Page 69
“Next time.”
Both of us, sans shirts, sit cross-legged on the bed now, facing each other.
“Truth or Dare?” I ask. “And don’t be a chicken.”
He sighs. “Fine, I’ll do a truth this time.”
I pause and think of how to ask this, because I don’t want to set Noah off. But when they told us to play Truth or Dare together as homework, Hazel did tell us not to hold back.
“Did you use me in college to get over Beck?”
Noah looks like I sliced him in the gut, his face paling as he stares at me. “I would never have done that.”
“It’s okay if you did. You said you broke up with someone before we met—if you remember correctly, we both were fresh off breakups, though I did not love my ex.”
He takes my hands in his. “I’ve told you many times that, when I met you, it felt like the earth meeting the sun for the first time. Yes, Beck was a big part of my teenage years, and I’ve carried the pain of how I ended things with him, but I never set out to date you to forget him. I wanted you from the first moment I saw you, Sunshine. You have to believe that.”
I brush my thumb over his knuckle. “I believe you.”
He releases a breath. “Good.” He kisses my ring finger as he likes to do. “It would kill me if you didn’t.”
“A bit dramatic,” I tease in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“It’s not for me. I need you to know that you weren’t a second choice. I did meet you after Beck, and I don’t know how else to explain it except that I just knew we were meant for each other. I felt that way then, and I do now. You were and are my everything. I wouldn’t be here doing tantric poses in front of Phil and Josie if I didn’t.”
The tension around us snaps, and I giggle. “Josie really does have the hots for you. I have no doubt they brought up the hotwife thing in hopes you’d participate.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’d rather live in the desert for life.” We both laugh, and I revel in the way our bodies shake the bed. How long has it been since we’ve just laughed together?
Too long.
“Truth or Dare?” Noah asks.
“Truth.”
“Were you upset yesterday when you walked in on me and Beck?”
Out of all the things he could have asked me, for some reason, I wasn’t expecting that. I go back to the moment I walked in on them—the arguing, the sweet moment they shared, and everything that followed.
“I was actually relieved.”
“Relieved?” Noah questions.
“I was coming to find you and admit that I was thinking of Beck in ways that I shouldn’t. And to ask if you still had feelings for him.”
“That explains you wanting us to kiss,” he says.
“Hmm,” she agrees. “Does it bother you that’s what I was going to talk to you about?”
“It probably should, but we’re beyond that now, don’t you think?”
“This is weird, right? Us asking Beck to explore with us? And both of us being okay with it?”
“Not if you ask Phil and Josie,” Noah volleys.
“Or either of the McKnights or their partners.”
Noah lifts an eyebrow in question.
