Entangled (40 page)

I turn my head and catch Andi playing with her phone, texting someone I presume. Probably Derrick…who else?

“Excuse me for a moment.” She leaves the table. I finish eating in silence.

Derrick turns 23. I’ll be 24 in January, though I don’t celebrate it. Birthdays should be fun and memorable. Mine, well it’s memorable, it’s also a day I’ve tried to forget, the day my mother was taken from me and my life changed infinitely. Some birthday present huh?

I lay on Noah’s couch after a short nap and a minor day-mare. We spend the day being lazy before the party at Midnight later. I lay, thinking about Noah and his mother. I really hope she straightens her act up for his sake, if nothing else. I can tell he was happy to speak to her and I wondered why he waited so long to call her, since it’s been over a couple months when he got the letter. It’s so important to have your mother in your life. I would say father too, but just hearing about him, I’m glad he’s not around or I’d feel obligated to say something to him.

“When are we meeting them?” Noah joins me on the sofa. I move to lay my head in his lap. He begins to run his fingers through my hair.

“About 7.” I reply, closing my eyes, loving the feel of my hair being played with.

“Wanna go for a run?” He asks, hopeful.

“Now?” He smirks, “It’s cold.”

“Ready?” We start outside, dressed in light pants and thin long-sleeved shirts. I put my moves on, distracting him. “Hey, stop it. I know what you’re doing.” I laugh innocently, running my hands up and down his lean chest over his shirt. He squirms, grabbing my wrists to stop me. “That’s called cheating.” I nip at his neck, loving his reaction. Hey, I’m a girl…he should be giving me a head start.

“I’m not cheating. That was a good luck move.”

“Well, in that case,” He grabs me in a hug, shoving his hands under my shirt, caressing my bare back with cold hands. I gasp at the contact and push away but his hold tightens, pushing me against him. “Good luck”.  He whispers gruffly before nipping the sensitive part of my ear.

As soon as his grip loosens, I take off running down the path. But in a short time, he’s at my heels. Dammit; I’m trying to breathe through my nose. He passes me, smirking. I will my feet to speed up but I’m not as tall or athletic, which is my disadvantage. Noah senses me a good distance behind, slows down a pace and calls to me. “Come on, catch up turtle.”

I wave my hands in the air, “I’m not equipped for this.” My feet slow on their own, leaving me no choice but to follow their lead and stop. My heart is pounding, and my chest hurts. I plop down on the ground, hugging my body for warmth. Only a few days ago we had snow, which we played in, and threw snowballs at each other. I felt like a kid again.

“Are you okay?” Noah stands above me, reaching out to help me up and pulls me into his warm chest. I wrap my arms around him tight, enjoying the way our bodies mesh together. “Soon we’ll be in New York, alone. No distractions.”

“You’re forgetting Spencer will be there.”

He laughs, “Oh yeah, well we can always kick him out.” I pull back, keeping my body right where it is and tilt my head to the side, “I’m sure one night with us will send him away now that we’re together.” The first time we were talking about him and Andi hooking up. My how things change.

He wiggles his brows, twitching his mouth, “Yeah, because we’re a hot couple who have no self-control.” I moan when he plants wet kisses down my neck. Damn, we really don’t have any control. It’s freezing outside and we’re making out.

“We need to get ready for the party soon.” I don’t use much conviction behind my words, just felt like reminding him. After a minute my head falls back, giving him better access to my neck and he takes advantage. His mouth creates a path from my jaw to my collar bone, leaving chills in its wake. Gripping his shoulders, I slowly lift myself up Dirty Dancing style and at last our mouths meet. I want him, every bit of him. “Noah.” I moan loudly. He dips his fingers under my pants, my panties and caresses my bare ass. Holy-

“Your skin is so soft.” He whispers, digging his nails into my flesh, while he explores lower. I gasp, from pain or pleasure, I’m not sure. Probably both. More kissing and more caressing quicken my pulse, forcing me to grip his shirt in my fists for composure, though I have none.

All of a sudden, rain is pouring down on us with no warning. We break apart as its pelting us, chilling us to the bone. "This is just...awesome." Noah frowns down at me, shielding me from as much rain as possible.
 

"We needed to get ready for the party anyway." It's like the weather people knew we had somewhere to go in a couple of hours. "We can finish this later." I grab for his hand, leading him back to his apartment.

He gives me a sexy smirk, "Or we can finish this in the shower." I'm down for that. But before I can agree, he yanks my body against his and kisses me with such force, he knocks the breath right out of me. I sink into him, his touch, as our kisses speed up again.
 

He finally slows down, grips my face between his big, strong hands and caresses my cheekbones with his thumbs. I catch my breath, slowly opening my eyes to see his cheesy grin and huskily sigh, "Or that." He's pleased with my reaction.

His eyes search mine for several seconds, while his thumb brushes my bottom lip. "Sorry, I just love kissing you in the rain."

"You know we could catch pneumonia, right?" He stares at my mouth.
 

"I've never kissed anyone in the rain. I never thought it was even remotely romantic." I swallow, his gaze returns to mine again with so much desire and love, my breath hitches. "But
with you, there's nothing better. Nothing more amazing. You have to know that. I could kiss you all day in the rain and it still wouldn’t be enough. You have to know what you do to me.”

"I do." My reply is weak. But I do know. I know it deep within my soul. He smiles, melting my heart.

We walk through the doors at 7, fully dressed and dry after an amazing shower. I try to hide my excitement at the surprise I’ve planned for Noah. It’s Derrick’s birthday, not Noah’s. I know, but I’ve been working on a song for him, a song that tells of our story.

“Maddy.” Linda and Andi approach me.

“Where’s Derrick?” I ask, giving them a hug.

“Right here.” Derrick announces from behind me. Landon’s beside him. He nods to me.

“Happy birthday.” I give him a peck on the cheek.

“Better not let my cousin see that.” He jokes.

“Oh, I saw it. You better watch yourself. I know where you sleep at night, remember?” He bumps his fist with Derrick and they do their macho manly man greeting. We all slip into an easy friendly converse with one another crowding a table, ordering food and drinks. Noah gently grasps my hand in his, absently stroking my knuckles with his thumb. Tingles shoot up my arm from the feel of his fingertip.

“Are you sure you don’t mind me getting a drink?” I lean in and whisper.

“I’m positive. You order what you want, babe.” He smiles, I kiss his cheek. “Thank you, I love you.”

“I love you too.” He tucks my hair behind my ear, planting a kiss on my forehead.

So I order a beer and a burger. Everyone else orders their drinks and food too. I sit back, watching the people around me, feeling at ease, content.

Noah and Landon even talk politely, making me smile, grateful that they’ve managed to put their machismo to rest and get along.

“Do you realize you’ve been dating Noah almost 6 months now?”

“No, it’s almost 3 months, officially.” I correct Andi.

“Oh come on, you’ve both liked each other since you met. You were just trying to fight your feelings for so long. It may as well be 6 months.” I lay my head on her shoulder and squeeze her hand.

“Toast, I wanna make a toast.” Landon stands with his glass raised. So we all stand with our drinks raised and wait for him to continue. “It’s been an interesting year and an even more interesting few months. We’ve been through a lot, good and bad. Derrick has always been the peacemaker of the group, the best friend I could ask for.” Noah takes my hand, lacing our fingers.

I lean into him and return my attention back to Landon. “I love you man. Have a kick ass year.” We clink our drinks together.

“While we’re at it, I’d like to say something.” I drop Noah’s hand so he can focus. He looks at me, then at the rest of the gang individually. “When I moved here, I didn’t know anyone except my aunt and Derrick. But even you guys were strangers to me. Ii didn’t know you that well. But you took me in, took a chance on me despite my past. I made a lot of mistakes in my life and wasn’t sure if this move would really make much of a difference. But it did and I have you all to thank.” He points to Landon, “Even you Landon.” He returns his gaze to Derrick, “Happy birthday cousin. I hope you have another great year.” We all cheers, Noah wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close.

I think he’ll be okay.  Life has its way of working out for some. I think of Jim and my heart constricts. Maybe not for all though. I force a smile on my face and interact with my family. It’s a happy time, no frowny Fran is allowed.

An hour passes by, an hour of dancing, singing, drinking and celebration. It’s a good night. “How are you doing?” Linda sits beside me, watching the dance floor flood with bodies during a karaoke break.

“I’m good.” She pats my arm and I smile at her, a real smile.

“Maddy to the stage please.” Mike pulls my attention to the front.  My heart leaps up in my throat in a ball of nerves.

“That’s you baby girl.” Linda says, patting my back now. I know what’s coming and for whatever reason, my throat goes dry.

“Can I have a glass of water?” Andi hands me a drink.

“Oh Maddy, I know you’re not nervous.” I hold up a finger for Mike to wait while I chug half the glass of water. I better not have to pee while I’m singing.

“What are you singing, baby?” Noah kisses my cheek.

“You’ll see.” I leave his side and walk to the stage. My hands start to sweat so I wipe them on my pants before reaching for the Mic.

“You got this, do your thang.” I smile at Mike, even though my body is trembling which makes no sense. I’ve been up here dozens of times and I’ve never been such a tight ball of nerves. I glance at the crowd, the eager and anxious faces, waiting for me. I catch Noah’s gaze, he winks at me and then mouths “I love you”, which makes my heart soar with butterflies. My nerves finally ease a little as I bring the Mic up to my mouth. “Tonight is a special night. It’s my best friends’ birthday. He’s 23 today.” I point to where a very embarrassed Derrick is shaking his head. He hates attention unless it’s from his friends. People shout ‘happy birthday’ and hoot and holler. His face turns red.

I laugh into the microphone, “Sorry Derrick, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” I clear my throat, “Okay so the real reason I’m up here is for someone else. I’ve been working on a song I recently discovered and when I first heard it, and listened to the lyrics, I knew I had to sing it. It’s called “Then You Look at Me” by Celine Dion,” and I find Noah staring at me in wonder, once our eyes meet, they lock. “This is our song Noah, I love you.” My voice breaks at the end with emotion and in his eyes I see some emotion as well. Mike starts the song; I prepare for my first verse and sway to the music. I look straight ahead, into the crowd but not really seeing them. I close my eyes, soaking up the melody with my head down, and finally bring the mic to my mouth after the third count…

Laugh and cry

Live and die

Life is a dream, we are dreaming.

Day by day,

I find my way,

Look for the soul and the meaning.

Then you look at me,

And I always see,

What I have been searching for.

I’m lost as can be,

Then you look at me,

And I am not lost anymore.

My body sways to the music, my eyes open a little glossy as I pour my heart out into the song. Lyrics always make me emotional, especially the powerful ones. All of Celine’s songs are powerful, but this one is my favorite.

As the next verse starts, I walk to the end of the stage and sing with so much passion, closing my eyes every so often, feeling the story deep within my soul, like it’s my own. During the musical break, Noah moves to the front, watching me with so much adoration and love, I move down the steps to stand in front of him. It’s as if a force pulled us together for this moment. I don’t usually sing off the stage but tonight, it’s only Noah and I, nothing else exists.