Chapter 17

"Okay, open your eyes."

Noah removes his hands from over my face, and I am standing in front of one of the black walls in the tattoo shop.

We're over by Noah's station in the back, his elaborate white chalk drawing covers several feet of wall behind his tattoo chair.

"What am I looking at?" I ask.

"This!" He's so excited I don't know how to tell him I still don't know what this is about. "This is your spot."

"My spot?"

"Yeah. You can put up whatever you want. It's your spot."

And then I see it. Black wall. Chalk free. He cleared a space for me.

"I can draw whatever I want?"

He smiles, biting his lip as he nudges me with his arm, letting the touch linger there for a moment. "I know whatever you do will be amazing. I can't wait to see it."

I beam back at him. I love it.

"I know it's not like a real art gallery, but?—"

I cut him off, reaching up to touch his face. "I love it."

I want to pull him down and kiss him, but I stop just short, remembering we're at work. His gaze is on my mouth, too.

Licking his lips, he leans in bit. "Fuck," he says under his breath. He brushes his thumb along my chin for the briefest second before making a fist and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I have some paperwork to do in my office. Will you let me know when my next appointment comes in?"

I nod. He hesitates, the tip of his tongue on the edge of his teeth. But then he turns and goes to his office, looking over his shoulder with the cutest little grin before disappearing.

I turn back to the wall.

Now all I have to do is come up with something amazing to draw. No pressure.

Taryn walks up behind me, assessing the blank space on the wall with her arms crossed. "He's giving you a spot on the wall. Right next to his. And you've barely started apprenticing. Wow."

I nod and smile. "Yep. He has a lot of faith in me. It's nice. Don't you think?"

She steps into my space, her silver piercings catching the light as she arches a brow. "I know you're enjoying being his favorite right now, but don't get used to it."

I step back, crossing my arms.

"I've been working for him for three years, and I knew him before that. He doesn't date. At least, he doesn't do the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing. He goes out with someone three, four dates, tops, before he loses interest and moves on."

"I don't know why you're telling me this."

She huffs out a laugh, looking me up and down. "I just thought you should know what you're getting into, and that fucking the boss doesn't make you special. You're not the only one, sis."

Her words are a sucker punch to the gut. "I'm not… I mean, we haven't?—"

"Interesting." She pauses, like she's assessing and scrutinizing my entire being. "My advice…" Taryn leans in and lowers her voice. "Get it while you can. Enjoy it. Before he gets bored of you. But be prepared for the fallout. Protect yourself. Don't let yourself get hurt. And if he does hurt you—don't let it show."

She purses her lips at the wall behind me then saunters away.

I'm dizzy. Nauseous.

I sit at the front desk the rest of the evening while Noah finishes up his tattoo session. It's almost midnight when he's done with his client. It's only me and him left in the shop, and I help him close up like we've done a dozen times before.

Taryn's words keep circling back in my mind. No. Don't let her get to you, Livvy. She doesn't know about what we have or anything about our relationship. Not that we're officially in a relationship or anything.

"Are you okay?" Noah asks when we get into the elevator to go up to the apartment.

"I'm fine."

He studies my face for a moment, narrowing his eyes. I lift my chin, keeping my eyes bright, and hope my smile is convincing. He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze.

See, nothing to worry about.

But I can't help thinking about the type of women he's been with as we ride up to the top floor. Bex and Taryn. They're both beautiful, exciting, outspoken, outgoing. They're not quiet or shy. Or boring.

The ding of the elevator pulls me out of my head, and Noah waits for me to step out. He puts his hand on the small of my back and walks me to the door. We fling our stuff down once we get in the door. Noah rolls his head, stretching his neck as he opens the fridge.

He gets stiff after a long day of tattooing. Maybe I should offer him a massage. Maybe I should offer him sex.

Get it while you can.

"Should we order something in?" he asks, still staring into the open refrigerator.

"Do you want to do something, I don't know, more exciting? Like go out for dinner or drinks? We could hit up the bar, go dancing."

He shrugs. "Nah. Wood's usually the one dragging me out to do that kind of stuff." He looks at me and tilts his head, that look he gave me in the elevator returning. "Do you want to go out? I'll take you out if that's what you want. I just want to be wherever you are."

Enjoy it. Before he gets bored of you.

I swallow. "You sure?"

"Yeah." He walks over to me, backing me up to the counter and wrapping his arms around my middle. He kisses my forehead. "Didn't the finale of your show come out the other day?"

"I can watch it another time. You don't have to watch it with me. I know you think it's silly."

He looks off, scratching the back of his neck. "If you want to put it on, that would be fine. I know it's kind of a big deal or whatever."

"Do you want to watch it with me?"

He shrugs again. "I mean, I wouldn't mind hanging out with you while you watch it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, like, the last episode did leave off on a bit of a cliffhanger, so…"

The way he's being intentionally casual and avoiding eye contact makes me smile. "Okay. Chinese and the finale. I think there's a reunion special to watch after, too."

His eyes light up.

"I can't believe Braxton said that about Camber. It's like they forget they are being filmed." Noah grabs the last wonton and shakes his head at the screen. "And are they even going to acknowledge what Zeke did in the last episode?"

He's pacing between the living room and the kitchen by the end of the reunion special.

I turn it off and offer him that massage I was thinking about earlier.

It takes him a few minutes into the neck and shoulder rub to relax, finally close his eyes, lean his head back, and hum softly.

"If you're just doing this to get into my pants, it won't work," he says, peeking one eye open.

"It won't?"

He cracks a smile. "No, yeah. It will totally work."

I giggle as he crawls up my body. He presses me onto the couch and covers my mouth with his, kissing me slow at first. Deep, gentle strokes of the tongue turn greedier and more impatient as we go on. Hands roam over clothes and up shirts. He urges his thigh between my legs, and I rut against it. Needy. Achy. Panting.

Noah pulls back, both of us out of breath, flushed, hot.

He kisses the tip of my nose. "There's something I want to do with you tomorrow before we head into the shop. So, we need to get up a little early."

"Oh?" What does he want to do? "I guess we should go to bed, then. I'm tired."

"Me, too." He sweeps hair off my forehead, his eyes searching mine. "I wish I could sleep with you every night."

And I know he means sleep when he says it. I see the sadness in his eyes. The exhaustion.

I wish I knew when Bex was going to be home. She's not working tonight, just out. I have no idea when she'll come walking through the door.

The jingle of keys in the door handle alerts us and I sit up as Noah hurries off me and to the other side of the couch. He adjusts himself and it brings a smile to my lips.

"Wow, your place is so nice!" an unfamiliar female voice says. A tall brunette walks in, followed by Wood.

"Oh, hey guys." He glances between us. Noah's lip is a little red from where I bit it and I'm still breathless. "Don't mind us. We'll be out of your hair. Go back to what…ever you were doing."

"We were just watching TV," I say.

He looks at the black screen. "Mmhmm. You two have fun." He winks, guiding the girl past us and to his room.

My eight o'clock alarm goes off far too early. It actually goes off at precisely eight o'clock, but that's beside the point. We're heading into work at noon, and Noah said the thing he has planned for us will take a couple hours, so here we are.

I turn the alarm off quickly to not wake up Bex?—

There is no Bex.

The bed is empty.

That's weird. She always comes home, even if it isn't until three or four in the morning.

Me:

Hey, noticed you didn't come home last night, just checking in

I get up and as I'm walking to the bathroom, Noah and Wood are in the kitchen.

"Okay, so whipping the egg whites is the secret to light and fluffy waffles. You just want to beat them until they reach soft peaks." Wood hands Noah the hand mixer.

"Soft peaks?"

"Yeah, so not hard peaks like in a meringue, soft peaks."

"I don't know what any of that means."

I let them be and continue to the bathroom. When I come back out, the soft peak egg white situation must have been figured out because Noah is ladling batter into the waffle iron. Wood is humming "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus, slicing up an orange he adds to a plate that's already loaded with bacon and a waffle covered in melted butter.

"Where's your lady friend?" I ask as I sit opposite him at the counter.

"She's in bed, sleeping. I hope."

Noah comes around behind me and almost knocks the air out of me as he wraps his arms around me tightly from behind.

His lips brush along my ear. "Morning," he whispers.

Wood smirks at us. He puts the plate on a tray along with a small carafe of syrup and a glass of orange juice and carries it away to his room without another word.

I squeeze Noah's tattooed arms to my chest and tilt my head, giving him more access. He kisses along my jaw and down my neck, making me grin.

"How long has Wood known?"

"Since the morning we left for the lake house."

"That tracks."

The green light flashes on the waffle maker and Noah rushes back to the kitchen.

"Wood helped me, so they should be better this time." He plates me a giant waffle.

"They were great last time," I assure him.

His dark blue eyes brighten, and I have half a mind to throw the waffle aside and kiss and taste him instead. But I don't.

The waffle is better this time.

My phone dings in my pocket and I check my notification.

Bex:

Yeah I stayed with a friend last night,

sorry to worry you!

A "friend."

Interesting.

"Bex didn't come home last night," I say, casually. "I think she might be seeing someone."

"Hm." Noah takes a giant bite of waffle, syrup dripping from his lip. He shrugs then starts tidying the mixing bowls and measuring cups, avoiding making eye contact.

"Do you know something?" I ask.

He looks up and says, "No," quickly. Too quickly.

"You know who she's seeing."

He shakes his head. "I don't care what Bex does or who she does it with—that's her business. I'm sure she'll tell us when there's something to tell."

I go to him and put my arms around his neck as he encircles my waist. "Okay."

He kisses my forehead.

"So, where are we going?"

He parts his lips just enough to show the edges of his teeth. "We have to get changed first."

Wood's parents live in a gated community up in the hills overlooking Seattle and Puget Sound amongst other multi-million-dollar properties. Noah and Wood's mothers were sisters, and, from what I can tell, came from an average, middle-class background. But Wood's dad apparently comes from "old money."

"Don't worry, they're vacationing in Italy right now." Noah puts the car into park in front of a house with flat roof lines and endless planes of glass walls, half of it seeming to jut out over the hillside like it's floating.

He holds my hand as he keys in a code on their fancy security system and then walks me through the house and out to the back where a crystal blue pool stretches the length of the house, the far edge disappearing into nothing but air as the landscape drops off to the valley below.

"Ready?" Noah takes off his shirt and tosses it to one of the pool lounge chairs.

I nod.

The sun reflects off the pool water and onto his inked skin as he backs into the pool and beckons me to join him.

I take a deep breath and take off my cover-up then step into the pool. My heart picking up speed a little, remembering the last time I tried to swim.

Noah dunks his entire body in the water, coming up and shaking water from his hair before slicking it back.

Fuck, but he's gorgeous.

And he's with me.

At least for the moment.

Shaking that thought, I go to Noah's arms, standing where the water is at waist height. The water is cool but comfortable.

He looks down at me as he places his hands on my hips, sun blazing behind him, water dripping from his hair.

"I'm nervous," I whisper.

He tightens his fingers into my hips and kisses my forehead. "This is important. I've got you. I won't let anything happen. I need you to be safe."

"I trust you."

He gives me a tighter squeeze when I say it, his eyes saying even more.

"First, we're going to work on your back float," he says.

"I know how to float."

Sort of.

"Great. Show me."