and maybe hang out when you’re free.” He shrugged. “I can help you with wedding shit, take some of the pressure off. I’ll even put up with your crazy mother and whatever task she needs handled.”
A breath of a laugh escaped me at that, and I watched Noah carefully, looking for some sign of crossed fingers or a trick that I wasn’t seeing. “You’d do that?”
“I’d do just about anything for you, it seems.”
I smirked, chest fluttering at the mixture of excitement and warning blending in my gut. Part of me knew it was better to stay away from Noah Becker — especially with how much he’d been on my mind. I knew I had a crush on him, some sort of feelings that were beyond the friend zone he was proposing.
But the bigger part of me? She didn’t care.
The bigger part of me felt the same way Noah did. I had fun with him. I liked being around him.
I missed him.
So, against every nerve in my body that warned me not to, I sighed, extending one hand toward him.
“Fine. Friends.”
Noah glanced at my hand, a wicked smile on his face as he took it in his and gave it a firm, mock handshake with a serious business look on his face. “Friends.”
“On one condition.”
“And that is?”
I cringed. “We can’t let my mom find out.”
Noah full-on belly laughed at that. “What, Princess Barnett can’t be seen with a Becker ruffian?”
“Not when the whole town has been whispering about us and it’s been making its way back to my dad… and therefore, my mom.”
Noah nodded. “Fair enough. An on-the-low friendship, it is.”
He was still staring at me like he’d won some sort of prize when I rolled my eyes and shoved him back toward the pool. “Stop looking at me all goofy and get back in that water before these women lose their damn minds.”
Noah laughed, wrapping his hands around my wrists where I was pushing against his chest. “Fine. But you’re coming with me.”
I blanched. “Noah… don’t you dare.”
In the next second, I was tossed over his shoulder like a bag of sugar, and he ran, jumping into the deep end with a splash that earned us applause from the entire nursing home once we emerged.
I swatted at him, splashing water in his face as he laughed at me catching my breath. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed. I laughed, too, tossing my head back and letting the sun warm my face.
And for the first time all weekend, I was happy.
Noah
I didn’t know if my plan was working, or if I was just setting myself up for a massive fail.
Logan had high-fived me when all of my brothers and I got together to play cards at my place Sunday night. I told him how it went at the nursing home, how Ruby Grace had agreed to be friends, to let me help her with the wedding, and how we’d spent the entire afternoon together.
I had to admit, at the time I high-fived my little brother and simultaneously got a glare from my older one, I was on a high. It’d been easier than I thought to get her to agree to still spend time with me — even with her fiancé in town — and I’d spent an entire afternoon with her. Even better, I’d spent an entire afternoon with her in her element. She thrived at that nursing home, and everyone there loved her. They could tell she was different. She cared. She gave a shit.
I was convinced that people like her made up not even one percent of the entire population. She was just too good, too kind, too giving. It was like she’d strip herself bare if it meant she could shelter even one other person.
So, yes, that first night had felt great.
But now, five days later, I was beginning to wonder if I was the biggest idiot to ever exist.
On Monday, I worked all day at the distillery and then met Ruby Grace for dinner. Her mother had tasked her with booking the rehearsal dinner venue, and Ruby Grace looked like she was about to have a complete meltdown trying to decide on a place that would fit and please everyone.
Then, on Tuesday, I’d been half asleep on my couch after a long day at work when she called me and asked if she could come over. She showed up with chalkboard signs in hand and an apologetic shrug.