Undeclared(69)

“Wait,” I said and looked down. Lana had told me I should let Noah know he was my first, so he could be gentle with me. I was embarrassed and wasn’t sure how he would take it.

“What is it?” Noah asked, tipping my face up. I must have looked pained because he stroked my face and kissed my temple. “What’s wrong?” he asked again.

“I’m, ah,” I stumbled around for the words. “I’m not very experienced.” I felt his body tense up against me. Was he upset by this? I should’ve never told him.

“Oh baby, really?” he said, sounding a little winded. I nodded and looked down, a little afraid of seeing the expression on his face. He laughed a little and hugged me closer.

“God, this is going to make me a jackass if I say this, because it truly wouldn’t have mattered to me if you weren’t a virgin, but goddamn Grace, this is amazing.”

“So you aren’t upset?” I asked him, finally looking up. When I saw his eyes, my breath caught. His lips were curved upward in a smile, but his eyes were blazing.

“No fucking way. I’m glad you told me, but now I’m so hard I’m not going to be able to walk for a good minute,” he admitted. “I’m going to make it so good for you, Grace, I promise.” He said it so seriously that it was like he was vowing it on his mother’s grave.

I gave him a small smile in return. “I believe you.” I ran my hands up and down his chest, molding my fingers against the ridges and valleys. I shivered with delight at the idea of Noah teaching me all of the things other, more experienced girls hinted knowingly about.

He pressed me closer and took long, deep breaths that I felt in his chest when he inhaled and against my hair when he exhaled. After at least a minute, Noah stepped back, reached down to adjust himself with a pained grimace and said, “I think we can go back now.”

“What time is it?” I pulled up his wrist to look. It was past ten. Surely whatever party the Forest house was holding was in full swing by now. “Do you think the guys will mind if we leave?”

We both looked toward our table. It was nearly empty, as were almost all the tables around the stage. Adam sat in one chair, his legs outstretched and arms folded. Mal sat next to him texting someone. The rest of the occupants were either by the pool tables in the rear of the room or over by the bar.

“You round up your girls, and I’ll see who else is coming with us.” Noah instructed. I nodded. Lana and Amy were by the bar with Finn and a couple of other guys from the table. Lana gave me a smile and wiped a finger across her lip when I approached.

“Do I have lipstick on my teeth?” I asked.

“No, but there is some gloss on your cheek.” She reached out and smudged it with a finger. Turning my head slightly, she said, “Also on your jaw.” I’m sure I blushed because everyone in the group laughed.

“You guys ready?”

“Just waiting for you,” Lana replied. I beat back another blush. Apparently Noah and my makeout session had been seen by all. At least our conversation had been private.

Noah came up with the other guys whose names I didn’t catch when I came in. “It looks like Mal and Adam are staying here. What about you Bo?”

Bo drained his glass. “I’m with you.”

“Who’s good to drive?” Noah asked. One of the unnamed guys raised his hand, but Noah ignored him. “Great, Finn, you drive Eric, Bo, and Tim. I’ll take Grace and the girls.”

This drew a round of protest from Eric that made Lana and Amy smile, but Noah ignored them and hustled me toward the door. “Let’s go, or we could spend the whole night talking about who drives whom.” The tone of Noah’s voice was implacable, so we just went. He held opened the back door of his -truck and helped both Lana and Amy in. Then he lifted me into the passenger side.

I didn’t protest like I normally did. Noah liked doing this, and admittedly I didn’t mind either his minor show of strength or his courtesy. These little things made me feel important to him, like I was a treasure. As he was circling around the front of the cab to climb into the driver’s side, Amy said, “God, swoon. He helps you into this car? Is Bo like this?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never ridden with Bo,” I said.

“Did you ask Noah if he was seeing anyone?” Amy said.

“No, Amy, he was too busy giving her a tonsillectomy.” Lana hit Amy in the arm.

“Ouch, I was just asking.”

“I’ll ask him,” I promised. Noah climbed in, started the engine and the heavy metal music he enjoyed listening to filled the air. I immediately turned it down and flipped it to a popular radio station.