Putting the car in park, Noah turns off the engine and looks at me. “You mean to tell me you’ve never had sushi?”
“I have never had sushi,” I admit, picking my bag up off the floorboard.
He drops back against the seat. “How is that possible?”
“It’s always grossed me out.” I shrug. “I like catfish.”
“Cooked catfish, I assume?”
“You assume correct. There’s this little place my grandparents used to take us to called The Catfish House; we’d go, eat fried catfish, okra, and hush puppies. It was out in the country in a little town on the way to the bay. But sushi?” My nose pinches, and I shudder. “Heck no.”
“I’m gonna make you some, change your mind.”
“No way!” I pretend to gag. “Homemade sounds so much worse.”
“Trust me, Juliet.”
I sigh, playfully, a single thought running through my mind as I stare at him, and that is, man, is he easy on the eyes.
A small smirk tips his full lips, and he steps out, so I follow, and as usual, he walks me all the way to my dorm room.
At the door, I turn to face him. “Just to be clear, I should get my game face on, ready to try some sushi soon?”
He smiles wide, glancing down the hall.
A short piece of hair falls over his forehead as he does, and before I realize what I’m doing, my hand is brushing it back into place.
Noah doesn’t tell me no, he doesn’t reach out halting my hand, warning me that I shouldn’t touch him. Not even as it lowers from his thick, dark hair, but instead allowing fingertips to test the feeling of his skin from his temple to his jaw.
My eyes lift to meet his, and then the door behind me is ripped open. Laughter flows from the room, but cuts to silence in the same second.
My hand flies down, and I whip around, coming face to face with a wide-eyed, glued in motion, Cameron. Brady’s at her back with a frown in place.
“Uh, hi,” I offer lamely, my face growing hot, even more so when I peek into the place, spotting Mason and Chase inside. Both slowly rise from their place on the couch, matching glares on their faces, and I quickly look back to Cam.
Cam’s smirk slowly slips into place, and she crosses her arms. “Well, hell to the oh.”
I snap my attention to Brady, too nervous to allow it anywhere else.
Come on, Brady. Help me out.
His features twitch the slightest bit, but he eases up, offering Noah a small grin. “Perfect timing. FunWorks is closing the bumper boats for the season this weekend, so we’re going to get a round in. Looks like you guys are free to join us.”
I glance at Noah over my shoulder, and his eyes snap from where they’re pointed across the room to mine and I don’t have to guess to know what—or more who—he was looking at. His expression holds so many questions right then, but he says not a word, waiting to see what leaves my lips instead.
Do I want to go with my friends to ride the bumper boats? Sure. We used to do that kind of stuff all the time, but do I want to be on edge and anxious all evening? Not even a little bit.
I had such a good-ass day. I deserved a good day and won’t allow anyone to ruin it this time. So maybe we pass on the outing?
I search Noah’s face.
What do I do?
Noah gives a slight jerk of his chin, reminding me we’re not the only ones standing here, and I need to move my ass.
Right, right.
I take a step inside, past a stunned silent Brady and Cam as they shift backward, making room for us to enter. Reaching back, I grab hold of Noah’s T-shirt, and drag him with me.
“Hey, guys,” I absently wave toward the others, without so much as glancing in their direction.
“Hey, man,” Noah says behind me, and I can only assume he’s talking to my brother when he says, “Harper,” in greeting next.
“Long time no see,” Mason jokes, and an easy chuckle slips from Noah.
They’re quiet after that, and I have no doubt the bags hanging from Noah’s hands are being inspected as we slip into the kitchen.
I quickly spin, facing him.
“Do you want to go ride the bumper boats?” I whisper, the second we’re as far away as the space allows.
He moves in closer, using his body to shield me from the others. “Do you want me to go with you?” When I frown, he continues, “Just because I was here when they asked you to go, doesn’t mean you have to invite me.” His blue eyes hold mine.
I glare. “You already know the answer, you just want to hear it.”
I swear he wants to smirk right now, his hand skimming mine as he starts pulling the containers from the bags. “Maybe, but had to be sure.”
“So you’ll go?”
“I’ll go.”
Satisfied, my shoulders ease, and I move to pull the freezer open, pushing shit around to fit the first few items inside. When Noah steps around me with more, I move away, and the moment my eyes lift, they lock onto Chase’s.
He frowns, looks to all the containers on the counter, and back. He pushes to his feet, as if to come closer, and my muscles clench. He doesn’t miss it, and the creases along his forehead double. He stays where he stands.
My brother leans against the back of the couch, his arms folded over his chest, legs crossed. His face is blank as he takes everything in. The food, Noah, me… Chase.
Mason’s brown eyes lift to mine, his head tilting the smallest bit.
I don’t look away.
“No study group today?” he asks.
“No.”
“Do some cookin’?”
“Yep.”
“You cookin’ for me, Ari Baby?” Brady walks up, reaching toward the bags, but I dash forward, blocking him with a brow raised.
“Not happening, big guy.”
Brady makes me laugh when he pokes his bottom lip out.
“Don’t feel bad, half of these I won’t even be sharing with Cam this time.”
“Hey!” she whines, leaning over the countertop to look at all my goodies. “But those soup bowl things were so good!”
“I know, and if you liked that, you’d devour what he made for me today. Way too good to share.” I turn to her with a smile.
“Wait.” She turns to Noah. “You guys made those?” She pushes containers around, trying to figure out what’s inside, her smile wide. “I’ve been meaning to ask where they were coming from, but we’ve been missing each other at home the last couple weeks, and when we are here together, we’re too busy eating ‘em for me to care. I thought you signed up for one of those meal things all those Instagram models try to sell.”
Noah and I look to each other with a laugh.
“You don’t know how to cook,” Chase interrupts, his tone flat.
My throat grows thick, but before I have a chance to respond, Noah does, and with a tone far more friendly.”
“She can cook fine.” Noah’s words fan along my hair.
He’s slipped closer.
We both know that’s not exactly true, that I’m better as the test dummy, but that’s not the point right now, and I could kiss Noah for having my back without pause.
“Yeah?” Chase keeps pushing. “Since when?”
Undeserved guilt washes over me, but it quickly shifts to annoyance.
Who the hell does he think he is? He isn’t being conversational or friendly. He’s being an ass and he knows it.
I look him in the eye. “Since now. He’s teaching me.”
Chase’s lips press into a firm line, and after a moment, gives nothing but a curt nod, heading out the door, Brady and Cam right behind him.
“Be downstairs in five you guys!” she shouts, and then they’re gone.
Mason wears a blank face as he looks from Noah to me, and then to the door Chase just walked out of and back. “What’s his problem?”
I sigh, grab money out of my purse, and shove it in my back pocket. “I don’t know, Mase. Maybe you should ask him.”
“I’m asking you.”
“And I said I don’t know, all right?” I lift my shoulders.
He glares a second longer, then lifts his hand and clasps Noah’s shoulder. “Ready to get your ass soaked on some bumper boats, Riley?”
Noah glances at me, and when I nod, he turns to Mason. “Lead the way, Johnson.”
Off we fucking go.
Laughing, Cam and I turn our boats, strategically making our way past the rock waterfall without getting sucked under it.
On the other side, we split.
“Okay, tuck into that corner and I’ll take this side.” She backs up so she’s hidden from the opening. “And now we wait.”
We wait a good three minutes and are just about to give up and go back out to the main water hole, when it grows eerily quiet.
Suspicion flourishes between us, and I mouth, ‘what do we do?’
Her eyes narrow instantly, and she shakes her head knowingly, because she understands exactly what I’m likely to do.
This kind of thing makes me nervous and giddy and I can’t stand it. It’s that feeling you get when you’re walking through a haunted house, knowing full well you’re about to get scared, so you start laughing or screeching, your stomach twisting.
I can’t handle it; I turn my boat back on, and she rolls her eyes with a smile.
We come together, ready to creep around the side, but the second we do, we’re met by a strong front of four smiling men, their water cannons pointed right at us.
We scream and squeal and they crack up as they do their worst.
The excitement and freezing water have adrenaline taking over, and I gun it over to the water’s edge, hop from the boat, and dart up the side of the waterfall.
“What the hell, Ari!” Mason yells through laughter, but I keep going, dipping around the fake palm trees that make a nice little lagoon setting. The water splashes behind me, my friends’ laughter loud and growing nearer, so I know they all jumped out too.
“Hey!” the ride attendant shouts. “You guys can’t be up there! And you can’t take the guns off the boats!”
I yelp, cutting to the left where she can’t see me.
The others are yapping away behind me, but I keep moving. I hop over the small stream running through the rocks and tuck into a shaded corner behind a shadowed boulder.
I smile wide, squeezing my eyes shut, trying to calm my breathing.
“You ditched me, bitch!” Cameron yells from somewhere, and in the next second, she’s squealing. “Goddamn it, Mason!”
He laughs, both of them shouting, “Oh shit!” in the next breath.
The place echoes with a call to security.
“Look what you started.”
My eyes fly open, landing on a gun-yielding Noah. I jerk right, but I’m met with more rock, one too tall for me to climb. I whip around, facing him once again.
Noah’s blue eyes gleam as he glances around. “Looks like you’re stuck.”
“Or you could be nice and give me a five second head start?” I give a giant, cheesy smile.
His eyes crinkle at the sides as he takes a step closer, his mouth taking on a devious grin. “You mean let you go?”
Another step.
I nod, but my smile slips as I look at him. I mean really look at him. His hair is drenched and dripping, the dark even darker, shinier. His T-shirt is soaked along with his athletic shorts.
As I look at his face, I find his smile has faded too, and his eyes, they’re on my lower legs, dripping wet just as he his.
Step.
My breathing grows labored as I try to figure out what’s happening here.
Noah’s my friend. We’re friends.
Friends don’t look at friends this way…
He’s directly in front of me now, all tall and gorgeous and confident, and so close we’re breathing the same air.
“I’m a smart man, Juliet,” he whispers, his gaze dropping to my lips. “Only a fool would let you go once they had you where they wanted you.”
“Oh,” I breathe.
Noah apparently appreciates my breathy response because a slow smirk takes over his face and he steps into me. I place my hand on his chest, a little unsure and a lot curious, as he runs his tongue along his lips, his teeth sinking into his bottom one a second later.
And then our bodies are thrown into shock as a bucket of freezing water is poured over our heads. I gasp, and Noah shoots back in laughter.
“Holy shit, it’s cold!”
Noah smirks, tossing his water gun into the water below us. “Gotcha.”
My mouth drops open, and I look up at the dirty trickster.
Brady busts up laughing.
“Thought the cold shower was for her, asshole,” he jokes with Noah and grins my way. “Run, Ari Baby, security’s coming.” He shoots to his feet, shouting, “Security’s coming!”
Wide-eyed, Noah and I look to each other.
“They’re over there!” one shouts.
“I spot two!” another screams.
“Shit!” I look around. “What do we do?”
Noah yanks me by the hand and we jump along the rocks, headed away from the park.
“Over here!” Cameron and Mason shout.
We follow the sound of their voices, spotting them on the other side of the fence, Chase just landing on his feet next to them. Noah and I jerk to a stop in front of it, and in the same second, his large hands are gripping my calves. I grab hold of the teal fence and help hoist myself up, throwing my legs over the side.
Chase rushes behind me, guiding me down by my hips.
Noah is over a split second after my shoes hit the ground, and I throw my head back laughing, my arms shooting up and around his neck.
He spins me, letting go of my right side on my way back down, so I’m tucked under his shoulder.
“Run fuckers!”
All our heads snap toward Brady’s voice, realizing he’s already halfway to Mason’s Tahoe.
“Get back here!” security yells, and we book it.
Mason peeks behind us to see how close the staff is while hurriedly digging in his pockets for his keys.
“Hurry, shithead!” Cam shouts, jumping up and down, her eyes widening as the mini golf cart grows closer. “They’re fuckin’ coming!”
“I’m trying, woman!” Finally, Mason tears the keys free, the lock clicks and we’re shuffling into safety.
Noah tosses me onto the seat, before climbing in next to me. No one takes the time to hop to the third-row seating, so I scooch up onto Cam’s lap and Mason peels out from the parking lot.
Once we’re a good five blocks away, the entire car erupts in laughter.
Brady yells, hitting the dash in excitement. “That shit was fun!”
I grin, dashing a hand out when Cameron shoves on my back.
“Bitch, get off me, you’re soaked!” She chuckles.
“So are you, asshole. What difference does it make?” I smile and try to wedge myself in at her side.
“I have room—” Chase begins, but Noah’s already grabbing me.
“I got her.” He places me on his lap, pulling the seatbelt over me awkwardly and buckling it.
I giggle. “I think I’ll be good, Noah. No one else has their seatbelt on.”
“Leave it on for me, yeah?” He speaks low, but we’re closed in a truck with no music, so I’m positive nobody misses his concern.
I nod, willing myself not to blush.
A minute or two later, I look up, catching Mason’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He stares at me, looks to my seatbelt, and then his attention goes back to the road ahead, his mouth curling into a small smile as he does.
Something inside me settles right then, only I’m not so sure what it is.
