Page 39 of Play Hard
Arnell chuckled. “Girl, you don’t have to be embarrassed. There aren’t that many sexy ass men in Providence.” She made her way behind the hostess stand again. This time depositing the menus she was holding into one of the slots at the bottom. “But Noah and his crew … Shit, I was glad as hell when they all cameback. And I’m at their bar every Wednesday and Sunday nights that I’m off trying to see which one will take me up on the offer to join me in bed.”
“Wow.” I barely resisted adding, ‘thirsty much?’ to the end of that statement. But since she was obviously in such a talkative mood tonight, I asked, “Were they really as bad as I heard? I only visited for a couple of weeks every summer in my childhood years, so I didn’t get to meet any of them.”
Noah had told me some things about his past and he’d talked about his friends frequently, but never in any real detail. For instance, I didn’t know why any of the other guys had ended up in the same group home as Noah, just that it was the place they all met and forged their bond.
“Well,” Arnell replied, leaning forward on the stand to rest her folded arms. She was more than eager to talk about the guys and their tribulations, which was exactly how I figured small town folks were. But what did it say about me that I’d asked the question in the first place? I’d deal with that answer later. Right now, I was all ears.
“Noah and Rock were always the fighting ones. It was like they beat ass for the hell of it. The twins got into fights, but it was really the old sheriff that was after them for some reason. My granny said it was because of a love triangle. The twins’ mother, Roxanne, their daddy, and Smitty Johansen before he died. Mr. Greer won obviously and thank the Lord, because that’s exactly where them twins got their good looks. My granny used to babysit the twins when they were first born and Ms. Roxanne talked to her a lot about shit that was going on. Then there was Ethan. Baby, them pretty eyes was sexy even in high school. His daddy drank himself to death so Ethan had no other place to go. And Jeret, he wasn’t born here in Providence, but his people were into politics so him acting out didn’t bode well for their image.”
“Hmmm, sounds like regular boy stuff to me,” I said with a shrug. Even though I knew there was more to Noah’s story, the others didn’t sound remotely as bad. I also knew that Noah had a reason for what he’d done and unlike my father and brothers I’d never held that against him. “Why does everybody in this town hate them so much? I heard they’ll be opening a rec center next year and the bar has some great community things planned. Shouldn’t that be applauded?”
Arnell shook her head, honey-toned barrel curls bouncing on her shoulders. “Girl, people around here are weird and stuck in their ways. Once a member of their family believes something to be true, you could put the opposite right up to their noses and they still won’t change their mind. My granny used to bake cakes every Saturday afternoon and send them over to Grace House for their Sunday dinner dessert. She said the town council hated budgeting out money to fund the house, so it really flourished on donations.”
I heard them before I saw them and knew my conversation with Arnell would be cut short. That was fine. Like I said, I knew Noah’s past. Well, most of it anyway. I’d been so wrapped up in how I was going to deal with the picture, the exposure, and my still-in-limbo career that I hadn’t bothered to ask about what had been printed about him in that post.
“Hey,” Noah said as he approached me.
“Hey,” I replied with a smile I couldn’t hold back. In the last two days, amidst all the people I’d talked to in-person or via text, phone, or email, Noah had been my favorite.
He’d somehow known exactly what to say to calm my frayed nerves and keep me from either jumping on a plane to get to Memphis—the last city I’d known Adrian was in—and kicking him in the balls the way I’d wanted to do when I first heard Lindsey’s voice on the other end of my phone, or putting a pillow over my head and screaming into the abyss, or…dying,whichever came first. Okay, the latter was way over the top, but there’d been a few moments when I felt exactly that way. Then my phone would vibrate because I’d quickly grown tired of the classic ringtone I’d set blasting through my hard-won calm. And each time I answered, he said, ‘hey’ in that casual yet panty-wetting tone.
“You ready to head out?” he asked, and I had to blink to clear my mind of the quick detour it had just taken. The one where I ended up on his lap, riding us both into the pleasurable oblivion where we seemed to function best.
“Yeah,” I managed to say before clearing my throat, then taking the steps that drew me closer to my grandfather. “Don’t stay too late,” I told him and leaned in to kiss his weathered cheek. “Omar is the best assistant manager you’ve ever had. Vera told me she trained him herself. He has everything under control. Trust him to do his job and you go on home to get some rest.”
When I would’ve pulled away, he rested his hands on my shoulders and turned to place a kiss on my forehead. “I’d tell you not to stay out too late, but I know you’re all grown up.” His voice was raspier than it had been the last time I’d seen him a couple of years ago. He’d been a life-long smoker until his COPD diagnosis three years ago.
I pulled back enough to look into those familiar eyes. They held a hint of sadness that had me frowning. “That I am,” I told him with a slow smile. “But I’m still your Peppermint Patty.”
According to my Grammy, there was no missing church during my summer stays, although she knew religion wasn’t high on my father’s list of grooming for me. That was yet another reason my grandparents despised Peron Ward—he’d pushed everything they taught their daughter, right out of her mind the moment he put that ring on her finger. I didn’t mind going to church, looked forward to it when I was here, but probably notfor the reasons my grandparents would’ve liked. While most older people had candy bowls filled with hard candy in their homes and a pouch with those same butterscotch, peppermints, and the multi-colored candies that came in different shapes but all tasted the same, in their purse, Grammy also had miniature peppermint patties. She put those in there just for me and my heart soared each time I saw them.
“Trust yourself,” Pop Pop said, his tone serious. “Don’t be afraid to do what’s best for you.”
I chuckled to keep the tears that immediately sprang to my eyes at bay. Besides Noah, this was the only man to ever hold me while I cried. Most recently in the last two days when he came out onto the back porch to find me in the midst of a breakdown. “I’m just getting a ride home,” I told him, trying to keep things light. “I’ll see you later, or in the morning if you’re asleep when I get in.”
He cut his gaze over to Noah. “Yeah, okay.” His eyes found mine again. “Remember what I told you.”
I nodded. “I will.”
“Did you get your order, Noah?” Arnell asked, reminding me that she was still standing there.
“No,” he replied. “I didn’t order anything. Just came to pick up Serra.”
Stepping away from Pop Pop, I caught the raise of Arnell’s brow as she tilted her head to stare at me. “Oh really?”
Her question was for Noah, but all her attention was on me. I couldn’t tell if things were about to be tense between us or if she was about to give me a thumbs-up according to the way she’d been praising Noah’s fineness just moments ago.
I didn’t bother responding to her, but gave Noah a small smile as I said, “Let’s go.”
The last timeI sat in the passenger seat of Noah’s truck, I was thinking about how good it was going to feel to finally have him inside of me again. Honestly, when he texted to see if I was still hiding out at the lake house and I told him I was at the restaurant instead, he wasted no time asking when I’d be finished so he could come and get me, and I’d been giddy.
It felt just like when we were in college and he’d meet me outside of the building of one of my classes or showed up at my dorm room to take me to his place. There were more than just normal butterflies in my stomach. My entire body vibrated with the need to be near him, the anticipation of his kiss, the aching to hear his voice, or touch his skin. Shit, I had it bad for him.
Things had changed so quickly back then and now.
We’d spent these last weeks denying what we both wanted in an effort to not blur the lines that had been drawn between us years ago. Or at least I had. To be fair we hadn’t even discussed what would happen if we fell into bed together again. I didn’t want to speak the words because while our ages had changed and I no longer cowered to my family’s whims, Noah and I had a whole new set of barriers this time around. The most obvious being that I lived in New York and he lived here. The one I’d rather keep to myself was the fear that I was making yet another mistake.
As for Noah, I had no clue what he was thinking. From that moment on the elevator there was no doubt he was still attracted to me. In retrospect, I should’ve known there would be no resisting the tug that was always between us. But the physical had always been the easy part for us. Communicating and working through the sticky stuff, not so much. And while Ididn’t know what we were doing this time around, I did know that whatever ultimately happened between us, I wasn’t going to let lack of communication be a problem.
