Chapter 166: Chapter 176

Chapter 0176 me.”1 “Not bad,” he said, catching his breath for a moment before standing and holding his hand out to me. “I think we can call it a day now.”

Nodding, I took his hand-he hauled me to my feet with little effort, practically lifting me off the ground entirely as he did so.

“Thanks. That was...” I paused, watching as he turned to gather his things. “That was a good session,” I finally finished.

Noah glanced at me over his shoulder. “You really mean that?”

I nodded again, the tips of my ears reddening slightly. It really had been surprisingly good-he had been amazingly patient, far more than I had ever seen him before. We had spent most of the session on the floor, with Noah teaching me how to get out of various holds. More grappling than kicks and punches, and I had finished unscathed.

“Yeah,” I replied, “I do,”

Noah stiffened for a moment, and I caught his gaze in the mirror on the opposite wall, Before I could decipher what was going on behind those green eyes of his, he straightened and began heading for the door.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go have a protein smoothie.”

A few minutes later, we found ourselves in the kitchen-I was seated at the kitchen counter and Noah was rummaging through the cupboards for the fixings of a protein shake.

“You should have one every day, you know,” he said as he pulled out a container of protein powder, a carton of milk, and a bag of frozen fruit. “Especially if you’re trying to gain weight.”

I pursed my lips and looked down at myself; I was gaining weight slowly but surely, but I still had a long way to go before I looked like my old self again. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, watching as Noah dumped the ingredients into the blender.

When he was finished, he poured the smoothie into a glass and slid it over to me-but there was only enough for one serving.

“You’re not having any?” I asked, noticing how he was already rinsing out the blender.

He shrugged. “We’re all out of protein powder. I’ll eat later.”

“No.” I frowned, jumping down from my stool, and strode over to the drawer. As I pulled out two straws and thrust them into the glass, Noah blinked at me warlly. “Let’s share.”

“But-

“I won’t be able to finish all of this by myself anyway,” I insisted, taking my seat again and gesturing to the t next to me. “Help me out.”

seat Noah gaped at me for a moment, clearly trying to decide whether to follow my orders or not. When I shot him a warning glare, however, he huffed and took his seat. I gestured to the glass as I sipped and he cautiously leaned forward, sipping himself.

For a few minutes, the kitchen was blissfully silent as we drank, I couldn’t deny the heat that rose to my checks, though, nor the occasional brush of our knees beneath the counter. I didn’t pull back rinhi muun +25 BONUS Chapter 0176 and neither did he-although his face remained impassive, leading me to wonder what was going on behind those eyes of his.

But then, suddenly, that changed. It happened just as we both leaned forward at the same time: our noses bumped. Hard.

Noah pulled back so abruptly that it was almost as if he had been burned. I pulled back, too, rubbing my nose as an involuntary giggle escaped my lips. “Sorry,” muttered.

“I have to go.”

Before I could even ask where he was going. Noah was suddenly on his feet. The last I saw of him before he swept out of the room in a flurry was his face turning the brightest shade of red I had ever seen...

And an undeniable tent in the crotch of his pants.