Chapter 25

He's still inside me, cock pulsing, shuddering through the final waves of his climax as Macy stands wide-eyed.

"Okay. It is what it looks like, this time," I say with a shrug and a nervous little laugh.

Macy turns around quickly. Noah buries his face into my shoulder, shaky, unable to compose himself quite yet.

"Sorry!" Macy squeaks. Hand over her eyes she says, "If I could just get a paper towel?—"

"Oh." I reach over and pull a couple from the dispenser and hold them over to her. "Here."

She feels around blindly, finally grabbing them and saying, "thank you," then clattering away, the door banging closed after her.

"I swear I locked the door," Noah whispers against my neck, another aftershock making him shiver against me.

"I think it's broken," I laugh.

"And you knew. Naughty." He kisses my lips, then my nose, then my forehead as he pulls out of me, the perfect ache left in his place.

While he disposes of the condom I hop down and straighten my dress and wet a paper towel to wipe my face. While I'm fixing my smudged lipstick, he comes up behind me in the mirror. His tattooed hand plays with the strap of my dress before caressing my bare shoulder.

His dark figure behind me, all in black, covered in black ink, bends as he kisses the spot where my shoulder meets my neck.

I try to focus on my reflection, but he's warm and solid behind me, pressing against my back as he slides his hand around to my stomach. He's hard again.

"Mine," he snarls against my neck and keeps kissing me.

I arch back against him, making him groan, his chest vibrating, and suddenly I'm liquid for him again, needy. Greedy for him. He's all mine.

"We better get back before I bend you over and fuck you again," he says with an edge to his voice, a breathy desperation that tells me how much he'd like to do that and how much he's holding back.

I wiggle my ass against his erection, and he chuckles, moving his lips up to my earlobe. He nips it between his teeth. "I'm going to take my time with you later."

"Can't wait," I say, watching him behind me in the mirror, tilting my head to give him better access to my neck as he kisses and sucks.

His arms encircle me, shirtsleeves shoved up to his elbows, fingers digging into my dress. He surrounds me, consumes me, and it's better than thirteen-year-old little Livvy could have ever dreamed up.

Reluctantly, he takes my hand and leads me out of the bathroom and back to the table.

My panties are soaked under my dress, clinging to my skin. Noah squeezes my hand and looks down at me with a smirk like he knows exactly what he's still doing to me.

But before we get to the table, it's clear Spencer and Jake are still deep in an argument. Macy pleads with them to take it outside, looking around in distress, tidying up what looks like another spill. She touches her boyfriend's arm but he shrugs her hand away with a sneer.

Finally, he and Jake exit the restaurant with Macy and Bex following.

We approach the table cautiously, Wood the only one left, sipping on his third mojito.

"So, how did that all go?" Noah asks quietly.

"Bro, tonight has been amazing. Best night I've had in a long time. I'm so glad I came." Wood leans back in his seat with his signature lopsided grin. "Oh, and the night just got better."

Our server along with two others arrive with trays full of food. Our head server does a good job of hiding her mild horror at our empty table.

"Will the rest of your party be back shortly?"

"Nah, I don't think so," Wood says. "Don't worry, I'll take it all." He pats his flat stomach. "Are you guys going to sit and eat, or should I have your dinners boxed up for later?"

Noah looks at me with a wicked glint in his dark eyes. "I'm not very hungry. What about you?"

I shake my head. Food is the last thing on my mind.

"All right." Wood waves the server back over. "Go ahead and box everything up except mine, and I'll take the check and another mojito."

She says right away, and he gives her a smile and a wink.

"I'm going to have to leave her such a big tip." He chuckles. "I'll bring the food home later? To our place?"

I nod and Noah smiles. "Yeah," he says.

Wood looks back and forth between us and down to where our hands are clasped. His grin widens. "So…does this mean you'll be staying with us again? For good?"

Noah's gaze hasn't left my face. "If she wants to. I want her to."

My throat constricts and my chest tightens at the same time tears threaten to well up again. I'm afraid I won't be able to speak. So I just nod. I nod and smile so wide my cheeks hurt and finally squeak out, "Yes. Yes, I would like that."

"Good," Noah says.

I glance back at Wood. He's sitting with his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his hands, dopey smile on his face. "Don't mind me," he says, wiping his eyes. "I knew you two would work things out." He looks down and slices his steak, sneakily wiping away another tear. "I'm getting a little tired of it, honestly."

"Of what?"

"The whole serial dating, one-night stands, booty-call thing." He takes a big bite off his fork but continues talking anyway. "It's not very fulfilling. I think I'd like something more, you know?"

Noah squeezes my hand and just as I'm about to tell Wood how great I think that is, Wood's phone buzzes, rattling against the table.

He looks at his phone, his face lighting up. "Ooh, Audrey. Change of plans." He shovels another piece of steak into his mouth and starts texting. "I have a date."

"So, the whole wanting something more you were just talking about…"

Wood grins at us. "Bruh, Audrey is, like, really fucking hot, though. I'll start looking for something more next weekend."

"Should we tell them you need another meal boxed up?" I ask.

"What? No way. This is my warm-up meal." Wood beams.

"All right, see you back home," Noah says, barely hiding the chuckle in his voice.

Wood points at me as we step away. "Hey, waffles in the morning?"

I nod excitedly.

"Knew it!" And with a couple of shots fired from his finger guns, we wave and walk out of the restaurant.

Outside, the sun has gone down behind the surrounding buildings, throwing everything in a hazy blue shadow. The orange glow of the sun in the distance means the streetlights haven't come on yet, hovering somewhere between day and night.

The rest of our group is under the covered roundabout. Spencer is hastily exchanging his keys for a twenty-dollar tip with the valet. He gets in the driver's side while Jake holds the passenger door open for Macy. As soon as she gets in, he peels away. No time for her to even get her seatbelt on or wave goodbye.

Noah squeezes my hand as we approach Bex and Jake. Jake gives us a little nod and unwraps his arm from around my sister. "I'll, uh, give you guys a minute to talk." He kisses Bex on the cheek and tells her he's going to pull the car around.

He leaves and we all stand there for a minute, quiet. The air is heavier as dark clouds roll in on a warm breeze. She looks back and forth between us and down to where I have a death grip on his hand.

"I fucked up," she says, exhaling.

"Yeah, you did," Noah cuts, barely restrained fury rippling off him like thick swirls of black smoke.

"Don't be a dick. I'm apologizing!"

"You told my girlfriend I was hooking up with her sister," he spits, his grip on my hand becoming tighter.

I should say something. But my heart is racing, and I don't like fighting. Bex was always the fighter, not me.

Bex's eyes widen. "Girlfriend?" She turns to me.

I nod, still trying to find words.

"Shit, Livvy. I should have realized." She comes to me with arms open. Noah reluctantly lets go of my hand so I can hug her back. "I was so caught up in my new relationship, I wasn't even paying attention to you. I'm sorry."

She squeezes me, and even though she's restricting my lungs, it finally feels like I can breathe.

"I should have told you," I say, grimacing. "I was scared."

She pulls back, keeps a hold of my arms. "Why?"

"Because of what you had said—about never dating a family member's ex."

"I did say that, didn't I?" She almost laughs. "I wouldn't let something like that get between us."

"So you're not mad, about me and Noah?"

Bex tilts her head. "It's a little weird, but he and I were together a long time ago. I'll get over it. I just want you to be happy. I've always only wanted that for you."

She smiles, getting impossibly prettier, her crystal blue eyes twinkling as a cool rain drop hits my nose, then she narrows her gaze at Noah. "If you hurt her, I will fucking kill you."

Noah chuckles, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me up against his side. "I know."

"I'm not kidding. Straight up murder."

"I believe you."

Jake pulls up to the curb as more rain drops start to fall.

"Love you," Bex says, smiling at me and flipping Noah off.

"Love you, too." He returns the gesture with both middle fingers as she gets into the car. She and Jake drive off as the patter of rain hitting the pavement surrounds us.

Noah wraps me in his arms, and I nuzzle into his warm chest. "Sorry my sister threatened your life."

He kisses the top of my head. "I'm not worried about it. I have no intention of hurting you. I'm going to keep you and take care of you, forever."

I look up at him, the man of my dreams, and he's promising me forever. It doesn't seem real.

He smiles down at me. "I have something else I need to tell you. Actually, let me show you.

We walk for several blocks, the rain letting up as the clouds open and dissolve away to a beautiful night sky.

At first, I think he's taking me to the shop. We pass the bar, which is still dead this early in the evening. Then, as we get to the doors of the shop, he keeps on walking, arm around my shoulders.

He takes me to the next door down, the coffee shop.

"After you," he says, holding the door open.

"What are we doing here?"

"You'll see."

I walk in, Noah quietly behind me, his hand on my lower back, steering me away from the counter and over to the booths up against the wall. I glance all around. The lighting is dim, moody. Everything painted in muted tones of brown. It's not very full. The few people sitting around murmur softly while their ceramic mugs clink against little saucers. Soft key clicks come from someone working on their laptop in the corner, earbuds in.

Noah puts both hands on the sides of my face and tilts my head back, directing my eyes upward.

And there, on the wall, in this quiet corner coffee shop, is the nude drawing I did of him in the loft, framed with a simple white mat against the aged, brick wall.

I stare blankly up at it, mouth open. I'm frozen and it's like everything around me is fuzzy, out of focus, sounds muffled like I'm under water.

"Are you mad?" Noah gnaws on his lip. "I know I did this behind your back, I wanted it to be a surprise?—"

"I'm not mad. I… I don't know what to say."

"It's not an art gallery, I know, but I thought it might feel like a step toward it one day. You're so talented, you deserve to have your work seen."

It's unreal. I can't stop looking at it. My little drawing, up on the wall. It looks like…art. Real art. "I can't believe you did this for me. So, this is the sneaking you and Wood were talking about?"

"Yeah."

Oh.

He rubs the back of his neck. "I called the other day to have them take it down, but he told me someone made an offer on it, full price, as long as it's the original."

I glance at the little tag in the bottom corner. Twenty-five hundred dollars? "You sold it?"

"I told him to hold off on it. I didn't know what to do. He said if you decide to sell, he'd like another piece to hang in its place. He also has a sister shop across town he wants a piece for."

I'm overwhelmed. "This is amazing." Tears start welling up in my eyes as he bends down to bury his face in my hair as he pulls me to his chest. "Thank you," I whisper.

He smells faintly of gin with that piney undertone and I breathe him in, knowing he's mine. I still can't believe it. Noah Dixon. Loves me.

He did so much just to help make a small part of my dream come true. But he ismy dream come true.