Noah (More Than Friends Book 2) Read online

  My ribs struggled to contain my heart as it rattled out of control. Lizzie must have felt it because she smiled at me before binding her wet fingers to my face and softly tugging on my bottom lip with her thumb. I followed every movement with my stare, unable to move under her control. Her fingertips pressed against my lip, unmoving and gentle, while Lizzie’s lost eyes flickered between mine.

  “I’m so sorry,” she repeated. “I shouldn’t have left you. We’re not like everyone else, Noah. We can get through anything, and I—”

  “You’re not like anyone else, Lizzie,” I interrupted, finally finding my words. “We’re not like anyone else.” Her gaze fell to my lips again, watching the mindless way her thumb glided across my bottom lip. I’m going to bite that finger. I rolled my lip in, taking her thumb with before lifting my hands to hold her head and kissing her again. And again. And again.

  “You’re going to get electrocuted out here,” I whispered, a smile in my voice.

  “Good thing my boyfriend can save my life.” She laughed, a sound I’d waited too long to hear.

  I grinned at her, our wet foreheads pressing together as she shivered against me. “You saved mine too, Lizzie.”

  She smiled at me and pressed her face to my chest, the heat of her breath against my body amplified with our saturation. Lizzie’s hands spread against my shirt while she spoke. “Can you walk me home? There’s something I need to show you.”

  I pressed my lips against her forehead. “We need to talk.” She nodded, letting her hands fall from my chest. I searched for them, hopeful when the subtle caress of our fingertips gave us a chance to intertwine our hold.

  I wanted her back so badly, I didn’t care about what happened when we were apart. Maybe that was foolish, reckless even, but that’s the thing about love. Sometimes, nothing else matters. It took her text about the stars to make me forget, but I knew we needed to talk. I dropped a bomb, Lizzie left, and neither of us had a chance to discuss why.

  “Why didn’t you answer my calls and texts?” I pressed while we stood under the overhang of the boathouse. “I tried to talk to you. I tried to explain. You shut me out, Lizzie. You ran.” Oh, dammit. Foot, meet mouth, stay there…with my heart, because I just ruined the moment. Her hold around my fingers tightened, both of her hands squeezing mine.

  “I don’t run from conflict, but what was I supposed to do? Tell you I was happy you and your ex were having a kid, a kid that’s been growing since we met?”

  “Hell no,” I shouted, shaking my head as I interrupted her. “You were supposed to stay with me.” Lizzie turned to lean against the wall, our hands still locked as her eyes rolled up to mine. “Stay with me, Lizzie,” I pleaded, closing my eyes when her left hand lifted to hold my jaw.

  “I will,” she whispered, standing on her tiptoes to kiss me. Her body pressed into me, and I almost lost it, held together by fraying threads of hope left for Lizzie. “Walk me home,” she breathed against my neck, her teeth grazing my skin.

  The thunder crackling above us, the pulse of lightning flashing in our periphery, echoed just how I felt. With a growl I barely restrained, I tore Lizzie from the wall, spinning us around as I held my arms around her back, never letting go. Our lips met, her kiss incredible, with the drops of storm tickling against our skin before we ran from the park toward her condo.

  Lizzie and I splashed into the puddles collecting on her front steps, keys sliding through her fingers as she fumbled with the lock. I kept my hands anchored around her hips, ready to spin her against me the second we entered the foyer. It was frantic. Desperate. And hot as damn hell.

  An hour later, we were knotted on the floor of her kitchen, not even making it to the couch, finally warmed from the storm but not yet dry. I twirled her damp curls in my fingers while Lizzie’s eyes fluttered closed, her naked body pressed against mine. I trailed tickles along her back, smiling when her eyes opened.

  “Can we go to my bedroom?” She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck.

  “We just…already? I mean…”

  She swatted at my chest, erupting in giggles while she sat up. “I want to show you something.” She was already showing me everything I wanted to see, every piece of her I’d craved in the time we weren’t together. It was difficult to get up, but her throwing a towel onto my face helped move things along.

  Once I’d tugged on my damp pants, I followed Lizzie into her bedroom. The space was dimly lit by a string of lights spread along the wall like a banner above her bed.

  “You redecorated?” I watched Lizzie move around the room, throwing on an oversized t-shirt and underwear before pulling her curls into a knot, smiling at me.

  “That’s not all. Look what Jesse helped me build.” She pointed with her foot to a dresser opposite her bed.

  “I like the color.” I stepped toward her bed, plopping down on the edge.

  “It’s twice as big as my last one,” Lizzie continued, bending to open three empty drawers. She joined me on her bed, folding her right knee beneath her. “Because I want you to know there’s room for you here, with me…and whatever else that brings or means.”

  I looked at her. “Room for me?”

  “And whatever or whoever joins your world.” She nervously swallowed. “And when you’re called away, your things will be safe here. I mean, we talked about it before…Noah, look—”

  “Lizzie, I really need to say something.” I turned to face her. “Before we make a move to live together, we need to talk about what happened between us. I know why you left me, but I wish you could have waited to talk to me. I should’ve followed you…” I closed my eyes. “You have nothing to worry about. I didn’t want you to slip through my fingers at the park. I didn’t have a chance to breathe and tell you.” Lizzie stiffened at my side, her eyebrows furrowed while she stared at me. “Callie’s baby isn’t mine. I made them take a paternity test. I knew it couldn’t have been. Christ, this was a disaster.”

  “That poor baby.” Lizzie gaped, covering her mouth. I nodded sadly, agreeing with her. “It isn’t yours.”

  “You’re mine,” I assured her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. “Don’t let our pasts, or whatever expectations we think the other has, scare us away. I mean it when I tell you that I love you.”

  “Move in with me,” she repeated, her eyes closed as I pulled back. “I’m ready for whatever comes next.”

  “How about a shower?” I baited, squeezing her knee while standing up from the bed. When Lizzie opened her eyes with the intoxicating hum of her laughter, I knew we were back to where we belonged. She reached out for my hands, and we headed toward the shower, ready for whatever came next.

  ***

  I tossed the random takeout boxes into the trash while Lizzie climbed onto the counter next to me. It was still raining, her power flickering out two hours ago when we’d gotten out of the shower. With our dinner over, all appetites satisfied, there was nothing left to do except enjoy our night together…and plan for what was to be. I moved to stand in front of Lizzie, rewarded with her hands against my bare chest while she traced my tattoos and kissed my throat, wrapping her legs around my waist and pulling me closer to her.

  “I had fun walking with you tonight,” I told her, placing a loose curl behind her left ear.

  “Because that’s what we do,” she uttered, pressing her forehead against mine, “or because it led us here.”

  “All walks lead to getting in bed with you,” I teased. Her laughter surrounding us, Lizzie reached across the counter for an open wine bottle, and I took the hint, grabbing two mugs from the rack behind her. I offered to pour, but her ankles tightened around my waist. She wasn’t letting go, and I liked that.

  “When you told me before,” she swallowed from her mug full of wine, “that you should have followed me, what stopped you?”

  I pressed my fingertips into Lizzie’s thighs, anchoring her against me while I thought. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? We were both afraid of something, and it’s
juvenile how we both handled it.”

  “Juvenile?” Lizzie lifted an eyebrow, her stare skeptical. “I was terrified, and when you didn’t even…okay, fine, you did try calling me—”

  “And you ignored me.”

  She groaned, staring at the ceiling while taking another sip. “Noah. You’re being an ass. I was terrified. I might not be able to ever have kids, and I don’t even know if I want one, but there we were with your perfect life flashing before you without giving me a chance to know if I could even be part of it. That’s a lot of really heavy shit to consider in the moment.” I wanted to tell her running wasn’t the answer and that I’d never leave her, but I bit my tongue and pressed my hands deeper into her thighs while she spoke.

  “I needed time,” she murmured. “It sounds so stupid.” I took her chin between my left fingers, anchoring her stare on mine while my eyes flickered between hers as quickly as my heart beat.

  “I can’t stand being away from you because I love you, Lizzie! I plan on loving you forever. Did that cross your mind? Did you have a chance to consider us in any of that before you texted me tonight?” Not that it mattered. I was there, she messaged me, we were getting back to normal…Regretting my inability to bite my tongue hard enough, I stepped away and stood at the adjacent counter, folding my knuckles over the edge.

  Shards of ceramic blue and gold tapped my ankles when her mug shattered across the floor. “What did you just say?”

  “Pick up your damn mess.” I shook my head. “You’re nuts, Lizzie.”

  “I might be a bag of cashews, Noah, but you said I’m your bag of cashews…for…tell me again.”

  I peered over my shoulder at her. “That you’ve lost your mind, ruined my favorite mug—” she knocked me in the side, her small fist quick to spread and rub her wound as I said, “—or that I love you?”

  “Forever,” she pressed, winding her arms around me from behind. I lifted my hands to the knot of her fingers below my chest, squeezing them.

  “What do you say, beautiful?” I lifted her fingers to my lips, kissing them softly before turning around to face her. Lizzie was grinning at me through the small tears threatening her widened eyes. Heart, be still. Balls, hold on. I was running on impulse and hope, a raging mix Lizzie awoke within me, and I was addicted. Her hands in mine, I lowered to one knee. What am I doing? She was probably wondering the same thing, but all I wanted to do was ask her. That’s what I was doing.

  “I say you’re insane,” she whimpered, joining me on her knees, “and I love you.”

  “Elizabeth Jacqueline Lewis,” I whispered, pressing my forehead against hers, “you asked me once which muscle I could pinch to make someone go limp. Do you remember that? Right before you proposed to me in the hospital.” I felt her giggle against me, nodding through her tears. “I have a secret to tell you. Are you listening?” I waited for her head to roll upward, so I could look into her eyes before continuing. “It’s the heart, and you’ve had mine in your grasp since the moment I heard you behind Avery’s door. No matter when they call me up for duty, where I go, or what happens here, I’m yours. So tell me the truth…do you want to grow old with me, Lizzie?”

  “The truth,” she mumbled, her voice trembling. “I never want you to leave. I want to grow old with you, mermaid.”

  ***

  One month and two group dinners later, Jesse and Sean came over when our girls were on a date. Nobody made a fuss or second-guessed Lizzie and me being together. It really was like no time passed, like they only wanted her to be happy no matter what that meant. In this case, it meant she’d be loved, protected, and cared for unconditionally. That was my duty to her. Oh, and the fact I proposed without a ring on her kitchen floor. We didn’t tell anyone yet, and having our promise be our secret made the flirting, the phone calls, the nights and mornings together even more exhilarating. We wanted time to be together now, but we knew where we’d end up. Together.

  I almost let it slip to Jesse and Sean that night. The guys and I ordered pizza and watched a football game, using my packed boxes as our makeshift furniture. It was great and, as much as I loved Silas, the baggage with Jesse and Sean was different. Our friendship was based on now and the future, not then.

  Sean dropped his beer bottle into the recycling bin, slapping a hand on my shoulder as he passed. “I need to talk to you two about something.” Jesse and I looked to each other, neither of us anticipating a heart to heart. Sean knelt to scoop up Muffin, the old bastard snuggling right into the nook of Sean’s elbow like a hussy, and wandered into the living room.

  “That’s cryptic,” I uttered, taking another beer from the fridge. I heard Jesse’s laughter as I followed him to meet Sean on my couch. I lifted my feet to rest on a box, waiting for Sean to continue.

  Jesse scratched his beard, looking elsewhere in my apartment. “I never noticed the detail in that molding before.”

  “You guys,” Sean chuckled, “listen to me.”

  “We are,” Jesse and I replied in unison. We were both nervous, worried cryptic news from Sean meant something was wrong. It sure seemed like it, as he sat with both hands pulling along his face. Shit. Please don’t be bad news. Please be okay. I don’t want to face Lizzie’s wrath if I find out first.

  “Avery and I are getting married,” Sean stated, smiling at us when we didn’t react. “She doesn’t know it yet.”

  “Sounds healthy,” I teased, taking a sip of my beer.

  “It is. Listen,” Sean laughed, “you’re part of it. Ella and Lizzie will be too. But first, we need to plan it. It’s going to be a surprise.”

  Jesse groaned. “Ave hates surprises, Sean.”

  “I know,” he bellowed with laughter, “but she’s going to love this one.”

  “Am I supposed to keep this from Lizzie? Because that’s impossible. She’s going to pry this from my dead body somehow,” I objected. “She has ways, you know.”

  “I believe it.” Sean snickered. “I can get her mom and sister to fly in, and your wives will keep it quiet. I have my ways too.” He raised his eyebrows, and I didn’t want to question his methods at all.

  “Could you imagine Lizzie married?” Jesse blurted. “Clean the litter box, get me another cat, oh hell no you did not just put your feet on the coffee table.”

  I bit my lip, Jesse’s impression far from accurate, and biting the impulse to tell them I’d proposed. It was our special secret, something we weren’t sharing with anyone yet. Maybe it wasn’t real unless she had a ring. Note to self. Buy her the sparkliest damn ring I can afford.

  “She’s amazing,” I finally said. I felt their eyes on me, so I stared at my beer bottle, peeling the label while thinking of what Lizzie would look like in a wedding dress. She probably wouldn’t want one. Too conformist. Maybe we could skip right to the honeymoon?

  “Whoa,” Jesse gaped. “You’re…not…Noah, do you need to tell us something? You know you need to get our blessing first before proposing to Lizzie. Moving in together without consulting Ella and Avery was already audacious enough.” He nudged my shoulder, his beard parting with an enormous grin.

  “I don’t know if you realize this yet, Noah,” Sean taunted, “but Avery and Elizabeth are essentially two peas—”

  “One very independent pod,” Jesse interrupted.

  “Right,” Sean agreed. “I proposed to Avery like ten times, and it took me almost dying for her to say yes, but she won’t set a date.”

  “She’s a little occupied, Sean,” Jesse defended. “Your super sperm made super babies, and Avery’s turned into a monster, but like a really cute one.”

  Sean’s expression fell serious, his green eyes wide as they flicked between Jesse and me. “I’m not allowed to drink from a can, she won’t allow me to keep salami in the house, and I sneak out once a week at least just to eat custard.”

  Jesse’s gaze flicked between Sean and me, slowly shaking his head as if warning me not to encourage Sean, but I couldn’t resist. “Damn,” I scoffed. “Lizzie and
I get ice cream at least once a week.”

  “Whose side are you on?” Jesse playfully reprimanded, his laughter filling the room.

  “The side that doesn’t want Lizzie to kill me.” I snickered, receiving their mutual laughter in response. Sean filled us in with the surprise wedding he’d schemed, in just a few months at their favorite restaurant downtown. With all of us there because, in Sean’s words, that’s what mattered most.

  He opened more bottles, handing some to Jesse and me. “Jess, you’ll officiate.”

  “I’d be honored.” Jesse swallowed. “Do you think Ave will mind?”

  “You’re her Jesse.” Sean smiled softly. “You’re more her anchor than Ella and Lizzie. Don’t think we take for granted the years we’ve known you and what you’ve done for both of us in that time.” Jesse nodded slowly before both of their stares fell on mine.

  “What?” I laughed uncomfortably. Together, I totally understood why these two were friends with Lizzie. Their powers combined equaled a highly Lizzie-esque intimidation factor.

  “Will you be my best man, Noah?” Sean asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

  “What?” Beer sprayed onto my lap as the question slipped from my mouth. “Me? Wh-why?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Jesse chuckled, “because you’re you.” Sean shrugged playfully, agreeing with Jesse. I didn’t know what to say except absolutely. I really didn’t know how I would keep that a secret from Lizzie. Thankfully, autumn was right around the corner, and I wouldn’t need to keep it from her for long.

  That hope was sliced to shreds within three days of Sean asking me to be his best man. Lizzie and I were standing over an empty box in my living room, packing my books, when she really put on the heat.

  “Why won’t you tell me what you guys did the other night?”

  “Because.” I stuffed a pile of books into the box, careful with Jade’s novel. It was amazing what hope did to my world; I was lost before Lizzie, that book a reminder of loss and pain. But now, I was packing the past into a box and getting ready to move in with the most beautiful woman. The same woman whose hands rested on dropped hips while she glared at me.