“I dunno. Baby Gap?”
She shakes her head and chuckles. “Oh, Ariel! Always with the jokes.”
I pull a cake plate out of the pantry and place the coconut cream from Mom’s favorite bakery on it, taking it into the dining room and putting it on the sideboard. I return to the kitchen and offer to help.
“Thank you, darling, that would be lovely. The boys are in the billiard room. If you’ll just set the table?” She hands me a stack of plates, along with cutlery, and I set the table. She has given me one plate too many, though, and I return it, along with the extra cutlery to the kitchen.
“One too many, Mom,” I reach around her to grab a baby carrot and pop it into my mouth.
“No, dear. That’s right. Five places,” she furrows her brow at me as if I’m ridiculous.
“What, are Andy and I too old to be interesting these days? Did you get an add-a-kid?” She looks at me with her brows knitted in confusion. “Why five? Who’s here?”
She shakes her head. “What a silly question, dear. He’s your friend.” She walks to the stove and puts the carrots on to boil.
I shrug, assuming she’s making a weird mom-joke of some sort that I don’t understand, and put the extra place setting down. I walk through the dining room and descend the creaky, carpeted stairs to the basement. I hear my dad and Andy bantering back and forth, their voices broken up by the occasional click of pool balls kissing off one another. Then, when I’m just a couple of steps from the bottom, I hear a laugh. Deep, guttural, and sexy as fuck.
Noah? No way.
I step into the room, and see his perfectly sculpted ass up in the air as he stretches his long body over the table to make a shot. I immediately think of his naked ass in my room when we got back from Germany, and my body betrays me, drenching my panties in this, the most inappropriate of moments.
“Why are you here?” I blurt out.
“Well, darling, that’s not a very nice way to greet us,” Dad says with a chuckle, stepping forward to put an arm around me, kissing the top of my head as he gives me a squeeze.
“Sorry, Daddy. I’m just surprised. Noah, what are you doing here?” I step toward my brother and tiptoe up to take him in an affectionate headlock.
“Well,” Noah says smiling down at me as I release Andy’s neck, “I couldn’t wait to see the vacation video, so Andy invited me.”
“I see,” I look up at my brother through narrowed eyes. He shrugs in response, and lines up his next shot.
What the hell? Since when does Andy talk to Noah?
I hop up onto one of the stools at the far end of the basement, feeling suddenly out of sorts. I mean, sure, Noah and I have known each other for years, and he’s met my family before. He’s even been over for dinner a few times. He can’t just show up, though, in his snug jeans and sexy plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms. He should not be in my basement, playing pool with my brother and dad like they’re all buddies. It’s disconcerting.
“Where’s your car?”
“I went and watched the game at Batters’ Box with my buddy Charlie and he dropped me off.”
Charlie is one of his frat brothers who lives and work in our part of town, so I guess that checks out. Still, I don’t love this element of surprise being sprung on me in my own home. Noah is full of surprises these days and I’m not sure I like it one bit.
My mom comes downstairs a few minutes later, bringing my dad a bottle of beer. He leans down and kisses her lips, lingering just long enough to be a bit much for Andy and me. We exchange a look, rolling our eyes.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m lucky my parents are still in love, but both Andy and I agree the PDA can be a little much. As a professor of psychology and a psychotherapist, respectively, you’d think they would realize this, but they seem to give zero fucks what people think of their open shows of physical affection.
Mom settles on the stool beside me and leans in close. “That Noah is a good-looking man, Ariel. Are you sure you shouldn’t… oh what is it you kids say these days? Are you sure you shouldn’t hit that?” She snickers as she elbows me in the ribs.
I briefly consider running up the stairs, getting in my car, and driving to Canada to start a new life under an assumed name.
“We’re friends, Mom.” I say quietly. “And Andy and I aren’t kids anymore. I’m almost twenty-eight. Andy’s twenty-five.” I shake my head, willing the crimson I can feel creeping up my cheeks to subside, but knowing it won’t.
After they finish the game, Mom slides down from her stool and takes Dad by the hand. “Come on, Paul, Andy. Ariel already set the table. You boys help me put the dishes out.” She passes near Noah and runs her fingertips along his shoulder. “Noah, be a dear and put the balls and cues away, would you?” She winks at me, and my family ascend up the stairs.
“Seriously, you didn’t think you should tell me you’d be at my house?” I fold my arms as my gaze follows Noah around the pool table. He gathers the balls from each leather pocket, easily palming several in his broad palm at once, and places them in the center of the burgundy felt.
“It was a last-minute thing.” He shrugs, stepping forward as he puts the two pool cues away in the rack behind my head, boxing me in. Even though I’m perched on a tall stool, he still towers over me. My arms unfold and my palms reach down to clutch the sides of the stool to brace me. My skin prickles at his close proximity and my thighs clench as if guarding against my body’s urge to wrap itself around him.
“Is it a problem, Elle? Do you not want me here?” He has a faint look of hurt in his gorgeous blue eyes.
I roll my eyes. “No, of course it’s fine. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Since when do you talk to my brother?”
“We follow each other on social media. We text sometimes…he invited me to dinner.” Noah puts his hands on his hips, standing completely in my personal space.
I crane my neck to look up at him. His crotch is mere millimeters away from my knees. I can smell that woodsy after shave he wears. Christ, did he get bigger in the last twenty-four hours? I feel like he’s taking up all the space in the world and I cannot possible get small enough to escape him.
“Okay, well, let’s go up.” My eyes dart to the stairs, willing someone—anyone—to descend them and interrupt whatever this weirdness is. “I don’t want my Mom to think we’re up to anything.” I shift uncomfortably on my seat.
“What would we be up to, Elle?” He wrinkles his eyebrows and flashes a dirty smirk as he steps forward a little more, making my channel ache with desperation.
“Um… I…,” my mouth is suddenly dry. “I don’t know,” I almost whisper. “Shenanigans?” I laugh nervously.
Noah taps the tip of my nose with his index finger, and takes my hand, steadying me as I jump down from the stool, and we go up to the dining room.
After an amazing meal of pot roast, potatoes, and carrots, we clear the dinner dishes and cut the cake, retiring to the den to watch the vacation video my dad has compiled.
I have to admit, he has done an amazing job, but I suspect that Andy—being the family shutterbug—has helped, based on the production quality. Don’t get me wrong, my dad is a talented and intelligent guy. He has advanced degrees, after all. He’s not especially technically inclined, though, as much as he wants to be.
We watch a forty-minute movie which features my Mom and I in dirndls and braids, and my dad and brother in lederhosen repeatedly. There are images of my dad and Andy drinking from beer steins that look big even in comparison to their gigantic stature, and my mom and me soaking in the thermal hot springs. There’s footage of us in the house of cuckoo clocks, and photos of us all cheesing in front of Linderhof Palace.
Throughout the video, Noah is smiling and laughing, asking my dad questions, and exchanging commentary with my mom and Andy. It’s like he’s right at home with them, as if he’s been there a million times. I start to wonder if my family is hanging out with Noah without me, behind my back.
After we watch the video, we exchange goodbyes.
“Noah, maybe you should come with us on the next Bailey Family Bonding Adventure,” my dad pats him on the back, and I die of embarrassment at the thought of my cool, sexy, funny, gorgeous BFF being forced into the costumery of our next holiday destination.
“Thanks, Dr. Bailey,” Noah says with a smile, putting his fingertips gingerly on my back as we walk toward the front door. “I might take you up on that.” He winks at me and my traitor heart flutters.
I hug my parents and my brother, and walk out the door, Noah right behind me.
As I walk toward my car and get in the driver’s side, Noah opens the passenger door and gets in.
“What are you doing?”
“Um, going home?” Noah replies nonchalantly. “Charlie dropped me off, remember?”
We barely talk on the way back to Noah’s place. He drums his fingers on the dashboard in time to the radio, seemingly oblivious to my frustration.
“So, you talk to my brother?” I ask as we pull into Noah’s driveway.
“Not every day or anything. Like I said, we talk about sports sometimes, that kinda thing. He’s a good guy, though. I like him. I like your whole family. They’re nice.” He grins, and I have to admit, the idea that he likes my crazy, cheesy clan makes my heart smile.
“You just seemed awfully chummy, that’s all. I just wanted to make sure they weren’t trying to replace me with a boy of the appropriate height for my family of giants.”
At Noah’s, we grab a couple of beers and plop down on the sofa to watch Friends. After a few minutes of watching me fidget, Noah disappears into his bedroom, returning a few minutes later tossing a pair of sweatpants and my favorite t-shirt, the one he keeps stealing back from me, into my lap.
“Here. You seem uncomfortable. Go change.” He rolls his eyes.
“You are the best.” I bat my eyelashes before I disappear into the bathroom to change.
When I return from the bathroom, he is lounging back on the sofa, taking up more space than is reasonable for a single human being. I plop down on the other end, propping my feet up on the coffee table.
“So, I was saving it as a surprise, but…,” Noah trails off.
“But you can’t keep secrets because you get too excited.”
“You know it!” He exclaims, pointing to me. “Anyway, about our trip next week… Jordan wants us to host a few of the high-end buyers. He was thinking a fancy cocktail soiree would do the trick. I had Jessica check, and all the small conference rooms were booked, so, I had them upgrade us to a two-bedroom suite with a huge living room. We can host the event there.” He grins, clearly proud of himself. “Pretty clever, huh?”
“Ooh, that does sound pretty snazzy. I like it! What do I need to do?” I am thrilled at the prospect of staying in a swanky suite I could never afford, and even more excited at the prospect of sharing space with Noah while we’re in Sin City so I can keep an eye on him.
“Just show up. I got Jess to organize everything. So, dig out that fancy dress, pour on the charm, and make our clients fall in love with you.” He wriggles his eyebrows.
“Don’t worry, I’ll bring everything I’ve got.” I wink.
“One more thing…,” he trails off. Whatever he’s about to say has to be good because he’s grinning like an idiot.
“And that would be…?”
“I extended our trip. Since we blew out the sales goals for last quarter thanks in no small part to your brilliant social media campaign…,” I interject before he can finish.
“Hashtag findyoursummit” I say, crossing the first two fingers of each hand to simulate the hashtag sign.
“Exactly. Anyway, as a reward for the hard work, we get to take a couple of extra nights in Vegas.” He smiles that big, easy, toothy smile I love so much. “Pretty sweet, huh?”
He puts up his hand and I return his high five.
“Nice job, Adler! So, what sort of trouble can we get into while we’re in Vegas?”
“Oh, I’ve got all sorts of ideas planned,” he smirks and his tone sounds surprisingly dirty.
“Such as…?” I grab a mini bag of M&Ms from the bowl of candy I keep on his coffee table.
“Well,” he replies as I rip open the pack and pour the colorful little chocolatey disks into my mouth, “We could go to one of those quickie wedding chapels and get married.”
An image of Noah, smiling down at me as we stand in front of a white altar, him wearing a tux that makes him look like the spokesmodel for a high-end luxury car, flashes through my mind.
Within seconds, I am choking on M&Ms, not breathing, and have to sit up, pounding my chest with my fist.
Noah’s expression droops from self-congratulation at his joke, to one of concern.
“Elle! Are you okay? Do you need the Heimlich?”
I swallow hard, shaking my head vigorously back and forth. Noah stands and walks over to me, leaning me forward and rubbing his palm across my back in large circles like you would to a choking five-year-old. I take a swig of my soda and finally dislodge the chocolatey disk.
“Why in the world would you say that?!”
“I was joking.” Noah replies with a shrug. “Come on, Elle. You know your parents would never stand for such a thing. If Doc Bailey doesn’t get to show up in a nineteenth century tux or a disco suit to walk you down the aisle, he’ll die.” He winks.
I laugh. “Well, you do have a point. So, without putting my ability to breathe in jeopardy again, what do you really have in mind for Vegas?”
“Not so fast.” His brows dip as he slices his hand back and forth through the air. “I need clarification.”
“On?”
“Well, I made a joke about going to a quickie wedding chapel and you almost died. I’ve gotta say, Elle, that’s the sort of thing that could hurt a guy’s feelings.”
I laugh.
“I mean, am I really so awful that the idea of marrying me is so repulsive?” His head cocks to the side a little, and his brows raise in question.
“Be serious,” I reply with a chuckle.
“I am serious. Is that really what you think of me?” He slumps back onto the sofa and looks at me.
This is a Noah look I know well. His feelings are hurt, and I feel like the total asshole I obviously am. I turn to face him on the sofa.
“Noah, are you kidding me? You are the catch of catches. You’re amazing. Any girl would be lucky to marry you.” As I say the words, another thought flashes in my mind, of Noah marrying someone—anyone—and being snatched from my life forever, and I feel sick.
“Really?” His voice is low. Cautious.
“Of course. I mean, you’re funny, you’re smart, you’re the nicest person I know—almost annoyingly so,” I roll my eyes and grin.
His smile returns and I feel better.
“You forgot good-looking,” he adds with a smirk.
“No. No I didn’t.” I smirk back, crossing my arms.
“Ouch!” He shakes his head, chuckling. “That’s it, I’m cancelling the surprise I had planned for us.”
“No way! I’m sorry.” I smile sweetly.
“Nope.”
“Come on, Noah! Please? Pretty-pretty please? Tell me,” I beg.
“No, you clearly can’t be seen in public with me anyway, since I’m an ogre.” He crosses his arms and turns away from me, feigning anger. It is equal parts annoying and adorable.
I sit up on my knees, place my palms on his cheeks, and turn his gorgeous face toward me.
“Noah,” I say his name seriously, tipping my head forward to stare into those stunning, azure eyes of his. “You know you’re good looking. I’m not going to placate you.”
He juts out his bottom lip, and I muster every ounce of strength in my tiny body to keep from leaning forward, planting my lips on his, and sucking on that deliciously full bottom lip. I close my eyes, hard, then open them again.
“But,” I continue, “Your face, is the b
est face. It is my absolute favorite, and only an idiot wouldn’t agree.”
He smiles, but his eyes don’t glimmer with that typical spark that usually accompanies that broad, bright smile of his. His eyes are…dark…mysterious. There’s something there I can’t quite place. I don’t love that he is suddenly busting out all these new facial expressions, making it so hard to read him lately.
“Thank you,” he replies quietly, after too long a pause. He uncrosses his arms and wraps them around my shoulders, pressing his forehead to mine. “Your face is my favorite face too. Your face is the best face.”
I blush, my heart pounding so hard I’m afraid he’ll hear it.
“So,” I clear my throat and lean back on my heals to break our contact. “What is this big surprise you have planned for us?”
“Well, I thought we could drive out and see the Grand Canyon. I’ve never been, have you?”
“No, I’ve never been either. I would love that! What a great idea,” I smile so broadly it makes my cheeks hurt. There are few things in life as fun as a road trip with Noah.
“Consider it done!” He raises his hand with a flourish.
It’s a shame that I can’t meet a guy who would be this sweet to me, this thoughtful, that’s interested in actually dating me instead of just being friends. If I did, though, he’d probably want all of my attention, and giving up my Noah time is not something I’m really interested in doing. Plus, there is the small detail that I’m in love with the guy sitting next to me. That’s really going to put a damper on any dating relationship I try to enter into.
I drive home a few hours later, still wearing Noah’s too-big sweatpants and my favorite t-shirt, which I must remember to hide so he doesn’t steal it back.
When I slide into bed, I know sleep won’t come. My mind is racing. It flashes with a million different thoughts. My parents, laughing and talking with Noah. A Las Vegas suite all to ourselves. Him joking that we should get married. Then, worst of all, back to the image of him when I first got home from Germany, standing in my bedroom.
Vote Then Read: Volume III Page 151