Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
NOAH
Waking up with Gracie in my arms was a sight to behold.
Waking up to Gracie grinding herself against her cock before burying her head in my neck as she came was a goddamn fantasy come to life.
I knew she was fighting with herself. She couldn’t hide the shame and embarrassment on her face, so I decided to play it off like the whole thing never happened and luckily, she decided to look away as I got up and left the room because there was no hiding the wet spot in my sweats from where I came right alongside her.
Jesus, it was so fucking hot.
Like a dream come to life.
Now we’re in my car, heading back to campus and the tension in the car is stifling. I want to put my hand on her thigh and tell her that everything is okay, that she has nothing to worry about and that it was the hottest moment of my life, but I think she needed this.
I think this will be the catalyst to make her look at me differently, so I don’t say anything.
I don’t say a goddamn word.
This could be the moment that she realizes she feels more for me than friendship, so I need to give her the space she needs to come to terms with things.
She’s been more touchy-feely lately, reaching out to squeeze my thigh when she’s talking or hugging me. She’s also been texting me a lot too, as though I’m now the first person that she thinks to text when something happens, or if she sees a funny video or meme.
We’re slowly getting to where we need to be, and this could be the turning point I’ve been hoping for.
Mind you, I didn’t think it would be her getting herself off on me while she thought I was sleeping, but I’ve always known she had a kinky side to her, and it was my absolute pleasure to give her what she needed.
I had been so tempted to let her know that I was awake and take things into my own hands, but I worried that if she knew, she’d stop.
I was so far gone from just lying there with her already that I was basically halfway to the edge before she even started.
I shiver as I recall her hot breath against my skin as she whimpered.
That sound has been repeating over and over and over in my head since it happened, and I’m lucky I had the foresight to wear jeans for the drive back because if I was wearing sweats right now, there would be no way to hide the evidence of my arousal from her.
All too soon, I’m pulling up in front of her building. She turns to face me as I put the car in park, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, and she looks as though she’s about to either burst out in tears or break down completely.
Oh fuck, I can’t deal with her tears.
If she cries for any other reason than sex, it breaks me.
And me being the reason behind her tears? Well, I’ll have to kick my own ass for making her cry.
The last thing I wanted to do was upset her.
“Thank you for staying with me, it was exactly what I needed.”
In more ways than one.
I give her an easy smile and pull her in for a quick hug. It only lasts a couple of seconds, and I pull back and jump out of the car before she can say anything. She’s slower than I was, and by the time the door closes behind her, I’m already handing her bag over to her.
I take a chance a kiss to her forehead before slowly backing away and giving her a smile. “I’ll see you later, little one,” I say before jumping back in the car and driving away before I change my mind and carry her up to her room to do some very unfriendly things to her.
The drive to the cottage only takes a couple of minutes, and I’m in a world of my own as I park up and head inside, only to find Harley pacing in the entry way with his phone in hand and a worried expression on his face.
Is he worried about me? I was meant to be back yesterday—which I totally lied to Gracie about, since the plan was always to come back at the same time as her and Cole—but I told them both that I was staying for another day and I even called them last night once Gracie had fallen asleep to see how they were, so I don’t understand why it would be about me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Have you heard from Cole? Logan? Lana?” he rushes to ask, and my brows shoot up.
“No,” I say slowly. “What happened?”
He throws his arms in the air and resumes pacing.
“We all chilled last night, but I woke up this morning to everyone gone. That would have been perfectly normal except classes don’t start until tomorrow and when is Logan ever out of the house before 8 a.m. when he doesn’t need to be?
I’ve tried calling all three of them but haven’t gotten a response, and now I’m freaking out. ”
I force him to stop moving by putting my hands on his shoulders and halting his movements, questions filling my mind but putting on my mask and taking over as the caretaker in an attempt to calm him down.
“Stop panicking. According to Gracie, who I spoke to a few days ago, Cole and Lana are all loved up, they’ve probably gone out for the day.
” Lies, I’ve just spent the night with her, but whatever.
“And Logan might have had some hockey thing he needed to get to and probably just didn’t bother to mention it.
You know how he is. I’m sure that if there was something wrong, they would have told us so just calm down a little and try to think rationally. ”
“Can you at least try to call them? See if they answer you?”
I don’t bother to tell him that if they don’t answer the phone for him, then they won’t for me, I just nod and do as he asks.
Logan, Harley and I watch silently as Cole follows Lana back to their room, each of us a jumbled mess of confusion and worry. The three of them came back two days ago, with Cole carrying a bleeding and bruised Lana in his arms, each of them looking more than worse for wear.
Turns out that Lana’s life is a lot darker than any one of us knew and that she’d been in danger the whole time, which was the real reason why Cole moved her in with us.
They’d been hours away, putting Lana’s demons to rest. I’m pretty sure they gave us a diluted version of the story to save our delicate sensibilities or something because there’s no way that what they told us was the full story.
But none of that matters so long as they’re all safe and okay. Lana is clearly struggling, but at least she has Cole at her beck and call for whatever she needs. I’m sure the guys will agree with me when I suggest her staying here, regardless of her not needing to for her safety anymore.
I’ve come to like Lana, I like the way she can put Cole in his place and how she has a take-no-shit attitude that’s impossible not to respect.
But now isn’t the time to bring up living arrangements.
All we can do right now is be there for them if they need it.
Even though I’m itching to get out of the house and go see my girl. It’s been three days since I’ve set my eyes on her and I’m starting to get twitchy, my mind constantly preoccupied with thoughts of her.
We didn’t tell her that anything happened, knowing that she’d lose her shit and panic, probably going into mother hen mode and stressing herself out. We’ve texted here and there… kind of.
I’ve been texting to make sure her stalker hasn’t been around, and she’s been replying with one word answers, clearly still feeling awkward about the other morning.
No matter, it won’t be long until she knows the truth.
I’m moving the timeline up. I can’t keep doing this, I can’t keep pretending to be two people when all I want is her.
But first, there’s something I want to do with her.
There’s one last game we need to play before she learns the truth.
I have a plan.