“Good morning, Grace.”
I was way too used to having the house to myself on weekends, and missed it already.
“Hi.” I squeaked, and I immediately turned and ran back into my room.
“Grace, wait!” Ryan called out.
And I heard them both making their way down the hall toward my bedroom.
My bedroom, where Noah lay in my bed. Naked. And now awake.
“Grace.” They knocked on the door, and I feared they might just walk in. There was nothing I could do about that if they did.
Open that bedroom door at your peril, I thought.
Noah said nothing, wisely.
“Grace!”
My name was followed by whispering, and then Sam called out, “I’m making a drink. My breakfast shakes are legendary, if you want to come down to the kitchen for one.”
This was where my sluttish ways would come back to haunt me. The guys who I ran from, the guys who I had dodged, were about to find out I had gone and cheated on them. In their home. With their best friend. And now everything would fall apart. And my mom and their dad would know. And what about the baby?
I heard their footsteps walking away.
“Babe, babe, what’s the matter?”
“What?” I stared at Noah.
“Well, you completely zoned out for a minute. And you had the twins at your door but didn’t answer them. Are you okay?”
No, I was most definitely not okay.
“Yes. Sure.” I sighed. “You have to leave. Now. Please.”
I got a cocked eyebrow in response. “Uh... why?”
“Ryan and Sam were right outside that door. If they find you in here, it’s going to cause all sorts of trouble.”
Noah took a deep breath. He was thinking to himself for a time, but I didn’t have time to let a man think in my bed.
“It isn’t a big deal,” Noah finally said, breaking his silence.
He slid out from under the bedcovers, and instead of hurriedly dressing, he approached me. The sight of him stirred up a feeling inside that I didn’t have the time to deal with right then.
“You’re something special, Grace. You need to understand that. Or at least understand you’re something special to us.”
That feeling inside me was a lustful longing, I recognized. It had gotten me into so much trouble. He had to go.
I reached up and placed my hand on his chest.
I wanted to push him away and hurry him to get dressed and climb out of the window. But I actually ran my hand over his chest, slowly.
“I’d like to stay and have one of Sam’s vitamin-rich concoctions.”
Who would think a math geek virgin would have a body like that?
Who would think he’d be like that in bed?
I felt absolutely terrified of all the boys finding out about each other, as if I’d been cheating on them when none of us had made any promises to each other and we were all single agents. Things were completely mixed up in my mind.
In particular, I feared the alpha male duo who patrolled the house might rip Noah limb from limb first, then throw the body parts out of the window, and ask questions third. It was crazy. I had no reason to believe they’d get all violent; they were fiery and impulsive but not violent. But I wasn’t in my right mind.
Noah seemed to have no sense of self-preservation as the guy who should not have stayed overnight in the bed of an eighteen year old girl. So I scrambled. I found his jeans, his shirt, his shoes. I shoved them at him. “Please. Go. Don’t test this. Not now. I’m so sorry I did this to you.”
“What are you sorry for, Grace? There’s nothing to be sorry for. Unless I disappointed you. But it didn’t seem that way. You seemed pretty satisfied when you fell asleep in my arms last night.”
“Please!”
He took the clothes I held up and said, “I could use a shower.”
“Get dressed.”
He did as he was told, but I could see he wasn’t thrilled about it. I pulled my robe a little tighter around my body.
“I didn’t come here to do that.” He pointed to the bed. “Those twins are my best buddies. And so are you, Grace.”
Once dressed, he pushed past me and started heading for the door.
Before Noah could get to the door, though, I grabbed him by the hand. “Please! I beg of you! Please, just leave.”
Noah took a deep breath. He didn’t share my fear. “Well, how do I leave without going through the door?”
“Just... just use the window.”
Yes, I knew the irony of telling him to use the window that I was afraid the twins would just throw him through. This way, at least he could descend at his own leisure.
“You’re making life overly complicated. This doesn’t have to be your guilty secret. You don’t have to have any secrets from me or the twins. Things can be much simpler than you think, but if you insist. Now, what do you think I do about my shoes, which I kicked off and left by the front door when I came in and you accosted me?”