Eden made a face. “A what now?”
“An enigma.”
At the sound of Noah’s voice, she peered over Doug’s shoulder and saw him standing in the doorway to the kitchen, scowling at them.
“Hey man.” Doug spun around and headed towards Noah, tripping over his feet a little. He whacked him on the shoulder and Noah barely moved, glancing dismissively at Doug from the corner of his eye. “Way to go, man. She’s hot.”
With that he tripped out of the kitchen leaving Eden’s cheeks blazing at the insinuation.
Noah threw her a mocking look as he strode towards her, seeming casual. But there was something there. A tightness in his jaw? “Having fun?”
“I just wanted some O.J.” she huffed.
Like Doug, Noah deliberately invaded her personal space, pressing close to her to reach for the glass and the orange juice. She felt his breath on her neck as he poured the juice into a glass. He pulled back a little to hand it to her. The hunger purred at his nearness.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, frowning at him as she took the glass. “You OK?”
“Doug’s a dick.”
Eden narrowed her eyes. “The sophomore’s a slut.”
They stared at one another for a long time, not saying anything, the tension between them coiling tighter.
Finally, Noah stepped back, and the breath whooshed out of her. “You wanna leave?”
She nodded and put the glass back down on the counter. She curled her lip in teasing derision as she brushed past him. “From now on we’re doing what I wanna do on Saturday night.”
“Let me guess… The Coffee Shoppe?”
She threw him a grin over her a shoulder as they made their way through the crowds. “However did you guess?”
“I’m just brilliant that way.”
As they stepped outside the house, Eden took in a lungful of cool night air. Then she stopped and glanced up at Noah. “What is a shoppe?”
He shrugged. “I think it’s just pronounced shop.”
“Huh. Why have you never pronounced it shop then?”
“Because shoppe sounds funnier.”
She grinned and followed him down the garden towards his car. “It does, doesn’t it.”
“So we’re sticking with shoppe?”
“Linguistically or physically?”
“Both.”
Eden nodded, glad they could breeze past that earlier “blip” in the kitchen so easily. “Sounds like my kind of Saturday night.”
Noah glanced back up at the house and frowned. Eden followed his gaze and saw the sophomore hanging out of the doorway, waving him back in. His eyes widened as he turned back to Eden. “I think we better hurry.”
Eden laughed. “What, not interested in the vodka-wielding sophomore, Mr. Teetotal?”
“No mocking. Who knew a smile and a sip of vodka constituted wedlock around here.” He dived into the driver’s seat, gesturing at Eden to hurry up and get in.
To annoy him, she took her time. Before she slid into the passenger seat, she waved at the sophomore who stood up at the house, and threw her a smug smile. The sophomore narrowed her eyes on her evilly. Eden grinned, her possessiveness enjoying this win. She slid in beside him and relaxed.