Lori and Noah both laugh, and warmth spreads through me as, simultaneously, they reach for each other’s hands. Noah’s leaning against the side of her hospital bed, half sitting on it, half standing.
He just wants to be as close to his mom as he can. He wants her to know he loves and misses her. Appreciates her every word spoken and the inner strength it takes to laugh and smile when her world is a little less than it used to be.
Noah catches my eye, a calm in his I’ve yet to witness blindingly present.
“You have a large family, then?” Lori asks quietly, pulling my attention from Noah.
“I do, yeah. Aunts and uncles, cousins. Friends who are more like family.”
“And they’re good to you?”
I can’t help but smile. “Amazing. My parents” —a low chuckle escapes me, and I roll my eyes— “my brother calls them disgusting, but always with a smile. They’re just… all the things a person could wish for, you know?” I lift my shoulders. “We’ve been blessed.”
“Brilliant.” Her voice is low, as if a hopeful whisper.
I look to Noah, who stares at his mother’s limp left hand gently placed over her lap.
“Honey,” she rasps, facing him. “Will you grab me an orange juice before you go?”
“Yeah, Mom.” He kisses her cheek, lifting his bright eyes to mine. “Be right back.”
I chew on the inside of my lip, nodding as I watch him slip out of the door.
“Thank you,” Lori whispers the moment he’s gone, calling my attention to her. She smiles, and though only the right side of her lips lift, I still would have known, had they not moved at all. It’s in her tone, in the blue of her eyes, nearly the same color as her only son’s.
“Thank you for letting me come.”
“No, sweet girl.” She blinks away tears. “Thank you for breathing life back into my boy. It’s been a long time since I’ve witnessed all his shades of blue, but every visit lately, I’ve been gifted with a little more.”
“Lately?” I breathe.
“Yes, honey.” She nods, reaching across her body with her working hand, so I push to my feet, slipping mine into hers. “Lately. For weeks now, maybe longer.”
My skin flushes, but like her son, she doesn’t draw attention to it, allowing me a moment to look away. Clearing my throat, I face her once more.
“Meh, could be because he’s basically a football god this season,” I tease with a playful shrug.
A loud laugh spurts from Lori and she grins. “Yeah. Could be, couldn’t it?”
We’re sharing a smile when Noah slips back into the room, eyeing us with suspicion as he slowly sets a small juice beside her.
“What did I miss?” He glances between us.
“Me getting a taste of that sweet sense of humor you spoke of,” his mom says, and my head jerks his way.
His brows lift. “Thanks, Mom.” He chuckles. “We should go.”
As if on cue, her words begin to slur a little more, but she smiles regardless. “Yeah, honey, you should.” Mischief blooms in her eyes. “Take the girl home, tuck her in.”
“Mom.”
Lori laughs, rolling her head my way. A softness falls over her, her blinks growing slower by the second. “I can’t wait to see you again, sweetheart.”
A somberness takes over the room, thickening the air in my throat.
I nod, waving as I step out ahead of Noah, giving the two a moment alone.
By the time I’ve made it to the exit, he’s at my side, stepping out into the cooled air with me.
We don’t get much of winter here in Southern California, and when you’ve lived here for so long, you get used to the kind of cold we do have, so while there’s a bite in the air, it’s nothing our sweaters don’t ease us from.
“Your mom is sweet.”
“She’s impossible,” he teases.
Laughing, I slip in front of him, walking backward. “No more than mine.”
He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
I realize then how wrong I was before when he said his Sundays were booked, as did his beautiful blonde friend. It had nothing to do with her and everything to do with his mom, but he says his Sundays are fully booked, and his mom was exhausted after a two-hour visit. That means he leaves here every week and does the only thing he thinks he can. He goes home, alone, because after a few hours with the woman who gave him the world, but can’t quite function on her own anymore, a feeling of helplessness he can’t escape weighs him down.
Not today, not when I think I can help take it away.
Inside the cab, I face him. “So, I know it’s Sunday and all, and you have practice tomorrow, but it’s early enough, and we’re young…”
Noah chuckles, his head dropped back on his seat, but he points his eyes to mine. “What did you have in mind?”
“Pasco Bella Farms.”
He squints, but there’s a pinch of amusement in there.
“You know, the pumpkin patch? Where you eat turkey legs bigger than my biceps, drink warm beer, get lost in the corn maze…” I gape at him. “Have you never been?”
He grins, shaking his head.
“Well, that is just wrong. It’s a must, so what do you say, Romeo?” I smirk. “You in?”
Noah stares at me for a long moment, the grin on his lips softening, but never slipping. In the calmest, quietest of whispers, he says, “If you’re in, I’m in.”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out, and Noah reaches over, guiding my hair behind my ear.
His hand lingers there a moment, his eyes still on mine. “You’ll lead us?”
The pit of my stomach lets itself known, his words weighing as I believe he intended, the double innuendo loud and clear.
He needs me to lead the way.
To the farm… and more.
“Lies.” Noah dashes forward, tickling my stomach as I spin, evading his hands.
“I saw the terror in your eyes!” We duck under the chain aisle, dashing for the gate before the ride attendant closes it. “You, Noah Riley, got scared by a ten-year-old.”
“A ten-year-old in a dress from a hundred years ago, blood on her face and a gash across her eye… who jumped out of nowhere.”
“Yes, let’s not forget all that,” I tease, hopping up into the last cart for the corn maze ride.
Noah slips beside me, throwing his arm over the back of the cool metal. “How about we talk about how you saw my eyes, Juliet.”
We jolt as the tractor driving the carts takes off, quickly facing each other once more.
“Go on.”
He raises a dark brow. “Someone was too afraid to look around every corner of the haunted house she was so excited about.”
“And someone else was more than willing to do it for me.”
“Damn straight.”
My toes bend in my shoes and I lift my chin in triumph. “See, you wanted to be the tough guy who went first.”
Noah’s tongue rolls over his bottom lip, and he nods. “Yeah, I did.”
“There’s just… one problem with that.”
He watches me closely. “And what’s that?”
My pulse hammers against my neck, and then I whip around, jumping off the side and disappearing into the stalks of corn.
“What— Ari!” Noah shouts, and then his feet pound behind me.
I dash left, and then right, and then his large hands are wrapping around my biceps and I’m twisted around.
I gasp, looking up into his blue eyes with a smile.
They narrow, smooth, and then his grip tightens.
I swallow, my chest heaving as I reach up, gliding my hands along his pecs.
“You asked me to lead.”
His frown is instant, and he pushes closer, giving the subtlest shake of his head.
My skin flushes instantly, but I refuse to look away.
His blue eyes pierce mine, reaching way past the surface and into my mind. It’s as if he’s seeing every part of me. It’s unnervi
ng, yet thrilling.
It’s Noah.
I roam his every feature, from his liquid eyes to the growing stubble around his jaw and chin, a perfect five o’clock shadow. So manly, yet so soft. I reach out, the sharpness of the short hairs creating knots within my stomach. I peek up at him, but I didn’t have to, to know his would be on me. They are.
They always are.
I trace his jaw, gliding my thumb along his chin, and then with shaky fingers, I trace his lips. I start with the bottom, following the curve with precision, and as I meet the corner, his heated breath breaks across my skin, my body shivering before him. For him.
Because of him.
I slide closer.
Noah doesn’t move.
My hand moves lower, and I swallow as he does when my touch glides along his throat, to his neck and down, until I’m gripping the soft fabric of his cotton shirt. I pull him closer.
He moves willingly, but he doesn’t push.
He waits.
As I lift to my toes, bringing my lips an inch away from his, a storm rages within his eyes, and they become the midnight blue I’ve come to love.
He doesn’t crush his mouth into mine like I thought he might, doesn’t press his mouth to mine at all. Noah stares.
He notes the flush of my cheeks, the rapid rise and fall of my chest, and the part of my eager lips, right here waiting for his.
Slowly, with the patience of a saint, he leans in, allowing his to float across my own. The sensation causes me to jump, and the corner of Noah’s mouth lifts into a gorgeous, almost cocky, flawless grin.
My core tightens.
In the next second, he kisses me without kissing me, his lips pushing into mine with a pressurized softness I can’t quite explain. It’s heavy, weighted, while still managing a careful restraint, as if he’s allowing me to be sure.
To change my mind.
To pull away.
I won’t.
“You remember what I said to you?” he murmurs, the heat of his breath doing far more than it should. “One-time thing, Juliet.”
He won’t deny me again…
I don’t want him to.
So, I lead.
I press against him, and that was all he needed.
His hands fly to my face, gripping me, hauling me closer, taking over with a thorough, drugging kiss.
My arms fly around his neck, diving into his hair as his disappear into mine. One drops to my lower back, slipping beneath the hem of my shirt. His fingertips bite into my skin, and I moan into his mouth. His tongue dives inside, swooping and learning the taste of me, coaxing my own to dance with his. I give him what he wants and when he bites at my lip, I whimper.
“Goddamn,” he groans, moans, and then his lips are on my neck, teasing. Testing.
I press on the back of his head, and he applies more pressure.
My eyes open on a gasp, pointed at the sky.
The sun has set, the moon is high above us, and the man sucking the sensitive spots on my skin is… perfection.
And then a light blinds me and I yelp.
Noah jerks free, simultaneously pushing me behind him as his hand flies up to block the glow.
“Okay, you two, let’s go.” The security guard flicks his flashlight.
My skin flushes, not that it wasn’t already, and I duck my head, allowing Noah to drag me behind him out of the cornfield.
As we cross the dirt path, loud cheers sound, and my head darts up to see the people in line cheering us on.
I look up at Noah, horrified, but when I get nothing but a bright smile back, we’re soon laughing with them.
As we’re walking away, I realize today was one of the best days I’ve had in a really long time, and I have Noah to thank for that.
I hung out with my friends and family, enjoying every second of it. It didn’t hurt to see Chase and there was no awkwardness to speak of. It felt normal. Good, and I have a feeling the man at my side is the reason for it.
After that, being with Noah’s mom and the soft, loving way in which she spoke, eased the homesickness I hadn’t realized I was feeling. She is an honest, kind woman, and sort of reminds me of my own mom.
And there’s right now.
The high.
The kiss.
Noah.
I don’t know what it means, but I know I want more.
Noah must feel the same, because the moment the security leaves us, having waited until we reached Noah’s truck, he grips me by the wrist and tugs me to him.
Noah swoops down, taking my lips with his own once more. “That’s the second time security has chased us out of somewhere,” he teases, speaking in the gentlest of tones. “What am I going to do with you?”
I press my mouth to his, whispering with a smile, “Whatever you want.”
Chapter 23
Arianna
* * *
The entire common room is off their seat as Noah drops back, firing a perfect spiral from the opposing team’s fifteen-yard line, for an epic seventy-yard pass straight into Chase’s arms.
Cameron and I scream, jumping up and down, tangling our hands together.
“Come on, come on!”
Our eyes fly across the screen, snapping from right to left as he jukes defender after defender, and then he’s jumping up, throwing his arms out just enough to pass the goal line. It’s touchdown Avix U.
We freak the fuck out, hugging and shouting and clapping.
“Holy shit, Ari! His first college touchdown!”
We grab our phones to take pictures as they go for a two-point conversion, officially taking the lead in the game with twenty seconds left on the clock.
We record a short video message, yelling and laughing as we spin, capturing the responses of the room around us, then quickly drop it into the group chat we have, so they don’t miss our reactions.
Cameron pours us a shot and we throw it back, cheering as they get set to kick it off.
Cameron dances around, slipping close to whisper, “Let’s get out of here before we get stuck helping them clean up.”
“Good idea,” I whisper back. “But first…” I slide over to the table, snagging a half-empty bottle, and together, we run down the hall.
“Yes, bitch!” Cameron calls, and as we’re stepping into our room, the TV left on, the boys are taking the field in celebration of a win.
“Woo! Thank god. Noah needed this.”
“Ah, Noah did, huh?” She wiggles her brows.
I flip her off, skipping into my bedroom, and pulling my suitcase out from under my bed. I drag it into the living room, dropping it beside hers on the couch.
“Yes, asshole. He needed a raise in spirit.”
“Honey, you rose his spirit, trust that,” she teases, fully aware our Sunday was more than the physical activities she lives to attribute everything to.
I bump my shoulder with hers. “Okay, what are you packing for the trip?”
“Ugh!” She falls onto the armchair. “Do we have to? Can’t we get drunk together and talk shit like the good ol’ days?”
Rolling my eyes, I spin, grab the bottle and take a swig, passing it to her next.
“Fuck yes!” She pushes our suitcases off the couch and jumps up on the cushion. Cameron swaps over to Spotify on the TV and we dance around, drinking and making up for all the time we’ve missed lately.
A half hour later, we’re sitting on the floor, taking selfies, and scrolling through social media when my phone rings, my brother’s name flashing across the screen.
“There he is!” We fumble with the screen, answering the FaceTime call to find the boys’ sweaty faces, eye black smeared all down their cheeks.
“Fuck yes!” we scream, smiling wide enough to match theirs, and Mason and Brady wrap their arms around Chase’s neck.
“You saw our fuckin’ boy?!” Brady howls. “He caught that son of a bitch with one hand!”
“Hell, yeah he did. That’s the strong hand, isn’t it, Chase?” Cameron jo
kes.
Chase dips his head with a laugh, and Mason playfully punches him in the chest.
“You know it,” Chase tells her, his eyes on me. “I got your message.”
“Oh my god, you Mossed that guy!” I grin. “Wait until you watch the replay! You pretty much jumped over that guy’s head!”
“How about I wait and watch it with you?”
My response freezes on my tongue, my abdomen sucking in.
Chase chuckles then, pointing his eyes past the camera.
“We’ve been celebrating!” Cameron smiles, pulling the bottle in her hand in the camera’s view.
“Damn!” Mason laughs at our near empty bottle, moving closer to the phone, so we can hear him better through the growing noise in the background. “Don’t get too fucked up, road trippin’ into the mountains tomorrow night won’t be fun if you do.”
“To be fair, it was already half gone when we confiscated it from the game party.”
“Booze thieves!” Brady accuses.
“Hey, we pitched in for the party favors. We just can’t use our fake IDs at that mini mart to buy the actual shit.” Cameron giggles, taking another drink. “Why you think we’re drinking watermelon vodka? Like we’d ever pick this out!”
“Is that their locker room?” I ask, leaning to the side as if I can peek around him.
“Dude, yeah, and I feel like a hillbilly in the Hamptons,” Brady jokes.
“Here/” Chase snags the phone from Mason. “Check it out!”
He turns the phone to face away from them, slowly dragging it along the room. As his team realizes we’re on the screen, they whistle and play stripper with their gear, making Cam and me laugh.
“Meet this guy!” Chase quickly flips the phone back around until he and a shirtless, sweaty blond guy are in the shot. “If it weren’t for his block, I’d have never hit the endzone.”
“That and Noah’s bomb of a pass!”
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