Chapter 11—What I Wasn't Meant to Hear

Ava's POV

I wasn't eavesdropping.

I swear I wasn't.

I'd only gone downstairs to grab my phone charger, minding my own business, planning to avoid everyone and everything, especially feelings.

But then I heard Jacob's voice in the living room—tense.

"Noah, I'm serious. Don't screw this up."

I froze at the bottom step.

I know I shouldn't stay. I knew this was one of those moments where any normal person would walk away.

But then Noah answered, voice low, frustrated:

"I'm trying, Jacob."

Something in my stomach flipped.

I pressed my back against the wall, just close enough to hear without being seen.

"You promised me you wouldn't go near her," Jacob said sharply.

Her?

My chest tightened.

Noah exhaled loudly. "I know what I said."

"And?" Jacob pushed

A long silence. Too long.

Then--

"I can't help it."

My breath caught.

I actually had to cover my mouth with my hand to stop any sound from escaping.

My heart was beating so hard I swear they could hear it from the living room.

Jacob scoffed. "Bro, she's my sister. This isn't just some random girl."

"I KNOW." Noah's voice cracked with something I couldn't name. "Don't you think I've been trying? I didn't ask for this."

My vision blurred a little.

"I didn't ask to feel anything," he continued, quieter. "But I do."

I closed my eyes.

No. No, no, no—this couldn't be happening. He didn't mean me. He couldn't.

"And she's off-limits," Jacob said. "End of story."

Silence again.

Painful silence.

Then Noah's voice—soft, wrecked, honest:

"I know she is. That doesn't change anything."

My knees felt week.

I backed up the stairs before either of them could cathc me listening, heart thundering, lungs barely working. I made it into my room and shut the door quietly, leaning against it like I needed it to hold me up.

He meant me. He had to. Who else could he be talking about?

I pressed a trembling hand to my chest.

Noah felt something. Something real. Something he wasn't supposed to.

And suddenly the world felt too small, too hot, too full of everything I'd been trying not to admit.

A minute later, Lila FaceTimed me.

"Ava! I bought matching friendship bracelets—what's happening? You look like you saw a ghost."

I sat on my bed and whispered, "Lila... I heard Noah talking to Jacob."

Her eyes widened. "And?"

"And he said he's trying not to feel anything."

"For you??"

I swallowed. "For me."

She screamed so loudly I had to lower the volume.

"OH. MY. GOD. Ava, this is it! This is the moment in every romance where everything changes!"

I clutched my pillow. "I don't know what to do."

"Yes you do," she said gently. "You just don't want to admit it yet."

We talked until my pulse finally slowed—but the second I hung up, silence filled the room again.

And with it... the truth.

Noah had feelings.

Real ones.

Forbidden. Complicated. Dangerous.

And now that I knew?

There was no unknowing it.

Everything between us had changed.

Because Noah Carter wasn't just off-limits anymore. He was wanting me anyway.