Page 39 of Just My Type
“You like…” I trail off, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, reminding myself that murder is wrong.
“Noah,” I say slowly, opening my eyes and gripping the railing on the elevator wall for dear life. “We’re on our way down to meet everyone we know for lunch. Your brothers. My sisters. Amelia. All of Jordan’s friends who I have known foreverbecause they’re my older sister’s friends, too, and one of them is my damn brother-in-law. It’s weird enough that we’re showing up together. You can’t wear a wedding ring because we’re not telling anyone we got married. What part of that is tripping you up?”
Noah grins at me and leans over, kissing my cheek and tugging off his ring at the same time. He tucks the ring into the pocket of his shorts, and I try to keep my face from turning bright red at the feel of his lips on my skin. “I know, Gorgeous. I just like it when you swipe at me. And it’s not weird that we’re showing up together. Our hotel rooms are on the same floor. How’s that for a coincidence?”
I close my eyes again and wonder if maybe this is all some kind of psychotic fever dream. Maybe I’m about to wake up in my bed in Boston and realize that none of this is real. A girl can hope, right?
Except then Noah puts his hands on my shoulders, turning me to face him. When I open my eyes, he’s right there and very real, with his messy hair and his stubbled jaw and his woodsy scent, and I have the overwhelming urge to burrow right into him and let him fix everything. It’s so messed up that the person who is my sidekick in the most fucked up situation of my life is also the person who makes me feel calmer than anyone else in the world.
I have no idea what to do with that, and since apparently I can’t keep anything a secret from this man, I come right out with it.
“I don’t know what to do right now,” I admit, my eyes on Noah’s.
He smiles, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear, letting his hand linger on my cheek. “We’re going to have lunch with all our people, and we’ll do whatever it is Jordan has planned for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Then, we’re going to fly back to Boston and do whatever comes next.”
I shake my head at his calm nonchalance. Like gettingaccidentally drunk married in Vegas is just another day. “Just like that?”
He strokes his thumb over my jaw. “Just like that, Han. I said everything was going to be okay, and I meant it. Stick with me, Gorgeous. We’ll figure all of this out.”
I blow out a breath, amazed to find that I actually do feel better. Marginally. “Okay,” I say as the elevator dings and the doors slide open.
“Hannah!” I whip my head around at the very familiar voice. Noah’s hand drops from my face, but it’s too little, too late because there, right outside the elevator, is my older sister Hallie and her husband Ben, both of them grinning madly, eyes bouncing between Noah and me.
“Hallie!” I rush out of the elevator and throw myself at my sister, clinging to her in a hug that may or may not be just a touch desperate.
She wraps her arms around me, squeezing tight. “Noah Wyles?” she says into my ear. “We’re going to talk about what that was just now, right?” Her voice is amused with the undercurrent of concern both my sisters get whenever they talk to me these days. I really, really hate that concern.
“It’s nothing,” I mutter.
Hallie pulls back to study me, her hands on my shoulders. “I’ll let you get away with that for now because I’m just happy to see your face.”
“Same,” Ben says, wrapping me in a hug. “You’ve been gone for too long, Hans.”
I pull back and smile at both of them. “It’s not like I don’t talk to you both, like, every day.”
Ben grins, swinging an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, but when you call, you just want to talk to the babies. We never hear anything about you.”
I smile at that because Ben and Hallie’s twins are really the loves of my life. And I hate talking about myself these days. “I’m not that interesting.”
“Beg to differ,” Noah says from behind me.
I jolt a little at the sound of his voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hallie smirk at me, and I swear she says “Nothing, my ass” under her breath.
“Noah Wyles,” Ben says, shaking his hand. “It’s been too long.”
Noah grins at him. “Well, if we’re going to catch up anywhere, Vegas is the best place to do it.”
“Yeah it is,” Hallie says, glancing around the hotel lobby. “So, tell me everything. What have you been up to since you got here yesterday? Anyone do anything crazy yet?”
I choke on nothing, coughing and sputtering like I’m drowning, while Hallie looks at me like I have ten heads, and Noah looks like he’s biting his cheek to keep from laughing.
Shithead.
“You okay, Hans?” Hallie asks.
“Totally fine,” I croak, coughing one more time. “All good.”
“You sure?” Ben studies me. “You look a little pale.”
