other guys from the table. Lana gave me a smile and wiped a finger across her lip when I approached.
“Do I have lipstick on my teeth?” I asked.
“No, but there is some gloss on your cheek.” She reached out and smudged it with a finger. Turning my head slightly, she said, “Also on your jaw.” I’m sure I blushed because everyone in the group laughed.
“You guys ready?”
“Just waiting for you,” Lana replied. I beat back another blush. Apparently Noah and my makeout session had been seen by all. At least our conversation had been private.
Noah came up with the other guys whose names I didn’t catch when I came in. “It looks like Mal and Adam are staying here. What about you Bo?”
Bo drained his glass. “I’m with you.”
“Who’s good to drive?” Noah asked. One of the unnamed guys raised his hand, but Noah ignored him. “Great, Finn, you drive Eric, Bo, and Tim. I’ll take Grace and the girls.”
This drew a round of protest from Eric that made Lana and Amy smile, but Noah ignored them and hustled me toward the door. “Let’s go, or we could spend the whole night talking about who drives whom.” The tone of Noah’s voice was implacable, so we just went. He held opened the back door of his -truck and helped both Lana and Amy in. Then he lifted me into the passenger side.
I didn’t protest like I normally did. Noah liked doing this, and admittedly I didn’t mind either his minor show of strength or his courtesy. These little things made me feel important to him, like I was a treasure. As he was circling around the front of the cab to climb into the driver’s side, Amy said, “God, swoon. He helps you into this car? Is Bo like this?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never ridden with Bo,” I said.
“Did you ask Noah if he was seeing anyone?” Amy said.
“No, Amy, he was too busy giving her a tonsillectomy.” Lana hit Amy in the arm.
“Ouch, I was just asking.”
“I’ll ask him,” I promised. Noah climbed in, started the engine and the heavy metal music he enjoyed listening to filled the air. I immediately turned it down and flipped it to a popular radio station.
He rolled his eyes, but didn’t change the station.
Amy and Lana chattered in the backseat, but I felt strangely shy. Noah reached over, picked up my hand and placed it on his thigh. It was rock hard beneath my palm. I absently stroked it until Noah halted my motion by placing his hand firmly on top of mine. He turned to look at me. His dark eyes glittering, and he gave me a slight shake of his head. He pulled my hand higher and pressed it lightly over his hard-on and then released my hand.
I hid a small smile, delighted in my ability to rouse this man’s body. Noah lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it and placed it back on his thigh. A hot ache spread through me, and I clenched my own legs together in anticipation and excitement. I felt feverish, as if all my blood was bubbling right under the surface of my skin, and I wanted to run his hand all over my body. Could he ease me just by a touch? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.
“Swoon,” Amy said in the back. This time my smile couldn’t be disguised.
Noah dropped us off with a promise to catch us inside after he found a place to park. Bo and the other guys spilled out of Finn’s car and walked us inside. The house was charging cover but the guy at the door waved us girls in for free.
Away from Noah, my comfort level took a nosedive. Had I just promised to have sex with him? It’s not that I didn’t want him. I did. But what did I know about pleasing a guy like Noah in bed? What if he decided I was so terrible at sex that he would break up with me? Or worse, what if I was terrible, but he didn’t tell me and kept pretending that he enjoyed having sex with me but instead had to fantasize about Emma Stone or something. Actually, I didn’t even know whom he would fantasize about.
I wondered if I could get Lana alone and get some tips from her. What if I needed to pull a Meg Ryan and pretend like I had an orgasm?
Inside, crepe paper streamers were