Page 168 of After All This Time

“We need to tape that mouth of yours shut, Kaplan.”

“Is this going to be a new kink of yours, Solomon?” He raises his eyebrows.

Grayson and Xander need to hurry the hell up before I’m murdered by Noah’s flirting tactics.

After twenty-five agonizing minutes of waiting for the guys, they finally pull up in front of us.

As I exit the vehicle, I stand in front of my side of the car and wait impatiently for the guys to make their way over to us to give us the food.

Noah jogs over to me, playfully nudging me in the shoulder.

We watch Grayson step out of the driver’s side of a black pickup truck.

“What the hell took you guys so long?” I ask, huffing.

Grayson walks over to us with a to-go box which has the Coastal Shores logo on it. There’s a cartoon sandwich in between all the brown text. “Well, since it’s hot food, they actually have to make it, heat it up, and cook it so we don’t have a case of food poisoning on our hands.”

Noah’s demeanor shifts from playfulness to annoyance. “Oh, look who it is. The captain of The Idiot Club.”

“Noah…not now,” I say.

Xander gets out of the truck, making his way over to Noah. He’s examining his face. “He looks fine to me.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” He rolls his eyes at Xander before he turns his head towards Grayson. “If there’s a fucking salad in here, I swear to God, Grayson Becker, I will make it my life’s mission to make your life a miserable hell.”

“I would never do that to you,” Grayson says as he hands the box over to Noah.

I walk over to Noah, Grayson, and Xander.

Noah opens the styrofoam box, revealing a sandwich and curly fries.

“It’s a fried chicken sandwich with the works. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo. I know how much you love this sandwich, so that’s why I got it.”

“I love you so much right now.”

So, you’re telling me all I have to do is shove food into Noah’s face for him to say that he loves me? Done.

“I love you too buddy. Sorry that I’ve been an asshole lately.”

“You’re forgiven…for now.” Noah grabs my hand. “Take half, Sunshine. You haven’t eaten in hours either. I honestly thought you’d crash before me. Just give me the tomato and the onion. And don’t argue with me.”

Sweat builds on my skin.

The guys are watching us.

Noah gestures to me to sit on his lap.

I shake my head. “No,” I whisper.

“Sit on me,” he mouths.

“Fine.”

Walking over to the passenger side of the car, I sit on Noah’s lap with the box of food sitting on top of my legs.

He has one arm secured around my waist, so I don’t fall.

I take off the top bun, removing the tomato and onion. Before I bite into the sandwich, I feel two sets of eyes on us. They’re burning holes through multiple layers of skin on our faces.

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