“Sure thing, darlin’.” The word falls from his lips so smoothly, and we both still.
Darlin’.
The word does something to me, but the urgency to pee makes it hard to decipher exactly what.
We sit in silence, and I’m thankful when Noah breaks it. “There’s a motel a few miles up. Do you think you can hold it until then?”
I nod.
“Change the station, distract yourself.” Noah points to the radio. I fiddle with the knob, stopping when one of my favorite songs blasts through the speakers.
Madonna. Like a prayer.
“Oh my god, I love this song,” I squeal.
“I didn’t have you down as a Madonna fan,” Noah asks, flicking his gaze between me and the road.
“Oh, yeah. In college, me and my friends went to an eighties-themed night at one of the sorority houses. I went dressed as Madonna from the Like a Virgin video, and ironically, it was the night I lost my virginity.”
Noah’s hands clench the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white, and I wince. “I’m sorry. Is it weird that I just told you that?”
Noah laughs under his breath. “No, Tor, it’s not.”
“Come on then, your turn. When did you lose yours?”
He inhales and blows out a deep breath as he takes one hand off the steering wheel and rubs it over his five o’clock shadow.
“Senior year of high school. A cheerleader named Breeana. My on and off again girlfriend.”
“Go on,” I encourage, twisting in my seat to face him.
“We were at a party, we got drunk, and one thing led to another. I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing.” He smiles as if he were reliving the memory.
“Where is Breanna now? Do you still keep in touch?”
He shakes his head. “No, she went off to college, and last I heard, she’s married to a surgeon, living somewhere near Florida. What about your guy? Did you keep in touch with him?”
“Oh, God, no. He was awful. We were so drunk, he was all hands and no skill. He was trying so hard to get me off, twisting and flicking everything he could, and I lay there thinking, are you trying to have sex or play a game of Bop It with my body?”
A laugh rips from Noah’s chest, startling me, but then I fall into a fit of laughter too.
“Oh my god, stop. I’m going to pee myself.” I press my hands in between my legs and squeeze them tight, feeling the pressure in my core build, but loving the way it feels to truly laugh again.
“A game of Bop It. Shit, Tor, I forgot how funny you were.”
I straighten my spine, flicking my long hair over my shoulder. “Why, thank you.”
His eyes flicker to me every few seconds with a grin that stirs something inside my belly. I like the way he looks at me.
“What?” I ask nervously, suddenly feeling shy.
“I just like hearing you laugh.”
Chapter Nineteen
Noah
I open the door, and we both stand in the doorway staring at the small bed in the middle of the room. A floral comforter and two decorative cushions sit on top of the bed.
