Arianna

It’s a little after eleven when Mason, Brady, and Chase are

walking through the door.

Brady swings me around in a hug and Mason plants a grumpy kiss to my hair as he slips by, falling to his ass on the couch, his eyes instantly closing.

“Someone had a long night.” I laugh, turning to Chase, who hesitates near the door, last night’s encounter likely playing in his head, so I ease his mind, offering a smile. “Hey.”

It works, his shoulders pepping up a bit, and he grins, his eyes falling to my outfit. “Hey, you look good.”

“Thanks.” I smooth my top down on instinct, glancing at my matching burgundy booties. “Cameron said you guys ordered pizza?”

“Yeah, none of us thought we could stand long enough to grill burgers like we planned to.”

I laugh, and he follows me into the kitchen, posting himself on the opposite side of the countertop. “The loss hit that bad, huh?”

“Fuckin’ sucked. We beat ourselves.”

I blow out a long breath. “True, but hey, maybe you’ll get your shot at starting this week now. There were three errors from the starting receivers this game alone.”

“Hate to admit it, but…”

“But that’s the first thing you thought?” He nods.

“Hey, that’s the name of the game.” I shrug. “Our dads have told you guys time and time again, one man’s mistake—”

“Is another man’s gain.” He frowns suddenly, his eyes lifting to mine. They hold there, only dropping when the door is thrown open, and

Cameron comes inside, some guy I’ve seen in the halls behind her, pizza boxes in hand. “The food has arrived.” They set the items down and she pats the boy’s shoulder, shoving him back into the hall. “Thanks, G-dawg. I owe you one.”

“I’ll cash in on that!”

“K, bye!” she shouts, turning to us with a grin. “Let’s eat so we can tell our parents were good kids and be on our separate ways. I’ve got shit to do today.”

I get right to passing around plates, thankful for the quick and easy option, since Noah asked me to go with him somewhere today.

We carry the boxes into the living room, and this time, the TV stays off.

We sit back, listen to the boys’ play-by-plays, as if we didn’t watch the game on TV, but we don’t care. Growing up, this was one of our favorite times of the week, when our families would get together at the end of the week and talk shop.

We chat about school and midterms, and the guys let us in on their idea to go camping over the upcoming school holiday, instead of going to our beach house as we had thought we would. They scored a Thursday game, so once they get back into town, they’re free until Monday. The second we agree to go, the plan is official.

I’m leaning against the coffee table beside Cameron when my phone rings on the ground beside me. Noah’s name, or more Romeo, flashes along the screen.

“Someone got a new phone.” Cameron, being the asshole she is, grabs it, answering on speaker. “Oh, Romeo, Romeo, where for—”

“Shut up!” I laugh, snagging it from her, only to have Brady snag it from me.

“Hello?” He does his best to mimic a woman’s voice, failing miserably, making us laugh.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say this is… Lancaster?” Noah’s grin is evident.

I smile, and Brady nods.

“I’m impressed, fuckhead. Now, why you callin’ our girl?”

“Okay!” I jump up, yanking it from Brady’s big ass hands, and hop over my brother’s extended legs. I bring it to my ear. “Hey.”

“Their girl, huh?” he teases, and my face heats as I realize I forgot about the speaker part.

I quickly whip around, so I’m not facing them, turning speaker off. “Yeah, Mason has tried to retrain the boy for years. It’s useless,” I joke.

“Noted.” Noah chuckles in my ear, and then he’s quiet for a moment. “You still mine today?”

Heat washes over me, and I nod, even though he can’t see me. “I am.” “Good, because I’m already on my way.”

“Perfect.” I head toward my room for my purse. “Cameron is about to leave, so I’ll walk out with her. Meet you by the doors?”

“Wait inside until you see my truck.”

I bite back a grin. “Yes, Noah. Mason happened to train me well.” His airy laugh fills my ear. “Five minutes, Juliet.”

“K.”

I turn to tell Cameron, let’s roll, but the words die on my lips when I find all eyes on me. “What?”

After a second of silence, it’s Mason who jumps to his feet, and with more energy than I’ve seen from him all day.

“Nothing, baby sister.” He pauses, staring at me a minute before kissing my temple again and heading for the door. “Love you.”

“Love you. You don’t have to leave.”

“I’m not, I’m locking it behind you guys so none of your flirty hallmates try to slip in when you’re gone.”

I laugh, stuffing my phone inside my bag. “Good idea.” Cameron steps up, pulling a sweater over her head. “Ready?” “Yep.”

We look to the others. “Bye, guys.”

“Later,” Brady shouts.

Chase says nothing, facing the TV once more, and we walk out the door.

Noah is pulling up the second I get to the exit, so I slip out with Cameron.

He leans over, pushing the passenger side open for me, and I slide inside, waving at Cameron over my shoulder when Trey pulls up right behind him.

I turn to him. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He smiles, turns the radio up, and then we’re on the road.

He pulls onto the highway, headed the opposite direction of where we went last night, but I don’t ask where we’re going, and it’s not until we’re in the parking lot of Tri-City Medical that the sudden need to know sweeps in. Noah stares straight ahead as he pulls the keys from the ignition, his hand dropping into his lap as if the weight of the lanyard in his palm is too

much.

With a deep breath, he begins to climb from the cab, so I do the same, meeting him near the hood.

It takes several seconds, but then he points to a small building near the back, not quite a part of the hospital, but on the same grounds. “That’s a rehabilitation center.”

I glance to the building with confusion, but his next words clear it right

up.

“My mom lives there.” He nods to himself. “For about two years now.” My chest caves, the urge to reach out and hold him strong.

“She had a stroke my senior year of high school, lost movement in her

left arm.” His laugh is sad. “She said she didn’t need it anymore, since she had a stud for a son.” He grins, but it falls flat.

“Her throwing arm,” I guess. “She played catch with you.”

“Every day since I could hold a ball.” He looks away. “She didn’t let it stop her from a damn thing, still cooked dinner, went on like nothing, where she could anyway. She was an accountant for a small firm, so it slowed her down, she lost some work from it, but she was ok, so it didn’t matter.”

I reach up, gripping the collar of my sweater, the sadness in his tone painful.

“That’s why you chose Avix,” I realize. He didn’t want to leave her to begin with, but after that, he couldn’t. He wanted to be there for her.

Noah nods. “She was good for a long time after that, and then the final game of my freshman season at Avix came. We won. I didn’t miss a single target that night. Man, I had never been on fire like I was that game.” His lips twitch as he remembers it, and I make a mental note to find the highlights later. “All I could think was I couldn’t wait to call my mom after, and I did. I was still on the field, still in gear with reporters flanking me from every angle, but I had to talk to her first. It rang a bunch of times, and when the call was finally picked up, it wasn’t her voice. I knew without being told it happened again. I just didn’t expect it to be worse than before.”

The ache in his voice is too much, so I shift closer, and his eyes come up to mine.

“Let’s go inside.” I nod, needing him to understand he doesn’t need to explain or prepare me. I’m going in regardless. I want to. I need to.

I think he needs me to…

“I’d like to meet her.”

He stares at me a long moment, and then he nods back. “Yeah, let’s go, ‘cause she’s dying to meet you.”

“She knows I’m coming?”

“Yeah, Juliet, she knows,” he whispers, turning his body so it’s facing me fully and only a foot away.

My throat runs dry, and when he reaches for my hand, I give it to him.

Together, we head inside the rehab center to meet the woman responsible for the man at my side.

 

 

A laugh slips out of me, and I fold my feet in the seat. “To be fair,

my mom and dad tried to show me, but it never ended well.”

Ms. Riley, who has insisted several times I call her Lori, smiles. “But you’re learning okay now, from what I hear.”

You hear things?

“Maybe you weren’t quite ready for something new before,” she says gently, and I nod. “And maybe now, you are…” She speaks with the wisdom of a mother, warm and kind.

My pulse kicks against my chest, and her features soften before me.

“Yeah, maybe. I’ve got a pretty good teacher.” I look to her son, who winks, as if he was waiting for me to glance his way. With a smile, I look back to Lori. “My mom would literally pull every recipe out of the book and lock me in a chair until I made magic if she heard me whine how her

instructions were lackluster, and then my dad would feel bad and force Mason to help too. And that would inspire my mom to invite all our friends.” I sigh. “It was downhill from there.”

Lori and Noah both laugh, and warmth spreads through me as, simultaneously, they reach for each other’s hands. Noah’s leaning against the side of her hospital bed, half sitting on it, half standing.

He just wants to be as close to his mom as he can. He wants her to know he loves and misses her. Appreciates her every word spoken and the inner strength it takes to laugh and smile when her world is a little less than it used to be.

Noah catches my eye, a calm in his I’ve yet to witness blindingly present.

“You have a large family, then?” Lori asks quietly, pulling my attention from Noah.

“I do, yeah. Aunts and uncles, cousins. Friends who are more like family.”

“And they’re good to you?”

I can’t help but smile. “Amazing. My parents” —a low chuckle escapes me, and I roll my eyes— “my brother calls them disgusting, but always with a smile. They’re just… all the things a person could wish for, you know?” I lift my shoulders. “We’ve been blessed.”

“Brilliant.” Her voice is low, as if a hopeful whisper.

I look to Noah, who stares at his mother’s limp left hand gently placed over her lap.

“Honey,” she rasps, facing him. “Will you grab me an orange juice before you go?”

“Yeah, Mom.” He kisses her cheek, lifting his bright eyes to mine. “Be right back.”

I chew on the inside of my lip, nodding as I watch him slip out of the door.

“Thank you,” Lori whispers the moment he’s gone, calling my attention to her. She smiles, and though only the right side of her lips lift, I still would have known, had they not moved at all. It’s in her tone, in the blue of her eyes, nearly the same color as her only son’s.

“Thank you for letting me come.”

“No, sweet girl.” She blinks away tears. “Thank you for breathing life back into my boy. It’s been a long time since I’ve witnessed all his shades of blue, but every visit lately, I’ve been gifted with a little more.”

“Lately?” I breathe.

“Yes, honey.” She nods, reaching across her body with her working hand, so I push to my feet, slipping mine into hers. “Lately. For weeks now, maybe longer.”

My skin flushes, but like her son, she doesn’t draw attention to it, allowing me a moment to look away. Clearing my throat, I face her once more.

“Meh, could be because he’s basically a football god this season,” I tease with a playful shrug.

A loud laugh spurts from Lori and she grins. “Yeah. Could be, couldn’t

it?”

We’re sharing a smile when Noah slips back into the room, eyeing us

with suspicion as he slowly sets a small juice beside her. “What did I miss?” He glances between us.

“Me getting a taste of that sweet sense of humor you spoke of,” his mom says, and my head jerks his way.

His brows lift. “Thanks, Mom.” He chuckles. “We should go.”

As if on cue, her words begin to slur a little more, but she smiles regardless. “Yeah, honey, you should.” Mischief blooms in her eyes. “Take the girl home, tuck her in.”

“Mom.”

Lori laughs, rolling her head my way. A softness falls over her, her blinks growing slower by the second. “I can’t wait to see you again, sweetheart.”

A somberness takes over the room, thickening the air in my throat.

I nod, waving as I step out ahead of Noah, giving the two a moment alone.

By the time I’ve made it to the exit, he’s at my side, stepping out into the cooled air with me.

We don’t get much of winter here in Southern California, and when you’ve lived here for so long, you get used to the kind of cold we do have, so while there’s a bite in the air, it’s nothing our sweaters don’t ease us from.

“Your mom is sweet.”

“She’s impossible,” he teases.

Laughing, I slip in front of him, walking backward. “No more than mine.”

He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

I realize then how wrong I was before when he said his Sundays were booked, as did his beautiful blonde friend. It had nothing to do with her and everything to do with his mom, but he says his Sundays are fully booked, and his mom was exhausted after a two-hour visit. That means he leaves here every week and does the only thing he thinks he can. He goes home, alone, because after a few hours with the woman who gave him the world, but can’t quite function on her own anymore, a feeling of helplessness he can’t escape weighs him down.

Not today, not when I think I can help take it away.

Inside the cab, I face him. “So, I know it’s Sunday and all, and you have practice tomorrow, but it’s early enough, and we’re young…”

Noah chuckles, his head dropped back on his seat, but he points his eyes to mine. “What did you have in mind?”

“Pasco Bella Farms.”

He squints, but there’s a pinch of amusement in there.

“You know, the pumpkin patch? Where you eat turkey legs bigger than my biceps, drink warm beer, get lost in the corn maze…” I gape at him. “Have you never been?”

He grins, shaking his head.

“Well, that is just wrong. It’s a must, so what do you say, Romeo?” I smirk. “You in?”

Noah stares at me for a long moment, the grin on his lips softening, but never slipping. In the calmest, quietest of whispers, he says, “If you’re in, I’m in.”

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out, and Noah reaches over, guiding my hair behind my ear.

His hand lingers there a moment, his eyes still on mine. “You’ll lead us?”

The pit of my stomach lets itself known, his words weighing as I believe he intended, the double innuendo loud and clear.

He needs me to lead the way. To the farm… and more.

 

 

“Lies.” Noah dashes forward, tickling my stomach as I spin, evading

his hands.

“I saw the terror in your eyes!” We duck under the chain aisle, dashing for the gate before the ride attendant closes it. “You, Noah Riley, got scared by a ten-year-old.”

“A ten-year-old in a dress from a hundred years ago, blood on her face and a gash across her eye… who jumped out of nowhere.”

“Yes, let’s not forget all that,” I tease, hopping up into the last cart for the corn maze ride.

Noah slips beside me, throwing his arm over the back of the cool metal. “How about we talk about how you saw my eyes, Juliet.”

We jolt as the tractor driving the carts takes off, quickly facing each other once more.

“Go on.”

He raises a dark brow. “Someone was too afraid to look around every corner of the haunted house she was so excited about.”

“And someone else was more than willing to do it for me.” “Damn straight.”

My toes bend in my shoes and I lift my chin in triumph. “See, you wanted to be the tough guy who went first.”

Noah’s tongue rolls over his bottom lip, and he nods. “Yeah, I did.” “There’s just… one problem with that.”

He watches me closely. “And what’s that?”

My pulse hammers against my neck, and then I whip around, jumping off the side and disappearing into the stalks of corn.

“What— Ari!” Noah shouts, and then his feet pound behind me.

I dash left, and then right, and then his large hands are wrapping around my biceps and I’m twisted around.

I gasp, looking up into his blue eyes with a smile. They narrow, smooth, and then his grip tightens.

I swallow, my chest heaving as I reach up, gliding my hands along his pecs.

“You asked me to lead.”

His frown is instant, and he pushes closer, giving the subtlest shake of his head.

My skin flushes instantly, but I refuse to look away.

His blue eyes pierce mine, reaching way past the surface and into my mind. It’s as if he’s seeing every part of me. It’s unnerving, yet thrilling.

It’s Noah.

I roam his every feature, from his liquid eyes to the growing stubble around his jaw and chin, a perfect five o’clock shadow. So manly, yet so soft. I reach out, the sharpness of the short hairs creating knots within my stomach. I peek up at him, but I didn’t have to, to know his would be on me. They are.

They always are.

I trace his jaw, gliding my thumb along his chin, and then with shaky fingers, I trace his lips. I start with the bottom, following the curve with precision, and as I meet the corner, his heated breath breaks across my skin, my body shivering before him. For him.

Because of him.

I slide closer.

Noah doesn’t move.

My hand moves lower, and I swallow as he does when my touch glides along his throat, to his neck and down, until I’m gripping the soft fabric of his cotton shirt. I pull him closer.

He moves willingly, but he doesn’t push. He waits.

As I lift to my toes, bringing my lips an inch away from his, a storm rages within his eyes, and they become the midnight blue I’ve come to love.

He doesn’t crush his mouth into mine like I thought he might, doesn’t press his mouth to mine at all. Noah stares.

He notes the flush of my cheeks, the rapid rise and fall of my chest, and the part of my eager lips, right here waiting for his.

Slowly, with the patience of a saint, he leans in, allowing his to float across my own. The sensation causes me to jump, and the corner of Noah’s mouth lifts into a gorgeous, almost cocky, flawless grin.

My core tightens.

In the next second, he kisses me without kissing me, his lips pushing into mine with a pressurized softness I can’t quite explain. It’s heavy, weighted, while still managing a careful restraint, as if he’s allowing me to be sure.

To change my mind. To pull away.

I won’t.

“You remember what I said to you?” he murmurs, the heat of his breath doing far more than it should. “One-time thing, Juliet.”

He won’t deny me again…

I don’t want him to. So, I lead.

I press against him, and that was all he needed.

His hands fly to my face, gripping me, hauling me closer, taking over with a thorough, drugging kiss.

My arms fly around his neck, diving into his hair as his disappear into mine. One drops to my lower back, slipping beneath the hem of my shirt. His fingertips bite into my skin, and I moan into his mouth. His tongue dives inside, swooping and learning the taste of me, coaxing my own to dance with his. I give him what he wants and when he bites at my lip, I whimper.

“Goddamn,” he groans, moans, and then his lips are on my neck, teasing. Testing.

I press on the back of his head, and he applies more pressure. My eyes open on a gasp, pointed at the sky.

The sun has set, the moon is high above us, and the man sucking the sensitive spots on my skin is… perfection.

And then a light blinds me and I yelp.

Noah jerks free, simultaneously pushing me behind him as his hand flies up to block the glow.

“Okay, you two, let’s go.” The security guard flicks his flashlight.

My skin flushes, not that it wasn’t already, and I duck my head, allowing Noah to drag me behind him out of the cornfield.

As we cross the dirt path, loud cheers sound, and my head darts up to see the people in line cheering us on.

I look up at Noah, horrified, but when I get nothing but a bright smile back, we’re soon laughing with them.

As we’re walking away, I realize today was one of the best days I’ve had in a really long time, and I have Noah to thank for that.

I hung out with my friends and family, enjoying every second of it. It didn’t hurt to see Chase and there was no awkwardness to speak of. It felt normal. Good, and I have a feeling the man at my side is the reason for it.

After that, being with Noah’s mom and the soft, loving way in which she spoke, eased the homesickness I hadn’t realized I was feeling. She is an honest, kind woman, and sort of reminds me of my own mom.

And there’s right now. The high.

The kiss.

Noah.

I don’t know what it means, but I know I want more.

Noah must feel the same, because the moment the security leaves us, having waited until we reached Noah’s truck, he grips me by the wrist and tugs me to him.

Noah swoops down, taking my lips with his own once more. “That’s the second time security has chased us out of somewhere,” he teases, speaking in the gentlest of tones. “What am I going to do with you?”

I press my mouth to his, whispering with a smile, “Whatever you want.”