Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
NOAH
I don’t remember the last time I danced like this or if ever.
But honestly, getting hot and sweaty with Jessica and Caleb, I’m able to forget about my upcoming surgery, the fear and worry over whether it’s successful or if the cancer has spread.
But I refuse to stop living in the moment, something about this really brought home to me how precious life is. It’s not that I didn’t know it before, but it just shows how you have to enjoy the small moments because they mount up and make lasting memories.
Even though both me and Caleb have been drinking, we still have our wits about us. Having Jessica with us, we want to know she’s safe. She can get as drunk as she likes as long as she’s safe.
“Have you had a good night?” I ask her, leaning down to speak loudly into her ear as we wait for Caleb to return from the toilet.
“It’s been perfect,” she replies, her words slightly slurred as Avery wraps her arm around Jessica’s back.
“Of course it has,” Avery says as she wobbles. I glance down to her bare feet.
“Where are your shoes?” I ask.
She points her thumb over her shoulder towards the wall. “My feet were hurting,” she whines.
“So, where are your foldable ballet shoes?” Jessica asks, sounding a lot less drunk than Avery.
She frowns. “Here,” Jessica untangles herself from Avery and steers her in my direction. “Let me see if Lily has her bag.”
“Come on, let’s sit down before you step on something you shouldn’t.”
She slumps against my shoulder. “Thanks, Caleb.”
I laugh at her getting us mixed up. I don’t even sound like him, but I just nod as I lead her over to the bench by the table and ease her into sitting down before crouching in front of her.
A bottle of water appears over my shoulder, and I take it and unscrew the lid.
“Thanks.”
“Is she okay?” Mason asks, his voice concerned.
I bring the bottle to Avery’s mouth, but she just shakes her head. “I’m tired,” she slurs.
Pushing to my feet, I stand up and look around for Jessica.
“I think it’s time to call it a night,” I say.
Mason agrees, taking my place and reaching for Avery’s chin. “Hey, Siren, you ready to leave?”
Her lips curve into a wonky smile as she nods, and her eyelids flutter closed, her head drooping forward.
Mason moves before I have time to stop him. He reaches down and lifts Avery into his arms. “I’ll meet you downstairs in the limo. Can you have the girls grab her stuff?”
I nod and watch as she wraps her arm around his neck, nuzzling into his chest, and I swear I hear him say, “You like me well enough when you’re drunk, huh, Siren?”
And he says we’re whipped , I think to myself as Jessica comes over, Caleb’s hand in hers. “Everyone is ready to call it a night,” Caleb says, flicking his wrist to look at his watch. “Or should I say morning, it’s almost three am.”
I guess that’s what happens when you’re having fun. You lose all sense of time.
“Mase has taken Avery to the limo.”
By the time everyone is rounded up, and we all make our way outside with the exception of Octavia, the twins and Linc, the limo we arrived in is nowhere to be seen.
“That’s our limo,” Lily says, pointing out another car further down the road.
I pull my phone from my pocket to call Mase, but I already have a message notification.
Mase: Avery just threw up everywhere. The driver is dropping us off so he can call it a night. Looks like I’ll be losing my deposit!
Angling my phone towards Caleb, I let him read the message. Jessica is already arm in arm with Lily as they make their way to the limo, Elliot and River just ahead of them and Tommy behind.
“Can you drop us off on the way?” Jax asks.
I nod.
Within an hour, Lily and the guys are delivered safely to theirs, and we’re back at ours. Maggie has Aspen tonight, so the house was quiet when we entered. Clearly, it is something Jessica has forgotten as she calls out to her.
“Aspen, where are you, baby girl,” she slurs.
I laugh as she kicks off her heels, wobbling as she does.
“Maggie's dog sitting, remember?”
“You get her to bed. I’ll lock up,” Caleb says.
Jessica is like a pile of limp noodles as I carry her up to our room, her tiara wonky, her sash all twisted, and her makeup smeared, and yet she’s never looked more beautiful. I lay her down and get to work on getting her undressed. She’s well and truly out of it.
Caleb comes in with a few bottles of water tucked under his arm, a packet of painkillers, and a small packet of biscuits.
“Just in case,” he says as he places them on the bedside table.
“Can you pass me a t-shirt?”
He pulls one off the vanity stool and helps me slip it over Jessica’s head. As it snags on the tiara, it takes a little manoeuvring, but he manages to untangle it from her hair.
“I’ll be right back.”
I undo my shirt and strip down to my boxer briefs before pulling on a t-shirt.
Caleb reappears with some of Jessica’s face wipes.
Reaching for a bottle of water, I drink half of it in one go, and he carefully begins to remove her makeup.
I can’t help but smirk. “Usually you like her makeup all smeared,” I say over my shoulder, making my way to the bathroom.
He chuckles. “Yeah, but usually after she’s had my cock down her pretty throat.”
What can I say? He’s not exactly wrong. I brush my teeth and relieve myself before returning. Caleb, much like me, is stripped down to his boxers, sans shirt.
“Come here.” I walk up to him, and he pulls me into his body, wrapping his arms around me. “Did you have a good time?” he asks, the green specks in his blue eyes vivid in this light.
I nod. “I did. It was nice that we all ended up together. I mean, nothing about our relationship is conventional, so why should our stag or hen be any different?”
He smiles. “Yeah, you’re absolutely right.” His gaze trails down to my t-shirt, and I find myself looking away.
“Please don’t do that, Noah, don’t hide from me.”
I want to say I’m not, but it would be a lie. I just feel so vulnerable, exposed, even wearing clothes, and I wonder if I’ll ever be the same again.
“You’re still you, Noah, nothing’s changed. I love you irrevocably. A cancer diagnosis doesn’t change that.”
The conviction of his words has my heart racing.
“I know,” he continues, “that I can’t begin to understand or comprehend what a mind fuck this all is, but if you can believe one thing.
It’s that we love you, with every single atom of our being.
It goes beyond the physical. I enjoy the art of sex, specifically with you and Jessica, but it’s more than that. ”
“I know, and I don’t mean to pull away. There are moments I almost forget about it entirely, and then it hits me all over again.
Like first thing in the morning, and for a few blissful moments, everything is exactly as it should be.
And then it hits me all at once, like a sledgehammer to my senses, and I can barely catch my breath. But then you and Jessica ground me.”
He leans his forehead against mine.
“You can lean on us always, Noah. You’re not alone.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I soak in his strength.
“I know, thank you.”
Caleb grips my jaw, his eyes boring into mine. “Never thank me, not for that, Noah. I know I can’t fight this battle for you, but I’ll be right beside you and so will Jessica.”
He leans in and kisses me with such ferocity that I believe him with every fibre of my being.