Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Noah

Slowly, I brought my arms around Lu, who clung to me like a lifeline.

I felt my brows furrow in confusion. I'd never seen her like this. Lu was typically positive and upbeat—bright and bold and larger than life. She smiled all the time and made people feel welcome with a kind word wherever she went. Sunshine in human form.

But she felt small and vulnerable just now.

I banded one arm around her shoulders, enveloping and holding her close. With the other hand, I stroked gently up and down her back, moving with the intent to soothe over the fabric of her dark peacoat.

I'd heard something in her voice over the phone. I knew the birthday dinner for her dad was tonight and, judging by the time, assumed she'd called me on her return trip down the mountain. Something had clearly happened, and she'd sought me out for comfort. I wasn't about to make her regret it. Everything about our relationship was new, but I was glad I was the one she'd reached for when she'd needed someone to hold on to.

I pressed a kiss to her temple and let my lips linger there before saying, "Everything okay?"

She nodded against my shoulder, and my concern ratcheted up a notch.

Several people came and went while we stood frozen in place, but I'd stay right here for as long as Lu wanted.

After another couple walked by with their cones and back out the door with a jingle of the front bell, Lu finally lifted her head and loosened her death grip on me.

"Thanks for meeting me," she said. Her gray eyes were dry, but she still didn't look or sound like herself.

"Slow night," I said, and she nodded. Then I answered with the truth. "But I wanted to see you, so I'm glad you called."

Her close-lipped smile had me reaching for her hand and tugging her up to the counter. I wanted to make her feel better—give her what she needed. Prove that calling me hadn't been a mistake. If she wanted to talk about whatever put that look on her face, then we would. But I wasn't going to push.

When the high schooler with the ice cream scoop came over, I ordered butter pecan for Lu—her mother's favorite, she'd told me a while back—and mint chocolate Oreo for me. I handed Lu both cups and paid despite her protests and led her back out to the Bronco.

"I'll drive you back. We can get the Jeep tomorrow," I said, opening the passenger door for her. "Hop in." She shouldn't be alone right now with whatever was bothering her, so the thought of driving separately didn't sit right.

She climbed into the car, still holding both cups in her grip. Before closing the door, I leaned in and pulled the seat belt carefully over one shoulder and buckled it in for her. She watched me with soft eyes, and while I was so close, pressed a kiss to her lips.

She tasted sweet, and I forced myself to pull away.

Once I got settled behind the wheel and started back out onto Main Street, I accepted my ice cream and drove in the direction of Lu's apartment complex.

We ate in silence for a few minutes before I tentatively asked, "So how was your dad's birthday thing?"

She ate a spoonful of dessert before replying. "It was fine. The stuffed mushrooms were good." My eyes drifted her way briefly while we waited at the stoplight. She sighed. "It was the same as usual. My stepmom and my stepsister mostly ignored me. Dad asked me a few questions about what was going on in my life. And then it was time to go home."

The part of me that felt protective of Lu wanted to ask why her dad never stood up for her. Why didn't he make more of an effort to integrate the two sides of his family? He couldn't really be so blind to how his wife and stepdaughter treated Lu, could he? But I kept my mouth shut.

This dinner seemed to be par for the course, yet it clearly upset her. So I would be the ear she needed when she was ready to talk.

Lu was looking out the window and ignoring her ice cream when she admitted, "Kimberly didn't even tell me about the details of the dinner. She ignored my texts. I invited myself and found out about the reservation by calling the restaurant. If it had been left up to my stepmother, I wouldn't have even been there tonight."

Ah shit. "I'm sorry. That must have hurt."

I was the sort of person who would have said fuck that . Have your dinner, and if you don't want me there, so be it. But that wasn't Lu. I had a feeling she'd given her family unlimited chances, yet they still found new and inventive ways to let her down.

"It shouldn't hurt," she finally said just as I pulled into a parking space at Shady Peaks. "I should be used to it by now. And part of me is. But another, resentful part of me that usually stays pretty quiet feels exhausted by the prospect of doing this for the rest of my life."

"You shouldn't have to. You're his family too. You deserve to be in your dad's life without these ridiculous roadblocks in your way."

Lu spooned up another bite and held it there for a moment. "I don't even know what I'm doing wrong. Why she's never accepted me." She huffed. "I mean, my stepsister and I are never going to be friends. You can't be bullied by someone in high school and expect either one of us to think of the other as family."

I hated this girl I didn't know. Some immature mean girl who couldn't just grow the fuck up. And her petty-ass mother.

"None of this is your fault, Lu. You're obviously being the bigger person. Going out of your way and doing everything you can to fit into your dad's new life."

She glanced my direction and met my eyes for the first time since I'd started the car. "I know you think I'm stupid for trying, for?—"

"I do not think you're stupid," I interrupted firmly. "I think you have a big, forgiving heart." And that her family didn't deserve her—her spineless dad included. There was no way he missed the animosity between Lu and her stepfamily. Either her father was willfully ignorant or he just didn't care. I didn't know which was worse in this scenario.

Either way, I hated seeing Lu so miserable over people who didn't fucking matter. Not that I could admit that. Especially not to someone who wanted the ideal—a sitcom family and the bonds of love.

I thought she should have higher expectations for the people she fought to keep in her life. But I didn't tell her that. I would have given up on all of those assholes a long time ago. But she wasn't me. And that was a good thing.

Lu was a good person, deep down and all the way through. She was special. I'd known it from the first time I met her. But she didn't realize that love didn't have to be the people bound to you by blood. She could make her own family. Lu had Cody and her friend Emma, and this town that she loved. There were so many people everywhere we went who cared about her. And a very small voice that I refused to give too much weight to whispered that she had me too.

"But you wouldn't keep trying if they were your family," Lu said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Maybe not," I admitted. "But that doesn't make me right. That just makes us different."

She nodded and took another bite of ice cream. "Do you want to come in for a while? Until you get a ride request?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation.

So we gathered our cups and Lu's gigantic purse and went inside her apartment.

I texted Jimmy on the way, letting him know I needed to take the rest of the night off. Lu was clearly upset about the evening's event. She'd sought me out for comfort, and I could do more than fit her in between Huber rides. I'd keep her company, cheer her up, and be a sounding board for whatever she wanted to discuss. I'd stay with her in her apartment for as long as she needed me.

And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about what had happened the last time I'd been here. But I liked being in Lu's space. It was comforting and warm, like her. Whenever we were together, Lu and I had fun. And spending the night had been really nice. The blow job hadn't hurt either. It was more than that, though. We were heading down a path. I could see it clear as day—a minefield of complications that simply came with getting to know someone. All the expectations and feelings that made a relationship a delicate balance. And my last one hadn't gone so well. Yet I wasn't eager to divert. I liked being with her. Lu was someone worth knowing, and honestly, trying to fight the pull I felt toward her was getting more difficult by the day.

I was a little surprised when we settled on Lu's couch, and she did something she hadn't done in a while. She opened her mouth and said, "I think the reason you moved here was to start over."

It wasn't a silly guess this time—not about beekeeping or cosmetology school or anything sure to make me laugh. I saw this for what it was . . . Lu asking me for the truth.

Meeting her knowing gray gaze, I forced my breathing to slow. The prideful parts of me would probably always feel a certain level of embarrassment associated with this summer. My beginnings in Cozy Creek were marred with the truth, as painful and humiliating as it had been. But somehow I knew that this girl wouldn't judge me for it.

Lu was kind and compassionate. She forgave her unworthy family members over and over again. Surely, she could forgive me for something that had happened before we'd ever even met.

I ran an uncomfortable hand along the scruff of my jaw. "In a way, yeah. I did come here to start over. I lost my job back in South Carolina. Something stupid that was all my fault. I was responsible for being on call, and I'd been distracted, so I'd let people down and cost the company a lot of money. I deserved to get fired."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Noah."

"Yeah, they do. And there are consequences for them."

"Did someone die?"

My brow furrowed. "No. I worked in IT."

"Then it was just a mistake."

I took in her fierce expression and the way she stood up for me without even knowing the full story, and I couldn't help but reach over and lace my fingers through hers. "It was. But it happened."

"How did that bring you here?" she asked.

"I'd been dating someone—online—who lived in Cozy Creek." Lu's eyebrows flew up. I guessed she hadn't been expecting that. And why would she? Lu didn't know how vigilant I'd been while driving around Cozy Creek, always on edge, constantly aware.

But I went on. "When I lost my job and was spiraling, she said I should come here so we could be together."

I'd sold most of my stuff the week following my termination and made the trip out west to join Virginia in Cozy Creek. She'd promised to help me find an apartment and temporary employment. But when I got to Colorado, the woman I thought I'd been falling for was one who only existed in my mind. She'd played a game, and I'd been the loser. Her online persona had been just that—a facade, a character she'd been performing. The real Virginia was nothing like the woman I'd been dating for months, and she'd treated me like a pathetic stranger when I'd shown up on her doorstep.

"How long were you involved?" Lu asked gently.

"About six months. But we'd never met in person. A lot of calls and texts and video calls." I swallowed. This was the shit part. "So I packed up and drove out here. But when I got to town, she couldn't believe I actually came. I guess she liked messing with guys online and stringing them along. I don't know. But she acted like a different person when I knocked on her door. Seemed to think it was all a big joke."

"I can't believe you really came here. We don't even know each other. I thought we were just having fun and fooling around."

Those words would haunt me for the rest of my life. Not only because I'd trusted her, but mostly because I could no longer trust myself. I'd been conned by a woman who was so bored with her small-town life that she thought it would be fun to destroy mine. She probably had ten online boyfriends she was stringing along. I'd been the only one with the perfect setup and circumstances to see me down on my luck and desperate. And probably the only one dumb enough to fall for her shit.

Maybe if I'd stayed in South Carolina, she would have grown tired of me or just ghosted me one day when the fun wore off. But I'd never know.

"Oh my God, Noah." Lu pivoted on the couch to face me. She grabbed hold of my other hand attempting to draw my attention to her.

It had been easier to tell her the truth while staring at the blank television in front of us. I didn't need to see her face to know there was incredulous disbelief and a healthy dose of pity in there as well. I could feel how hot my cheeks had gone.

"Noah," Lu tried again, tugging our joined hands to her chest.

This time I did meet her gaze, allowing a small, sad smile.

"You have to know that none of that was your fault. I'm sorry, but this girl sounds like a sociopath. Only a monster would do something like that."

I nodded. "A monster I'd thought I'd been dating for six months."

Lu's face was intense. "She hid herself from you. You saw what she wanted you to see. I am so sorry that happened to you. God, after the job and the move. No wonder you didn't want to talk to me. You were stranded in this town. Somewhere you never asked to be."

Finally, she gave in to her instincts and lunged forward, hugging me hard. "This was not your fault. You didn't deserve any of it."

I wrapped my arms around her and nodded, not really knowing how to respond. I definitely blamed Virginia for what happened, but I also took a lot of the guilt on myself for trusting someone so blindly and for being so fucking wrong.

Lu sat back and eyed me with concern. "Did you . . . did you love her?"

My knee-jerk reaction was to say no, immediately and with little room for discussion. But I made myself sit there and really think about the answer in a way I hadn't allowed since staring around an empty hotel room in disbelief while I scrambled to pull a life together in Cozy Creek. I hadn't let myself think about Virginia when I was looking for an apartment or trying to find a job. Survival had been the only thing on my mind.

Finally, I glanced at Lu and shook my head. "She didn't break my heart, but she did crack me right down the middle. To before and after. Back when I trusted myself and then to now, questioning everything."

Lu nodded as if that made sense to her when I could barely even put it into words myself.

"I think I loved the idea of having someone," I admitted with some effort. "I've always been pretty monogamous. I like being in a relationship. The comfort and support of having someone so tied to you. It had been a while before I met her—before I gave the online dating thing a try. So when we started to hit it off, I wanted to love her. You have to understand," I said, swallowing hard. "I was in my hometown just getting by, keeping my head down. I felt like I was on a dead-end road—a dead-end life. Then I met someone, and I felt excited about something for the first time in a very long while. But she was just a projection, only showing me what I wanted to see. She was an illusion when it was all said and done."

"She was cruel," Lu said emphatically. "Playing games with you like that for her own amusement. And if I ever see her around town, I'll hit her with my Jeep."

My laughter burst out of me, so unexpected in this quiet apartment at a time when I felt my emotions vibrating on the surface of my skin and my shame on public display. But I was grateful. Lu always knew what to say and how to get me to breathe again.

She was still smiling while she held my hand—her thumb stroking gently over my knuckles. "We can take things slow—as slow as you want. Until you trust me. And more importantly, until you trust yourself again."

I was surprised when relief didn't accompany her statement. I thought that was what I wanted—what I needed. Time and distance and irrefutable proof that my instincts weren't all wrong. But instead, I whispered, "I do trust you, Lu."

And it was the truth. This girl with her red lips and wild hair, who was friendly and kind and loved fiercely. I'd taken one look at her standing on the sidewalk two months ago and woken up. She was comfort and courage wrapped up in a package that stole my breath. Lu was the friend I was always meant to have, and I knew, deep down, that she would take care of my heart if I gave it to her.

Fighting my attraction to her proved futile. Ignoring her in a town the size of a postage stamp wasn't feasible. And besides all that, I didn't want to keep her at a distance any longer. I needed Lu in my life. She was inevitable. We were inevitable.

I didn't want to waste any more time waiting for my brain to catch up with my heart. Maybe my instincts weren't faulty like I'd thought. They'd brought me here, after all.

Leaning forward, I cupped her soft cheek. My other hand threaded into her blond waves as I brought my lips to hers. She tasted sweet like ice cream, and I licked into her mouth, slow and deep.

Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, and suddenly, I wanted to feel her everywhere—on top of me, beneath me, surrounding me, and squeezing every single inch.

Drawing her close, I helped her straddle my hips. She was warm as she settled against me, her shimmery copper skirt fanning out around us.

We made out with Lu on my lap, but it wasn't frantic and hurried like our actions had been in the past. There was gravity to what we were doing now as if we both knew this meant something. The first stop on the path to more.

Lu straightened, tugging on the hem of her shirt. I helped her bring the silky white fabric up and over her head. She wore a sheer bra of the palest pink, the edges lined with lace and a tiny bow in the middle. She looked so fucking pretty perched on top of me.

"Can I?" I said, my right hand molding to the warm flesh of her ribs.

"Yes, Noah," she whispered. "Yes to everything."

My hand snaked around to the center of her back, bringing her breasts forward. I covered one hard nipple with my lips and licked wetly against the delicate fabric. Lu squirmed, a choked sound leaving her throat as she threaded her fingers through my hair and held me to her.

Switching sides, I mouthed and tongued the pink tip, feeling her shift on top of me, trying to get closer. My dick strained behind the zipper of my jeans as Lu's hot center ground against me, seeking friction.

The temptation was there to get lost in the feel of her, this urgency between us giving way to rushed movements and instant gratification. I forced myself to focus. With my hands beneath her ass, I stood. Lu's legs locked around me as she squeaked in alarm. I gave her a little squeeze and a quick kiss as I walked us both toward her bedroom. The lamp atop her bedside table was already on, and I was glad. I wanted to look at her. I wanted to see us together this way.

After setting her down gently, I started removing the mountain of throw pillows on top of her bed. She laughed and climbed on, tossing a few of her own at me and on the floor. Smiling, I tugged my shirt off and joined her a moment later, urging her flat on her back. I kissed my way down her body, tasting her collarbone, her shoulder, the place in the center of her chest that pounded out a beat just for me.

When I got to the edge of her skirt, I looked up. "Good?"

"Wait," Lu answered breathlessly. I froze my movements, but she continued. "What about work? I don't want to distract you when you're on shift."

I smiled at her—always so kind and thoughtful. Even in this situation, half undressed and impatient for each other, Lu was thinking of me. "I texted Jimmy and told him I was taking the rest of the night off. Everything is fine."

Relief relaxed her features before a naughty grin tilted the corners of her lips. "So you're mine tonight?"

"I'm yours," I replied simply.

Resuming my attentions, I ran my hands up her thighs and hooked my fingers in the waistband of her underwear—pale and pretty, just like her bra—to tug them down, leaving the fabric of her skirt bunched above her thighs.

Lu let her legs fall wide as I settled between them. I parted her and gave a long, slow lick with the flat of my tongue. She was hot and wet and tasted amazing. When I peeked up, Lu had her head thrown back and an arm over her face. I smiled and went back to work. I kissed and sucked, licking her pussy top to bottom and side to side. She was twisting and restless after long minutes, so I slid a finger inside her and focused my attention back on her clit.

Slim fingers threaded into my hair and tugged as Lu moved against me, hips rolling to the beat of her pleasure. I added another finger and resisted the urge to grind against the bed. She was tight and wet and would feel so fucking good when I slid inside her. Pressure was building in me as Lu made these little sounds, growing more fraught and intense by the second.

"Right there," she moaned. "Right. There."

I kept doing what I was doing, not moving away an inch, tongue flicking her clit and fingers fucking into her.

Finally, her breathing hitched, and her body went rigid. Rhythmic pulses squeezed my fingers, and I gentled the strokes of my tongue as she came against my mouth. Her fingers still clutched my hair, and I didn't think she realized how hard she clung to me.

Smiling, I pressed soft kisses to her core, liking the way her breath caught each time I did.

"Come up here," she croaked.

I rested my head on her thigh and gazed up the length of her body. "You have to let go of me first."

Lu's fingers flexed in my hair. "Oh. Sorry." A little laugh sounded, and I felt it. "Did I hurt you?"

"Not even a little." I grinned.

She released me, and I climbed up to her, nosing at her pale skin as I went. Her cheeks were flushed, and those gray eyes heated as she took me in.

Lu had a condom waiting, and I had no idea where that had come from. "Good?" she repeated my question from earlier, and I could only nod.

Together, we wrestled off my jeans and boxer briefs. She shimmied out of her skirt, and I unclasped her bra. I hugged her close for a moment, just feeling her skin and her warmth. I thought I might never want to leave this bed, but then she pressed her hips up into mine, and I couldn't think anymore because my dick settled right where I wanted to be.

I made quick work of the condom and then kissed her slow and deep, pressing forward and into her at the same time, inch by agonizing inch.

My thoughts fractured, segmenting into the here and now. She was all snug heat and smooth skin. Wild blond hair around us and arms holding me close. And then I heard her sigh right by my ear as I bottomed out inside her.

Pulling back, I asked, "Okay?"

It was her turn to nod. "You feel so good."

I felt a laugh bubble up in my throat. "No, Lu. Christ . You feel amazing."

And then she was grinning, and I was moving, ratcheting up the pleasure between us. Getting us closer and higher and within reaching distance together.

I buried my face in her neck. The warm vanilla scent of her skin washed over me as I rolled my hips. She made a sound that I took as encouragement and prayed I wouldn't come right that second because she felt too good and too perfect, and I wanted her to be right here with me.

Lu tensed again, and then her orgasm moved through her in a rush, my name fast and light, repeating on her lips like a broken prayer.

I let myself go, moving with purpose despite knowing that this was probably going to kill me. Pleasure tightened all my muscles before gathering at the base of my spine. I thrust forward once, twice, and then lightning exploded behind my eyes.

Moaning into the soft skin of her throat, I felt Lu's nails scratch gently across my shoulder blades, and she held me tight—so tight. As if I would leave. As if there was anywhere else I could possibly want to go. She was sunlight, air, shelter—everything I'd ever wanted in my most desperate heart.

"It's not supposed to be like that," she murmured quietly, her lips grazing my temple as she spoke.

Raising my head to look at her, I asked, "What?"

"It's not supposed to feel that good—to feel that right."

I knew what she meant. First times were awkward with a lot of questions and uncertainty. It was hard to get lost in someone else when you were worried and overthinking every move you made. But she was right. This had been perfect. In fact, everything between us felt right—from the very beginning. We'd clicked on every level, and I wasn't surprised now that I'd just had the best sex of my life. It wasn't just sex. It was Lu.

So I brushed a strand of hair away from her damp forehead and kissed the corner of her mouth. "But it's you and me, Lu. You knew it'd feel like this. We never stood a chance."

Her grin was wide and pleased, and she nodded, cupping my cheeks and kissing me again, over and over until she had her fill.

Finally, I got up and took care of the condom in the bathroom across the hall.

Padding back into the room, I noticed Lu's eyes moving over my still-naked body.

"You know, I'm feeling a little objectified," I teased.

She grinned, unrepentant. "You should be. But you can objectify me later."

I slid back under the covers, and Lu snuggled up against me, her bare skin a reminder of all the things we'd done tonight.

"Do you think Jimmy's mad that you took the rest of the night off?"

I brushed an errant blond curl out of my mouth and replied, "He seemed fine about it. Why?"

"You know I'm afraid of his New York mob connections."

I laughed. "You're a nut. He doesn't have mob connections." I frowned. At least I didn't think he did.

"You're staying the night, right?"

Leaving hadn't even crossed my mind. "If that's okay with you."

"More than okay," Lu said, her fingers drawing lazy designs across my torso. A moment of comfortable silence passed before she spoke again. "Thanks for riding to my rescue tonight."

Once again, my mind flashed back to the ice cream shop and the way Lu had clung to me. I knew it had to be hard for her to admit how hurt she'd been by her family this evening.

I tightened my arms around her and hugged her close. "Anytime, Louie, Louie."