Noah Read online

  This is all Noah's fault. If he hadn't interrupted my afternoon sex session with Caleb I would feel sated right now and Noah pressing his erection into me earlier tonight would not have aroused me the way it did.

  Now I can't stop thinking about him because the minute I felt his erection against my inner thigh I was instantly fourteen again, pining after the boy I'll never have.

  Skye

  Age 14

  "Don't call me a baby. Take it back!" I shout as I straddle his chest and pin his arms down with my knees. He has a good fifty pounds on me, if not more, so I know I won't be able to hold him in this position for long. Lowering my hands to his chest, I feel around until I find his nipples under his cotton shirt. My index fingers and thumbs pinch together on each nipple and I twist until he shouts out in agony, and then I'm flipped over and onto my stomach. He stands bent over me from behind and holds my arms behind my back.

  "All right, shorty. I think we should call a truce before you get hurt."

  "Never!" I shout defiantly, although it's blatantly obvious that I won’t be able to get out of the hold he has me in, and he knows it, too. It's why he's teasing me.

  "If you agree to a truce I'll buy you ice cream." It's an enticing offer.

  I wait a few seconds to answer, acting as if I have to think about his truce offering. "Will you get me three scoops?"

  "Sure, shorty, and I'll only get one scoop since I'll be finishing your ice cream. Your eyes are always too big for your stomach."

  He's right. I'll never finish three scoops.

  "Okay, truce."

  Noah releases my arms and I place them on the ground to push myself up. Standing up, I shake my arms to loosen any cramps and pain I have from being restrained. There's a fresh grass stain on my denim shorts and I have to pull at my French braid to get a blade of grass out that somehow lodged its way in there.

  It's late May in Michigan and the weather is finally starting to warm up a little. Where we're from if the weather's nice everyone is outside. This is a town where it's not abnormal to see people in shorts and flip-flops in sixty-degree weather.

  I'm one of those people.

  I live for summer. The warm weather heating my skin, kayaking on the lake, camping at Twelve Beach, bonfires and s'mores with Noah's dad telling scary ghost stories, and sleeping out in Noah's backyard. It's the best time of the year.

  We take our time walking to the ice cream shop and then place our order. As soon as we're sitting down with our ice cream at a white plastic table outside the shop, we people watch.

  "Mm..." I moan as I lick the first scoop of my Fat Elvis ice cream. It's my favorite–banana ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate chunks–no wonder Elvis got fat.

  "That good, huh?" Noah asks as he takes a bite of his fudge sundae.

  "I forgot how great this tastes. What could be better than peanut butter in ice cream?"

  "Sex. Sex is better than all ice cream."

  Rolling my eyes at him I continue licking my ice cream cone. "I doubt it."

  "When you're older, shorty. You'll see."

  It's annoying when he dismisses my comments like this. He acts as if I have no idea how good sex might be, and while I have no experience, I am a fourteen-year-old girl with raging hormones. That gives me a pretty good idea.

  We continue to eat in silence and I watch him as he devours his fudge sundae. Noah is nothing like the boys in my grade. That's probably because he's three years older, but physically he's Goliath and any boy in my grade is David.

  He has strong, muscular arms from all the time he spends lifting weights at home. Noah's never been into the typical sports my classmates are into. He never played on the basketball team or tried out for football. Noah is more the outdoor type. Hiking, mountain climbing, skiing, and kayaking are how he spends his free time. A few years ago when he turned fifteen he added weight lifting to his regimen. He had just started going out with Missy, a senior in high school, and had a sudden interest in bulking up. I later found out that was because he planned to lose his virginity to Missy and he wanted to make a good naked impression.

  Noah succeeded in losing his virginity to Missy, and then continued to sleep around with most of the girls at our school. He's kind of a man whore, but I've learned to live with it because he's my best friend. I'm not going to judge my friend. I'm finishing my freshman year now and he's slept with most of my friends. He'll have to watch himself though because he's almost legal, and they aren't.

  Covering his muscular physique is a green competition t-shirt he received at last year’s kayaking race. He took second place and was the youngest competing at the time. While second place was an impressive finish, Noah was pissed off and determined to get first the next time he races.

  "So what should we do for your birthday tomorrow?" Noah asks as he drops the spoon into his sundae bowl, finished with his ice cream.

  Groaning out in frustration I respond, "Can't we just skip my birthday and fast forward to yours next week? I don't want to celebrate my birthday anymore."

  "What? You're turning fifteen. Your birthday is your favorite day of the year. You're always dragging me around and making me do whatever you want because it's your special day."

  Shrugging my shoulder I hand him the rest of my ice cream. "I just don't want to celebrate it anymore. We can celebrate you turning eighteen and becoming an adult. God help us all."

  He wastes no time diving into the rest of my Fat Elvis as he asks between bites, "What's really going on, shorty? No one just up and decides not to celebrate their birthday anymore."

  They do if last year their grandmother, the patriarch of the family, passed away on their birthday. A week before my fourteenth birthday I was traveling with my father and grandmother to visit my cousins in Indiana. We were in a minor fender bender, nothing serious, but my grandmother's seatbelt tightened on her stomach, causing her severe pain. We went to the emergency room to get it checked out and everything was fine from the accident, but she had to stay anyway to be safe. The hospital stay made the virus she'd been fighting for weeks turn into pneumonia.

  She died from complications a week later, on my fourteenth birthday.

  My parents were devastated, as was I. She lived with us my entire life and we were very close. I didn't want to celebrate my birth on the anniversary of her death. More importantly, I didn't want to watch my parents mask their pain to celebrate something so trivial as a birthday.

  "My grandmother died on my birthday last year."

  "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I completely forgot."

  Biting my lower lip to hold back any kind of emotion I reply, "It's no big deal. I just don’t want to celebrate my birthday at the same time I'm remembering the saddest day of my life."

  "I get it, Skye. I really do. We don't have to celebrate your birthday. We can just spend the day together doing normal things."

  "Thanks, Noah."

  The sun is setting when we leave the ice cream shop and start our trek back home. Noah's house is right next to mine and we've walked this path together for as long as I can remember. When we pass Howard's Drug Store, Noah makes us stop and he runs inside, coming back out with a lunch sack sized paper bag a minute later.

  "What did you get?" I ask, reaching for the bag.

  "Don't be nosey," he responds as he pulls the bag out of reach. Dragging a hand through his stringy brown hair he asks, "Hey, what was the name of that movie we used to watch when we were kids?"

  "You'll have to be more specific. I've watched hundreds of movies with you over the years."

  "You know, the one with the queen...and the white rabbit...and the purple cat?"

  Ah–an oldie but goodie.

  "Alice in Wonderland." It's always been my favorite and I've made him watch it a dozen times over the years.

  "Yeah, that's it. Remember the crazy tea party where they sit around singing and drinking tea, celebrating everyone's–"

  “Unbirthday," I interrupt, finishing his sentence. "Yeah, I rememb
er."

  Opening the paper bag, Noah pulls out a package of Hershey's Kisses. He rips the top open and pulls out one single kiss, handing it to me. I love milk chocolate so I take the small candy wrapped in silver foil, but I'm still wondering why he suddenly brought up one of my favorite Disney movies and favorite books.

  "Happy Unbirthday, Skye."

  I beam up at him as I open the wrapper and eat the small piece of chocolate. "We’re celebrating unbirthdays now?"

  "If I can’t celebrate your birthday, then I'm going to celebrate every single unbirthday of yours because you deserve to be celebrated."

  That might be the sweetest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever said to me. Noah has a way of making me feel like the most important person in the world. I've harbored a childhood crush on him for as long as I can remember. It's probably because he's a few years older than me, always teases me, and yet still would rather spend time with me than the kids his own age. He even puts me before the girls he's screwing around with.

  But this...Noah wanting to recognize me three hundred and sixty four days of the year, it makes me want to cry at the beautiful gesture and I have to hold back the tears that want to burst from my eyes. I've loved him like a part of my family for so long, but in this moment my love surpasses anything I've ever felt before. My heart feels like it might burst, pouring out every feeling I have towards him. I love him. I love him more than a friend, more than a family member, more than any other person or thing on this planet.

  I'm in love with Noah.

  It's crazy. I know that. I'm a day shy away from being fifteen. What do I know about love? Truthfully, I know nothing, but I know what I'm feeling right now for him could never be outdone. I'll never feel more for someone than I do for him right now. Noah is it for me, and although I may never have him, I'll never give up the hope that someday he'll reciprocate these feelings.

  "Noah, you're the sweetest boy in the whole wide world. How did I get so lucky to have you as a best friend?"

  Pulling me in for a side hug his hand comes up to mess with my French braid. "I guess we're lucky our parents decided to live next door to each other."

  "Yeah, I guess we are."

  We reach the bottom of the driveway to my house first and I slide out from Noah's arm and take a few steps up the long black asphalt that leads to my house a half-acre up. "Your birthday's not far away. Do you have anything in mind for the big eighteen?"

  He plays with the scruffy beard he just started to grow last month as he thinks over my question. "Tell you what, how about on my birthday I get you something and on your birthday you get me something. This way we'll both be able to exchange gifts without you having to celebrate your birthday."

  Hmm. That could be a good idea and will give me something to look forward to on the anniversary of my grandmother's death, but I kind of love the idea of him giving me a Hershey’s Kiss everyday. I don’t want him to change his mind before the new tradition has even started.

  "Will I still get a chocolate kiss from you everyday?"

  "Shorty, every day you wake up and it's your unbirthday I promise you'll get a Hershey's Kiss."

  "Okay then, deal. But now you've given me less than a day to get your birthday gift. I apologize in advance if it sucks."

  "It won’t suck, shorty, because it's coming from you."

  With that last statement he leaves me, walking next door to his house. I smile as I watch his backside walk away. It's a nice backside, incredibly sexy and tight. Maybe one day he'll love me like I love him and I'll be able to tell him how much I love his butt...among other things.

  Chapter Three

  "Babe, that's the fourth outfit you've tried on. You look breathtakingly beautiful in anything you wear so please don't change again. I told Noah we'd be there at ten and if we don't catch a cab in the next five minutes we'll be late." Caleb checks his watch again and the pressure to get dressed while he's watching me is unbearable.

  He's dressed immaculately in Armani from head to toe and I just want to look like I belong on his arm for the night. It's easy for me to get lost in the room when all eyes are on him with his good looks and fancy clothes.

  I adjust the thin straps of my little black dress in the mirror and tilt my head, appraising my outfit from head to toe. My short legs are smooth and lightly glisten from the lotion I rubbed all over them. The dress fits snuggly, accentuating every small curve. I'm petite so my curves are smaller, but this dress makes them look envy-worthy. My short blond hair is down with my peek-a-boo colored highlights poking through.

  I look good and fuckable, but I want to look better than good. I want to look completely irresistible.

  While Caleb usually dotes on me hand and foot, he's been a little distant lately. I know it's because of work and how stressful it must be being the newbie at an established firm and having the constant need to impress the partners, but I miss him.

  When he's home it's great. We're still us and fall back into the comfortable relationship we've always had, but lately he's hardly ever home and I get a little lonely. We don't get to have sex as much as I'd like either, so maybe that's why I'm feeling the lost connection.

  Around my neck is a gorgeous new infinity necklace that Caleb surprised me with the other night. It was a gift to say how sorry he is for being gone so much. See, I am being unreasonable. He's so amazing and tenderhearted. I'm so lucky to have him. I can get over these feelings of doubt and enjoy the evening because tonight we're going out.

  After a few hours of persuasion and a hot make-out session on the balcony of our apartment, I finally agreed to go with Caleb to Bar Forbidden tonight. Noah's bar is not exactly where I'd choose to spend an evening but it's what Caleb wants.

  To the naked eye, Bar Forbidden looks like any other bar in the city, but New Yorkers know different. It's why Bar Forbidden is the hottest place to be any night of the week. You can chill up front; chatting, drinking, or watching whatever sports game is on that night, and then you can pay a hefty fee and come in back to Club Desire, where bottle service is mandatory and the girls wear next to nothing as they perform for the patrons and do just about anything you ask them to do.

  It sounds sleazy, and I guess it is, but it's high-class sleaze. Athletes, actors, and reality show celebrities fill the place every night. Club Desire is in demand and Noah caters to everyone's needs.

  Slipping on a pair of nude heels to finish off my outfit I turn to an impatient Caleb. "I'm ready, baby. Are you sure I look okay?"

  His eyes trail over my body as he licks his lips and lets out a moan of appreciation. Moving in closer until he's right in front of me, his hands fall on my ass and he lowers his mouth to the crook of my neck and leaves a lingering kiss. "You look stunning. You'll definitely be the hottest in the room tonight. I'll be fighting guys off you with my bare hands."

  His breath against my neck makes me giggle, sending chills throughout my body. "I doubt it, but as long as you think I look hot I'm happy."

  We're able to catch a cab quickly and then we head into the Upper East Side. It's not exactly where you'd picture a bar like Noah's, but between the celebrities and the old money, the bar does very well.

  It doesn't take us long to get to Bar Forbidden and we're ushered to the front of the line and walk right in. The bouncers know Caleb well, since he's here a lot more often than I am. Inside it's dimly lit, nothing but antique lights to give the place its rustic appearance. Everything looks old and elegant. Noah was even able to make the seven flat screen televisions throughout the bar look like they belong.

  I want to stay in the bar where the people are friendly and I'm not afraid of saying the wrong thing or looking like I can be bought, but I know that's not the plan. Caleb takes my hand and we walk towards the back room, skipping the cover and entering Club Desire.

  The loud music assaults my ear drums as I look up and watch three women put on quite a show on the main stage in front of me. All three are wearing revealing lingerie. One's in black leather, ano
ther is in white lace, and the third is in red satin. They dance together to a sultry rendition of Fever as they lightly touch each other over their lingerie. The women aren't performing live sex acts or stripping. Their touches are quick and soft, just enough to entice every man and some women in the club. It's meant to be erotic, but not overly sexual.

  And it works, too, because even I'm a little turned on and I'm straight. Noah knows what he's doing to keep people coming back.

  "There you are, lover," I hear called out and when I turn to my left, Noah's approaching us with my best friend, Kendall, behind him. Her long black hair is down and she's dressed in a revealing skirt and top as she flaunts her model figure.

  Kendall and I met my first month in the city. I was miserable and contemplating just what I was going to do with my life now that I dropped out of school and had no job lined up. Unmotivated, I took a break in the grass somewhere in the middle of Central Park and I broke down crying. My first month in New York was not what I envisioned and I was depressed and lonely. I wanted better for myself and I was seriously considering hopping on the next plane back to Michigan.

  With my hands covering my face as the tears fell down my cheeks, Kendall plopped down next to me and sat there until I was done crying. Our paths had never crossed before, but when I looked up to see who was sitting next to me she nudged my shoulder with hers and said, "Unless someone's dead, nothing and nobody is worth being miserable over. Cheer up, girl. You’re in the city of dreams and endless possibilities. Nothing can be that bad when you live here."

  From that moment we were inseparable.

  She's gotten me through some bad days. Anytime I feel depressed she's there to pick me back up, and when she makes mistake after mistake with the men she sleeps with, I'm there to pick up the pieces. We're good for each other. She's always been loyal and we fill the holes that are missing in the each other's life.