Chapter 4
FOUR
LAUREN
“Okay,” I start, right as the GPS says we’re three minutes from Noah’s stepdad’s house. “Give me the Dad pep talk. You talk about him fondly, and I don’t want to fuck this up.”
Noah turns to me, smirking. His tattooed arm takes over the wheel while his right hand comes up to pat my leg. “Nervous about fucking up, eh? This feels serious. And, babe, he’s not my dad.”
I shove his shoulder. “Would you stop cracking jokes? I’m scared! And it’s dad-esk, okay? I really like you, but I quite literally do not have a good example of a dad, and therefore, I need to impress one of yours since I never impressed mine.”
“Okay, okay. What to say…”
I motion for him to keep talking with my hands, forcing a laugh out of him. “He served in the Marines. He was pretty high rank, so he can be scary sometimes, but he’s truly all bark and no bite to the people he likes.”
My stomach drops. “Oh, good. So, if he bites, then I’m out. Yippee.”
He shakes his head. “Shhhhh. You’ll be fine.”
I almost whimper as I stare out at the passing trees. “Keep going.”
“Uhm, ever since he got out of the military, he’s been dabbling in multiple forms of entrepreneurship. And I mean, multiple. Dude owns way too many businesses now. So, you can always talk shop with him. See what his favorite one of the week is.”
I nod, absorbing the information as I turn back to him. “Okay. Does he have a girlfriend or wife? Someone to break the ice with if Mr. Scary turns Mr. Terrifying?”
Noah coughs once, and then twice—almost like he’s choking on his own spit. His grip turns firm on the steering wheel. “N-no. Nothing like that.”
I squint at him but decide not to press it. I have enough anxiety over this whole thing already, and knowing Noah mentioned once that his mother pretty much walked out on him entirely when he turned into an adult, I’m sure that is a memory path that we want to fully avoid today.
As we pull into the driveway of a house with way too many cars parked around us, my mouth drops. “This is his house?”
Noah cuts the engine and leaps out of the truck. He rounds the vehicle and opens my door, offering me his hand.
Just like that, butterflies swarm me.
He chuckles at my expression and presses a kiss to the top of my forehead. “You’re cute. This is his house, indeed. My house, sometimes, when I decide to stay here. Depends on the circumstances.”
I move my gaze back from him to the house. “Entrepreneurship, huh? I really need to quit my marketing job and start my own agency, if this is the affect.”
He forces a smile then and tugs me to him before I can walk up the driveway. “Lauren…whatever happens tonight, just know I really like you. Okay?”
I blink. “I’m not about to get sacrificed, am I?”
He blinks at me. “What?”
“What? I just watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time last night. I don’t wanna be sacrificed.”
“I genuinely can’t tell if you’re being serious or not right now.”
I giggle. “Good.”
Noah shakes his head, dropping the topic entirely, and drags us both up the driveway to the front door.
His white T-shirt clings to his muscular back, and I swear that I start drooling.
I push those thoughts away, though. He’s been acting far too strange today, and mauling him in front of his stepdad probably won’t help that.
As soon as we step into the house, the sound of music and voices crowd me. There are way too many people here for my liking, and even worse than that…there’s children. I turn to Noah, horrified. “Isn’t this a birthday party? Why are there kids?”
He shrugs. “He actually hates his birthday. Says it makes him feel lonely instead of loved. So, he makes it a neighborhood pool party. But I call it his birthday party.”
I stare at him blankly. “You brought me to a pool party with no bathing suit?”
Noah winks and drags me onto the back patio. I drop the cheesy birthday card I bought on the gift table, forcing my short legs to move faster. “I prefer swimming without them anyway,” he says.
Sweet baby Jesus.
As soon as we make it to the pool, Noah gets to one knee before me.
My eyes nearly pop out of my head as I stare down at him.
Before I can say anything or look at anyone though, he puts one of my feet on his knee and starts unlacing my sandals.
He kisses my calf once before moving onto the next foot.
Once he’s done, he pats the ground and looks at the pool.
“Enjoy it for a second. Lets you avoid all the strangers while I go find the grumpy bastard.”
I look at the pool and immediately sit down, tossing my legs into the cold water. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Laughing, he turns and runs back into the house. While he’s gone, I can’t help but marvel at the structure of the home behind me. It literally screams money and confidence.
And for his stepdad to come from the military?
I’m telling Aiden and Casey to leave as soon as they fucking can.
There’s always such a stigma that the military can ruin you the second you leave—either from lack of other work experience or trauma. And this is just proof that that verdict isn’t always the case.
After a few minutes, I hear Noah’s voice on the patio again, and I lift my legs up to stand. A hand appears next to me seconds later, with a deep voice saying, “Allow me.”
My eyes pinch together at the sound of that voice, forcing me to hesitate.
I know that voice…
My heart sinks at the realization.
No fucking way.
Looking up slowly, I’m met with brown boots, blue jeans, and a brown button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows.
Those tattoos…
With his hand still extended out, my heart stills inside of my chest entirely, just as Noah says, “Sean, this is Lauren, my girlfriend. Lauren, this is my friend and once-upon-a-time stepdad, Sean Calloway.”
And Sean stares me dead in the eyes, equally horrified.