“Hey, kids. I thought that was you, Chlo, but I couldn’t tell for sure with all the . . . you know, face-sucking and all.” The guy on the other side of the bar is older than us, but it’s impossible to tell by how much. The dim lighting isn’t helping either. He also looks strangely familiar.
“Hey.” Chloe untangles herself from me and chuckles before leaning over the small partition to give him a hug. Then she turns around, with one arm still around the man’s waist. “You remember Francesco? He’s now officially my uncle on paper too.”
Now the whole Checco comment Cody made the other day at the hospital makes a lot more sense.
“That’s awesome, congrats.” Then I hold out my hand to him. “Good to see you again.”
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Noah.” His handshake is strong, his expression amused. “And thank you. I’m glad you were able to make it out here with Chloe tonight.”
“I didn’t tell him.” Chloe leans into his chest and chuckles.
Francesco’s eyes glimmer. “Oh boy. Well, you’re in for a treat. The house is always packed when Lady Rosa is in the house. She’s the best in all of Northern California.”
Chloe nods. “She really is amazing. I’ve seen countless videos of her over the years, but it’s nothing compared to seeing her live.”
Someone calls Francesco’s name and he lets go of Chloe after kissing her cheek. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll send someone over to take care of you, okay?” Then he turns to me and winks. “Enjoy the show, Noah.”
And then he’s off, and a guy on the side of the stage announces Lady Rosa. The crowd goes wild once more as an Amazonian walks onto the stage, taking her place in the middle of it. Everything is quiet for a moment until the music almost explodes around us and the Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men starts playing.
One song turns into another, then a few more, and I have to admit that even though I’ve never seen a drag show before, this is entertaining as hell. Chloe has one hell of a time too, dancing in the small space in front of me and taking big gulps of her water in between.
When the waiter came over with a large glass of something sparkling for her—complete with an umbrella and a bright pink loop straw—she told me that this is her uncle’s way of being supportive and taking good care of her. Cody joined us a few songs ago, and it’s been a fun evening.
Once Lady Rosa is done, the whole place calms down, and the music switches to background music again.
When Chloe leaves for the bathroom, Cody studies me quietly.
I can’t help but chuckle at his obvious perusal. “What?”
He takes a sip of his drink and smiles. “Sorry, I guess all bets are off when it comes to this girl. She’s been through a lot, and the last thing any of us want to see is her getting hurt even more.”
I hold up my hands. “I couldn’t agree more. She told me about what she went through and about her dad. I can’t even imagine what she’s gone through. And how she’s still this happy person. It’s . . . amazing.”
“That’s Chloe for you.”
“Very true.”
“But I’m glad she told you. That’s a good thing.”
I purse my lips and nod. It’s situations like these where that anger, and a bit of jealousy float to the surface over everyone knowing what was going on with her, but me. Everyone important in her life, but me.
Chloe chooses that moment to return, as usual, with a smile on her face, followed by a yawn she barely manages to hide behind her hand.
“Looks like someone’s ready for bed.” Cody smiles at her.
At that, she yawns again and grins. “I sure feel like it.”
“Let’s get you home, then.” I get up from the barstool and finish my water. I’m used to not drinking because of my usually very strict swimming routine, so it’s not a biggie, but I also wanted to support Chloe and allow her to have a fun night out.
We say goodbye to Cody and Francesco, who comes over when he sees we’re getting ready to leave, and then we’re off into the cool night. We took an Uber earlier because Chloe said parking will be a pain tonight—which I’m guessing is due to Lady Rosa—so I called for another ride when Chloe came back from the bathroom, and thankfully, one was close by.
We slip into the back of the waiting car and have a quiet ride back home with our fingers intertwined and Chloe’s head on my shoulder.
By the time we arrive, Chloe’s passed out. She doesn’t wake up when I thank the driver, or when I not-so-gently get her out of the car. This girl has always been a deep sleeper. I walk up her driveway and to her front door but realize that I obviously don’t have her keys, and I don’t want to wake her up either.
I turn around to take her to my place when I remember her medicine. Does she still need to take it tonight? Can something happen if she doesn’t take it on time?
Fuck. I thought I knew so much after googling the shit out of heart transplant surgery, patients, and life after heart transplant surgery.
“Chloe.” I talk quietly, not wanting to freak her out. Of course, nothing. “Chloe.” A little louder. “Little bird.” Her breath hitches. “Little bird.” Louder again, and this time, I nudge her nose with mine too.
She stirs in my arms and slowly, very slowly, opens her eyes to give me a lazy smile. “Hey.”
“Hey, gorgeous. Where are your keys?”
“Purse.”
“Can you stand?”
“Mmm.”
I put her down but hold on to her by the arms while half of her arm disappears in her purse.
After a minute, she pulls it back out with her keys dangling between two fingers. “Jackpot.”
“Well, there had to be something good in that monstrous bag.” I poke her side and she leans away from me.
“Stop it. You know I’m ticklish.”
“Oh, I know.” I pull her body flush to mine and stare into her eyes. Her porch light is dim, but bright enough to see her dilated pupils. “There isn’t a thing I’ve forgotten about you, Chloe.”
She inhales sharply before blinking furiously. “I know what you mean.”
I swallow, the late evening air cold enough to bite at the tip of my ears. “Let’s get you inside. I don’t want you to get sick.”
“Okay.”
I watch her fumble with the door lock long enough to want to take over, but then she gets it.
When she turns around in the open doorway, I look at her. Deeply. The slightly droopy eyelids. The small hint of dark circles under her eyes.
Fuck. I read about how important sleep is for someone like her, and here I’ve been keeping her up at night when we’re together. And so often, when we’re not, we’re texting or on the phone until late.
She’s rubbing at her eyebrow. “Are you . . . are you coming inside?”
Damn it. I hate that she seems so uncertain. Doesn’t she know how much I want her? How much it physically hurts me to not be with her every possible minute?
Two more steps and I close the distance between us, cupping her face into my palms. “Not tonight. I want you to get a good sleep. When I see you next, I want those dark circles under your eyes gone, okay?”
She nods and yawns.
When I press my lips to hers, it’s easy to tell by the lack of pressure how tired she really is.
She wipes at her eyes. “You said you’re going swimming tomorrow morning, right?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to get too out of it.”
“Makes total sense. So, I’ll see you at the hospital later, then?”
“Yup. I’ll be there as soon as I’m done with my training.”
“Sounds good.”
I lean in to give her a chaste goodnight kiss before sending her off to bed, but either she’s hornier when she’s tired, or someone’s just woken up. Her hands disappear into my back pockets, and she pulls me to her like a woman on a mission, a moan slipping past her delicious lips.
My earlier hard-on comes back with a vengeance, and I know I need to take c
are of that before I have a chance of getting some sleep.
As much as it pains me to do, I end our kiss and take a step back, still holding on to one of her hands. She groans in protest, and I chuckle. “I know, babe.”
Her gaze snaps to mine, her eyes smoldering with heat. Out of reflex, I rub my thumb over her wrist, just to freeze when I feel the raised skin under my finger pad. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
My gaze is fixated on her tattoo, on the birds mid-flight that look so peaceful and free. “We never . . . we’ve never talked about it again.”
“I know.” Her swallow is audible in the quiet night. “Do you want to know?”
I nod and somehow find the strength to look at her. She’s more alert than before, her eyes bright and awake.
“It happened about a year after I got my transplant. It had been a long year and a half since I’d gotten sick. Things happened so quickly, and the time after the transplant surgery was no walk in the park. It wasn’t an instant fix. The surgery itself and all the medicine was hard on my body, I had a lot of side effects, which meant a lot of experimentation with medicine dosages and different mixes. One night in my bedroom, I just felt so overwhelmed and cut my wrist.”
To imagine her doing this feels like a punch straight to the gut.
Her shoulders lift. “I don’t even know what I expected, or what I wanted to happen. I just wanted for things to be easier.”
“I’m so sorry, Chlo. So fucking sorry.” I pull her to me, not sure how to ever let her go again.
But a few minutes later, she’s the one pushing me away. “Now, let’s both get some sleep. You have to be fit in the morning. And someone told me I look like a zombie, so I better haul my ass to bed too.”
She’s smiling, but there’s strain behind that smile that she can’t hide fully. For Chloe to have become so desperately unhappy that she tried to take her own life . . . that she didn’t want to live anymore . . .
It takes every ounce of self-control to not shudder.
Without a doubt, there are levels of grief. Sometimes, I can spot glimpses of Chloe’s until she covers it up with a lighthearted comment or shrug.
But not only did she survive, she’s thriving.
After one more kiss, I finally peel myself off her, even though it’s so much harder after hearing that brief but poignant story.
Leaving this woman is hard.
Leaving her after everything I know, is extra hard.
Leaving a piece of my heart with her might be the easiest of them all.
Twenty-Nine
Chloe
"Stop it. You look beautiful.” Noah puts his hand on my thigh and squeezes as he drives down a street that’s lined with lush green trees on both sides. “Everyone will love you.”
Why did I say yes to going to a kids’ birthday party again? Oh yeah, because I’m a sucker for this man. How could I forget?
Noah told me all about his friends, the other “kings of the water” as the press loves to call these four. Ryan and Jace, who I’ve briefly seen when I met with Eadie at the cafe but quickly avoided eye contact when Noah’s nephew exposed us. Hunter I know from the hospital, even though he hasn’t been able to help as much after the first week due to some unexpected commitments with one of his sponsors.
Noah said his sister will be there with her boys too. Let’s hope they won’t blurt out anything else about us. I met Daisy a few times when we were dating, but since she’s four years older, she was already at college when Noah and I met.
It helps to have this info about them, to at least feel slightly prepared and calm my nerves.
Noah parks on the side of the road behind a black truck and comes over to my side to help me out of the car, even though I’m fully capable of doing so, of course. Instead of stepping aside so we can head up the walkway, he crowds me and pushes me against the car.
His head dips as he stares into my eyes. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a bit nervous.”
He nods. He knows this.
I’ve always been this way. Wanting to be social, loving the idea of being around people, but then easily getting overwhelmed when I’m in the midst of it all. Mostly, I’m actually enjoying myself and have a blast, but then I feel exhausted afterward.
Sometimes, that makes me feel like a lunatic. Like my brain can’t decide if it wants to be an introvert or extrovert. An introverted extrovert. Yikes.
Noah leans closer until his warm lips touch mine and he begins to suck on my lower lip. The hint of mint chocolate he ate on the drive over is still fresh, buzzing on my tongue when I touch his.
Way too soon he pulls back, resting his forehead on mine.
“What was that for?” I’m thankful for the car behind me. My legs are wobbly from that searing kiss.
“I could hear you thinking from all the way over here.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I just don’t like it when you’re so in knots over stuff.” His lips press against my forehead in a featherlight kiss before he takes a step back.
I frown at him, liking him in my space. Wanting him back in my space.
Maybe I can talk him into staying out here? Yeah, because that wouldn’t be awkward at all if someone saw us.
He chuckles at my expression. “Don’t look at me like that. But this is a kids’ party. Probably one of the worst moments to have a hard-on.”
I flinch. “Okay, I’m good. Sorry. Let’s do this.”
It’s not that being around kids is anything new. I mean, I illustrate children’s books. Have been to lots of signings over the years and participated in reading programs at local charities and libraries. I should be okay, then, right?
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? That Noah’s friends don’t like me?
Noah grabs Izzy’s birthday present from the trunk—a super cool wooden stool with her name as a puzzle-piece of sorts in the middle—and we make our way up to the front door that’s decorated with tiny felt donuts stickers.
The door opens before we can knock and a handsome guy greets us.
“Hey, Noah.”
“Hey, Zane. How’s it going?” They give each other one of those shoulder-thumping half hugs that for some reason always make me want to snort.
“Good, you? I heard you’re retiring?
Noah lifts a shoulder. “Yeah, maybe. Not sure yet.”
Zane nods as if he completely understands before his eyes travel over to me, and his smile gets wider. He’s clearly way younger than us, but he’s adorable with his light-brown hair and brown eyes.
Noah puts his arm around my waist and pulls me to him. “Zane, this is Chloe. Chloe, this is Zane, Ryan’s little brother. He studies at Hawkins University.”
“Oh, hi. It’s so nice to meet you.” I shake hands with him, seeing the similarities between him and his much older brother. Noah showed me some pictures on his phone when he told me about his friends. He took this bringing-me-up-to-date project seriously.
“You too.” He gives me one more smile before looking at Noah and wagging his eyebrows a couple times.
Noah shakes his head and laughs before elbowing Zane in the ribs when we walk inside.
Zane leads us through the house and out the patio door, and I stop.
“Wow.” I’m not even sure where to look first.
The pastel tassels and balloons everywhere, the “donut bar” where donuts hang on wooden hooks, the impressive pink cake that’s surrounded by miniature donuts and covered in sprinkles.
“Harper really pulled through, huh?” Noah looks at Zane, and they both chuckle.
Zane says something under his breath that sounds a lot like pussy-whipped.
“Watch it, dude.” Noah smacks him over the back of the head. “You’re just jealous.”
Zane snorts. “Yeah, sure.”
I pinch my lips together to keep from laughing. We all know that Harper is closer to Zane’s age than Ryan’s—and beautiful and funny—so I w
ouldn’t be surprised if Zane had a crush on her at some point.
“Speaking of the devil.” Noah tilts his chin toward the blonde that’s walking toward us, with a wobbling baby on the ground in front of her.
With a death grip on both of her mom’s hands, the sweet girl walks toward us on unsteady feet in an adorable “one” shirt—with the o in the shape of a donut, of course—and a pink tutu. Her eyes are set on Noah, who’s crouched down, his smile mirroring the adorable girl’s toothy one.
“Look at you, Izzy.” He holds his arms open and she happily walks into his embrace after letting go of her mom’s hands. He stands up with her on his hip and tickles her stomach. “Such a good birthday girl. You’ll be running around in no time.”
Harper laughs. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.”
Noah raises his eyebrows at her. “Well, it looks like you were ready to throw a party at least.”
She flinches. “A bit too much, huh? Ryan wanted to rein me in but look at all of this stuff. It’s just too cute.”
Her husband walks up beside her—the two of them eloped on their babymoon, much to everyone’s dismay—and pulls her to his side. “There wasn’t a chance in the world to stop you from this craziness.”
He winks at her before turning toward me. “Hey, Chloe. We haven’t officially met. I’m Ryan, and this is Harper and Izzy.”
“It’s so nice to meet you guys.” We all shake hands, and somehow I end up with my finger clutched in Izzy’s hands, who’s still happily chilling in Noah’s arms.
The girl squeals and babbles, drool running down her chin. I smile at her, copying her noises, because how could I not? She’s absolutely adorable.
The euphoric butterflies in my stomach turn into knots, a ball of sadness and devastation twisting my insides like a fist is trying to bury itself deep within my rib cage.
Her big beautiful eyes, her long lashes, her cute button nose, her perfect doll lips and plump cheeks, her easy smile, the soft tendrils around her face.
I’ll never have that.
Until now, I was able to bear it. I had accepted it.
Second Dive: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Kings Of The Water Book 3) Page 18
