Noah (6 page)

I'm in love with Noah.

It's crazy. I know that. I'm a day shy away from
being fifteen. What do I know about love? Truthfully, I know
nothing, but I know what I'm feeling right now for him could never
be outdone. I'll never feel more for someone than I do for him
right now. Noah is it for me, and although I may never have him,
I'll never give up the hope that someday he'll reciprocate these
feelings.

"Noah, you're the sweetest boy in the whole wide
world. How did I get so lucky to have you as a best friend?"

Pulling me in for a side hug his hand comes up to
mess with my French braid. "I guess we're lucky our parents decided
to live next door to each other."

"Yeah, I guess we are."

We reach the bottom of the driveway to my house first
and I slide out
from
Noah's arm and take a few steps up the long black asphalt that
leads to my house a half-acre up. "Your birthday's not far away. Do
you have anything in mind for the big eighteen?"

He plays with the scruffy beard he just started to
grow last month as he thinks over my question. "Tell you what, how
about on my birthday I get you something and on your birthday you
get me something. This way we'll both be able to exchange gifts
without you having to celebrate your birthday."

Hmm. That could be a good idea and will give me
something to look forward to on the anniversary of my grandmother's
death, but I kind of love the idea of him giving me a
Hershey
’
s Kiss everyday.
I don
’
t want him to
change his mind before the new tradition has even started.

"Will I still get a chocolate kiss from you
everyday?"

"Shorty, every day you wake up and it's your
unbirthday I promise you'll get a Hershey's Kiss."

"Okay then, deal. But now you've given me less than a
day to get your birthday gift. I apologize in advance if it
sucks."

"It won
’
t
suck, shorty, because it's coming from you."

With that last statement he leaves me, walking next
door to his house. I smile as I watch his backside walk away. It's
a nice backside, incredibly sexy and tight. Maybe one day he'll
love me like I love him and I'll be able to tell him how much I
love his butt...among other things.

Chapter Three

"Babe, that's the fourth outfit you've tried on. You
look breathtakingly beautiful in anything you wear so please don't
change again. I told Noah we'd be there at ten and if we don't
catch a cab in the next five minutes we'll be late." Caleb checks
his watch again and the pressure to get dressed while he's watching
me is unbearable.

He's dressed immaculately in
Armani
from head
to toe and I just want to look like I belong on his arm for the
night. It's easy for me to get lost in the room when all eyes are
on him with his good looks and fancy clothes.

I adjust the thin straps of my little black dress in
the mirror and tilt my head, appraising my outfit from head to toe.
My short legs are smooth and lightly glisten from the lotion I
rubbed all over them. The dress fits snuggly, accentuating every
small curve. I'm petite so my curves are smaller, but this dress
makes them look envy
-
worthy. My short blond hair is down with my
peek-a-boo colored highlights poking through.

I look good and fuckable, but I want to look better
than good. I want to look completely irresistible.

While Caleb usually dotes on me hand and foot, he's
been a little distant lately. I know it's because of work and how
stressful it must be being the newbie at an established firm and
having the constant need to impress the partners, but I miss
him.

When he's home it's great. We're still us and fall
back into the comfortable relationship we've always had, but lately
he's hardly ever home and I get a little lonely. We don't get to
have sex as much as I'd like either, so maybe that's why I'm
feeling the lost connection.

Around my neck is a gorgeous new infinity necklace
that Caleb surprised me with the other night. It was a gift to say
how sorry he is for being gone so much. See, I am being
unreasonable. He's so amazing and tenderhearted. I'm so lucky to
have him. I can get over these feelings of doubt and enjoy the
evening because tonight we're going out.

After a few hours of persuasion and a hot make-out
session on the balcony of our apartment, I finally agreed to go
with Caleb to Bar Forbidden tonight. Noah's bar is not exactly
where I'd choose to spend an evening but it's what Caleb wants.

To the naked eye
,
Bar Forbidden looks like any other bar in the
city, but New Yorkers know different. It's why Bar Forbidden is the
hottest place to be any night of the week. You can chill up
front
;
chatting,
drinking, or watching whatever sports game is on that night, and
then you can pay a hefty fee and come in back to Club Desire, where
bottle service is mandatory and the girls wear next to nothing as
they perform for the patrons and do just about anything you ask
them to do.

It sounds sleazy, and I guess it is, but it's
high-class sleaze. Athletes, actors, and reality show celebrities
fill the place every night. Club Desire is in demand and Noah
caters to everyone's needs.

Slipping on a pair of nude heels to finish off my
outfit I turn to an impatient Caleb. "I'm ready, baby. Are you sure
I look okay?"

His eyes trail over my body as he licks his lips and
lets out a moan of appreciation. Moving in closer until he's right
in front of me, his hands fall on my ass and he lowers his mouth to
the crook of my neck and leaves a lingering kiss. "You look
stunning. You'll definitely be the hottest in the room tonight.
I'll be fighting guys off you with my bare hands."

His breath against my neck makes me giggle, sending
chills throughout my body. "I doubt it, but as long as you think I
look hot I'm happy."

We're able to catch a cab quickly and then we head
into the Upper East Side. It's not exactly where you'd picture a
bar like Noah's, but between the celebrities and the old money, the
bar does very well.

It doesn't take us long to get to Bar Forbidden and
we're ushered to the front of the line and walk right in. The
bouncers know Caleb well, since he's here a lot more often than I
am. Inside it's dimly lit, nothing but antique lights to give the
place its rustic appearance. Everything looks old and elegant. Noah
was even able to make the seven flat screen televisions throughout
the bar look like they belong.

I want to stay in the bar where the people are
friendly and I'm not afraid of saying the wrong thing or looking
like I can be bought, but I know that's not the plan. Caleb takes
my hand and we walk towards the back room, skipping the cover and
entering Club Desire.

The loud music assaults my ear drums as I look up and
watch three women put on quite a show on the main stage in front of
me. All three are wearing revealing lingerie. One's in black
leather, another is in white lace, and the third is in red satin.
They dance together to a sultry rendition of
Fever
as they
lightly touch each other over their lingerie. The women aren't
performing live sex acts or stripping. Their touches are quick and
soft, just enough to entice every man and some women in the club.
It's meant to be erotic, but not overly sexual.

And it works
,
too
,
because even I'm a little turned on and I'm straight. Noah knows
what he's doing to keep people coming back.

"There you are, lover," I hear called out and when I
turn to my left
,
Noah's
approaching us with my best friend
,
Kendall
,
behind him. Her long black hair is down and she's dressed in a
revealing skirt and top as she flaunts her model figure.

Kendall and I met my first month in the city. I was
miserable and contemplating just what I was going to do with my
life now that I dropped out of school and had no job lined up.
Unmotivated, I took a break in the grass somewhere in the middle of
C
entral
P
ark and I broke down crying. My
first month in New York was not what I envisioned and I was
depressed and lonely. I wanted better for myself and I was
seriously considering hopping on the next plane back to
Michigan.

With my hands covering my face as the tears fell down
my cheeks, Kendall plopped down next to me and sat there until I
was done crying. Our paths had never crossed before, but when I
looked up to see who was sitting next to me she nudged my shoulder
with hers and said, "Unless someone's dead, nothing and nobody is
worth being miserable over. Cheer up, girl. You
’
re in the city of dreams and endless
possibilities. Nothing can be that bad when you live here."

From that moment we were inseparable.

She's gotten me through some bad days. Anytime I
feel
depressed she's
there to pick me back up, and when she makes mistake after mistake
with the men she sleeps with, I'm there to pick up the pieces.
We're good for each other. She's always been loyal and we fill the
holes that are missing in the each other's
life
.

I'll be forever grateful she sat down next to me that
day.

Kendall works for Noah as the secretary of Forbidden
Desires, Incorporated. The office is across the street from Bar
Forbidden. From what she describes she does most of the scheduling
for each night as the phone rings off the hook. She's also the one
who schedules me with my late night callers.

I unintentionally hooked her up with the job after
she got fired from being some fashion designer's assistant. She
needed a job and when we ran into Noah
,
he was hiring. They seem to be a perfect fit.

"Sorry, my mistress took a little too long getting
ready," Caleb shouts back to Noah over the music as they pat each
other on the back with one of those one-handed man hugs.

"Skye!" Kendall shouts
,
leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. "When you
realize that your boyfriend is gay let me know. I have plenty of
hot, sexy men I could hook you up with," she teases.

"I'll keep that in mind." I wink back at her. We've
become used to Noah and Caleb's bromance and Kendall loves to tease
them.

We follow the guys toward the back of the club and
walk past another bouncer as he moves a velvet rope and we shimmy
past him and up the stairs to the upper level of the club. We're in
the VIP area. We hang out here whenever we're in Noah's club. I
hardly ever come but I must admit it's nice to get special
treatment every once in a while and not have to worry about being
harassed by any of the men down below.

We make our way to a booth off in the corner of the
upper level. There are bottles already in the center of the table
and I see a tall glass of Long Island
I
ced
T
ea
waiting for me on a bar napkin. It's my favorite and I prefer
drinking those over bottles of expensive liquor any day. Noah must
have ordered ahead for me. That was sweet.

Caleb stands at the end of the booth, gesturing for
me to slide in before him, and as I take a step towards the booth
Noah's hand grazes along mine and he slips something small in my
palm. I know what it is without even looking. It's a
Hershey
’
s Kiss. Even
after all these years, and all the ups and downs in our friendship,
he still remembers to give me one every unbirthday.

A soft smile spreads across my face as I move into
the booth and Caleb moves in to sit next to me. Kendall slides in
from the other side and we meet in the middle with Noah sitting and
closing off the other end of the booth. We all sit, drink, and talk
for a while. Kendall and I are engrossed in our own conversation as
Caleb and Noah talk to each other. Every once in a while Caleb will
mindlessly flutter his fingertips against my inner thigh, sending
tiny sparks of desire throughout my body.

The beat of the music changes as the DJ plays
The
New Workout Plan
by
Kanye West
. The first beat is out of
the speakers and Kendall is nudging Noah out of the booth. She
grabs my hand and pulls me out of the booth with her.

"Come on, Skye, this is my jam."

I laugh, a little louder than expected and that's
probably because of all the Long Islands I've had tonight. We move
a few feet away from the booth to an open space in the VIP area and
we both start dancing, swaying our hips to the music. I'm usually
self-conscious dancing in front of strangers, but the alcohol is
giving me confidence that I don't deserve because I have two left
feet.

Kendall
,
on the other hand
,
knows
exactly what she's doing. Her hands are in the air as she sways her
hips from side to side, making her torso look narrower and her ass
and boobs look more voluptuous. I try to imitate her and end up
tripping on my nude heel. I lean over and laugh at my clumsiness.
I'll never be as smooth and flawless at dancing as Kendall is.

I'm still hunched over when two hands fall on my
hips, alerting me that I'm probably about to be hit on by some
creeper. Standing up straight, I turn around
,
and Caleb looks down at me with clear,
electric blue eyes. I'm happy it's him touching me and not a
stranger, but I know those eyes. They're the eyes of
disappointment.

"Hey, baby. Want to dance with me?" I offer, hoping
I'm wrong and we'll continue to have a nice night out. We never
dance together because of my two left feet, but I'm hoping tonight
might be different. Maybe tonight I can drunkenly lure him onto the
dance floor with me.