London Prep: Book Two

by Dodd, Jillian

  “You can’t be serious,” I say, my eyes growing into saucers.

  “Oh, yes.” She smiles, handing me a pair of bunny slippers.

  “Tell me these are yours and that I’m just holding them for you as you change,” I say, setting down the two bunnies to put on my pajama shirt.

  “Luckily for you, those are mine. However, I have a matching pair for you.”

  “And how important are these slippers to the sleepover spirit?” I ask, fully changed.

  “Well, it’s either you or Noah. Someone has to wear them.” She laughs, pulling her shirt off over her head.

  “I think I can convince him,” I say seriously, eyeing the slippers.

  Naomi is still laughing as she pulls on her pajamas. They’re yellow with pink and white flowers spread across them.

  I blink down at the bunnies now on my feet, trying to believe that I’m actually wearing these slippers.

  “Where’s Noah anyway?”

  I move Naomi into the hallway, nodding to the bathroom.

  “Shower. He’s literally the biggest shower hog you’ll ever meet. He takes forever.”

  Naomi smiles at me, evidently entertained.

  But then a thought pops into my head.

  “Want to see Noah’s room?” I whisper, just in case Noah is secretly listening from in the bathroom.

  Naomi looks between me and the bathroom door like she’s trying to decide what she should do, but then she nods her head excitedly.

  I pull her into Noah’s room, flipping on his light switch. Naomi looks around, seeming surprised.

  “It’s so clean,” she comments, taking in his organized room.

  There’s a duffel on the floor next to his backpack, but other than that, it’s spotless.

  “I know. He has the cleanest room. I swear I’ve only seen it a mess once, and that was when he was working on an art project.”

  “I’m not sure my room is even this tidy. Props to him,” she says.

  “We should mess it up a bit.” The words come out of my mouth before I have had a chance to think, and I’m not sure what’s come over me.

  Maybe it was being alone with Harry or wearing pajamas that aren’t mine, but I feel like a different person.

  Someone who is more fun.

  A little rebellious.

  Or maybe it’s just the bunny slippers and their evil influence on me.

  “What do you want to do?” Naomi giggles, apparently on board.

  I grab on to her arm and pull her up onto Noah’s perfectly made bed with me.

  “This is crazy,” she says, a wide grin on her face, watching as I start jumping on his bed.

  I bounce slowly. Even though I might be feeling a little rebellious, I’m not suicidal.

  And I know that if we break his bed, I’ll have to answer not only to Noah, but also to Helen.

  Naomi bounces with me, but then we both fall down onto his bed in a heap of giggles, throwing his pillows off onto the floor.

  “It’s so satisfying,” I say, flipping up the corner of his comforter for good measure.

  Take that, Noah’s bed!

  “It is.” She laughs back.

  But then I hear the water turn off in the bathroom, and Naomi and I both freeze, looking at one another.

  “Shit.” I giggle.

  I scramble to get down off Noah’s bed, pulling Naomi with me.

  We rush out of his room, taking the stairs two at a time until we’re downstairs and safe in the kitchen.

  Naomi sits at the kitchen table, letting out a heavy breath. “That was so much fun.”

  “It was,” I say, walking over to the counter.

  I grab the pizza box and two plates, setting them out on the table.

  Naomi flips open the box, revealing the pizza. “I got half-margherita, half-veggie. I hope that’s all right.”

  “It looks great.” My eyes automatically going to the mounds of vegetables.

  “That’s good,” Naomi says, looking relieved. “Because you never know these days. So many options and then personal preferences. I should have just called to ask, but all of a sudden, I found myself at the counter, ordering and …” she rambles, pulling out a slice of pizza. But then she stops talking as she puts it into her mouth. She chews, her eyes slipping shut. And she looks more than a little pleased with her pizza. “Uh, yum.”

  I pull a slice out, biting into the pizza.

  And I’m actually surprised.

  Because it’s really good.

  There’s barely any tomato sauce on it, and the flavors of the sautéed peppers and mushrooms really come through.

  “So good,” I agree in between bites.

  Naomi pulls her feet up onto her chair, bringing her knees up to her chest.

  I decide to cross my legs, relaxing.

  “This weekend, we should do something fun,” Naomi says mindlessly.

  “We should.”

  “We should get dressed up,” she says, her eyes sparkling. “We could have a girls’ night out or go to a club.”

  I glance at her, taking in her excited expression.

  And I think the idea of getting dressed up and getting ready has her more excited than the actual going out part.

  “Noah and Harry mentioned wanting to do something fun this weekend. Maybe we could all hang out together,” I offer.

  “Definitely!” she says.

  “And I’m sure we could get dressed up if we wanted,” I add, moving back to what I know she wants to talk about.

  “There’s this shop that I love. Literally, it’s amazing. It started as a pop-up rental store. You know, where you go and rent a dress for a night out or something.”

  I nod at her. “Yeah, sort of an on-loan thing.”

  “Exactly,” she confirms. “Well, they started doing so well that they’re now selling the clothes too. They have some great pieces.”

  “We should go shopping then.”

  It would be fun to go out and try clothes on with her.

  Stop for a coffee or lunch.

  I think it would make me feel a little like I’m back home in New York.

  Or maybe bring a bit of home to me here.

  “We should. Though I will admit, if we’re getting something for a party, we’re better off buying it. Once, I was at a party, wearing a dress I’d rented for the night, and ended up having someone spill beer all over the side of it,” she says, rolling her eyes. “There are always accidents, and you don’t want to try and return a three-hundred-pound dress with an alcohol stain on it because the guy next to you was smashed and just tipped over.”

  I let out a laugh, easily able to picture the scene. “Yeah, I’m sure they probably weren’t too thrilled about that one,” I say.

  “They weren’t.” She laughs. “But that’s lads for you. They’re cute enough to get you out, and then they proceed to drink too much and spill something on your new dress.”

  “I would have been …” I start, but Noah walks into the kitchen, grabbing my attention.

  He has on a pair of black sweatpants and no shirt. His hair is darker than normal, still damp from his shower.

  I glance up at him, knowing that if we’re going to pretend we weren’t just upstairs, jumping on his bed, we have to act normal.

  Casual.

  But when my eyes meet his gaze, I know I’m about to be scolded. And that we definitely didn’t get away with it.

  I rip my eyes away from him, looking at Naomi instead, and pick up another slice of pizza.

  “Care to share why you decided to destroy my room?” Noah asks, moving next to me.

  I do my best to keep my head straight forward and ignore him, but he clears his throat.

  “Well …” I start, turning my head, but the second I do, my eyes are assaulted with the view of Noah’s flat, bare stomach just inches from my face.

  I swallow hard, tilting my head up to look at him.

  “It was fun?” I try, hoping if I’m pathetic, he won’t be upset.
<
br />   “I’m sure it was,” he replies, taking a seat next to me.

  His eyes slip from me to the pizza in my hand and then across the table to Naomi.

  “What are you doing tonight anyway?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

  “Well, I was supposed to start playing a game with Mohammad, but I just spent the last five minutes making my bed again,” he says, narrowing his eyes in on me.

  “You’ve already remade it?” I ask, feeling slightly offended.

  Because I actually put some effort into making his room a mess. And the least he could have done was let it stay messy for more than five minutes, allowing me the satisfaction of knowing that he was going to have to clean it up at some point.

  “Of course I did,” Noah states, rolling his eyes at me.

  “Oh, how’s Mohammad?” Naomi interrupts.

  Noah and I share a glance before he turns to her.

  “He’s good, I think. Though I guess I’ll find out in a few when we play.”

  “Tell him I said hi.” She smiles, biting into her pizza, still looking at Noah.

  I raise my eyebrows at her.

  But Noah turns, looking at me, almost confused.

  “Slice of pizza?” I offer, holding up my pizza to show him the allure.

  “Thanks.” He nods, leaning closer, taking a bite of my slice.

  My slice!

  My eyes go wide at him.

  “Noah,” I reprimand, pulling the rest of my pizza away from his greedy mouth.

  “I just wanted a bite,” he says, chewing.

  “I’m sure. And you can have a bite. From your own slice of pizza.”

  “That’s not as fun,” he states.

  “Food is always better when shared,” Naomi agrees, grinning.

  My eyes shift to Naomi, and I feel appalled.

  But she just shrugs at me, looking indifferent.

  I shake my head at both of them and get up, grabbing a glass of water. When I move to sit back down, Noah looks like he’s about to burst out laughing.

  “What?” I ask, slipping back into my chair, irritated.

  “Nice pajamas,” he says, pressing his lips together.

  “They’re better than your sweats,” Naomi fires back, finally coming to my defense.

  Noah raises his eyebrows, looking surprised.

  And at first, I think it’s because he didn’t expect her to have a comeback, but then I realize it’s because he’s confused about the pajamas.

  “She means, the pair of yours that I have,” I clarify.

  Noah’s eyes shift back up to Naomi. “It’s not my fault she’s always nicking my clothes.” He smirks, getting up.

  “Am not,” I disagree, feeling a little ganged up on.

  Naomi lets out an easy laugh, and Noah leans across the table, grabbing a piece of pizza.

  “I’ll be in my room,” he says, leaving us in the kitchen.

  Oh my gosh, Naomi mouths to me as Noah heads back upstairs.

  “I know,” I say, agreeing. “What nerve. I can’t believe he already cleaned his room and stole my pizza.”

  My lips pull into a flat line.

  Naomi doesn’t answer me. She just looks back at me like I’m crazy.

  I tilt my head at her, trying to figure out why her eyes are the size of saucers.

  “What?” I ask quietly.

  “Noah’s body is what,” she says, bringing her hand up to her face, fanning herself.

  I roll my eyes at her. “It’s Noah.”

  “Yeah. And Noah is fit. Don’t get me wrong; there’s no chemistry between us,” she says, biting her lip, “which is a real shame. Because he’s the definition of buff.” She shakes her head like she’s almost disappointed with herself for not being into him.

  “Noah has a nice figure,” I admit, trying to keep my mind focused on my slice of pizza rather than Noah’s apparently buff body.

  “How do you deal with that on a day-to-day basis?” Naomi asks seriously, batting her eyes. “I wouldn’t get anything done. Do you work out with him? If you don’t, you definitely should,” she says, her words spilling out.

  “I try to only interact with Noah when he’s fully clothed, for one. And if it’s a shirtless day, my eyes stay above here,” I joke, tapping under my chin to show that my eyes stay on his face.

  Naomi wrinkles her nose at me.

  “But, yeah, we run together some mornings. Though he usually has on a shirt.”

  And the fact that he came downstairs in just sweatpants is starting to annoy me.

  Did he want Naomi to see him shirtless?

  Or for me to?

  Because I’ve seen him shirtless and wet before, and he knows that it’s a distraction.

  But today, it isn’t because all my mind can focus on is Harry.

  However, to Naomi, shirtless Noah is all the rage.

  And I can’t blame her for thinking so.

  “Good for you,” she says, nodding her head at me like she’s proud.

  “Speaking of boys, what was that whole Mohammad thing about?” I ask, wanting to change the subject.

  “What was what?” Naomi says, dropping her voice and her chin.

  And I know what she’s doing.

  She’s giving me her best innocent Bambi look like she’s clueless about what I’m referring to.

  And she’s good at it, but it’s not going to work.

  “You seemed a little excited when you heard Mohammad’s name.”

  “And you seemed a little too used to seeing Noah shirtless,” she says pointedly.

  And I have to give it to her.

  She’s good.

  But Naomi smiles warmly at me and then shrugs. “We danced together at my birthday party last week. It was fun.”

  “Oh yeah,” I say, remembering the moment when Mohammad had to step in.

  I also remember Naomi’s flushed cheeks as they danced.

  “Besides, it’s always good to keep your options open. And Mohammad, he’s gotten cute.”

  “He does have a nice smile,” I admit, thinking of his pearly whites.

  “But he seems like a player.”

  “Mohammad is sort of all about having fun right now. But who knows? Maybe with the right girl, he might want something serious.”

  “True,” she says, taking one last bite. “Ugh, I’m stuffed.”

  She drops a piece of crust onto her plate, and I take in the damage we did. There are only two slices left, and I’m sure that they won’t make it through the rest of the night.

  It seems like Noah is eating everything in his path right now, and between the three of us, I think we could devour just about any meal.

  “It was so good though. Thanks for bringing it,” I tell her.

  “Of course.” She grins. “You can’t have a girls’ night without pizza. Want to go put on our face masks?”

  “That sounds good.” I smile at her.

  I put the pizza in the fridge, and I follow her back upstairs.

  She pulls out the face mask from her tote, leaving me slightly in awe.

  “So, this is homemade—and my secret weapon,” she says, handing me a container that looks like it has green sludge in it.

  “What is it?”

  “Avocado and honey.” She beams.

  “Really?” I ask as I take off the lid and bring it up to my nose.

  And to my surprise, it actually smells good.

  “The avocado has vitamin A in it, which helps restore collagen. And the honey penetrates your pores, helping to clear them of dirt.”

  “You know a lot about skin care,” I comment, handing her back the container.

  “When it comes to your skin, you can never be too careful,” she tells me seriously. “Here, why don’t you lie on the bed, and I’ll put it on you? It’s more relaxing when it’s applied.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  I throw my hair into a ponytail, so it stays out of my face, and then I run into the bathroom, grabbing a towel in case she needs i
t.

  “All right, lie down, close your eyes, and relax,” she says.

  But a second later, a dollop of cold cream falls onto my cheek, causing my eyes to fly open.

  “Oh,” Naomi says, noticing my jolt. “I forgot to mention that it’s chilled.”

  “It’s nice though,” I say, almost being put to sleep by the circular motion.

  She rubs it into my skin meticulously, making sure every inch is covered.

  “All right, finished,” she says.

  I sit up, trying to remember not to touch my face. “Now, it’s your turn.” I smile.

  Naomi does a little happy shake before lying on her back. “I love this.”

  “Hold still.” I laugh, dipping my fingers into the avocado mixture.

  I try to get it on her face and not on my pillow. But she’s wiggling around, trying to get comfortable. I spread it out across her cheeks, pretending I’m back in art class. I attempt to make it as relaxing for her as it was for me. But I think I end up just spreading it everywhere with no rhythm.

  “You don’t have the lightest touch, do you?” Naomi laughs, looking up at me.

  “Not really.” I say agreeing with her. “All right, finished.”

  I look into the container, seeing that we have a little extra.

  “Should I see if Noah wants a face mask?” I ask, wiggling my eyebrows at her.

  Naomi is already nodding her head, a laugh escaping her plump lips.

  “Noah, come here,” I yell out from my room.

  “One second,” he calls back, and I can hear him clicking away on his game.

  “I’ve never understood the appeal of video games,” Naomi comments, sitting up on my bed.

  “Me neither,” I admit. “It seems like a lot of effort to put into something that just gets clicked off.”

  She nods, agreeing with me.

  “What?” Noah says, peeking into my room. When his gaze lands on our faces, his expression changes to almost shocked.

  “You’re next.” I smile at him, holding up the face mask.

  “Definitely not,” he replies, shaking his head at me, his chestnut hair bouncing.

  “Noah.” I pout.

  I get up off the bed and walk toward him.

  “Pleeeease. It’s only honey and avocado.” I stick out my bottom lip, looking up at him through my lashes.

  “You do realize you have a green face, right?” Noah asks.