I'm trying."

Jacob stared at me like he'd never seen me before. "You promised years ago you'd never go there."

"I meant it then," I said quietly.

"Do you mean it now?"

Silence.

Long, dangerous silence.

Jacob's voice lowered. "Noah... you can't like her."

The thing was... I didn't just like her.

Not anymore.

But I swallowed it. Forced myself to nod.

"I won't do anything," I said.

It wasn't a promise. It was the closest lie I could manage.

Jacob narrowed his eyes, not fully believing me—but not ready to fight either.

He left without another word.

And I leaned my head back against the wall, exhaling sharply.

Because he was right.

I shouldn't want her.

But every time she looked at me—every time she stumbled into me, whispered to me, blushed around me--

I wanted her more.

And I had no idea how much longer I could pretend I don't.