Chapter 0152

Hannah

As Zoe thrust the hot-pink unicorn into my hands, my mouth fell open. I didn't know what to say or do—all I could manage was to stand there, blinking owlishly, and wonder whether I was imagining it.

“Hannah,” Noah suddenly said, nudging me with his elbow, “that was nice of Zoe, wasn’t it?”

With my tongue working uselessly in my mouth, I slowly looked up at Noah to see a satisfied smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. My face instantly turned red, and I looked back at Zoe, feeling utterly dumbfounded and embarrassed.

“Y—Yes,” I managed. “Thank you, Zoe. But why…?”

Zoe merely shrugged and stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. “I have to admit, I admire how you gave that toy to that kid earlier, even though you were the one who won it,” she said. “And I thought you deserved a new one for your trouble.”

For several long moments, I stood in silence, my eyes flickering between Zoe and the stuffed unicorn. Drake stood behind Zoe, watching with a bemused expression. Meanwhile, Noah continued to smirk at me, his arms folded across his chest.

“Well, um… Thank you,” I said, even though a part of me couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of trick to make me look bad and call me out for blatantly trying to hurt Zoe by giving her coveted plushie away. “I appreciate it, Zoe. But you didn’t have to.”

She simply shrugged again, already turning on her heel. “I wanted to.”

With that, Zoe marched over to a nearby food stand. As she fished a few bills out of her wallet to buy herself an Italian ice, I dug my fingers a little deeper into the soft fur of the toy unicorn. Its beady eyes seemed to stare up at me, mocking me as Noah and Drake moved to follow Zoe.

My face turned a deeper shade of red. Perhaps I had been a jerk for doing that with the stuffed animal; Zoe clearly wanted it, and I practically stole it from her. It wasn’t as though I had given the toy to that little girl out of the goodness of my heart, either. No—no matter how much I tried to deny it, I had really only given the stuffed animal to the kid to piss Zoe off.

And what did Zoe do in response? She went and bought me another stuffed animal, presumably with her own money, and had given it to me without expecting anything in return. Sure, maybe she was just trying to make me feel bad, but maybe I also deserved to feel bad.

“Hannah? Hannah!”

The sound of Drake’s voice pulled me out of my train of self-loathing, and I lifted my head to see him looking at me expectantly beside the Italian ice booth. My neck flushed, and I called out, “Yeah?”

“You want an Italian ice?”

I must have looked as red as a tomato when all their eyes turned toward me—Noah and Zoe already eating their ice, the food stand attendant looking bored, and Drake holding up a wad of money. All while I was still standing there, too stunned to even move, my fingers digging so deep into the soft unicorn that I thought I might accidentally rip a hole straight through it.

“Oh, uh… Sure,” I called out, my voice cracking beneath their gazes.

The parking lot was quiet as Noah and I made our way to the car, the only sounds those of the distant fairgrounds shutting down and our shoes clicking on the pavement. Noah’s car was one of a few left, the lot cast almost eerily in the amber glow of the streetlights. Drake and Zoe had long since left; Drake had insisted on driving her home, and I had agreed to leave with Noah. Right now, though, part of me wished I had just called an Uber.

I still had that damn pink unicorn clutched to my chest, my fingers still trembling slightly as I held it. Noah shot me a sidelong glance and another one of his infuriating smirks as we walked up to his car. He had been looking at me like that all night since Zoe had given it to me.

“Go on,” I groaned, pursing my lips without meeting his gaze. “Say it. I know you want…”

Noah let out a small huff of satisfaction. “On a scale of one to ten, how ashamed are you right now?”

“Ten.”

“Good,” he said with a shake of his head. “You should be.” He paused next to the car, turning to look at me down the bridge of his nose. “It’s not becoming to try and disguise your attempts to make someone feel bad with disingenuous acts of charity.”

I felt my face flush hot beneath his gaze, and I quickly looked away with a clenched jaw. We stood in silence for several long moments, my mind whirling to come up with some biting retort while Noah’s gaze bored holes into the side of my head.

Finally, when I realized that there was nothing I could say to make either of us feel better, I sighed and felt my shoulders slump.

“I know,” I muttered. “That was… cruel of me.”

I heard Noah inhale sharply through his nose, and when I looked up, he looked a bit bemused.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised,” I said, striding past him. “I know I fucked up. I’m not completely self-unaware.”

Noah watched me for a moment longer, saying nothing as I circled the car and tried to open the passenger door. It was still locked, the sound of the handle echoing in the quiet parking lot. I huffed softly and tapped my foot, waiting.

With a sigh, Noah finally circled around to my side. His broad frame leaned over me as he reached for the handle, his breath tickling my ear as he said, “Good. I’m… proud of you for recognizing that.”

And with that, he pulled the door open and gestured for me to climb in. I shot him one last withering glance before I did, and as I moved into my seat, I swore I felt the soft touch of his warm hand against my lower back. But it was gone just as quickly as it came, leading me to wonder if I had just imagined it.

It was nearly midnight by the time we arrived back at the mansion; Noah disappeared into the guest room without a word, apparently too tired to go back to Zoe’s place for the night. I stepped into my own room with a sigh and kicked off my shoes. Despite everything, my belly was still pleasantly full from eating a real meal for once. Still, I decided to take care in avoiding my reflection for the night, not wanting to ruin my bliss with the appearance of my stomach swelling. Before I got ready for bed, I walked over to the dresser and set the unicorn down gently. Goddess, it was ugly, and those eyes still seemed to mock me for what I had done… But it was nice of Zoe. And I had been a jerk after all.