in for my bag. “Don’t bring anything in,” he said. “You don’t need anything.”
“What about my phone or ID?”
“No one is carding you, and I have mine.” Noah took my hand and pulled me close.
“Noah,” I tugged on his hand. “I will feel really uncomfortable without a phone in there and no cash or ID or anything.”
“Are you okay with your phone in your pocket?”
I grimaced and wondered if my pockets were even deep enough to hold a phone. He bent down so his face was close to mine. “I’ll hold it for now and then when Finn comes, he can hold it. I need your hands free. Stay with me at all times. Don’t let go of me. Grab my wrist, my pants, my shirt. It can be crowded, and the people in there will be rowdy. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He waited for me to assent. I nodded, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted oral acknowledgment.
I gave a big audible sigh so that he was aware I found this a bit tedious. “I promise I will stay with you at all times and that I will attach myself like a barnacle to some part of your body.”
“Just wanted to know we are on the same page,” he said, clucking his tongue in mock admonishment.
I handed the phone to Noah, and he tucked it into his front pocket. I tapped it with my fingers. “Isn’t it uncomfortable down there?”
“No, but if you pat me a little to the left, it might become uncomfortable.” Ah, teasing Noah was back. He wasn’t at all concerned about his fight. I hoped he wasn’t being overconfident.
“Is this the place?” I gestured toward the seemingly empty warehouse building.
“No. You can’t all park next to the building, or the cops will know what is going on. The building is five blocks from here.”
That meant walking in the darkened streets. Kind of creepy. Noah’s admonition to stay close and hold his hand really didn’t need to be repeated out here. I slid my arm around his back and tucked myself under his arm. I wasn’t so foolish as to not appreciate his protection. “This doesn’t look safe.”
“Safe places are well lit and observed by regular folks. Underground fighting kind of means unsafe and unknown.”
“I’m going to pretend we’re going to a rave, just so you know.”
“Stick close to me, and you won’t get roofied.”
“That’s a pleasant thought.”
Noah drew me close to his side and we started walking across the empty parking lot at a quick pace. Noah’s jeans rang and he pulled his phone out. “Where are you?” He barked into the phone. He listened for a moment and said, “Mulberry and East 6th. We’ll meet you at the entrance. Text me when you get there.”
Noah ended the call and tucked his phone away.
It sounded grim and dirty and not at all romantic. “Who will be here? Women?”
“You would not believe the women there,” Noah replied, rolling his eyes toward me. “From the suburban mom to the punked-out chicks. They’re turned on by the fighting, I guess.”
I clutched his hand a little tighter, which caused Noah to lean down. “I’ll take care of you.”
“I know you will,” I said with conviction. “I trust you.”
His eyes, lit by the moonlight and the stars, darkened a bit, and he stopped. We both understood I meant for more than for just this one night and one moment. With both hands on my hips, he drew me close so that we were flush from head to toe. “You won’t regret that.”
His mouth came down onto mine with almost a bruising pressure, as if he were trying to brand his message into my body. My hands clenched around his biceps, and I felt them flex slightly underneath me as his arms folded around my back and pressed me hard against him. When he lifted his head, we were both breathing heavily. Even through our two layers of denim, I could feel the outline of his hard-on against me.
“No more distracting me,” he said, his eyes glittering. His mouth tipping up at the corners.
“No sir,” I replied, cheekily. “I won’t stop you and force your arms around me again.”
“Smart ass.” He turned toward a side door of a large brick building that had a dim red bulb above it. No one was standing around outside. Noah rapped out strange pattern on the door. In response, the door opened immediately, and a large man with dirty blond dreads greeted us.