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“We ate the chili dogs on our way back over here,” Noah says to me.
I look down at Axel’s fries and shake my head. “Chili dogs and chili cheese fries.” Oh boy. “I’m going to have to get you some kids Pepto with all the stuff you’ve been eating since we got here. I’m surprised we’re not rolling you around the park like a barrel.”
“Hey, still having fun?” Noah asks me, putting his arm around my shoulder with a smile, drawing my attention away from Axel the bottomless pit he has for a stomach.
“Do you need to ask?” I smile back at him, admiring his bright smile and wind-blown hair, and thinking about how sexy he looks when the sun shines on him, bringing out the red highlights sprinkled through his brown hair. Wondering how much more sexy it would look if it was my hands that did that and how long it was going to be before that happened. “Wasn’t screaming between your legs on the tube slide with my hands in the air enough of an answer for you?”
He leans close to my ear and lowers his voice, “In a room with a bed, yes. But in this case, I need reassurance and clarification.” He waggles his brows at me.
God, he has no idea what the low timber of his voice does to me. “Poor thing, I left you wondering, huh? Let me be clearer.” I pull his head down and press my lips against his long enough to part his lips with the tip of my tongue with a kiss, to reassure him of how much fun I’m having and how much more I’m so ready to have with him. “Does that answer your question?” I open my eyes with my lips brushing against his.
“I think we should do it again, so I’m absolutely sure.” The side of his lip turns up, and I laugh.
“All right, all right, cut it out. We get it. You two are really into each other. You don’t need to rub this kind of sweetness into our faces. This funnel cake is sweet enough,” Shauna says, biting into her funnel cake.
I smile and bump her with my shoulder as Noah holds my hand. We walk to a bench we all sit down at. Noah sitting next to me, Holden and Ryan on the tabletop, and Drew standing next to them. I put my hand on his thigh, and he covers my hand with his, brushing his across my skin as we all talk and laugh at the guy in a chocolate costume trying to juggle on a tricycle. It gets funnier when Holden jumps off the bench to assist him with the comedy routine.
But leave it to Holden to look cool even when he’s doing something that would make the rest of us look like fools. A small crowd forms around them. By the time he tosses the balls perfectly back in the air to the chocolate man, we’re all clapping as he bows and winks at his audience with his trademark cocky smile.
Today is a good day. It’s been a long time since all I’ve had to do is just go with the flow of things and not have to jump in and course-correct something that’s about to take a turn for the worse. I didn’t feel like I was alone doing all the things. Watching Axel, keeping him safe, being on the lookout for unexpected sightings of my mother, and Grandpa, mounting unpaid bills, and keeping my eyes alert for trouble Drew and Ryan might be headed for with their smart-ass mouths and attitudes.
Smart ass mouth and attitude mostly being Drew on any given day or hour. Even he seems more relaxed than he’s been in months. It’s almost like old times. No one’s arguing or feelings being stepped on. A brief hiatus away from the everyday shit we all have to deal with.
I can take a breath. Not worry about any of it—just be in the moment. And it’s because of Noah. The guy I thought was too nice for me…well the jury is still out on that, but I like what I feel when I’m with him. I like who I am with him right now. I can’t help it, I lean over happily and kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
He smiles, looks into my eyes, and squeezes my hand under the table. I feel like he’s seeing me, because the way he looks at me and touches me makes me feel like we are the only ones here, even in the middle of a crowd of people. Yeah, he might be too good for me but for now, I’m keeping him, cause it’s all in the way he makes me feel with just this look in his eyes.
“What do you think, Lexi?” Shauna says, breaking the intensely intimate moment between Noah and me.
“About what?” I say, prying my eyes away from Noah to answer Shauna.
“Those two over there. You think they’re a couple? She’s cute, but the guy could be my next boyfriend, hot.” She tears off a piece of her funnel cake which Axel snatches from her hand and pushes into his mouth. He’s like a squirrel, collecting food from everyone all day, stuffing his face.
Shaking my head at both of them, I look at the couple, and she is right but I can’t tell myself if they’re a couple. “I’m not sure. She is leaning into him while they talk and her hand is on his arm. I can’t tell from that alone.”
“I can.” Holden sits on the edge of the table, legs spread.
Shauna looks at him, pointing her funnel cake. “How can you tell?”
“Because I have a gift for that, and that’s my type.” He plucks a fry from Drew’s hand and tosses it into his mouth.
Drew frowns down at the cup of fries in his hand. “She’s your type.”
“That's a worthless gift to have,” Ryan says, handing his half-eaten funnel cake to Axel. “A gift would be being able to predict the winner at the horse races every time.”
“Everyone has their talents, kid. We should all play to them.”
“Unless your talent can get me closer to him they’re useless to me,” Shauna says, pointing to the couple.
“Unfortunately for you, Shauna, my talents can’t change orientation.”
“What are you talking about?”
Holden looks at Noah who nods, pressing his lips together, then gives his trademark smirk to Shauna. “She’s my type once in a while, cute girl next door, dark hair and big brown eyes, nice body.”
She rolls her eyes. “And?”
Holden chuckles. “The guy…was across from me in the changing room. Trust me when I say he’s not your type. But he’s mine.” With that he hops off the table with his usual swagger, in the direction of the couple, leaving everyone slack jawed except Axel and Noah.
