ah. “So are you here for a few days?” Noah asked.
“Um, yeah. Staying with our folks, we, um, we have a house down here,” Grace said as she fumbled over her own words.
I smiled as I took it in. I’d never seen Grace not one-hundred percent in control. She was totally taken with Noah.
“What about you?” Grace asked, looking over Noah’s shoulder at the four other guys standing there watching the whole scene play out.
Noah’s smile turned somewhat wicked. As if an idea came to mind. “I’m staying at my folks place, but Mom and Dad stayed behind for this trip. It’s just me, my brother and his two friends.”
“Really?” Grace said with a bit of seduction to her voice. I slowly looked at Grace, thinking back to her saying she just wanted to hook-up with someone this week.
I looked between the two of them as they both just stared at each other. I cleared my throat before talking. “Grace, we’re gonna be late for lunch.”
Grace was pulled from her trance as she looked at me. “Oh yeah, right.” Looking back at Noah she smiled. “It was nice running into you again.”
They both chuckled and we began to walk off, but not before Noah grabbed Grace’s wrist. “Grace, may I give you my number? Maybe we can meet up later or something.”
Biting down hard on her lip, Grace nodded her head. “I’ll text you it, what’s your number?”
I looked away smiling, knowing Grace wanted to have Noah’s number as well.
“512-555-2424,” Noah said as he watched Grace type it in her phone. A few seconds later, Noah’s phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and smiled when he saw Grace’s text.
“Now you have my number. I’ll um, talk to you later then?” Grace asked as she began taking a few steps backward.
Noah nodded his head and winked at her. “Most definitely.”
Turning around, Grace and I began walking back to the houses. “Oh my gosh, Grace Johnson. Who is he and why have I never heard about this Noah?”
Grace chuckled and brushed me off with her hand. “Honestly, I never thought I would lay eyes on him again. I ran into him as I was running after Alex, he knocked me down, helped me up and we exchanged names. That was it.”
“Well he certainly remembered you.” I turned to look over my shoulder. “And he is staring at your ass as you walk away.”
Grace threw her head back and laughed. “Thank God I did some squats last week.”
Grace’s phone buzzed and she began reading a text message. The smile that spread across her face had been the first real smile I’d seen in the last few months. She looked over at me and winked. “Looks like I’ll be getting laid after all.”
My mouth dropped open. “Grace, I thought you were just saying that. Are you sure about this? You said yourself you don’t really know this guy.”
Grace looked behind her and I followed her gaze. Noah was now walking to his truck that was parked on the beach.
“Oh, I’m sure. I’m very sure,” Grace said as she turned back around and walked with a smile on her face.
SITTING AT THE table, I glanced over to Grace. She had hooked up with Noah last night. When she got back, I could tell something was off. What I couldn’t tell was if that something was bad or good. Her face was flush as she leaned against the door like she had just had the most amazing time of her life. She reached her fingers up to her lips and closed her eyes. She quickly changed and crawled into bed. I had tried to talk to her, but she said she was exhausted and we would talk the next day. She avoided talking to me about it all day. I was hoping she had talked to Alex at least.
Staring back down at my espresso-soaked brownie sundae, I began to pick at it. This was the first time in the last five years that Luke and I didn’t share this sundae. I peeked up and saw him staring at me. I smiled weakly and his eyes lit up before he looked away from me. My heart dropped and I closed my eyes. I hated how my body reacted to him. I hated that the more I tried to push him out of my heart, the stronger he held onto it.
Alex sat next to me and bumped my shoulder. I smiled and looked back at my sundae.
Taking a bite, I looked back up, only to find Luke looking at me again as he began to talk. “I say we camp on the beach tonight. Throw up two tents and build a fire.”
Lauren began to hop up and down. “Oh my gosh, yes!”
Meg smiled and said, “Totally sounds like a good time.”
Colt talked about making s’mores as I watched Alex and Will exchange looks.
Turning to Taylor, Colt asked if she was in on camping.