wyatt saugis

*

“That would be ideal? Say less.” Donnie leaned in this time and kissed Noah, but there were real things needing to be discussed and Adonis didn’t want to just pretend like there wasn’t or try and breeze past it. His smile grew as she kept speaking and Donnie squeezed her hips with a chuckle, “Breathe, Noah. Alright? I want to do this with you, yeah of course, but my only caveat is that I don’t want to jump straight into a title just because of the pressure of what I’ve got going on. I don’t want to short cut us so I’d like to you know, take you out on a date and we can see what happens and hopefully, we’re doing something official.”

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She hummed and nodded her head just before he kissed her again. “Yeah, ideal.” They both knew it was only a matter of time before her thoughts started spinning. It was easier to get it out of the way earlier so they could enjoy the day ahead of them. His grip grounded her and she took a deep breath as he spoke. She was beyond relieved to hear that not only did he want her long term, but he wanted something real and to give them a good chance. She pulled him back to her so she could kiss him again. “We don’t have to call it anything while you’re doing this. I’m not worried about a title. Hopefully, we’re doing something official,” she agreed. “You do know this first date you take me on is going to have to be something mind-blowing though, right? If it’s months in the making? No pressure.”

*

“Say less, I’ll make sure to let you know when I’m thinking about your lips in one way or another.” It was a little bit of a challenge to concentrate with Noah’s fingers dragging along  his neck the way they were, but it was important so he made it happen. “Yeah, I feel you but I’m committed, stopping now isn’t really that much of an option for a few different reasons.” He nodded, “Yeah pretty much. tentatively, a couple of months and then we’re done with the option to see where we are after that. It’d be a waste of our time to do all of this and nothing comes of it you know? If we establish ourselves in the consciousness the way we want to then we’re done after that.”

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“If you can do it when I’m here and you can kiss me that would be ideal.” She nodded as he explained his situation to her. There was a lot about it that she didn’t like, of course. They finally crossed the line from friends to more than friends and they had to do it in secret while the rest of the world thought he was falling for one of the hottest women she’s ever seen. “I wouldn’t ask you to stop just because I finally spoke up about my feelings for you. Okay, a couple of months isn’t too bad. I can do this behind closed doors for a couple of months.” A thought occurred to her that she hadn’t considered yet. “Wait, do you want to do this with me for that long? I just realized I don’t know what you’re thinking about me-- us?”

*

“Nah, I don’t want to be anyone but Donnie right now, Karma doesn’t get to be this close to you.” Donnie’s smooth talk was indicative that he was relaxing into circumstances, “I might have , but now that I know you’ve been thinking about mine, I don’t have to feel all that self conscious about it.” There was something Donnie was finding deeply attractive about the way Noah was taking so well to this dynamic, honestly Donnie would think he would have had to pull her out of her shell, but he was happy to see that was hardly the case as made evidence  in how she kissed him again, “I’m with it. Alright so let me see. Basically when she and I are outside we’re supposed to act like a new couple, at first keeping it coy but in a month or so yeah, we’ll make it official but behind closed doors we’re just trying to be friends. It’s like acting almost, that’s what my PR person positioned it as.”

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Noah’s smile grew at the line. Donnie was a smooth talker but she’d never had it focused on her like this. It set butterflies off in her stomach like nothing she’d felt before. “Don’t feel self conscious about it. I like knowing you’ve been thinking about my lips.” She licked her lips and watched his. Her fingertips started to lightly drag along his neck as he explained things to her. “So as far as the world knows, you’re together. Holding hands and I’m guessing kissing and everything? I don’t love that part.” Her nose scrunched at the thought but she didn’t move away from him. “And it’s to help boost your names, right? Two big names dating makes their names even bigger? Is there a timeline in mind? Like, do you have an end point?”

“Real bold, Do what you have to do but karma might come for you and I won’t be able to really do anything to help that.” Donnie was talking shit, not at all concerned about if it made much sense, all focused on Noah and the way they were touching in a way that was completely foreign to them, “Then don’t stop, I can’t see it in me to complain.” He tugged at her hips for a moment, teasing and still getting used to the dynamic they’d found themselves in physically for the moment, Donnie being fairly physical in an intimate situation. “Okay, yeah I’m happy too. We can talk whenever you need. I’m thinking about a lot right now honestly. How those lips are sweeter than I always imagined, how to reassure you that I’m into when I need to, how the rest of the day is gonna go, but I’m good.”

“Karma’s coming for me, huh? And are you karma in this scenario? Because if you’re not but you’re already not trying to help me out of a bind anymore we might have something bigger to talk about.” Noah went right along with him just talking. It was unclear whether the words were processing through her brain at all or if she was just talking for the sake of talking to him more. Being this close to him was new. She thought she’d be awkward or timid but she was surprised to find how relaxed she felt in his arms. She tilted up her chin and caught his lips in another kiss. This one was slower and less impulsive but no less passionate. “So you’ve imagined my lips, hm? I believe that you’re into me now if that helps. As for the rest of the day... How about we do a lot more of this? But I also wouldn’t mind hearing about what I should expect going forward at some point. I get that it’s fake but it might help if you prep me on the details.” 

*

“Alright not too much on folding. I can handle a secret, but the crazy part is this shorty I thought only liked me as a friend only decided to tell me she’s into me because she thought I had a girlfriend now. I fold for you, you really gonna roast me for that?” The end of his words took the tone of daring her to confirm. He was attempting to keep things light but Noah was dragging out a more definitive reaction, leaving Donnie out there on the line a little. Finally she kissed him, and Donnie kept her in place, holding on to her by the hips, not rushing the action at all resulting in one hell of a first kiss, almost worth all of the wait and absolutely worth putting his secret on the line, with her at least, “Keep kissing me like that and I’ll think whatever you want me to.” The pads of Donnie’s thumbs drew circle’s into Noah’s hips, “You good?” He asked, genuine concern on his face for her, just because she was one of his best friends and he knew she was a deep thinker and wanted to make sure there were no regrets after what seemed like an impulse kiss.

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“I have to roast you a little for that, don’t I? Bold move on my part, huh? I didn’t know I had it in me.” The tension that had been building in her all day worked its way out in that kiss. Her hands held firm at the sides of Donnie’s neck as she shut out all of her thoughts and enjoyed the moment for all it was. She’d built it up to be a big possible moment for them but it turned out to be better than she imagined. “Don’t tempt me with a good time, Donnie. Now that I know what it feels like to kiss you it’s entirely possible I won’t stop.” She draped her arms around his neck as she nodded up at him. “I think so, yeah. My brain might need a little time to catch up to what’s happening but I’m happy. That’s all I care about right now.” Noah would think hard about this later and she’d probably need to talk to him about some details soon but she wanted to live in the moment for now. “What are you thinking about right now? Are you good?”

*

“Well you have the power to get me to spill a secret I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody so what would you call that, power of persuasion?” Donnie tried to move past the comment she’d made a moment before because Noah seemed to and he was essentially just following her lead and hoping it lead to somewhere good. “Yeah, you’re cute and yeah I think that there is. So what’s the move? If we do anything it can only be behind closed doors, between you and me.”

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“You weren’t supposed to tell anyone about that? And you folded that quickly? Pathetic. What’s it been, 12 hours?” She shook her head at him. She was trying to look disappointed but pretty sure she wouldn’t be winning any acting awards. Noah was struck by the realization that the ball was in her court. She wasn’t sure what the right move would be. There was a small nagging voice telling her she wouldn’t want to be somebody’s secret. But there was also a very big, very loud part of her wanted to say screw it and finally know what it felt like to kiss the guy she’d been thinking about kissing for months. “I’ve always thought sneaking around sounded kind of sexy, don’t you think?” Mind made up, Noah took the leap and closed the distance between them.

*

“Yeah clearly you do, but you know what I’m more than happy to help you practice, give you pointers.” Donnie was treading carefully, suddenly able to freely express for now anyway, thoughts and feelings that he’d a while ago resolved to suppress, which he’d done a good job at apparently, “So they know you had a crush on me, but I couldn’t? I see how it is, Noah.” Adonis just chuckled and shook his head, “Nah, you were pissed so I guess that you do have that power, how’s it feel?”

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“Is that right? And you’re willing to give those valuable lessons for free? Lucky me.” Noah cringed slightly and felt her cheeks warm. “They saw us talking at the bar one day and haven’t been able to drop it since then. And I may have told them that you weren’t interested so we all needed to move on. Which, I guess will be even more believable now.” She shook that idea from her mind quickly. She wanted to be in this moment where tension was building between them and making her skin buzz. “Feels good. I guess being a coyote has finally rubbed off on me. I wonder if there’s any other power I have that I don’t know about. Scary is fun but I’m hoping to lean into that thing you said about me being cute and you maybe still having feelings for me? Is there anything there?”

*

“Not when you’re telling me that you’re into me, finally.” Donnie felt the familiar impulse to try and get Noah to smile, even though she was giving him nothing to put his nerves at ease, “Kind of hurts that I’ve never been a big talking point with you guys, but that is good news I guess.” Donnie chanced taking a step forward, but didn’t do anything beyond that, “So…yeah that’s why I never mentioned her before. So all of this was…jealousy? Once I get past how scary you were, you were kind of cute too.”

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“Clearly I have to work on my hint-dropping and flirting if you really had no idea before now.” She smiled woefully at him but her eyes still struggled to maintain eye contact for too long. Everything was out in the open but she still had no idea where they stood. “Honestly, the only time you come up is when they ask why I’m not with you yet. Now, I suspect I’ll be seeing a lot more of your name popping up.” She felt a flutter in her stomach as he stepped toward her. “What do you mean all of this? I was keeping very cool for someone in my position.” She laughed and stepped toward him, finally daring to hold his gaze. “No way I was giving scary. I don’t think I have that power.”

*

Noah’s silence was nerve-wracking and Donnie was literally wringing his hands together in anticipation of her saying anything, “Not really. I mean she’s attractive and she seems cool but do I want to date her in any real capacity? No, especially not now when you…” He sighed, “It seems weird I know but it happens way more often than you think and it works so yeah I’m committed to it.”

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Noah was trying her best to keep up with the information as it came at her. It was the second (third?) time she felt whiplash in the first 6 hours of her day. “Not now when I what?” She asked, looking up at him. Her expression carried more hope than she cared for all things considered. “I guess that makes a twisted kind of sense. The girls are already talking about it and honestly, neither one of you have ever been a big talking point in the group chat before so it’s already working, huh?”

“Alright, that did sound dire as fuck, but I do consider it serious. Jo’s my girlfriend but only for the cameras, it’s PR to boost our profiles. We’re not actually into each other like that. She’s actually seeing someone so yeah, Jo isn’t my real girlfriend. So technically I’m not single, but also, I am. ” 

Noah was quiet for a while. The new information was banging around her brain as she tried to process it all. She believed that kind of thing existed from as far back as Old Hollywood but she never expected to know anyone who actually got involved with one. “You’re fake-dating... for PR...” She said the words aloud as though it would help her understand. “And you’re not into her?”

*

“Look I trust you ok? So I’m going to ask that no matter what happens after I tell you what I’m about to tell you that you can’t say anything to anybody okay? If you can’t do that then cool, we can drop this whole conversation, but I’m serious Noah, you can’t repeat it to anybody. So can I tell you what I want to tell you?”

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Noah eyed him with a mix of confusion and concern. “Okay that’s ominous but yeah, I can keep a secret. What’s going on?”

**

Donnie was all but forced to weigh his options in real time. Timing, however had never been on their side historically (apparently) so he felt like choosing his next move was akin to diffusing a ticking bomb, “If we vibe? Shorty, there would be no if about it. I have confirmation that you also recognize this chemistry.” He motioned between the two of them. “It matters because it’s you and me.”

.

Noah couldn’t school her face when she was at her best and trying her hardest so it was clear how confused she was now. It felt nice to have confirmation that what she’d been feeling had been real but it didn’t change the fact that he was now -- very publicly -- seeing someone else. “It’s you and me, so what? You’re with someone now who is definitively not me.”

“One day in and this shit is already a lot.” Donnie said aloud, but it was more to himself than anything as he thought through what his next move should be. Technically, Jo got to tell someone so it was only fair that he did to, but June would likely not be happy about that, then again Donnie was adamant  on not letting the arrangement run his life, “Alright can we chill with the happy with her stuff for a second? Let’s put Jo to the side… if you said this to me in an alternate universe and I told you that I do still have some feelings, what are we doing next?”

Noah was confused. Both by his comment and his questions. This felt like dangerous territory for someone who now maybe had a girlfriend. At the very least, had something with a girl that he ‘didn’t want to jinx.’ She didn’t see the point or what good could come from revealing more of herself but she did it anyway. “I don’t know. Immediate next steps would probably be a kiss, maybe a few. Then a date. If we vibe then we start something up, I guess. Why does it matter?”

One sentence and Adonis was re-contextualizing the entirety of their relationship. He knew he’d looked at Noah in a more than friendly manner before, but he also knew he stopped himself from doing so (for the most part) because she hadn’t been receptive to his flirting and the vibes he’d put out. It was a small blow to his ego but nothing in comparison to what he gained in his friendship with Noah, “It’s kind of crazy that you’re telling me this now of all times. Noah, I was feeling you but it didn’t really seem like you were feeling me. I thought you just wanted to be friends and you’re telling me now that that’s not what up here?.”

“Yeah, talk about bad timing.” She forced a soft laugh. “To be fair, when we started hanging out I had just gone through a really bad breakup after being with someone for years. I was in no position to date. So you weren’t doing anything wrong. You were being a really good guy just being my friend. But, that was a long time ago now. And I guess feelings developed for me in that time. I guess I was hoping that you still had some for me but you found someone and seriously, that’s great. I want you to be happy with her. This doesn’t have to be a big thing.”