36. Noah

36

NOAH

I nearly crapped my pants when Lexi first dragged me into her kitchen to talk with her dad. I'd always been afraid of the man but walking into the house holding his daughter's hand was probably the scariest thing I'd ever done in my life.

"Dad, can we talk to you?" Lexi asked.

I didn't miss the grimace on Mr. Stevens' face when he saw me, but he smoothed his expression and said, "Sure."

My legs wobbled as we took the two seats across from him.

"In honor of being upfront and transparent in everything I do, I wanted you to know that I didn't go to get the mail. I went to get Noah."

Mr. Stevens' eyes narrowed. "Sneaking around again already? "

Lexi smiled, and I had no idea how she was so calm right now. I was practically shaking in my snow boots.

"Well, I wanted to find out if he was going to dump me or not first." She shot me a quick smile.

I give her hand a brief squeeze then addressed her dad. "I promise I have the best intentions where your daughter is concerned. And I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I just wanted to start off by asking for your forgiveness."

I had been ready to sputter all kinds of apologies that I'd practiced over the past two days, but Mr. Stevens nodded and said, "It's okay, Noah. And I'm sorry for my behavior the other night. I've had time to cool down, and your dad called me again last night to give me all of the facts."

"He did?" I asked.

He nodded. "I was too quick to judge and I'm sorry for that. It seems that I have not quite reached perfection yet, either."

A small laugh escaped Lexi's lips. She covered her mouth with her hand. I was worried he'd get mad at her for being disrespectful or something, but when I glanced at him, his eyes crinkled at the corners—he was indeed joking.

"Does that mean I have permission to spend time with Noah again?" Lexi asked.

My heart pounded as I waited for Mr. Stevens’ answer. I hadn't really expected her to just come out and ask right here and now—I figured we'd slow our way into it. But apparently, Lexi was the kind of girl to jump in with both feet and keep running.

"You can see each other only during school hours for the next week. Once you have finished your service to Mrs. Vincenzo, we'll take things slowly."

"Can Noah drive me to school?"

Mr. Stevens shook his head. "You will ride with Easton to and from school for the next week."

"Are we ever going to be together without a chaperone?"

"Once you've proven yourself trustworthy again, then most likely yes."

Lexi slumped back in her chair and groaned.

I cleared my throat. "I'm sure you have certain rules that will help us prove trustworthy again."

Mr. Stevens smiled and nodded. A smile was good, right? He'd probably been curating some sort of list for many years in preparation for a day like this.

He turned to Lexi with a stern expression. "My first rule is that Noah is not allowed inside our house unless either Easton or myself are home."

Lexi and I both nodded obediently. He raised a second finger in the air. "The next rule is that you, Noah, will, under no circumstances, ever enter her bedroom. And if you ever defile my daughter in any way, I will not hesitate to turn you in to the police. You're eighteen and Lexi is still a minor, so I hope I'm not being stupid in allowing this in the first place."

I gulped and felt the blood drain from my face. "I completely understand. I wouldn't want to do that to Lexi anyway." He was not messing around.

He raised his eyebrows. "That's good to hear, son."

He then told us about her curfew and other embarrassing things, like how there would be no kissing in cars or while lying down.

Once he was done, he looked at me with a gaze that made me think he might somehow be able to see into my brain. "Do you think you can abide by those rules?"

"Yes,” I said. “Those sound very reasonable."

Lexi reached for my hand under the table. "I'm kind of mortified right now. But yes, I'll follow those rules."

Her dad smiled, appeased. "Great, because believe it or not, I'm kind of looking forward to paying for you to go to Yale."

"Are you sure you're still interested in dating me after all of that?" Lexi followed me out onto the front porch after our awkward conversation with her dad.

I rubbed behind my neck. "I don't know. That's a lot of rules. "

Her eyes went wide before she stared down at her shoes. "I understand. My dad is pretty paranoid."

I lifted her chin in my hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes. "I was just joking, Lexi. Do I like all those rules? No." I most definitely didn't like them all. "But do I understand them? Yes."

"I really do understand if you want to back out now. I mean, I probably wouldn't want to worry about so many rules, and I can't believe my dad threatened to call the police on you if something were to happen. Which it's not. Not that you would even want it to in the first place." She was speaking so quickly I could barely understand her.

I put my finger on her lips to quiet her down. "Lexi. It's okay. I want to date you. Your dad could add another ten rules to the list, and I would still want to be with you."

She narrowed her eyes like she wasn't sure she believed me. "But it might be way easier with someone else..."

I laughed. "Stop trying to talk me out of it, Lexi. You're stuck with me. I don't want to be with anyone else. As crazy as it may seem to anyone on the outside, I kind of really dig the whole nerdy vibe you've got going on."

"You do?" she asked.

I smiled and stepped closer. "I totally do."

"Good." She smiled back.

"Now get over here and give me a kiss before I go home. It sounds like this might be our last moment alone for a while."

She closed the gap between us, and I gave her a kiss that told her just how much I wanted to stick around with her.