Chapter 23: : Chapter 23

The entire common room is off their seat as Noah drops back, firing a perfect spiral from the opposing team’s fifteen-yard line, for an epic seventy-yard pass straight into Chase’s arms.

Cameron and I scream, jumping up and down, tangling our hands together.

“Come on, come on!”

Our eyes fly across the screen, snapping from right to left as he jukes defender after defender, and then he’s jumping up, throwing his arms out just enough to pass the goal line. It’s touchdown Avix U.

We freak the fuck out, hugging and shouting and clapping.

“Holy shit, Ari! His first college touchdown!”

We grab our phones to take pictures as they go for a two-point conversion, officially taking the lead in the game with twenty seconds left on the clock.

We record a short video message, yelling and laughing as we spin, capturing the responses of the room around us, then quickly drop it into the group chat we have, so they don’t miss our reactions.

Cameron pours us a shot and we throw it back, cheering as they get set to kick it off.

Cameron dances around, slipping close to whisper, “Let’s get out of here before we get stuck helping them clean up.”

“Good idea,” I whisper back. “But first…” I slide over to the table, snagging a half-empty bottle, and together, we run down the hall.

“Yes, bitch!” Cameron calls, and as we’re stepping into our room, the TV left on, the boys are taking the field in celebration of a win.

“Woo! Thank god. Noah needed this.”

“Ah, Noah did, huh?” She wiggles her brows.

I flip her off, skipping into my bedroom, and pulling my suitcase out from under my bed. I drag it into the living room, dropping it beside hers on the couch.

“Yes, asshole. He needed a raise in spirit.”

“Honey, you rose his spirit, trust that,” she teases, fully aware our Sunday was more than the physical activities she lives to attribute everything to.

I bump my shoulder with hers. “Okay, what are you packing for the trip?”

“Ugh!” She falls onto the armchair. “Do we have to? Can’t we get drunk together and talk shit like the good ol’ days?”

Rolling my eyes, I spin, grab the bottle and take a swig, passing it to her next.

“Fuck yes!” She pushes our suitcases off the couch and jumps up on the cushion. Cameron swaps over to Spotify on the TV and we dance around, drinking and making up for all the time we’ve missed lately.

A half hour later, we’re sitting on the floor, taking selfies, and scrolling through social media when my phone rings, my brother’s name flashing across the screen.

“There he is!” We fumble with the screen, answering the FaceTime call to find the boys’ sweaty faces, eye black smeared all down their cheeks.

“Fuck yes!” we scream, smiling wide enough to match theirs, and Mason and Brady wrap their arms around Chase’s neck.

“You saw our fuckin’ boy?!” Brady howls. “He caught that son of a bitch with one hand!”

“Hell, yeah he did. That’s the strong hand, isn’t it, Chase?” Cameron jokes.

Chase dips his head with a laugh, and Mason playfully punches him in the chest.

“You know it,” Chase tells her, his eyes on me. “I got your message.”

“Oh my god, you Mossed that guy!” I grin. “Wait until you watch the replay! You pretty much jumped over that guy’s head!”

“How about I wait and watch it with you?”

My response freezes on my tongue, my abdomen sucking in.

Chase chuckles then, pointing his eyes past the camera.

“We’ve been celebrating!” Cameron smiles, pulling the bottle in her hand in the camera’s view.

“Damn!” Mason laughs at our near empty bottle, moving closer to the phone, so we can hear him better through the growing noise in the background. “Don’t get too fucked up, road trippin’ into the mountains tomorrow night won’t be fun if you do.”

“To be fair, it was already half gone when we confiscated it from the game party.”

“Booze thieves!” Brady accuses.

“Hey, we pitched in for the party favors. We just can’t use our fake IDs at that mini mart to buy the actual shit.” Cameron giggles, taking another drink. “Why you think we’re drinking watermelon vodka? Like we’d ever pick this out!”

“Is that their locker room?” I ask, leaning to the side as if I can peek around him.

“Dude, yeah, and I feel like a hillbilly in the Hamptons,” Brady jokes.

“Here/” Chase snags the phone from Mason. “Check it out!”

He turns the phone to face away from them, slowly dragging it along the room. As his team realizes we’re on the screen, they whistle and play stripper with their gear, making Cam and me laugh.

“Meet this guy!” Chase quickly flips the phone back around until he and a shirtless, sweaty blond guy are in the shot. “If it weren’t for his block, I’d have never hit the endzone.”

“That and Noah’s bomb of a pass!”

“Fucking, right?!” The blond guy laughs, smacking Chase in the chest.

Chase licks his lips and looks away, Mason coming into view in the next second.

“Love you, baby sisters!” He grins. “See you tomorrow! We’re getting fucked up!”

“Fuck yeah!” Cam throws her arms up.

“Bye!”

We smile, letting him be the one to end the call.

“Woohoo!” Cameron jumps up, dashing into the kitchen and pulling open the freezer. “Our boys are beasts and I’m starved! Are these fettuccini bowls any good?”

“Stupid good. I’m talking Bella Italia good.”

Cameron gasp. “No!”

“Yes.”

“All hail the cooking quarterback,” she teases. “Come help me.”

Pulling up my message thread, I send Noah a quick text.

Me: hey MVP! CONGRATS on a killer game! That pass was highlight gold!

Me: PS Cam is about to get a taste of your alfredo! Be prepared for the aftermath. My girl is not above begging.

I toss my phone, skipping into the kitchen with Cameron.

A half hour or so later, we’re stuffed, our drunken haze begins its transition into exhaustion and we’re dropping onto our beds, but two more hours go by and I’m still awake, so I pick up my phone.

Noah messaged me back while we were eating, saying thanks and that he’d call me tomorrow; they were just getting loaded onto the bus for the long night’s drive home.

I text him now anyway.

Me: Are you awake?

He responds almost instantly.

Romeo: I am.

Me: I thought for sure you would have crashed from adrenaline.

Romeo: Nah, I don’t sleep well after games. Takes me a long time to knock out. Pretty sure the rest of the bus is out cold. The lights have been off since we hit the highway.

Me: Do you have headphones?

I grin, knowing he’s smirking on the other side.

Romeo: I do. Do you have a turtleneck on?

A laugh spurts out of me, and I don’t hesitate.

I hit call on FaceTime.

It takes him a few rings to answer, and when he does, he lifts his finger to his lips. Noah slips his earbuds in, shifting so his body is wedged half against window, half against the seat.

He pulls his hood up to get more comfortable, the thick gray cotton now pressed against his cheekbones, accentuating the sharpness of his features, and casting a low shadow off of his lips. But every few seconds, the window provides a low flicker of light, allowing me to see all of him. It’s like watching a thriller, nothing more than a quick flicker of clear sight to get your blood pumping.

Finally, he grins.

“I wish you weren’t so far.” The words slip from me before I even realize how true they are.

His eyes flick to mine and hold. “Oh yeah?”

Heat spreads through me, and I nod. “Yeah.”

Noah rolls his tongue across his bottom lip, drawing my attention to his mouth. “And why’s that?”

“Because you can’t sleep, and I can’t sleep.” I smile. “We could not sleep together.”

Noah’s chuckle is low, and he lifts the neck of his hoodie up, slowly gliding the material between his teeth. “I’ll be home in eight hours.”

“Sorry, invitation expires in seven.”

His lips curve to the side, his eyes low and tired. “Of course it does.” He pauses, then quietly asks, “You all packed for your trip?”

“We finished a bottle of cheap liquor instead.”

He laughs, shaking his head.

“I’m not worried about it. We’re not fancy campers. Sweats, shorts, and sweatshirts are basically it. And ponytails. As long as we have some shit in our bags when the boys are ready, we’re good.”

“You leave right after we get back?”

“We do.” I fight a smile. “We want to have as much time there as we can, and it’s a few hours away.”

He nods, glancing out the side window. “I should let you get to sleep then. You don’t want to be hungover on the drive,” he repeats what Mason said earlier.

“Yeah, been there done that.” A yawn works its way up my throat and I scoot down on my pillow, reangling my phone and propping it up with some smashed blankets.

Noah’s eyes leave my face then, and while I’m not quite sure what parts of me he can see, he twists his entire torso, positioning himself fully against the bus wall, drawing his phone even closer. “Okay, I really need to go.”

To be playful, I stretch out even more, so my top rides up my hip a little higher.

“Juliet.” He warns with a frown. “I’m stuck on this bus with thirty-three other men for the next seven hours, won’t see you for another seventy-two after that. Hang up.”

A light chuckle leaves me and I smile. “Good night, quarterback.”

Noah’s eyes grow soft, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Night, beautiful.”

My entire body breaks out in a cool chill, an airy sensation working its way through me. I wave, but I don’t hit end, somehow knowing he won’t either, and he doesn’t.

I pull my covers up to my chin, tucking my hands under my pillow, and his head falls against the glass.

I close my eyes and fall asleep.

As he said he would, Mason texted me his location when their bus was almost at their exit, also reminding us we better start packing now if we hadn’t already—he knows us so well, we literally finished packing less than five minutes before his message came through.

The plan is for them to rush home for showers and their bags, and to be loading ours up in Mason’s Tahoe no more than an hour later, which works, but I’m hoping it goes a little differently.

I lean against the tree, pulling up Mason’s location to find they’re coming down the road just in front of campus, and a few seconds later, the large blue and gold bus is turning into the parking lot. It’s only stopped for a few seconds before the doors open, and the team begins pouring out.

Pushing off, I move closer.

I spot my brother first, and a hint of anxiousness slips in, tightening my ribs.

He moves right for the hatch the driver just opened and starts moving bags around in search of his.

It’s Brady who spots me first.

“Ari Baby!” he shouts, and several heads glance my way, but they quickly go back to whatever it is they were doing. He jogs over, unable to wait for me to reach him on my own and pulls me into a hug. “You ready for some fuck-off time?”

“I am.” I smile, turning to hug my brother when he makes his way over, a slight frown on his face.

“What are you doing here?” He looks behind me. “Where’s Cameron and your bags?”

“She’s in the shower, but we’re ready.”

He nods, his frown deepening, and that’s when he looks at my hoodie. His eyes come up to mine, but Chase steps between him and Brady before he can say anything.

His smile is wide, and he comes forward for a hug as the other two had.

“You came,” he says, stepping back. “Tell me you’ve got the clip? I waited for you.”

I scowl, but quickly realize what he meant. His touchdown.

Wait, he was serious?

“I… don’t. Only the reaction video we sent.”

He licks his lips with a grin. “It’s cool, should be on Huddle by tomorrow. We can watch it in the mountains.”

“Yeah, sure.” I nod, leaning slightly to see behind him. The people exiting are coming slower now.

“So what’s up?” He glances from Mason to me. “You coming to the house with us?”

“Oh, no, I was—”

I cut off when Noah comes into view.

He’s stepping down the bus stairs in a gray Avix U sweatsuit, nearly identical to the one I’m wearing. His hand lifts, and he pushes his hood from his head, running his palm over the back of his hair.

His left foot hits the blacktop, and the second his right comes down to meet it, his eyes are pulled left. Right to me.

He pauses in place and a low laugh leaves me.

I face the boys, a hint of pink washing over my neck.

“You invited some others, right?” I ask Mason.

His eyes tighten at first, but then he nods.

He steps forward, sighing against my hair as he presses a kiss there. “Yeah, baby sister. I did.”

Chase scowls at my sweater, noting the large number nineteen on the sleeve. His eyes come up to mine, narrowing, but as the boys begin to turn, heading for their bags, he follows. Finally, I break away, making my way to Noah.

At first, Noah doesn’t move, his head following my brother and the boys, but then slowly returning to me. It takes him a moment, but his attention finally falls to the hoodie I’m wearing, and his eyes snap up to mine. He gets it, that I didn’t come for them.

I came for him.

His backpack falls to the ground where he stands, and he erases the last two steps between us.

Before he reaches me, I spin, showing him the back, where his number is boldly printed, but he knows that. After all, he’s the one who gave me the hoodie.

I throw my arms out, peeking at him over my shoulder. “Does this count as me wearing it to a game?”

His lips curve up, and he gives a slow shake of his head. “Not a chance.”

I spin again, now facing him fully and step closer. “Does it count for something?”

Noah reaches out, gripping the front of the hoodie and tugs me to him. He whirls me around until we’re half hidden by the open door, his hand gliding into my hair. “You already know the answer to that,” he says, and then he’s kissing me.

His lips move masterfully, seeking entrance he knows I won’t deny, the heated strength of his tongue sending the pit of my stomach into a wild whirl.

As fast as he takes control, he pulls away, and then his pants are in my ear. I only grow hotter, knowing I’m the one who stole the air from his lungs.

“You kill me, you know that?” His chest heaves against mine and I flatten my palm against it. “Fucking kill me.” His lips glide along my cheek until he finds my mouth again.

This time it’s a single, soft, slow kiss.

When my eyes finally open, he’s already pulled back, bright-eyed and excited, but there’s a hint of something else in there, too. I’m not sure what it is, but it disappears the moment I say, “Come with us.”

His frown is instant. “What?”

“Camping,” I tell him nervously. “I knew you’d be exhausted from the game and the drive, and I sort of convinced myself you’d say yes if I asked, so I didn’t want to ask you before you left, in case you did say yes, and then were too tired to go, but still came just to keep your word, which is a very Noah thing to do, by the way.” I pause for a breath and his lips twitch. “So yeah, I wanted to wait until today, be here to welcome you back, and ask you to leave with me. I kind of figured it was best to ask after you’d been gone… hoping you didn’t want me to be.”

“I don’t want you to be.” His response is instant, and I let out the heavy breath I was apparently holding.

My smile is wide and I let my head rest against the bus behind me. “So, you’ll come?”

“I told you once, Juliet, I won’t deny you again.” He pushes closer, whispering, “You want me there, I’m there.”

“Looks like you’re going camping then. You can share my tent.”

His gaze rapidly rakes over my face and he grabs my hands, pulling me back around the bus. “Then we better go get me packed.”

I nod, locking our fingers tighter as he walks us backward.

“For the record…” Noah pauses, and then he says something I had no idea I needed to hear until the words are wrapping around me. “I would have kissed you in front of everyone if I knew for sure you’d be okay with it, and that is the only reason I pulled you aside.”

My heartbeat hammers in my chest, and I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

Noah wants me and he isn’t afraid to show it.

He doesn’t care who knows it… so long as I do.

I do, Noah.

Noah reads me like an open book and winks as he releases me, grabbing his backpack from where he dropped it. He then jogs over to snag his football bag from the pile set out along the side of the bus.

Mason walks up, a little uneasy. “I take it you’re riding with Noah, then?”

“Yeah.”

While his jaw is set firm, he nods, spins and calls his name.

When Noah turns our way, Mason salutes him.

“Crash on the way up the hill with my sister and I’ll have to fuck you up.”

I roll my eyes, but Noah only grins.

“I crash with your sister, and I’ll let you.”

I chuckle, and Mason scoffs beside me.

We face each other.

“I could take him.” He glares, but his grin slips. “See you at the house?”

“Yep.”

He jogs over to Brady’s truck, where Chase stands, arms folded over his chest, his hip pressed against the cab.

His eyes brush past mine and he kicks off, climbing into the bed.

Off they go, Noah and me not far behind.