At least I hope so.
“Looks like we’re the last to arrive,” Bree says, motioning to the line of cars parked around the cabin.
There aren’t a lot of them, though. I guess it’s not really going to be a big party.
“Hello, ladies. Welcome, welcome. Mi casa es su casa,” Julian calls out to us, drawing our attention. He’s standing in the front porch next to Noah, who groans at his greeting.
Morgan snickers.
“Do I have to talk to him while we’re here?” Bree whines to me.
I pat her shoulder. “You’ll live.”
“Y’all cool with bunking in the same room, right?” Julian asks as we step into the porch, promptly relieving Bree of her bag.
“Sure,” I say.
Bree, Morgan and I are used to sleeping in the same room during sleepovers, anyway.
“How many bedrooms does it have?” Bree asks curiously.
“Five. Come on, I’ll show you to your room. Noah here already knows where he’s sleeping.” Julian winks at him.
In Laura’s room probably. But I don’t voice that out loud.
Instead, I grab my bag from Noah a little forcefully, causing him to almost lose his balance. “What the—”
I give him a sweet smile. “Oops, sorry.”
Before he can react, Julian steps inside the cabin and beckons us to follow him.
The front door immediately opens to the living room. A few guys are lounging on the large sectional in the middle, playing some video game on the huge flat-screen TV—where a roaring fireplace is nestled right below to keep the place cozy and warm.
I instantly pick out Lincoln among the guys. He’s sitting between Aaron Payne and Michael Cox, who happens to be Julian’s cousin. His face brightens up when he looks our way and he rises from the couch to approach us, with Brad Kingston right behind him.
“You made it,” he tells me with a wide grin.
I give him a cheerful smile. “Couldn’t miss it.”
“Babe,” Brad greets just then, drawing Morgan into a kiss.
Bree nudges me. “Guess it’s just gonna be me and you this weekend.”
Sure enough, Brad reaches for Morgan’s bag and laces his fingers through hers, leading her away.
Bree and I exchange a smirk.
“Noah.” We all turn our heads to see Laura sashaying toward us in her two-piece red bikini that effectively shows off her curves.
“Hot damn, girl,” Julian whistles, causing Bree to roll her eyes.
Laura flashes a provocative smile his way before focusing her attention on Noah, pointedly ignoring the rest of us. “Come join us for a swim.”
“I haven’t even changed yet,” Noah says.
“You’re wearing boxer shorts underneath all that, right? That’s good enough.” She slips her arm through his and steers him away.
Laura didn’t even give him a chance to pass his duffel bag over to Julian before dragging him off to God knows where.
I scowl after them.
“Yeah, we won’t be seeing him for a while,” Lincoln chuckles.
I barely manage to keep from redirecting my scowl at him.
“Come on, girl.” Bree hooks her arm through mine. “Let’s go check out our room.” To Julian, she says, “Any time now, birthday boy.”
“Right.” Julian clears his throat, blushing slightly. “This way, ladies.”
“I’ll see you later.” Lincoln winks at me before walking back to his friends.
“You know his actual birthday was last week, right?” I whisper to Bree as we follow Julian up the stairs.
“But this is his actual celebration, yes?” she volleys back.
Girl’s got a point.
We reach the room at the end of the hall. Its door is open and Morgan’s bag is already sitting on the bed—the girl herself nowhere to be found.
Aside from a queen-size bed and a couch off to the side, there’s a TV, a vanity dresser and two-door closet inside the room. Oh, and there’s an en-suite bathroom, too. Great. We don’t have to share with everyone.
But the best part is the balcony, which overlooks a breathtaking view of the lake.
“Not bad, Murray. Not bad,” Bree says appreciatively.
Biting my bottom lip to rein in a smile, I turn to Julian. “Did you just give us the best room in the cabin?”
Julian’s ears grow hot as he darts a quick glance at Bree. “This was the only one left. Everyone else has already picked out the rest of the rooms.”
Yeah, right. Like they would overlook this room. Especially Laura and her posse. They probably even insisted that they have this. Unfortunately for them, Julian doesn’t have a crush on any of them.
“Their loss, our gain,” I mutter as I push open the double doors of the balcony and step out.
Laughter and screams coming from the lake reach my ears. And I look down, surprised to see Morgan already there.
She’s sitting on Brad's shoulders and playing chicken fight with Laura, who’s perched on Noah’s. Lindsay and Tabitha and two other girls surround them, cheering Laura on.
“That traitor.” Bree gasps next to me.
I didn’t notice she also stepped out of the room. Looking over my shoulder, I can’t find Julian inside either. He must have slipped out already.
A loud splash draws my attention back on the lake. Laura is no longer on Noah’s shoulders. She’s in the water, glaring up at Morgan.
“Suck it, loser!” Morgan yells, punctuating it with a maniacal laugh and throwing her fists in the air.
Bree laughs. “Okay, I take it back.”
I smirk inwardly. Good job, Morg.
******
Thirty minutes later, Bree and I have unpacked and changed into our swimsuits—mine a pink tankini, hers a black one-piece halter neck. And we are making our way down the lake to join the others. Lincoln and Julian and the other guys are already there, splashing the girls around and cannonballing off the dock or from the rope swing.
Laura is the only one out of the water. She’s sunbathing on one of the beach chairs lined up on the shore—even though it’s not that sunny anymore—a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes. A small smirk appears on her face as we walk past, but otherwise, she doesn’t bother acknowledging us.
Bree and I put our towels down on a beach chair and kick off our flip-flops. We already applied sunscreen back in our room so we just wade straight into the lake, which is a little chilly.
When the water reaches my hips, someone grabs me from behind and hoists me up into the air, making me yelp. Then the next thing I know, I’m being thrown over that person’s shoulder.
The boys’ cheers ring out around us.
Judging from the navy swim shorts in front of my face, he’s one of them. Whoever he is, I’m going to kill him, I silently seethe as he moves out of the water.
The guy chuckles which tells me I voiced that thought out loud.
What the...I know that chuckle. “Noah?”
“Relax, Ellison. I’m not going to drop you.”
“Where are you taking me, you jerk?” I’m really going to kill him. Getting a little nauseous from the blood rushing to my head, I dart my eyes to the ground. But instead of the sand, I see nothing but wood.
“Are we on the dock?” I shriek. “Oh, no. Heck, no. Noah, put me down!”
But the asshole ignores my struggling. Instead, he jumps.
“Son of a—” The curse ends on a scream as we plunge into the lake.
Noah’s laughter is ringing out when I come up for air. He even grins unrepentantly when he sees the furious look on my face. “That was fun.”
“Fun?” I seethe, practically frothing at the mouth. “No. Killing you is what’s fun!”
“Oh, shit!” He swims off when I start to charge after him. But he quickly manages to put a large distance between us, angering me even more.
Why does he swim so fast? “Come back here!”
He just laughs and continues to swim back to ou
r friends.
Feeling exhausted, I’m forced to give up and float on my back. I’ll just get the bastard later—who’s already exchanging high fives and fist bumps with his friends. Jerks.
Except Lincoln. He’s frowning at Noah. Nice to know he’s totally on my side.
I float until my feet can finally touch the ground, then I start to wade back to my best friends.
“Well, that was interesting.” Morgan has a knowing smirk on her face when I reach her and Bree.
I glare at her. “That wasn’t interesting. It was super annoying. Did you even see what he did?”
“It’s like he zeroed in on you,” Bree says, ignoring my death glare. She narrows her eyes at me. “Is there something going on between you and him, Ri? Is that why Laura is glaring so hard at you right now? And why your mom is suddenly Team Noah?”
“Stop saying Team Noah. There’s no Team Noah,” I snap. “He was just being an idiot. He loves to piss me off for some reason.”
I flick an annoyed gaze at Noah and catch him staring at me. There’s an intensity in the way he’s looking at me that it makes my heart skip a beat.
But then he looks away quickly and goes back to fooling around with his friends like nothing happened.
Maybe I just imagined it.
I turn back to my besties and scowl at Bree. “It’s all your fault.”
“What? What did I do?”
Ignoring her, I make my way back to shore.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I don’t know whether to be amused or annoyed.
Bree and Morgan are so drunk right now. And so are the rest of the girls, for that matter. They’ve claimed half the living room and turned it into their personal dancefloor. Julian, Brad and Michael are among them—just as drunk.
“They know they’re dancing to nothing, right?” I say. “There’s no music.”
Noah chuckles next to me on the couch. “Let them have their fun, Ellison.”
“Well, we can turn on some music,” Lincoln—who’s sitting on my other side—suggests in a helpful voice.
Yeah, for some reason I ended up sandwiched between them. I was just minding my own business and sipping on a delicious hot chocolate drink when Lincoln sat down next to me. Noah followed not even a minute later. So now the three of us are sort of hanging out.
It would have been nice if it wasn’t so awkward.
I can’t be sure. But it feels like I’m trying to accommodate both of them. Like they’re competing for my attention.
Maybe it’s just my imagination. But with the way they’re acting…
“Nobody’s turning on the music,” Aaron snaps from his perch on the floor, his eyes not leaving the TV. He’s playing a video game with Tristan Andrews, Coach Andrews’ son and a member of the football team.
A drunk Laura dances her way toward us and unceremoniously plops down on Noah’s lap, wrapping an arm around his neck and almost elbowing me in the face in the process.
Ugh. How rude.
She starts to nuzzle his neck. “You smell so good.”
Noah’s face grows hot, as though embarrassed, and pulls his head away. “Laura, what are you doing?”
“I missed you,” she purrs, trying to reattach her lips on his skin.
Yeah, no. I’m not going to sit here and wait until they stick their tongues in each other’s throat. That’s not something I want to see.
I get up from the couch. “I’m going to get some fresh air.”
“I’ll join you,” Lincoln says. But before he can stand, Noah dumps Laura on his lap, making her squeal in surprise. “What the—”
My eyes are wide as I look from her to Noah.
“You know what? I think I need a little fresh air, too. Come on, Ellison.” Noah grabs my hand and starts to pull me outside.
But I stay put. “It’s cold outside. I need my jacket.”
“This will do.” He grabs a discarded blanket from the single-seater, earning a dubious look from me.
Who knows where that thing came from. More importantly, what was it last used for?
“Wait,” Laura stops us.
What now? Noah and I turn to her.
She’s already standing on her feet, looking sober all of a sudden. “Let’s play Spin the Bottle.”
Spin the Bottle? What are we, twelve?
To my surprise, Lincoln jumps up from the couch and nods in agreement. “That sounds like fun.”
Bree almost stumbles as she drags Morgan over, her hand raised. “Count us in.”
“Are you kidding me?” I mumble, but not low enough for Laura not to hear.
She sneers. “What’s the matter, Riley? Is the game a little too wild for you?”
Please. I roll my eyes. “Of course not. I’ve played it plenty in middle school.”
“Then there won’t be any problem, will there?” Laura doesn’t wait for a response. She walks over to the TV and turns it off, ignoring the groans of protests from Aaron and Tristan. Kicking the PlayStation controllers aside, she claps her hands together. “Okay, people, gather round. Let’s play.”
“Guess we’re staying inside,” Noah tells me with a smirk before sitting down on the floor.
The others follow, forming a big circle until I’m the only one left standing. Michael grabs an empty beer bottle and places it in the middle.
“Well?” Laura arches a brow at me, causing everyone to look my way. “Are you going to stand there all night?”
I guess we’re really doing this. Exhaling a loud breath, I squeeze myself between Morgan and Jenna Alridge, Laura’s track teammate.
Morgan grins at me, her cheeks tinged with red, her eyes a little droopy. “Ri, have I told you I love you?” she whispers loudly, making everyone around us snicker, her alcohol-laden breath blasting my face.
I crinkle my nose. Oh, wow. That stinks. Still, not wanting to upset a drunk, I pat her knee. “‘Love you, too.”
“I’ll start,” Julian volunteers, then reaches out to spin the bottle.
I don’t know if it’s by luck or by design, but the bottle ends up pointing at Bree.
“You did that on purpose,” she accuses him, giggling as cheers and jeers ring out.
“I did not.” But Julian is blushing.
Aaron elbows his friend, giving him an encouraging smile. “What are you waiting for, man? Kiss her.”
Julian wipes off the dopey grin on his face and crawls toward Bree. Kneeling in front of her, he clears his throat. “We don’t have to do this if you—”
But Bree interrupts as she grabs a fistful of his shirt and pulls him against her, kissing him square on the mouth.
His eyes widen comically, though he manages to recover fast. But just as he starts to wrap his arms around her, Bree pushes him away and ends their kiss.
Julian doesn’t take offense, though. He goes back to his position with a dreamy look on his face.
Bree just made his year.
The next one is Brad as he’s sitting next to Julian. But instead of spinning the bottle, he simply points it straight at Morgan, who grins broadly at her boyfriend’s craftiness.
“Hey, that’s cheating,” Lindsay protests.
Ignoring her, Brad makes his way to Morgan and proceeds to make out with her for a full minute.
“My turn,” Noah announces with a smirk when Brad finally returns to his position beside him. And then he’s spinning the bottle.
I watch—wondering if it’s going to point to Laura—as it spins and stops…
Well, that can’t be right.
A slow smile creeps its way onto his face. “Looks like we have a bit of a problem here.”
Dang right it’s a problem. Because the bottle ends up pointing between Jenna and...me.
From the corner of my eye, I see Jenna smoothing her hair then batting her eyes at Noah.
Yeah, okay. Go get your willing princess, Charming.
But when I glance up at Noah, he isn’t looking at her. His gaze is focused on me.
N
ot Jenna. Me.
Huh?
“Guess we’re doing this, Ellison,” he says softly, kneeling in front of me.
Um, what? He’s going to kiss me instead of Jenna? But why?
My heart starts to race in my chest.
“You don’t have to do it, Noah,” Laura tells him, sounding a little panicky.
“We have to follow the rules of the game.” He doesn’t even look at her when he answers. His eyes remain on mine.
“It’s not too late, man. We can still switch places.”
Is that Lincoln? I can’t tear my eyes away to check. I can even barely hear the conversation around me over the sound of my heart pounding away in my ears.
“Screw the rules.” Laura is practically shrieking now. She really doesn’t want this to happen.
I lick my lips and his eyes lower, tracking the movement. “Aren’t you going to listen to them?”
“Why should I?” Then he leans forward.
My eyes flutter shut as his lips touch mine, warm and oh so soft. My heart beats even faster, my hands clenched tightly on my lap. When his hand cups my neck and angles my face, I let out a gasp. And then—wow, oh wow—he’s really kissing me.
Like I told Laura, I’ve played this game plenty since middle school. And I’ve managed to kiss a few boys during those times. But those were sloppy, mediocre kisses—nothing compared to the way Noah Pritchett is kissing me.
This boy knows what he’s doing. And it’s totally blowing my mind.
When he pulls away and ends the kiss, I barely stop myself from chasing his lips.
His little smirk tells me he knows it, too.
Blushing hard, I cut my eyes away, unable to meet his gaze any longer. Only to find myself at the receiving end of Laura’s death glare.
This time though, I can’t find myself to care.
******
Hours later, I’m wide awake next to a snoring Sabrina. Morgan is on the couch and mumbling something in her sleep.
Frustratingly, I can’t bring myself to do the same. Sleep is annoyingly elusive.
And I blame Noah for it. I can’t seem to stop thinking about him and that kiss. It keeps playing like a loop in my head and it’s driving me crazy. Ugh.
Say Anything Page 9
