He’d also wondered if maybe he should have invited Zach over. He was amazing at distracting him, among many other things. But they had been having so much sex lately. Noah needed a break. His dick was fucking sore, and so was his ass. If they hadn’t always used condoms and were knowingly clean, he’d have considered the possibility of an STI.
The next morning, however, was quite bizarre. He had found Trine and this gorgeous, heavily tattooed blonde, who he assumed was Sigrid, in the living room, each curled on a couch with a blanket and smeared makeup on their faces. He didn’t say anything and just proceeded to brew some coffee.
“You must be Noah,” a raspy but feminine voice said from behind him.
“Yeah. Sigrid?”
“That’d be me, yeah.” Standing only in a loose T-shirt that barely covered her ass, she rubbed a palm over her face. “Sorry. I’m probably not giving the best impression right now.”
“Not judging.” Noah chuckled as he poured a cup of coffee.Been there, done that.
“The night got a little out of hand.” She flashed an embarrassed smile, pulling the tee down before sitting on a stool. “I don’t know how your mom can drink and dance so much and not want to die afterward.”
“She’s trained for that. Besides”—Noah tilted his body a little to the side to look at her with an arm covering her eyes and her mouth slightly parted—“I’d say she went into a coma last night.”
“After throwing her guts up in the bathroom.”
Noah scrunched his nose. “Sorry about that. Coffee?”
“Please!”
He handed her the mug and poured himself another, sitting beside her at the breakfast bar table until Trine decided it was time to come back to life.
Twenty
Noah was ecstatic. Hehad been accepted into the Royal College of Music in the UK.
After a few weeks of resting his liver, he was more than ready to go out tonight and celebrate. And what better way to do it than with friends, beer, and metal music?
Ben, the one who’d told them about the New Year’s party and also helped Noah with the bass on his project, was playing with his band for a cancer fundraising concert, so of course they’d be here.
The only downside was that Poisoned Letters was performing, too.
“You seem a little tense,” Val said, raising his voice above the music. It wasn’t blaring like it’d be in a nightclub, but it was loud enough to make a normal conversation troublesome.
“You think?”
“I know it must be awkward for you to be around Kaj again, but look, there are a bunch of people here. What are the...chances…?” Val’s grey-blue eyes, now darkened by the dimly lit space, glanced behind Noah, making him turn around.
“Hey!” Mads greeted, approaching them with a huge smile on his face, followed by the heinous prick.
“Hey.”
“So glad you’re here, too! I thought I’d have to be alone all evening.” He grimaced.
“Not your usual scene?” Val asked with a mischievous grin, slicking back his medium-length hair.
“How could you tell?” Mads laughed, gesturing to himself.
Opposed to them, whose outfits consisted of black T-shirts, ripped jeans, leather cuff bracelets, and some stainless-steel jewelry, Mads was wearing dark pants and a light grey casual shirt under a long wool coat. Clean-shaven, with glowing skin, high cheekbones, and perfectly styled brown curls, he looked like one of those models in fashion magazines. Delicate and elegant yet masculine. He was... pretty.
Noah clenched his jaw. He hated that they got along so well now.
“Hey, guys!” Theo chirped as he squeezed his way through the group of people beside them and handed Val and Noah their beers.
“Okay, now that the whole gang’s here and you’re not alone, do you mind if I go find Bjørn?” Kaj said. “Gotta get ready.”
“Yeah, sure, Mr. Grouchy. Go. I’ll see you later.”
