Page 71 of Stolen Kisses
“Well, yeah. We’re kind of seeing each other these days.” Noah shifted uncomfortably, feeling the women from the other table looking at him expectantly.
“Kind of seeing?” Jack laughed under his breath. “That’s not the way Grace describes it.”
Noah looked up. “Krista and Grace have been talking about us? What’d they say?”
“The way I hear it, you and Krista are in a full-blown relationship. You might be headed down the aisle quicker than me, bro.”
Noah felt a prickle of sweat—both from the women giggling at the other table and the prediction/warning from Jack.
“You know that’s what women start thinking of immediately when you’re in a committed relationship. Their minds jump to the next step, and then the one after that,” Jack continued.
“The one after that?”
“Babies, bro,” Sam filled in. “It’s marriage and then babies. Trust me. Abby started talking about that on our wedding night.” A flicker of sadness shaded his eyes. Sam and Abby had never gotten to the next step before they’d separated.
“But we just started dating.” Noah drank from the beer that he’d bought, staying clear of the one that the women had sent. Should he walk it over and say “no thank you”?
“So you are dating, though? As in, just each other, no one else. Committed.” Jack leaned forward on his elbows.
“I haven’t asked her to be my girlfriend or anything, if that’s what you’re asking.” Noah frowned. He hadn’t done an actual relationship since the girl he’d dated in college, and he’d done that relationship all wrong from the beginning to its disastrous end. “Am I supposed to ask her? Is that how it works these days?”
“You’re sleeping together, right?” Sam asked.
“I can answer that,” Jack raised a finger and grinned at Noah.
Noah rubbed his forehead. “That’s it. I have to keep Krista and Grace away from each other.”
“So if you’re sleeping together, I say you’re in a relationship,” Sam advised. “But she’s been wearing your necklace around her neck for decades and, in my opinion, that spells commitment, too.”
Noah nodded. He braved a glance at the women at the table. They waved, so, not to be rude, he waved back. And that also felt like a betrayal to Krista.Damn.“I have no idea how to do this,” he muttered. “Is there a manual for how to act when you’re dating someone?” Because he did not want to screw up this thing with Krista.
Jack reached for the drink that the women had sent over and got up. “You’re my best man, so I owe you one. I’ll return this and tell them that you’re honored, but you’re currently whipped.”
Noah exhaled. “Thank you.”
Jack walked off with the drink, leaving Noah and Sam alone at the table.
“Hey, I’m happy for you, man,” Sam said, looking serious. “It’s about time you settle down. You’re the captain of your own boat now, and you’re doing a great job. Dad and I were just discussing it today.”
“Yeah?” Noah relaxed into his chair.
“Yeah. You might even pull in a bigger catch than us this season. Good call bringing Joey Nelson on board with you.”
“He’s a great fisherman. It’s just supposed to be until he gets his cab fixed, but I hope he stays on.”
“Well, even if he doesn’t, you’ll be fine. We were nervous when Jack stepped down as captain,” Sam admitted.
Noah’s body tensed. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known they’d all been nervous. That he hadn’t known he was their second choice.
“No offense. You’re a stellar fisherman, bro. But you’ve always been kind of a wild card. You’ve never committed to anything longer than a season.”
“Not true. I’ve been on theSummerlysince high school.”
“Only as crew. But you still had the option of going elsewhere and you thought about it more than a few times. You went off to college, then dropped out and came home.”
Noah cringed. That had been after the pregnancy scare. He didn’t know how to raise a kid. Just like his brothers had said, as soon as the girl he’d been dating had thought she might be pregnant, she’d started talking about marriage. Noah had been in no way ready for that. He’d still been a kid himself. When his girlfriend realized she’d just been late on her period, he’d disappeared into a bathroom and had what he can only describe as a panic attack. He’d left college the next day and had come home like a coward. A failure. He’d felt like a royal jerk for leaving, but in the end, his girlfriend was better off without him.
“I’ve grown up,” Noah told Sam. “College wasn’t for me.”
