Chapter 31 Noah
Thirty One
Noah
Ican’t believe what I’m feeling.
I can’t believe I still know how to be happy.
But that’s what Andie Moore has done to me. She’s made me happy. She made me feel.
She makes me feel emotions other than rage and bone-deep sorrow.
I even smile at Millie after she gives me another scratch on my neck. Any other time, I’d have been scowling at her, reciprocating the stink eyes she grants me every time she sees me.
I’m pretty sure it’s because she misses Andie. Honestly, Millie was never supposed to stay with me. I helped her for Andie, bought all the essentials because of her too. So, it feels wrong having her with me. But I won’t lie, I’ve gotten used to her grouchy presence.
Today’s our last home game before a series of away games. I’m not particularly excited about it. Not when it means that I’ll have to be away from my Rainbow.
It feels like I just got her, and now I’ll have to leave. Ever since last week, I’ve been acting unlike myself—all clingy and possessive when it comes to her. Thankfully, she hasn’t run out on my sorry ass yet.
I’m also thankful that I’ve not had a nightmare on the nights she stayed over.
I’m not quite sure how I’ll explain it to her.
How will I tell her that I’m pathetic and that I have days where I feel like my head’s underwater?
How will I tell her that I get panic attacks just from a call from my father?
How the fuck do I tell her that there are days when I wish I hadn’t woken up? Those days have been far and wide lately, but they’re there, sneaking up on me when I least expect them. I don’t want to hide from her.
But I’m afraid that she won’t stay once she peels all my layers and looks at the pathetic man beneath this tough and broody exterior.
I’m in the locker room, getting ready for practice, when I absentmindedly touch my scars, hidden beneath my tattoos.
Before I can lose myself in morbid thoughts instead of the high thoughts of Andie bring me, her brother claps his hands, catching everyone’s attention.
Everyone stops in different stages of dressed to look at our captain and hear what he has to say. “After the game, you’re all invited to our place. Since it’s a day game, you’ll have time to rest before your presence will be required.”
“Why are we coming over, though?” Seb asks the question all of us are mulling over. Some of the players cast me a questioning glance, thinking I’ll know what he’s on about. I shrug my shoulders because even I’m not aware.
“We’re celebrating,” Ezra says, his hands crossing against his naked chest.
“Celebrating what?” Oliver pipes, raising his hand in the air as if we’re still in elementary school.
Some of us snicker at that, but no one looks away from Ezra. While the motherfucker stays quiet, building on the tension. Then a slow grin spreads across his face. “My engagement,” he announces.
There’s a moment of silence before the entire locker room bursts with screams, howls, clapping, and congratulatory hugs. Someone even whistles.
Though what I notice is that Seb is unusually quiet. It’s hard to think of him not bouncing off his seat to annoy the shit out of the next person. So, when he gives a strained smile, my hackles rise. I’ll have to figure it out.
What bothers me even more is that he has been ever since we went to The Tap the last time. Did something happen while I was busy planning the murder of the guy who was flirting with my Andie?
“She said yes?” I ask, not doubting that she wouldn’t for a minute. It’s just a shock. I didn’t even know he was planning to propose to her, let alone celebrate his engagement.
He shakes his head, once again halting us. “I haven’t asked her yet.”
“The fuck?” Is the only response I can think of.
“Then what the hell are we celebrating, Cap?” Levi scoffs from the other corner of the locker room.
Ezra rolls his eyes and continues getting dressed as if he isn’t speaking gibberish. I’ve heard love makes you lose your mind, but witnessing it with my own damn eyes has me internally shivering.
I step closer while the guys continue to look at him as if he has grown a tail. Resting a hand on his shoulder, I squeeze it. “We’ll talk to the team’s therapist first thing tomorrow morning.”
He looks at me as if I am the one who’s not making any sense. “What? Why? Are you not feeling well?”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide it from me,” I emphasize the point by pressing a hand into my chest. “Delusion is real. And I’m sure there’s a treatment for that.”
The guys try to hide their snickers but spectacularly fail. When the meaning of my words dawns on him, he slaps my hand away, his face twisting in a scowl. “Oh, fuck off! I’m not suffering from any sort of delusion, you asswipes,” he grunts, looking at everyone in the room.
“I plan to propose to Kaeli with everyone we care about present there, on her birthday! She’s gonna say yes, of course. Catch up, you turtle-minded, dimwits!” He growls, securing his shoulder pads with more force than necessary.
Oh, shit. Of course, that’s what he meant. A chorus of ohhhs and ahhhs rings in the room as the guys give their captain a sheepish smile.
“Yes, OH, you fuckers!” He clips, taping his stick ritualistically before we head out. “Your invitation should be revoked!” he grumbles, clearly angry at us.
Though all I feel is amusement skitter down my body.
“So why don’t you?” Lucas mutters under his breath with a scoff. Dude has a death wish, surely.
Just as I thought, Ezra hears it. Pointing at him, he growls, “You! You can’t come.”
Lucas’s eyes widen, and he stutters an apology that Ezra expertly ignores as he walks out of the locker room, fully padded and dressed.
The whole game, Lucas keeps trying to apologize for being a smart-mouth, while Ezra keeps glaring at him. Though everyone knows that Lucas is invited.
I wonder how Kaeli handles his childish ass. It’s a miracle Andie and Ezra are related with how different these two are, well, except for their eyes—hers are much prettier though.
I sometimes wonder how Andie is so mature when she has Ezra for her big brother. But that’s a mystery I don’t think even the scientists can solve.
* * *
Unfortunately, we lost the game.
But I see that the team is still in high spirits as I pull the car to the curb in front of Kaeli and Ezra’s Victorian house.
The street is lined with expensive cars, definitely a car voyeur’s dream come true. If I hadn’t texted Andie in advance to save me a spot right outside their place, I’d have to park way too far for my liking. That’s just one of the perks of being involved with your teammate’s sister, I guess.
Unnecessarily smug, I climb down from the car with the gift for the hopefully happy couple. Raucous laughter can be heard on the other end of the street, and for the first time, I’m excited to enter a gathering. Or it might just be that I’m excited to see Andie.
It’s been almost twenty-four hours since I last saw her, or held her in my arms, or kissed those plump lips that taste like cherry chapstick, lips that I can’t get enough of.
I’m still not sure how I went so long without kissing her. Because now that I know kissing Andie is like coming home, I can’t ever see myself stopping, not until the day I stop breathing.
With the bottle of the most expensive wine I can find, I enter their foyer and slip off my shoes in a sea of unceremoniously strewn mess.
Their living room is full of people they love: Sebastian, Lucas, Levi, Oliver, and the other guys from the team. I spy Stacy in one corner with her husband.
Even Roman Reed, Kaeli’s MLB playing superstar of a brother, is mingling with the little family his sister has built for herself. When I first found out that the guy Ezra has been repeatedly jealous of is none other than her brother, I was positively amused.
Roman is a golden retriever, sporting a perpetual smile. He definitely reminds me of Seb, but he’s just a little bit composed. They’d gel well together, that’s for sure.
Everyone here is gawking at him, still unable to believe that Roman Reed is amidst them. Even when most people in attendance are famous. He’s that good.
What comes as a surprise to everyone, though, including me, is that Ezra and Andie’s cousins, Rohan and Irsia Moore, are here. Rohan is the center for Monterey Ironhearts and also their alternate captain. I have always enjoyed the games we’ve played against his team.
Irsia Moore, Rohan’s younger sister, is a photographer. So, it makes sense for her to be here as well.
Aurelia flew back in from New York. She’s Andie’s best friend, so of course, I found out all I could about her. If she cares, I care. So, for Aurelia’s sake, I hope she knows what she’s doing dating Jackson of all people.
But it’s not my place to judge. Not when I’m sleeping with the woman whose brother will string me up with my balls to punish me. God, even the thought of it sends a shudder through my body. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
A soft melody plays in the background as everyone talks over the music, sharing anecdotes, game stats, and embarrassing stories that others are all too eager to hear.
It’s lively, and it feels like a home where abundant love is shared within its walls.
An unknown sense of calm and belonging washes over me, and I revel in it.
When I walk over to Kaeli and Ezra in the kitchen, they’re busy arguing over which dish they should serve first. “Hey, guys. For you, Kaeli. Happy Birthday,” I give her a side hug, rounding the kitchen island, placing the bottle of wine on the counter filled with dishes I can’t even name.
“Thank you, Noah,” she wraps her arms around my back, smiling at me.
Ezra glares at my arms around his soon-to-be fiancée, and just to annoy the fucker, I drop a kiss on her head. As expected, he growls, making me chuckle as Kaeli rolls her eyes at him.
Remembering Ezra was the one she was arguing with, she directs her full ire and wrath back at him. I’m all too happy to slip undetected. My gaze searches for the one face I’m dying to see, but comes up short.
Removing my cap, I rake a hand through my hair, so that I appear inconspicuous while scanning the room for her. When I finally spot her coming out of a corridor with the giant cake in her hands, I breathe a little easier.
I didn’t realize when breathing became difficult in her absence, but I don’t care enough to find out. All that matters is that I do everything in my power to stay in her orbit.
Once the cake is placed on the table, Ezra cups his mouth and announces to the guests to gather around.
All while the people are busy celebrating the birthday girl, my eyes are stuck to the only person persistently occupying my waking thoughts. Andie could feel me staring at her because her gaze collides with mine, and she blushes the perfect red, biting into her lower lip.
We’re caught in a trance, which luckily no one notices, but it’s soon broken when Kaeli gives Andie a bite of the cake. That’s when I take in the purple summer dress she’s wearing, the fabric clinging to every curve of her body, emphasizing her beautiful shape.
But when I see my best friend sweating bullets in a corner, his hand stuck inside his pocket—probably fidgeting with the ring—I know it’s time I pay some attention to the different Moore sibling.
Silently, I walk over to him with a corona in my hand and knock my shoulder lightly into his. His eyes are stuck on Kaeli, who’s surrounded by friends and family, all presenting her with gifts and showering her with best wishes.
“Your parents didn’t come? I ask, hoping he’ll stop thinking so loud.
“I invited both our parents, but mine had prior commitments that took them out of state, and as for Kaeli’s, well, that one is still a slippery slope. So, we’ll celebrate with our parents later. If she said yes, that is,” Ezra explains, gnawing his lower lip.
As far as I know, Kaeli’s relationship with her parents is complicated, something to do with her brother.
“She looks happy,” I jerk my chin at his girlfriend.
His lips lift in a warm smile. “She is.” But it falls just as quickly. “Do you think she’ll say yes? What if she said no? What if she doesn’t want to marry me?” His eyes flare wide in panic, breath coming shorter as he needlessly spirals.
Seeing him working himself into anxiety over Kaeli saying yes to marrying him is amusing to say the least. I didn’t think I’d see the day when our captain would be this nervous. Man’s never this nervous while playing on the ice.
It’s…cute for lack of a better word. Glad that I could see him rambling. Guess it runs in the genes. Instantly, my eyes fall on Andie, throwing her head back in laughter at something Aurelia and Kaeli whisper, their heads huddled like they’re trading locker room gossip.
God, she’s so beautiful, always stealing my breath away.
“She’ll say no, right? This is a bad idea. What the fuck was I thinking?” Ezra reminds me I’m staring at his off-limits sister right in front of him.
If it were any other day, I’d have said something sarcastic.
But seeing as he himself is enough to think of all the negatives, sweating his balls, I take pity on the guy.
“Relax, man. She’ll say yes. A fool can see that she loves you,” I assure him.
Since it got too cheesy for me, I add, “Though I can never really understand what she sees in you.”
I shake my head as if I’m seriously pondering over the matter.
Ezra jabs his elbow in my ribs, his eyes narrowed at me. “Get fucked!”
I groan, rubbing the spot that he abused, chuckling at his obvious distress. “I deserve it,” I accept.
My eyes latch onto Andie, who’s trying to get her brother’s attention behind Kaeli’s back, giving him some command with her eyes that only Ezra understands. He instantly sobers up, his shoulders squaring as if he’s preparing for battle and not about to propose to the woman he knows loves him.
“Let’s do this,” he mutters under his breath, stealing my drink and chugging it down for some liquid courage.
It’s showtime, I guess.