“Mhmm.” He stared at me intently. “Since you two are best friends now, you wanna help me out here?”
Sighing, I got down on one knee in front of Poosh. “Poosh, give me the stick. Please.”
She eyed me with her big, dark eyes for a second before she took two steps back and dropped the stick on the ground between us.
“Who’s a good girl?” I cooed, patting my knee.
She launched herself toward me, dragging her leash out of Noah’s hand. I caught her tiny body in my arms and fell onto my butt. She licked my chin as I laughed, trying to pull her away from me.
“Jesus,” Noah muttered, stepping into the hallway. The door clicked shut. “Hey, Reagan, what type of underwear are you wearing?”
I cough-laughed, finally pushing Poosh off me. “What?”
“Never mind. I’ll just buy you another gift card.” He unclipped the leash from Poosh’s collar and hung it on a hook then walked right past me.
I scrambled to my feet and ran after him. “Did I just flash your neighborhood?”
“No. You flashed me.” He grinned lopsidedly and hit the button on the coffee machine. “And I didn’t mind at all.”
I pursed my lips. “So you’re buying me a gift card to buy the underwear you like so you can see it.”
“No. I’m buying you another gift card so you can buy the underwear you like. I just happen to also like it.”
I couldn’t really argue with that, could I? “What if I don’t want you to buy me underwear?”
“Then you’ll run out when your new best friend ultimately eats every pair you leave here.”
I eyed Poosh. “She won’t eat my underwear anymore. I think we’ve reached an understanding.”
“Unless she suddenly hates you, that isn’t going to happen. She eats it because she loves you.”
“Dogs are disgusting, do you know that?”
“So are the tops of bars in sports bars, but that didn’t stop you trying to climb barefoot onto one last night.”
“I’m not going to live that down, am I?”
“No. It’s going right up there with the fact I saved your life. I’ll remind you of it forever.” He walked over to me and trapped me against the island. He flattened his hands on top of the counter and leaned right forward, his gaze flicking over my face before it came to rest on my lips. “You’re annoyingly hot in that shirt.”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are.”
“You’re just trying to get into my panties.”
“Damn straight.”
I reached up and patted his cheek. “Not tonight, dear. I’m hungover.”
He snapped his gaze up to mine and laughed. “I don’t think you could stomach an orgasm right now. I’d tip you over the edge.”
“Wow. You’re humble today.”
“I’ve been your hero twice. Three times if we count the sex.”
“We’re not counting the sex.”
“I’m counting the sex.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course he was counting the sex. Why wouldn’t he count the sex? Men did feel like heroes if they successfully squeezed an orgasm out of those elusive g-spots, mind you.
I wonder what that made me. I’d never failed to give myself an orgasm.
“Your phone is flashing.” Noah reached behind me and handed it to be. “Want a coffee?”
I shook my head and opened the unread messages in our group thread.
AVA: Tell Noah I’m sorry.
AVA: Like, really sorry.
HALLEY: Seconded. A lot.
AVA: I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.
HALLEY: It was pretty good dancing, and we were the ones who bet you’d fall off the table so we’re rich now.
AVA: I want a cut of that money. It’ll match the one on my knee.
“Halley and Ava said they’re sorry,” I told Noah. “Ava’s also embarrassed, Halley is rich, and I think I need better friends.”
He laughed, carrying his cup back over to me. “Tell them not to worry about it. I told you it wasn’t all that bad. Plus your brother likes me.”
“That’s never a plus,” I muttered, hitting the reply button.
ME: Noah said don’t worry. And I want my share of that money. I’m told I hustled hard for it.
HALLEY: You’ll get it. Don’t worry. Did you know Preston and Noah struck up a bromance?
ME: So I’m hearing.
AVA: I can’t think of anything worse than your brother and your boyfriend having a bromance.
ME: Noah isn’t my boyfriend.
AVA: Looked like it last night.
ME: And you looked like an idiot on that table, but here we are.
HALLEY: Can you two stop bickering for five minutes? This is important. We need to stop Preston and Noah’s bromance in their tracks.
AVA: It’s not my problem.
“Hey,” Noah said, tapping my knee. “Does Ava have a brother?”
I peered up at him through my lashes. “Yes. Why?”
“I swear Preston said something about him coming back to Creek Falls soon. Doesn’t he live here?”
“I think he’s in Charlotte with his best friend. They keep moving around and I don’t know. I didn’t know they were coming back.”