When our eyes met, he smiled, soft and inviting, and the knot in my chest loosened, replaced by the bubbly lightness of affection.
He’d saved me a seat.
I smoothed my palms over my skirt as I crossed the room, and judging by the knowing looks from literally everyone, Noah and I weren’t fooling anyone.
Maybe…maybe that was okay.
When Noah stood and pulled the chair out for me, it wasn’t swooning I felt, it was something else entirely.
Like my skin was more awake, my mind sharper, my heart beating just a little too fast.
Everything in me felt...alive.
And maybe that meant something deeper was happening here.
Nope. Nope. Nope. I wasn’t ready to think that far ahead yet.
“Long time, no see, Luna,” Babs greeted me as I sat down. “Don’t you look nice tonight?”
She winked at me in her usual unsubtle way, and I blushed despite myself.
“How did you enjoy the raft trip, by the way? We hardly saw you two after we launched.”
“Oh, um, it was really nice.” Noah probably didn’t want to bring up what had happened with those boys, and certainly not with everyone here like this, so I decided to steer away from the subject altogether. “That canyon is gorgeous, isn’t it?”
Noah hummed. “It is,” he said softly, and then his hand slid onto my knee under the table. “Though I’ll admit...” His voice dropped slightly. “I was a little distracted for most of it.”
I turned to him, blinking. “Really? You didn’t?—”
But then his fingers skimmed just beneath the hem of my dress, and his thumb began tracing slow, deliberate circles against my bare skin.
My brain…stalled.
And that’s when I saw it—that slow, wicked smirk.
Our attempts at staying low-key? Yeah. Those were unraveling fast.
And I didn’t even mind.
His grin deepened, like he was daring me to react, pushing right up to the edge—until Babs swooped in, breaking the moment before I fully short-circuited.
“So, nothing exciting happened then? No daring rescues?” Crap. She already knew. Her eyes were practically sparkling. “Because I heard that our Noah here saved a young boy’s life today.”
Noah’s hand stiffened. I turned toward him, but his face had gone almost completely blank. Was I the only one who sensed his obvious tension?
Wanting to reassure him, I reached beneath the table, resting my hand on his.
I didn’t want to play it off as nothing, because it wasn’t nothing. That boy could’ve died or been seriously hurt if Noah hadn’t jumped in, or hadn’t been fast enough. But I could see why it was a touchy subject for him.
Babs finally seemed to sense something was off as well, the mischievous light in her eyes dimming. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. You don’t have to?—”
But before she could finish, Mrs. Grady, seated on Noah’s other side, reached up and clasped his shoulder, beaming. “Noah’s always been my little hero,” she said, staring at him proudly. And even though I knew he didn’t like this kind of attention, I couldn’t help but think she had every right to feel that way.
What surprised me was how completely unaware she seemed of his discomfort. Or maybe she noticed and simply bulldozed right through it.
Not that I was an expert on all things Noah Grady...
“Can you believe we’re finally going to see the Grand Canyon?” Babs asked.
