Noah flicks a quick unreadable look at me before looking back at her. “Weird how?”
Maya frowns. “I don’t know. He was kind of awkward last night. And today too. Just…off in general.”
Noah shrugs. “Didn’t notice.”
He tries to sound casual, but he’s not quite pulling it off.
Maya studies him for another second, then drops it. “Alrighty. Who’s up for a chicken fight?”
“Chicken fight?” I repeat, lifting an eyebrow.
“You know, when one person sits on someone’s shoulders and tries to knock the other person off.” She gestures with both hands so hard she nearly slides off the edge into the water. “Noah used to be terrible at it when we were kids. I could get him in like two seconds.”
“That’s because Dad was my base and he’s ticklish,” Noah says.
“No, it’s because you were clumsy as hell.”
“No, I wasn’t,” Noah says. “And I’d destroy you now.”
“Yeah, right,” Maya says, sliding back into the water. “I’m twice your size.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Noah says with a smirk. “It’s about tactics too, not just strength.”
“Alright then,” Maya says, grinning. “Show me what you’ve got. Connor can be your base.”
Noah glances at me, and the bravado slips a little. For a second he looks almost bashful, like the idea of climbing onto my shoulders has only just fully landed.
“I’m in,” I say before he can talk himself out of it.
“But Maya doesn’t have a base,” he says a little too quickly. “Dad can’t do it. He’s got that shoulder thing.”
“We’ve got Rick,” Maya says, and before Noah or I can object, she turns toward Cassidy and calls, “Hey, Cassie, mind if I borrow your fiancé for a chicken fight?”
Noah freezes beside me, his whole body going tense, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Chicken fight?” Cassidy shouts back.
“Yup!” Maya calls, and that’s when Cassidy and Rick start making their way toward us.
“You okay?” I ask quietly, reaching for Noah’s elbow and drawing him a little closer.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I don’t really believe him. He says it too fast, like he just wants to get through the moment, and something in me reacts before I can think better of it.
I slide my arms around him and pull him against me. Noah stills for a second before he looks up at me.
“Thanks,” he says softly.
Like he thinks I’m doing this to keep up the act. To make Rick watch. And maybe that is part of it. I do like getting underthe guy’s skin, especially when he’s so clearly not over Noah. But that’s not the only reason I’m holding him. There’s a more selfish part of me too—the part that likes how he fits against me and wants an excuse to keep him there.
We stay like that for a few seconds, until Rick and Cassidy reach us. Then I let Noah go, and the second I do, I want him back in my arms.
“My brother thinks he can beat me,” Maya says to them. “I need a base, if you don’t mind.”
Cassidy laughs. “I don’t mind.”
Rick doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he glances at Noah, and the look lingers long enough to get under my skin. He’s standing right there with Cassidy, but his attention is still on Noah. Before I can stop myself, I slide a hand around Noah’s waist and pull him back against my side. Heat flashes through me the second he leans into me.
