7. Noah
Chapter 7
Noah
I should become an actor. Pretending as if Lilly and I were strangers took more effort than I’ve ever had to put into anything. The hurt look on her face when I walked away without a word was like a knife to the chest. I’ve never felt like more of an asshole than I did in that moment.
But I thought that’s what she would want. Given how she reacted to my presence at the grocery store, it was pretty obvious she didn’t want anything to do with me. I probably could’ve been nicer, but my hurt feelings got the best of me.
What a fucked-up situation.
“You wanna play pool? A table just opened up.” Cody’s voice pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts.
I nod. The distance from Lilly will be good. Another glance her way makes me grit my teeth. Who’s that dickface? He’s leaning into her space, trying to flirt. She doesn’t seem to be returning his advances, and I wait to see what will happen next.
Lilly leans a little further away from him. When he doesn’t back off, I move toward her without thought. This is a bad idea. I’m fully aware of that. But staying away is out of the question.
Cassidy is busy at the other end of the bar. I’m literally the only one paying enough attention to help.
I come up behind her, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Cody got a pool table. You ready to go?”
Lilly’s head whips around over her shoulder. Her mouth gapes open.
“Hi, I’m Noah.” I hold my hand out to this schmuck. His brown hair lays limp across his forehead as if it gave up trying to make him look attractive.
“Roger.” He loosely shakes my hand.
“Sorry to steal my girl away, but she loves pool, and we finally got a table.” I don’t give him a chance to say anything. I grab Lilly’s drink followed by her hand and pull her to the back of the room.
Electricity races up my arm where her hand lays in mine. This doesn’t mean anything. The second we get back here, I’ll let her go. Maybe. Fuck, it feels good to touch her again.
“Noah.” She tries to pull her hand from mine, but I don’t let her. A sly glance over my shoulder says the grease ball is still watching us.
Cody’s eyebrows fly up his forehead when he sees us coming closer. His eyes are practically shouting, “What the fuck?”
I have no idea what I’m doing. No rational thought has been put into this plan.
When we finally get to the table, Lilly drops my hand like it’s on fire. I step closer to her before she can run away. “If you want that douche canoe to continue pressing his luck, go back to the bar. If not, let’s just play a round of pool and see if he goes away.”
Her teeth clamp down on the fleshy part of her lower lip. She’s not doing it to purposefully look sexy, but fuck if my dick doesn’t see it that way. He’s getting entirely too excited to be comfortable.
“Look, I’m sorry about earlier. I thought that’s what you wanted. Then I saw that asshole pushing into your space, and I couldn’t stand by and watch you be uncomfortable. I swear, I’ll play nice if you want to hang out here until he gets the hint.”
Lilly’s shoulders drop, and she nods.
A full-wattage smile stretches across my face. I shouldn’t be this happy to hang out with the woman who broke my heart. It’s a recipe for disaster, but I’d rather get a few minutes with her than never talk to her again. Especially now that she’s back in Sonoma for a bit.
“Come meet my best friends.” I grab her hand again and pull her over to where Cody and Rachel have been waiting. “I don’t know if you remember Cody, my cousin, and this is his wife, Rachel.”
Lilly holds her hand out to both of them. “Of course, I remember you, Cody. It’s nice to see you again.”
Rachel grins, mischievousness sparkling in her eyes. “I’ve heard so much about you from Noah. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“Thanks for that, Rach.” I roll my eyes as my cheeks start to heat.
“You talked about me?” Lilly looks up at me with questions in her eyes.
I grip the back of my neck. “You were my best friend in high school.”
She frowns as if she’s trying to work out a puzzle.
I quickly change the subject. “Anyway, are we ready to play?”
“Should we do girls against guys?” Cody suggests, and I could kiss him. He’s throwing Rachel to the wolves, but she’s so fucking kind she’ll make Lilly feel welcome without a hitch in her step.
“Oh, yeah. It’ll give you a chance to win,” Rachel teases. She steps over to Lilly and loops her arm around Lilly’s elbow.
Cody narrows his eyes at her. “Those are fightin’ words, little girl.”
“Bring it on.” The shit-eating grin on Rachel’s face makes me laugh.
Lilly giggles at their bickering. “I feel like I should preface this game by telling you I haven’t played pool in a very long time.”
“That’s okay. You’ll probably still be better than Cody.” Rachel shrugs.
“What the fuck, woman?” Cody throws his hands out, but his smile gives him away, and we finally set up the table. All our shots are rusty, and we end up ribbing each other the whole first game.
The second game is much more skilled. At least for Lilly, Cody, and Rachel. It takes all my concentration to keep my eyes off Lilly’s ass. It’s gorgeously hugged by faded blue jean shorts, and all I want to do is find out how well it still fits in my palms. Add in that her lacy black tank is molded to the rest of her, and I’ve been fighting a semi all night. It’s probably why I’ve played like shit this whole game.
Why does it feel like she’s even more beautiful now than when we were eighteen? I didn’t think it was possible.
“Noah! Stop daydreaming and take your turn,” Cody huffs.
I grimace. “Sorry.” My eyes flick to Lilly without my control, and she’s smirking at me. I shoot a wink at her, making her cheeks flush. Pride fills me as I take my shot. She’s still affected by me. That’s got to mean something, right?
I sink two more balls, leaving us with one left before the eight ball. I miss the last one, and Lilly steps up to the table to take her shot. She walks in front of me, purposefully pressing against me to get by. “Excuse me.”
What the hell was that?
I glance at Cody to see if he noticed only to realize he’s not paying a lick of attention to us. He’s got Rachel in his arms, swaying to the music playing through the bar.
Lilly leans over the table, pushing her ass out while she lines up her shot. For a second, I wonder if she’s doing it on purpose, and then her eyes catch mine, and I know without a doubt she wants me looking at her.
I tilt my head, making a point to be obvious about my perusal of her body. When I get back to her face, her lips are parted and lust clouds her eyes. Goddamn, she’s potent. And she’s not even doing anything.
I confirm that Cody and Rachel are in their own little world before I step up next to Lilly. I press my thigh between hers while I lean over to whisper in her ear. “I know what you’re doing.”
She gasps. “I’m not doing anything.”
I push my hips into her just a bit. “You’re sticking this gorgeous ass out to distract me. It won’t work.”
“Wanna bet?”
I raise an eyebrow at her. Apparently, a few drinks have dropped our inhibitions enough to make moves we’d never have made yesterday. “Okay. If I win, I want one night with you. We forget everything that happened before and get reacquainted.”
She starts to breathe hard. “And if I win?”
“What do you want?”
“The same thing but with one condition.” She licks her dry lips. “We keep it physical. No conversations or questions.”
My lips tilt down in consideration. “Done.”
This has disaster written all over, but the freight train has already left the station.
Game on.