Noah, Mia, Claire, and Graham were at Claire’s favorite pub, seated in a leather booth laughing over beers. Well, everyone else was... Noah laughed over water.
His tongue loosened way too much when he drank, so he kept himself on a pretty short leash when he knew Mia would be there.
It felt like old times when the four of them were together. With their schedules, it didn’t happen as often as they’d like. Claire’s and Graham’s especially—she was a nurse and he was a firefighter—and Noah had never been able to keep their shifts straight. But maybe once a month they made it work, and it was like college all over again.
Noah, Mia, and Claire kept their neighborhood gang intact in college, but branched out as they met new people. Graham was a little older and had been a friend of Nathan’s, but Noah had gotten to know him well on climbing trips he took with his brother. When Nathan died, Graham and Noah’s shared grief brought their friendship closer, and Mia and Claire were happy to absorb him into their group.
Claire set down her bottle with gusto and clapped her hands, her blond curls bouncing with the movement. “So,” she began. “This dinner actually worked out really well, because I’ve got something I want to talk to you guys about.”
Graham shook his head. “I’m not into foursomes.”
Claire didn’t even spare him a glance. “I watched that episode ofFriendslast night where they all set up their ‘backups.’ I thought about it all day, and I decided we should do that.”
Noah had seen that episode. He quickly brought his glass to his lips.
“What does that even mean? ‘Set up their backups’?” Graham asked.
“You know. Like, if they aren’t married by a certain age they’ll all marry each other.”
Mia, who sat next to Noah, jerked her head in his direction. Her eyes went wide and held slight accusation.
He shot her a look that saidI didn’t say anything, and she relaxed marginally.
“Why do we have to get married at all?” Mia asked. She never had been fond of the idea and, far as he knew, she’d never dated the same guy for more than a few weeks. It was one reason Noah wasn’t completely offended that she hadn’t accepted him yet.
“I don’t know.” Claire shrugged. “It just sounds nice. Guaranteed companionship. Someone to have dinner with.”
“A penis at your fingertips,” Graham added, and Noah choked on his water.
Claire looked at Graham. “That’s not the prize you think it is.”
Graham grinned and raked a hand through his dark wavy hair. “Oh, but it is.”
Claire pointed at Noah. “This is why I want Noah to be my backup.”
“Me?” he said, at the same time Mia said, “Noah?”
“Sure,” Claire said. “Why not?”
Before he knew what was happening, Mia had leaned forward and put her palm flat on the table, as if she were placing a bet at a craps table. “If anyone gets Noah, it should be me.”
It was Noah’s turn to give Mia a surprised look. God knows what would have shown on his face if he’d been two beers deep like Graham—as it was, it took effort to keep the warm surge of pleasure out of his expression.
“But you just knocked the whole idea of getting married,” Claire pointed out mildly. She didn’t sound surprised.
Mia frowned. “That was before you tried to take my best friend and marry him out from under me.”
Noah kept his mouth shut, wanting to see how this panned out.
“He’s my friend, too,” Claire said.
“It’s not the same.” No one argued with Mia because everyone knew it was true.
Graham put his arm around Claire. “Guess that leaves you and me, Claire Bear.”
She ducked out of his embrace. “Don’t call me that.”
“Fine. What nickname do you want when you’re my wife?”