“Huh,” she grumbles, shrugging her shoulders. “It was Monica and it’s not like you actually liked her. Besides she cheated all the time so I figured you guys just had some kind of open relationship.”
“No,” he laughs. “She was just an unfaithful slut who loved dick no matter what body it was attached to. Why are we talking about this anyway?”
I scoff. “She’s distracting you from what’s on her phone and you played into her hand like a little bitch,” I tell him before turning back to Tully. “It was a good effort though; I don’t think that would have worked for me.”
“Yeah,” she grumbles, unimpressed. “It would have worked if you hadn’t said anything.”
I grin wide before reaching over and plucking the phone out of her hands. “That’s because I want to know who you’re talking to as well.”
“Don’t,” she tells me as my eyes drop down to the screen.
My brows draw down and rather than seeing a chain of text messages from some random guy, I find a website that has everything you need to know about having a loved one join the military. Forums she can visit to talk to other people whose husbands or boyfriends are deployed, how to send gift boxes, general rules and guidelines that Rivers is going to have to follow. Literally everything she’ll need to know.
“I just…think I should maybe know this stuff. You know, just in case.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, handing the phone back as Noah gets started on his next exercise. “You know, he’s going to be alright. If anyone can handle anything the military throws at them, it’s Rivers.”
“I know, I just don’t like the idea of anything happening to him,” she explains. “I want to be prepared.”
Noah lets out a broken breath. “None of us like the idea of him going away, Tullz, and I promise you, when he comes back after boot camp and I finish kicking his ass, you can have a turn too.”
“No way,” she says. “I go first.”
“He’s my best friend.”
“Yeah, but he’s my…” she pauses, trying to work out exactly what he is to her.
Noah scoffs as though he’s won this round. “Exactly. That’s why I get to kick his ass first. Besides, wouldn’t you want him already down by the time you get to him so he can’t get away?”
“Yeah, actually. Good point. You get him good, but not too good. I’ve got a lot of…” she scrunches her hands into fists, searching for the right word, “aggression to work out.”
“Hey,” I clap at my boyfriend before indicating to the pull up bar. “What kind of workout is this? You get way too easily distracted. Get back up on that bar.”
Noah raises a brow at me before shaking his head, but nonetheless, he does what he’s told and I get back to enjoying the spectacular view. “I feel like this is the male equivalent of us dudes watching a chick on a pole. I feel like a piece of meat right now.”
“Please,” Tully scoffs. “Don’t start acting as though being objectified by women offends you. You fucking love it.”
Noah gasps and acts appalled by Tully’s comment before a wide, confirming grin spreads across his face, paired with a devilish chuckle that has me shaking my head in exasperation. Yeah, she’s right. He does love it.
I mean, all the way back on that very first day, he strode into my home like he owned it and pulled off his shirt, desperate for the chance to show himself off, despite saying it was only because his shirt was dirty. Do guys seriously think we’re that stupid? We know when they want to be noticed, and damn, did I take notice.
Noah gets back to concentrating on his workout while I work on downloading a few apps to my phone. You know, you can never have enough games on your phone. Right now, my favorite is the one where I build my very own pet shop. It’s so sweet and all my little animals are just the cutest, but if anyone ever asks, I’ll deny it.
I somehow get distracted from my pet shop and end up watching ridiculous YouTube videos and I instantly get addicted. It’s not possible to watch just one video. It’s like one after another until my eyes start to hurt, but even then, I can’t turn it off.
“Uhhh,” Noah says in an oddly confused tone, making my eyes snap up. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“Huh?” I grumble.
“Not you. Her,” he says, motioning to his sister in disgust. “Are you…checking me out?”
I look across at Tully and sure enough, her eyes are glued to Noah’s chest, looking at him with a strange fondness and to be honest, I don’t think she even realizes that we’re talking to her. I click my hand in front of her face, making her snap out of it.” Tully,” I say. “Stop perving on your brother. It’s weird.”