My Grumpy Old Bear - Jayda Marx Page 0,37

I barked.

“Honeybear!” Noah slurred, teetering in the man’s hold.

“Does this guy belong to you?” the man asked as he tried to keep Noah on his feet.

“Yes. And you have three seconds to tell me who the fuck you are before I knock your ass out.”

“I’m his Uber driver,” he explained quickly. “He was stumbling all over himself trying to get to the door, so I was just helping him out.”

“Oh.” I took a wiggly, giggly Noah into my arms. “Did he pay you already?”

“Yes, sir, we’re all good. Have a good night.”

I closed the door before mumbling “Goodnight” to the man and looking at Noah, whose eyes were bloodshot and glassy. A huge grin was plastered on his face as he hugged me tight.

“What are you doing here, Sunshine?”

“Hmm?” he asked, looking genuinely perplexed. I saw the moment the lightbulb turned on in his mind and he stood straighter. “Oh! We have to go back!” He took my hand and tried to pull me toward the door. “Come on!”

“What’s going on, Noah? Why didn’t you call me? And where do we have to go?” I tried leading him to the couch, but he pulled against me.

“I’m taking you to the party to show him you’re real,” he explained slowly, like I was stupid for not understanding.

“Show who?”

“The guy!” He threw his arms in the air and nearly fell over. I steadied him on his feet and cupped his cheeks, looking into his unfocused eyes.

“Noah, I need you to focus and think. What’s going on? Did something happen at the party?”

“Yes.” He nodded his head quickly before abruptly stopping and blinking hard. “But I didn’t drive. I’m too in...eeb...rin...ated.” He gave a proud smile at butchering the word.

“I’m proud of you for not driving, but what happened?”

“There was this guy,” he started. Finally we were getting somewhere. “He kept trying to touch me all over.” Rage burned inside me, but I needed to understand what happened, so I gritted my teeth and nodded for him to continue. “I told him to stop. I said, ‘Hey there buddy, I have a boyfriend and he’s way hotter than you’.” He shook his finger as he spoke. “But he wouldn’t believe me because you weren’t there! I said, ‘Yes, I do, and I love him with all of this’!” My pulse raced as he turned his finger to his chest and looked down. “Well, that’s my nipple, but I meant my heart.”

He loves me. He fucking loves me. Sure, he probably wouldn’t remember saying it in the morning, but drunk mouths speak sober truths. Before I could get my mind wrapped around the enormity and greatness of the moment, Noah pulled on my hand again.

“So I said, ‘Fine! I’ll go get him and you’ll see!’ so here I am.” He dropped my hand. “But now I don’t think I want to go back.” He placed both hands to his stomach. “Now I think I just want to throw up.”

“Shit! Come on.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall to the bathroom. He dropped to his knees in front of the toilet as I lifted the lid and seat. I moved my hand just in the nick of time as Noah heaved his stomach contents into the water. “There you go,” I muttered, patting his back as he continued to hurl. “Get it all up.” The more he vomited now, the better he’d feel in the morning.

After a few minutes, Noah raised his head to look at me. “You have a really clean toilet.”

“Um...thanks?”

He nodded and turned his head to puke some more. I couldn’t help but smile as my poor man barfed up his belly. His coming here proved I could trust him. Not only did he tell me about the man’s advances, but he came to me for support and comfort. He even wanted to take me back to the party to show me off and damn if that didn’t stroke my ego. When Noah seemed to be empty, I flushed the toilet and helped him to his feet. I wet a towel and wiped down his mouth and face.

“There you go. Come on, let’s get you in bed.”

“Can I sleep with you?” That was the plan, but even if it wasn’t, the hope and longing in Noah’s eyes would have changed my mind.

“Of course, Sunshine.” He gave me a grin so wide it made my heart skip. I led him by the hand into my bedroom. Noah was quick