Page 24

NOEL

When we let ourselves in, the party is just his mom and a couple friends drinking from wine glasses while watching the news. They have on little hats with tassels. Ace is in the kitchen area talking to his mom and hugging her with a big grin.

“Happy New Year, Mom. I love youuuuu.” He kisses her over and over again on the cheek as she bites into a piece of cake, smiling brightly.

Alex goes directly to the basement.

The ladies stand around chatting with Grady and Levi while they eat from the platter filled with desserts, fruits, and meats.

“How was the bonfire?” she asks us.

“It was fun! The fireworks were really pretty this year,” Ace interjects, and his mom sways a little bit. “Mom, no more wine for you.”

She gasps, holding a hand to her chest. “Who is the adult here?”

Ace grabs two empty bottles that were on the counter as evidence, and the other ladies holler in laughter.

“You're a spoiled brat,” she tells him, grinning from ear to ear.

“Ain't that the truth,” Grady says under his breath.

Ace puts the bottles down, smiling mischievously, before grabbing up a dessert platter and a small cake. He runs down the hallway with it.

“Theodore!” His mom yells, scandalized.

“Sorry, I'm hungry!”

Grady laughs with a deep chuckle, patting her on the back comfortingly. “You know how he gets when there's sugar.”

When we get to the basement, Alex is already in the back bedroom, sleeping. I take the couch with Ace, and Levi leaves us to go to Ace's bedroom, looking half dead already. Grady makes a pallet on the floor and lays down on that.

I stay up with Ace, huddling in the blankets with him beside me. He makes sure I have an ice pack and some ibuprofen for my throbbing face.

After a couple minutes, I hear Grady snoring, his hands under the pillow on the floor as he lays on his stomach, arms bulging with muscles. He's shirtless, and his back definition is impressive.

The television is on low, but we don't really watch anything. Ace is on his phone scrolling through social media, making comments with a low murmur about what he sees. He has the dessert platter beside him, reaching in to grab M no need to get angry on my behalf, Noel.”

“Did you ever tell Grady or Levi?”

“No. I didn't want them to know.”

“Why not?”

“Because they'd kill him,” he laughs. “You saw what Levi did when he saw him put his hands on me. He was going to do more, but I think the crowd helped, and he thinks that's all that happened with Kai. He doesn't need to know anymore.”

I snort, watching him smile, and my anger dissipates. It's his situation to deal with, not mine. He seems like he's content with the outcome, so I shouldn't involve myself in it anymore.

“If he ever hurts you or tries talking to you again—”

He cuts me off with another hug. “I'll tell you. Promise.”

I ruffle his hair. “Good.”

We both get extremely tired after talking for so long, so we watch the TV until our eyes droop closed.

After some time, Ace nods off with his arm hanging off the couch. I can see that he dozed off while playing with Grady's hair because his head is right beside the couch.

The next morning, (or afternoon really) Alex comes out of the back bedroom and jumps on the couch where I'm sleeping next to Ace.

It jolts us out of our sleep, and I open my eyes to Alex's face, grinning above me while sitting on my stomach.

I groan and try to pull the covers up above my head, but his weight keeps it still.

Ace reaches for his phone and taps at the screen while paying no mind to Alex's wake-up call.

“Do I need to let you out to go pee?” I grumble.

“Such a funny boy in the morning.” He taps my forehead with his pointer finger. I swat at him.

Grady starts to wake up from the floor, moving with a loud groan that has me whipping my gaze to stare at his large body laid out. The size of his morning erection tenting the sheets upward makes my eyes widen with a flush heating my cheeks.

I quickly look at Alex, who's laughing at me.

“Shut up!” I whisper, trying to shush him from saying anything.

Grady lazily shoves a hand into his pants and moves it so it's not poking up anymore. Good Lord, that thing really is an anaconda.

“Morning, guys!” Grady greets us all cheerily with a deep, scratchy voice.

“And a good morning to you and your pet snake,” Alex responds back casually, with a teasing glint in his tone. Grady chuckles, instantly understanding what he means.

“Yeah, you know how mornings are; can't really help that he wants to play.”

“Please stop,” I huff, face hot in embarrassment. Why are they always talking about his penis?

“Boys! I've got food ready for you!” Katherine yells from up the staircase.

Ace jumps up from the couch, throwing his phone down on his way to the stairs. “Fuck yes, I'm starving.”

“You ate all that junk food last night; shouldn't you be feeling sick?” I ask in shock, staring at the tray he demolished.

Grady stands up, rubbing at his insane abs. “His stomach is a black hole.”

“Clearly.”

Grady stares at Alex sitting on my lap while I'm still lying down, and his smile grows.

“So damn cute,” he states, then walks up the stairs, leaving us alone.

“He was talking about me; don't get flustered.” Alex straddles my waist, and I gasp at his audacity.

“What are you doing? They could come back down any…” I trail off, seeing Alex transform. In just a second, his teasing, playful attitude is gone and is replaced with a soft, gentle expression as he closes in on me, placing a very delicate kiss on my lips.

“How's your eye?” His lips trail up towards where my eye is starting to bruise. He places a kiss there as well. Pulling back, he inspects it closely.

“I…”

His hand cups my cheek.

The door to the basement opens, and Ace yells, “Stop messing around and come get food!” He shuts the door with a loud slam.

“That little—”

I reach up, grip his jaw, and kiss him boldly, pulling his face to mine with shaky hands. I have to push him off first so I can breathe. “Let's finish this later.”

“But later is so far away…” He comes in for another kiss.

“Alex, don't pout.”

“After all I did for you last night.” He shakes his head with a click of his tongue.

“You weren't really going to cut him, were you?”

His eyes flash mischievously, a hint of danger in there, but mostly it's him being mysterious.

“Bad, Alex,” I scold him while pointing my finger in his face, and he bites the tip.

“Oh, you haven't seen Bad Alex yet.”

He chuckles deep in his chest, and I blush warmly. I concede and push him off me so we can go and get breakfast.

Right before Alex leaves, he pats my cheek roughly and playfully messes up my hair as I swat at his hand, all while Ace snickers at watching our interaction.

“Are you sure you two are boyfriends?” he asks.

Grady leaves at the same time as Levi, but where Grady is all smiles and an upbeat attitude, Levi is annoyed and quiet. His lips are set in a line as he walks off without telling anyone goodbye, but it doesn't bother Ace one bit. He waves exuberantly at him and wishes him a good day with lots of rest.

I stay at Ace's for the day so he can tell me how to safely take things further with Alex.

I sit in shocked silence as he educates me on anal douching, penetration, condoms, dildos, a variety of lubricants, and explaining a medication called PrEP, which I appreciate more than anything. It's informative and not something I knew about until he told me.

By the end of his excited tirade, he's pulled out his own personal collection of sex toys to show me. They are all entirely too large and scary-looking, and when he sees my red face, he immediately puts them back.

“Any questions?”

I think over all he's said and find he's pretty much answered everything. “I think you covered it.”

After the worst part of the conversation is over, he asks about my relationship with Alex, but only what I'm comfortable telling him.

“He was my best friend when we were kids, but he didn’t remember me when he came back,” I start with. “Or so I thought. Turns out he lied, and he did remember me. But Alex has a complicated family situation, which causes him to act like an idiot to people he cares about.”

“Oh. Oh, I get it now…” He nods slowly, realizing all of our harsh moments had a reason behind them. “Damn…”

I chuckle under my breath.

“But you two are together now. And clearly very serious about each other if you’re asking me sex questions.”

“Yeah, it’s been really good. We worked through our shit.”

“I’m so happy for you.” His grin is wildly infectious, and he leans forward, throwing his arms around my shoulder and hugging me. I relax into the affection.

After that, we spent the day watching a movie while eating on the couch in the basement. “What's Levi doing today?”

“That girl from last night really likes him. I suspect she's probably over at his house so they can fuck, then Levi will sleep the rest of the day.” He continues to eat, but I watch him carefully.

“Doesn't that bother you?”

His mouth is full of turkey when he catches me staring at him. He shrugs. “I get jealous sometimes, but honestly, he's just living his life. I can't be mad at him for not wanting what I want for us to be. I can't wait for him forever, right?”

I think over what to say, so I don't say the wrong thing. Ace deserves to hear the truth, but I don't want to hurt his feelings. “If you love him, you'd want him to be happy.”

Ace smiles slowly, nodding. “You get it.”

“I hope he grows up soon. His attitude is—”

Ace barks out a laugh. “His attitude is what makes him so sexy.”

My disgust is shown very clearly by the way I feel my nose scrunch up. “You're attracted to that?”

“Oh yeah. Big time. The meaner, the better.”

“Ace,” I bemoan, shaking my head at him.

“You're one to talk! You're with Alex!”

“Is Alex mean?”

Ace blinks owlishly. “Is that a real question?”

I stare at him. “Okay, okay, we both like ‘em a little angry.”

Ace giggles. “Bad boys for life.”

I roll my eyes at him and we finish our food. He drives me to my house after our lazy day, hugging me tightly as we say goodbye.

“Thank you for everything.”

“Anytime.” This time, he ruffles my hair affectionately.

I go inside and my mom is there to greet me with wide eyes and a shocked gasp. “Noel, what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

She rushes over and touches under my eye, where I completely forgot I had a bruise forming. She fusses over me, and I let her. I explain what happened; I didn't see the point in lying about it. She understands I was only sticking up for a friend. She pats my cheek and gives me a serious expression. “No more fights.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

She nods understandingly. After a long pause, she squints at me. “So… Did Alex beat him up for you?”

“Mom!”

She raises both hands up, and I'm reminded of Alex. “Well? Did he?”

I sigh with cheeks burning hot. “I mean… yeah.” I shrug and she chuckles.

“That's my boy.”