Say You Swear

“Hey, hooker, we out.” Cameron slips in front of me.

I push to my feet and Noah follows. “Us too.”

“Cool.” Cameron slips her arm through mine, dragging me along.

“I’m going to say bye to a couple of the guys, meet you by the door,” Noah tells me, and we move in opposite directions.

“So,” Cameron whispers, Trey on his phone a few feet ahead. “I’m kind of staying the night with Trey.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” She wiggles her brows, and the two of us laugh. “You’ll be fine?” she worries.

“Perfectly.” I hug her, and then Trey, and as soon as they’re gone, Noah is there.

We’re pulling up at my dorm in minutes.

“That was fun,” I tell him, sliding my keycard in the front door and hitting the button on the elevator.

“After I asked you, I felt like a dickhead.”

My head snaps his way. “What, why?”

“Mason.” He shrugs. “Shitty timing on my part.”

I shake my head, wrapping my arms around his middle. “How are you so… you? You’re a twenty-one-year-old senior in college who plays football like a badass. You should be such a cocky, selfish prick.”

Noah’s head falls back, and he laughs, bringing a smile to my face.

“But you’re sweet, and humble, and way too selfless.”

A smug grin covers his lips, and he squeezes my hips. “I get it from my mama,” he sings, and then it’s me who’s laughing.

After a moment, I sigh, saying, “I don’t doubt that for a second… and just so you know. Mason would cuss me out if I didn’t go because of him.”

“Good.”

My mouth gapes and Noah laughs, grabbing my hands and leading me down the hall.

“Ass.” I smack his stomach with my free hand and he grips my wrist, kissing my knuckles.

Digging my keys out, I unlock the door and look to Noah. “So about kissing me goodnight …”

He smirks, shifting closer and brings my lips to his, but I quickly dart my fingers between our lips and his eyes narrow playfully. “Juliet.”

“Noah.”

He tugs me closer by the belt loops, making me laugh.

“Let me have those lips,” he softly demands.

“Cameron is staying at Trey’s tonight.”

His eyes flick to mine.

I almost chicken out, and he knows it, because his thumbs begin drawing circles along my hip bones.

He steps into me, hiding us against my door, his warm, forest fresh scent invading my senses, and my body melts against his.

“You still going to be shy for me?” he teases, his smirk downright sinful. “Even after today?” His hands slide in my back pockets, and he squeezes, grinding me into him. “Even after I’ve been inside you?”

Heat pulls between my legs, and Noah’s lips curve even higher.

Because he knows what he’s doing to me… just like he now knows what he’s about to do to me.

I grab the strings of his hoodie and tug him forward.

His chuckle is deep and promising and creates a stir low in my stomach.

Then Noah locks us inside.

Chapter 30

Arianna

* * *

Lori presses the nurse’s button on the remote at her side, and Noah jumps to his feet, concerned.

“Relax, honey.” She rolls her head his way. “I just need a small favor is all.”

“I can help you.” He frowns, turning it off, but she presses it again.

“Noah. Stop.” She smiles, looking over at the woman who slips into the room. “Cathy, you finally get to meet my son’s… Ari.”

I chuckle, and he looks at me, the annoyance slipping from his face. I wave at the woman. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you.” She grins, walking toward the end of Lori’s bed. “What can I get ya, sweets?”

“You know that new printer you told me about, in the lobby?” Lori asks. “Could you take a photo of these two for me? Maybe by the pumpkins you said are on the back patio, if they’re still there?”

The woman’s smile is kind as she nods. “Of course, I can.” She looks to us. “Follow me?”

Noah hesitates, but slowly pushes to his feet. “Meet me in the hall in just a minute?”

My brows pull together, but I nod. “Yeah, of course.”

As soon as they’re gone, Lori turns to me. “You don’t mind a photo, do you?”

“Not at all.”

“I just… I want to remember this, my son happy.” Her eyes cloud, but she blinks it away. “Most of the smiles I get are glossed with sadness. I worry every time he walks out the door. Not for me, for him. You know he was almost born on New Year’s Eve?”

“Really?”

“Mm-hm. I was at the hospital and everything, but he was being ornery. I thought he’d come a few days after that, but nope, he made me wait.”

“Until January twenty-ninth.”

“Yeah,” she coos, as if proud that I know.

I look to the door, quickly leaning in. “I’d like to do something for him, but I’ll need your help.”

I explain it to her briefly, and her eyes gloss over, her hand shaking as she reaches over to place it on my cheek.