AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Morning, Prof,” he said, winking at Jax.
He wanted to kiss Jax’s smile right off his face, but Annie’s mom was rolling Play-Doh with her grandsons, and Annie was watching the two of them with amused attention.
“Morning, Noah.”
The stare-off between them, telegraphing hunger and desire, ended when Jax asked if anyone wanted coffee or anythingto drink.
“No, I have to go. Running errands for my dad today. I’ll see you all around soon. Please say hi to Jim for me.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Jax offered, fooling no one, since the front door was just on the other side of the wall around the corner.
“Miss me?” he whispered when they reachedthe door.
“You have no idea.” Jax leaned in and dropped a quick kiss on his lips. “I’m taking you out later. Be ready by six.”
Noah’s cock stirred at Jax’s commanding tone. Who knew he’d like bossy Jax? “Yes, sir,” he answered, saluting and makingJax laugh.
“Get outta here before I do something we shouldn’t expose growing boys to,” Jax growled at him and swatted his ass as he passed through the door he’d just opened.
Noah was still laughing when he got to the pharmacy to pick up his dad’s prescriptions. By the end of September, Alvaro would return to Florida and Noah would need to decide whether or not he would close up the house for the season or do what his dad had been doing since he retired and rent it to people who wanted the winter experience in upstateNew York.
He had to decide what to do with the rest of his life. He could potentially stay at home and grow his private music lesson business, but he knew that that wouldn’t be enough to satisfy his need as a performer. Just because he couldn’t play professionally any longer didn’t mean the need to share his passion had died. He needed to think through his choices, and maybe talking with Jax about them would help him figure out what he wanted todo next.
Also, he needed to reach out to his boys this time, instead of waiting for them to do it, to let them know he was fine, and get their input on how he could contribute to the group he had helped to start. That was actually a great idea, and he hurried through the rest of his errands so he could get back home to make the call. Alvaro was dozing in the living room when he got home, so Noah moved quietly to put everything away, then went out to the back patio to make his call. Teagan DeVere, the cellist for the quartet, picked up on the first ring.
“Blimey! If it isn’t Noah Santiago himself. To what do I owe thepleasure?”
Teagan’s dry tone, coupled with his strong English accent, made Noah grin. “Don’t even start, Tag. You have my number. You could have called, too.”
Teagan chuckled. “After the reception that Joel and Blair got, I thought it best to avoid being cut off at the knees,as well.”
“It wasn’t that bad, bro,” Noah protested weakly, knowing it was probablythe truth.
“You didn’t hearthemtell it,” Teagan said. “We decided it was best to wait you out. So, are you finally ready to talk to us now? You know we’re a couple of months out from the tour, and there are a few gigs that we’ve signed up for to keep in practice and earn us some extra spending money when we get there.”
“I know. You all have been busy between rehearsals.” Honestly, he wasn’t bitter … any longer.
“So, do you want to come down, or shall we come up? I assume you want ameeting?”
“I do.”
Noah thought about what to say next. Should he have them come up? If they came before Jax left, he’d have to introduce him to them. Was he ready for that? He and Teagan had been in the same year in college, when his friend had introduced his older brother Tristan to him. They had become friends of a sort, and even Tristan had noticed the change in his demeanor after the breakup, though he’d accepted Noah’s explanation of exhaustion at face value and hadn’t dug any deeper.
“Why don’t you talk to the guys about that and get back to me? I’ll agree to whatever you decide.”
That was probably for the best. At some point, he’d need to come clean about everything with his friends, after he apologized profusely for being almost a ghost around them after he left thehospital.
“We need to talk about where we go from here, once you come back from the tour. I need a brainstorming session about choices I and the group need to make. It can wait until you figure out whetherI’mcoming to you or you’re coming to me.”
“I’ll let you know, bro. Either way, we’ll most likely want to FaceTime with you in the meantime, if only to make sure you’re not lying about being okay.”
“Sod off, as you Brits would say!”
Noah laughed at Teagan’s amused reply: “Pendejo! Tried and true English vulgarity before dinner.Spot on!”
Now it was Noah’s turn to laugh when Teagan used one of the few Spanish cuss words that Noah had taught the group while they were on tour in CentralAmerica.
“Good accent,” he complimented his friend.
