When I turn to her, she nods toward the field, and I follow her line of sight. Noah is walking across the green grass with a beautiful blond woman. My skin prickles as I take in her long legs, killer body, and stunning rack.
“Who is that?”
“Not a clue.”
“Yes, well, she has a thing for your man,” Charlotte says.
I take her words with a grain of salt and smile when they approach.
Charlotte stands up first, and I quickly follow suit.
“Where did Nova run off to?” Noah asks, looking around.
“She went to the park,” I answer.
The woman shoves her hand in my face. “I’m Kalyn, Marybeth’s mother.”
I vaguely remember Noah mentioning something about Marybeth being one of Nova’s buddies. Taking a step back, I wrap her hand in mine and shake it lightly. “Lennon. And this is my friend Charlotte.”
Charlotte matches Kalyn’s fake smile head on, and I’m both surprised and impressed. Charlotte may look sweet as pie, but she has some fire.
“Do your girls play soccer, too?” Kalyn asks.
Charlotte snorts. It’s incredibly unladylike, and Kalyn crinkles her nose.
“Hell, no,” Charlotte says. “We don’t have kids.”
“Oh.” Kalyn looks from us to Noah.
“Lennon is my…” Noah looks to me for help.
We haven’t really defined what we are, and telling Kalyn could potentially lead back to Nova. One thing Noah and I are sure of is that we want to be the ones to tell her.
“Neighbor,” I offer.
Charlotte gives me the side-eye, but I do my best to ignore it.
All of the tension drains from Kalyn’s face, her shoulders sagging with relief. What the hell is that about? It’s like Penny all over again.
“Oh good, because I was about to ask Noah out, and that could’ve gotten weird really quick,” she says, laughing awkwardly.
My jaw drops to the floor, along with Noah’s.
“You what?” he asks.
“Well, yeah,” she says. “We’re both single. We get along great, and our daughters are best friends.” She shrugs. “I figured, why not?”
I have to give this woman credit for having the balls to not just ask him out, but ask him out in front of two other women. I also want to shove her away, position myself between the two of them, and make it known that Noah is mine, but I won’t do that.
And not because of Nova but because of the look on Kalyn’s face.
“What do you say?” she asks with a little less certainty.
Noah runs a hand through his hair, glancing at me apologetically before turning to Kalyn, who seems to have lost her resolve. “I’m flattered—I really am—but there’s something you should know.”
Kalyn glances at Charlotte and me uncomfortably, and it’s clear she doesn’t want to have this conversation in front of us.
Rejection is a bitch and hard to weather alone, much less with an audience, so I grab Charlotte’s arm.