“Shut up, Dave,” said AJ. Then in Noah’s direction, “Sorry, ignore him.”
She looked at her hands, her face burning. She could feel Toni radiating triumph, which just made this so much worse. AJ would have given anything to disappear.
“Yes, Noah,” said Xiaobo, jumping in. “The Dare Gods have spoken, and they want you to go up to Em’s house and retrieve one of his prized—”
“I can do that,” said Noah. He turned to Xiaobo. “Not that. The other thing.”
Then his thumb was sweeping across AJ’s jawbone, drawing her to him before she had time to react. In the split second their eyes connected, AJ saw want darken his gaze, and suddenly nothing else mattered. AJ’s eyes fluttered closed as he kissed her.
Yes.
He felt her quiver and pulled her close, biting down on her lower lip like it had been on his mind, like he’d been thinking about how to do it. AJ knew this kiss like a catechism—she knew the dark salt of his smell, the gorgeous feeling of his fingers threading into her hair, the way that, as he tasted her, a faint groan escaped his throat that only she could hear.
Shit.
Her whole body had gone pliant. His lips were astonishing, warm and firm and entreating, andoh,the rush of his tongue, beer and honey, gold inside her veins, between her thighs.
Noah pulled back gently, his lips hovering an inch from hers. “Age,” he breathed.I didn’t know.
Sorrow pierced his eyes as he read the response in hers.I never got to tell you.
“I’m going to bed,” announced Toni.
Noah dropped his hand, and AJ fell back to reality.
“What?” protested Drunk Dave, but Toni was already walking away.
AJ held Noah’s gaze a second longer. Then she got up and hurried after Toni.
She caught up to her right outside her room. “What the hell was that?”
Toni rounded on her lazily. “Don’t act like you didn’t love it. We all know you’re crazy for Noah’s dick.”
AJ forced herself to laugh. To make a joke. “It’s ‘Noah Daddy,’ actually.”
Toni’s lip curled as she reached for her door.
“Toni, wait,” said AJ. “I know this is about the stupid part. Just—talk to me.”
Toni pivoted slowly, eyes narrowed. “Stupid part,right,” she repeated. “Because you’rejust AJ.You wouldneverwant a big, juicy part. This all just happenedby accident.”
AJ blinked. “It did.”
Toni threw her head back and laughed. “Bullshit,” she said. “Bullshit.You planned this. You’ve been using your relationship with Noah to get in with Em from day one.”
“What?”
“Oh,come on,Age!” said Toni, her eyes gleaming. “Ian told me. He told me Noah specifically asked for you after the jam—that he went to him and said, ‘It’s AJ.’ ”
AJ’s mouth fell open. “I didn’t know that.”
“Iwatched himgo out after you at McManus,” said Toni. “God, how did I not see it?”
“Maybe because I told him to fuck off,” said AJ, voice shaking. “Which youknow.”
Toni was half laughing, half crying. “Are you truly going to stand here and pretend you two weren’t fucking that night I cried to you about Alara? Nice cover story, by the way.”
AJ could not believe what she was hearing. “Wait, are you serious?”
