The Sway and Slide of Love

"You really think I'd do it with him?" Noelle called him out on exactly what was on his mind.

Hendrix's expression changed slightly. The car, which had been moving steadily forward, suddenly swerved sharply before screeching to an abrupt stop.

The abrupt motion jolted Noelle, causing her head to slam against the windshield with a loud thud. The pain was so intense that her vision blurred.

Once she recovered, her first instinct was to pound Hendrix's arm. "Why did you do that? That hurt!"

Hendrix didn't respond, letting her hit him as much as she wanted.

He even leaned over to carefully inspect Noelle's forehead to make sure there were no injuries before saying, "That's what happens when you start speaking nonsense."

"What are you talking about?"noveldrama

"You know damn well what you just said. What were you implying that you'd do with Dylan?"

Noelle laughed in exasperation. "When did I say I wanted to do anything with him? What are you even on about?"

As she spoke, she pushed his hand away.

"Isn't that what you meant earlier?"

"I was asking if you were worried that something would happen between us, not that I would do it!"

"So... did you do it with him before?" Hendrix finally couldn't hold back the question he had been meaning to ask.

Lately, things had been going well for him. His relationship with Rosie had improved so much that they even planned to attend Rosie's kindergarten open day together this Friday. With things looking up between them, the past no longer came up in conversation.

He had assumed life would continue this way. In fact, Dylan's name rarely crossed his mind anymore. But running into him today, coupled with the way Noelle and Dylan had looked at each other, suddenly brought back some unpleasant memories.

Dylan and Noelle had been together once. They had even planned to marry and had spent time alone together.

Being a man himself, Hendrix knew exactly how a man would act in that situation. After all, when it came to Noelle, he had never been one for restraint. What about Dylan? Did they...

No matter how hard he tried to ground himself in reason, Hendrix couldn't shake off the images from his mind when he recalled the expression on Dylan's face earlier.

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. Just as Noelle was

about to respond, he abruptly covered her mouth.

"Forget it. Don't say anything. It's all in the past now anyway."

His voice was strained, but more than that, there was a quiet resignation.

Only then did Noelle realize that this was what had been bothering him all along. She blinked and asked, "You really don't want to know?"

Hendrix still held his hand over her mouth. As she blinked, her lashes brushed lightly against the back of his hand, tickling him. And when she spoke, it felt like she was raining down kisses on his palm.

Hendrix froze. Before he could respond, Noelle pulled his hand away and said,

"Forget it. If you don't want to know, then I won't say anything."

Hendrix sat there motionless, his gaze fixed on her.

"Let's go home," Noelle added.

When Hendrix still didn't move, she frowned and urged, "How about I drive instead?"

"Tell me," Hendrix suddenly said.

"What?"

"The answer to that question earlier. I suddenly have an urge to know."