Flirting Over Sushi

[This chapter is dedicated to Angelina_Deloso. Thank you for your continued support. Much love!] 

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Noah swallowed the painful lump at the back of his throat. Seeing Jess trying to act normal while asking him about Stellar—about his lies—pained him as it should. If it was possible, he wanted it to hurt more because he deserved it. He hurt Jess, again. 

He heaved a deep breath and caressed the back of Jess's hand. "Baby, I'm sorry I lied…" He kept his eyes on hers. "I lied because I don't want to explain, meeting Stellar. I thought you'll never know about it and it's not something that would hurt you." 

Jess kept her gaze on Noah. She kept the accusative words that she wanted to say. She wanted to tell him that his direct response to everything that he doesn't want her to know would be lies. But a part of her knew that if she met Noah's explanation with angry words, they won't go anywhere and they won't be able to fix the problem.