To melt into him so that we couldn’t tell where one of us ended and the other one began.
His heartbeat raced against my chest, and I hoped he could feel mine, too. He pulled away to look down at me, and for a moment I wondered if I’d done something wrong.
“I love it when you make those sounds,” he murmured, and I tried to figure out if what he was saying was true, because I hadn’t realized I’d been making any noises.
“What sounds?”
He had on a rakish grin that sent warm shimmers down my back. “These breathy whimpers that mean you can’t get enough of what I’m doing. It drives me insane.”
“Oh. Sorry?”
“Please don’t apologize. It is a hundred percent my pleasure.”
He ran his lips over my ear before sucking gently at the bottom of my earlobe, and I couldn’t even make fun of him for saying dumb things because my eyes were rolling back in my head and my veins were all throbbing.
“Just like that,” he said in a satisfied tone.
“I’ll get you back for that,” I said, definitely making some kind of whimpering, breathy sound.
“I hope so.”
I ran a finger lightly over his chest. “So what would happen next? In this teaching experiment of ours?”
There was a look of brief confusion in his eyes, but he put it away. “You’re asking me what should happen next?”
“Uh-huh,” I said, and my entire body tensed in anticipation of his response.
“Well”—he leaned down to kiss the tip of my nose—“I would kiss you a lot more, and then I’d reach up”—he brought up his right hand—“and I would do this.” He unbuttoned the top button on my shirt.
I didn’t say anything.
He undid the second button, but still I stayed silent.
Then his fingers hesitated, and I saw the teasing light fall from his eyes. “Juliet, I don’t know how much self-control you think I have, but we are pushing right up against that line.”
“Just kiss me,” I told him, almost not caring what happened next. I just wanted to be with him.
He did as I requested, devastating my mouth and invading all of my senses.
I became aware of a ringing sound. It was my phone. I wanted to ignore it. Given how clever he was with his lips, I really, really wanted to ignore it. But what if it was important? The only people who called me in the evenings were my mom and Shelby.
“Noah, hang on.”
He rolled to his side, and I got up on barely functioning legs to make my way over to where I’d left my phone. I was pulsating with a jittery energy that demanded release. I saw that it was Allan calling. I put my fingers over my well-kissed and slightly throbbing lips and answered it.
“Hello? Allan?”
“Juliet?” He sounded completely distraught, like he’d been crying. I instantly sobered up and turned toward Noah, my eyes wide. He picked up on my distress and sat straight up in the bed.
“What’s wrong?” he mouthed.
“Allan? What’s happening?”
“We were out at dinner, and Shelby said she was feeling dizzy. That she’s been feeling dizzy for the last few days, and we were going to go home, and on our way back to the car she fainted.”
Every last bit of color drained from my face; my heart thunked to my feet. That was exactly what happened when Shelby was diagnosed with leukemia. The dizziness, the fainting. This could not be happening again. It could not.
“What did the doctor say?” I asked.
“We’re still waiting on the test results. They’re going to call her oncologist when they get them back.”
I heard the pain and desperation in his voice; I was feeling the exact same thing. “Where are you?”
“We’re at Patterson Memorial Hospital. We’re in room 1119.”
“I’m on my way.”
Noah was already throwing his shirt back on. “What’s going on?”
“Shelby fainted and has been feeling light-headed. Those were her first symptoms last time, and it’s why she went to the doctor and got diagnosed with cancer. She needs me. I have to get to her.”
“Ray’s still got that blown tire,” Noah said, getting on his phone. “If we can wait half an hour—”
“I can’t wait that long.” The need I felt to be by her side, to support her through this, nearly wrecked me. I got on my phone, too, checking both the Uber and Lyft apps. There were no cars available because of this festival. There was a lump in my throat, but I refused to cry. I had to be strong, to see