Chapter Eighteen

Kaleigh

My eyes blink open slowly, the light from outside being semi blocked out by the shades. I stretch and have this tender pain between my legs. I smile as I think back to last night. We are definitely past the point of being friends. I look over at Noah in all his naked glory. His body is a work of art. He lies with the sheet at his waist, one hand on his stomach while the other is thrown over his head. His cock is outlined perfectly. Fuck, did he ever give me a workout last night. And his cock was always ready for action. Never once did he need to stop and take a break. I challenged him and he didn’t disappoint and neither did his cock.

I slide off the bed, trying not to disrupt him as I make my way into his bathroom. I open the water, going to the linen closet to grab a towel. I find boxers on a shelf and grab a pair, throwing them on. Once I clean my face, I make my way downstairs. I pick up my clothes that are in a pile at the front door along with his button-down shirt. I put on his shirt, take out my phone from my purse, and order an Uber. My eyes go from my phone screen to the stair leading upstairs.

Why am I leaving? Why don’t I just go upstairs and tell him I want coffee? Why don’t I go and make him breakfast and serve him in bed? Why don’t I wake him by sucking his cock? The answer to this is I have no fucking clue. My first instinct is to run. I open the door when the app tells me that my driver is waiting outside. I pick up my shoes, carrying them in my hands along with my outfit from last night. I make it home without my phone buzzing. Maybe he is going to wake up and think I had something to do. Maybe I should have left him a note, I say to myself, while the devil on my shoulder puts in her two cents, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t have left.’

I get out of the Uber and try to sneak into the house, but I hear voices. I tiptoe into the kitchen, clothes in my hand, purse hanging from my wrist.

“Look what the slut dragged in,” Lauren says, leaning against the counter next to Austin.

His arms go around her. She glances up at him with a ‘your penis is so good’ kind of look.

“Funny, funny, ha-ha. I take it the cobwebs have been cleared out?” I fire back.

“Oh, there are definitely no cobwebs in there,” Austin murmurs with a little smirk. “Isn’t that Noah’s shirt?” he asks.

“I hope you told him you were leaving, Kaleigh.” She looks at Austin. “She isn’t exactly known for sticking around the morning after. She, um, likes to leave before it can get awkward.”

I glare at her while she tells Austin this.

“He’s going to lose his shit,” Austin states.

“Did you use my almond milk?” I ask while he continues to drink his coffee and shakes his head. “Oh. So, you used the breast milk, then?”

Austin spits his coffee out of his mouth all over the counter. I smile wide, crossing my arms over my chest on the island.

“What?” he questions, looking into his cup and then looking at Lauren.

“She’s just messing with you.” Lauren laughs. “You are going to clean up that mess.” She points to the counter that now has his coffee splattered all over it.

“I’m not messing with him. I ordered frozen breast milk this week and switched it out,” I inform her, while she looks inside her coffee cup. “You put butter in my potatoes, remember?” I raise my hand up in fists, hitting them together.

“You let me drink someone’s breast milk?” She throws the coffee down the drain along with the rest of the milk. “That’s sick, Kay.”

“Where the fuck do you even order breast milk from?” Austin is looking under the sink for cleaning products. “Do we need to get, like, a hepatitis shot or something?” he asks, coming up with some Windex in his hand.

“I ordered it online.” I shrug my shoulder. “I switched it yesterday morning after the kids left,” I say as I study my nails, while Austin and Lauren start to freak out. I giggle to myself.

“What if the woman has a disease? Jesus! Could we catch it?” Austin turns to Lauren. “I feel a little funny.” He puts his hand to his stomach, making us both roll our eyes.

“Relax, it was from a reputable website for mothers who can’t produce enough milk.” I try to reassure them right before someone starts banging on the front door.

“Kaleigh! Are you in there?” Noah yells from outside.

I open my eyes wide, my mouth opening and nothing is coming out. It’s like I am caught eating candy before dinner.

Austin smirks at me and walks to the door to open it. “Hey, man.”

I hear from the front door. I’m about to get up and rush out the back door. I eye the house, looking for an exit plan.

“Come in. Can I get you some coffee? With or without breast milk?” Austin asks as Noah follows him, looking at him like he’s crazy.

“What are you doing here?” Noah walks into the kitchen and eyes Lauren dressed in Austin’s now buttoned-up shirt before shifting his gaze to me.

“You took my shirt? And then you just fucking left?” He puts his hands to his waist. He looks like he just rushed out of the house, which he probably did. His T-shirt fits him so snug I want to rake my hands up his shirt and fall to my knees.

“She’s not good with the whole morning-after thing,” Lauren adds, trying to be helpful, while I shoot her a glare and then up it with the middle finger.

Noah walks toward me. No, that isn’t a good word for it. He pounces on me like I am his prey. He turns me around on the stool as he cages me in between his arms with his hands braced against the counter. “I thought we said we were doing yoga this morning?” He leans into me.

Austin laughs from beside Lauren. “You couldn’t do yoga if you tried.” He continues laughing while Noah glares at him.

“Plus, you said we could do the downward dog thing,” he whispers to me. Coming close to my ear, he adds, “I want to make friends with you.” He kisses my ear then licks it, giving my body goose bumps. I shiver under his touch.

“What’s the downward dog?” Austin asks in a whisper that is not at all quiet. Lauren just shushes him.

“Don’t you two have to be somewhere?” I look back at them.

“Nope,” they both answer at the same time and then look at each other and smile.

“Come back home with me,” Noah asks me, leaning in and tracing my jaw with the tip of his nose. “Please.”

I’m melting. My insides are totally caving for this man who I said I would never sleep with again, this man who I left twice now. This man who knows how to play my body like a violin. His blue eyes say words that we are both not ready to say out loud.

“Okay,” I reply, and Lauren gasps from her side of the kitchen. She knows I never let my guard down with men, ever. “Besides, I think Austin is going to kill me for making him drink breast milk.”

Noah looks at Austin as he stands back, making room for me to get up and gather my stuff. “You drank breast milk, dude? Can you die from that?” He slips his hands in his shorts pockets.

Austin stills, while Lauren says, “No, you can’t. Now, go away before he goes nuts,” before turning to Austin. “You can’t die from drinking breast milk. Well, unless the mother had like HIV or something.”

Noah bursts out laughing, grabbing my hand and dragging me back out the door.

He doesn’t say a word before bringing me to the car, opening the door, and pushing me inside. Once he gets behind the wheel, he locks the door. “Just in case you want to jump out.”

I take my hand and toss my hair behind me. “Oh, please, you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you,” I say, grabbing the seat belt.

“Your nose is growing there, Pinocchio,” he says, starting the car. “Going to wake me my ass. You hightailed it so fast I think I still smell the rubber from the tires.”

I open my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out except, “I want coffee, please.”

He pulls away from the curb, making his way back to his house but stopping at Starbucks first. Once we get to his house, he rounds the car to grab my hand as I’m getting out. “You know, just in case you bolt.”

“Okay, I get it, you don’t like it,” I huff out. “It’s just.” I start saying and drift off.

“Oh, we will get to all that the minute we get inside,” he says, almost dragging me into the house. “So where do you want to do this?” he asks.

“We’ve done it almost everywhere.” I smile at him, sipping my Americano with soy milk. “I mean, I think we missed the coffee table, so maybe we can start there.” I point to the middle of his living room.

“Let’s go outside. We can sit by the pool,” he says, still holding my hand, dragging me there. He makes his way over to the outdoor lounger bed that we sat on before. He flips over the lid so we are blocked from the sun. I crawl inside and sit up with my back to the throw pillows. He follows me and does the same, holding his ice coffee in his hand. “So. We are going to get some things straight right now.”

I don’t say anything because his voice is curt and I have trouble swallowing, so I just nod while he continues.

“Number one. We do not ever, ever leave when the other person is sleeping or not aware.” He side eyes me.

I roll my eyes at him, taking a sip of my coffee again. “Okay, I get it. No leaving without telling you. Jeez.”

“You did it twice, Kaleigh, not once, twice. It might get my feelings hurt.” He looks at me now. “Why?” he asks the question that gets my heart going. It’s beating so fast I’m sure he can tell. He grabs my hand and kisses the inside of my wrist where he can feel my heartbeat. “This is me and you, Kay. You can tell me anything and I promise to never ever use it against you.”

“It’s nothing really. I just…” I shake my head, moving my eyes away from him and staring at the pool, watching the water move. “I fell in love with a man who never ever spent the night, ever. We actually only dated a couple of months, but it was my first real ‘love’ if you know what I mean.”

He nods his head.

I swallow while he squeezes my hand. “We would date and go out and always come back to my place because, well, he ‘lived’ with roommates. I guess that should have been the first red flag. I would wake up every single day hoping he’d be there, but would always find the sheets cold. I tried to not get my hopes up, tried to not make a case out of it. I mean, he was there when we went to bed, he had clothes in my closet, yet he would never stay.” I sip my coffee, gearing up the confidence. “Then one day I went home and all his things were gone, with a note that said ‘later’.” I take a deep breath. “It’s almost as bad as Carrie getting dumped by a Post-it. Anyway, his phone was shut off or cancelled, who knows, and then one night I slept over at Stephanie’s apartment. We fell asleep after watching The Goonies.” I shake my head. “So the next day we got up and decided to hit up this new coffee place that had just opened and there in the middle of the store looking like he just woke up was Alex with his arms around the neck of a woman who was clearly wearing his wedding ring, something else he didn’t wear around me. He saw me, his eyes opened with shock, and instead of going up to him and telling him what an asshole he was I turned and walked away. My heart was broken for what might have been, but it was broken more because I trusted him and in the end, he played me for a fool. So, I’ve made it my motto to never ever get involved from then on. I was more like an in and out kind of person. But I would never lie. I would never promise things.” I watch his eyes go soft. “Happy now you know my deepest and darkest secret?” I smile, trying to get the topic back to fun. “Well, at least one of them.”

He takes the cup from my hand, putting them both on the floor, then grabs me, pulling me onto his lap. My legs straddle his waist. His hands push the hair away from my face while he grabs my cheeks. “I don’t know where this thing is going. Hell, I’m not even sure I know what the fuck the right thing to do is, but”—he smiles at me and his blue eyes light up—“what I can do is promise to never lead you on or lie to you. I will probably fuck up, but the good news is that I can learn.” He brings my face to his. “So what do you say, want to do this not leave me in the middle of the night thing?” He kisses me gently. “Either that or I’m buying you a shock collar and it’ll just zap you when you try to leave. I mean, that’s my last straw.” He smiles and I kiss him with a smile of my own.

We spend the rest of the afternoon really going into downward dog position. And that night when I go to bed it’s with him with no plans of sneaking out.