Page 21

MILLIE

Stay where you are

Ouch.

I know this is only fake-dating, but Noah’s done a complete one-eighty.

One minute we’re sitting side by side, laughing and joking and having a meaningful time, and then he returns from the bathroom a different person.

He sits away from me, barely making eye contact and not talking.

Maybe he got an upsetting text message or sensed I was enjoying the closeness, and it freaked him out.

The mojitos are not helping me assess this situation clearly.

For the next ten minutes, there’s tension between us. Noah’s staring at the TV, but I can tell he’s not taking it in and I’m so busy glancing between him and Arnold Schwarzenegger my neck starts to hurt.

“Did I do something?” I finally ask, my blood pulsating in my ears.

Noah glances at me. “Not at all.”

Liar.

The unmistakable sound of keys in the front door ricochets down the hallway, Callum’s voice singing out as he clambers inside. “Holy shit! It’s mental out there!”

Noah bolts upright. “Get over here.”

My nostrils flare. “No.”

“Millie.” Noah’s voice drips with warning and I shiver unexpectedly.

“Couples can sit apart, you know,” I hiss. “Couples fight. He’s not going to care if we’re sitting separately.”

Callum sounds like he’s dropping belongings and shaking out his umbrella, still battling the weather outside. “Bro, the surf is huge! ”

Noah’s glare is thunderous. “I’m not arguing about this.”

“Well, I am.”

Noah exhales loudly. “I didn’t sit away from you for the reason you think.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”

“Yes, I do and you’re wrong. Now get over here before I make you.”

I cross my arms and lean back against the sofa, my face an open invitation. Make me.

He grits his teeth before jumping up and storming over to me, scooping me into his arms without hesitating. A squeal escapes my mouth as he drops me where he was sitting, before lying next to me. He entwines our limbs together, his legs encasing one of mine, my head now resting on his chest.

“You guys alive?” Callum calls.

“Hey man, we’re in here!” Noah calls out before glaring down at me. “Stay where you are.”

The tone of his voice frazzles my senses. So, what do I do? I lie still in the crook of Noah’s arm, heat racing to my cheeks.

I hear Callum’s footsteps as he enters the room. “Sorry to interrupt, guys.”

“You’re not interrupting anything,” I sing out, glaring at Noah.

His lip lifts in warning as I try to move, his legs stilling me with unimaginable strength. There’s a dare in his eyes. You’d better pretend you like me. You’d better act like my girlfriend.

Noah squeezes me closer to him and I let out a tiny gasp when the apex of my thighs rubs against his leg. The friction ignites a flame in my core, and I squirm at its unexpected intensity.

I swore sex was out of the question when we signed the contract, but now, it’s all I can think about.

The way he’s ordering me around, his attitude and bossiness, and the several mojitos we’ve had, brings out something feral in me.

As Noah focuses his attention on Callum standing behind the couch, I do something very unlike me.

I rock my hips ever so slightly against his thigh.

Slight, but deliberate.

His gaze snaps to mine and I raise my eyebrows in a dare. You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend? How’s this for acting like your girlfriend?

I rock my hips again.

I’m close enough to see his pupils dilate. His inhale is subtle, but urgent. He might be warning me to stop, telling me this isn’t what he wants.

I don’t know what I’m doing. Trying to dry hump my fake boyfriend because I’m annoyed with him, while his friend stands an arm’s length out of eyeshot. Mojitos are never a good idea in a fake relationship scenario.

I attempt to roll away from Noah’s leg, and gear up to excuse myself for the bathroom, when Noah jolts me to a stop.

“How’d you get here? I thought the roads were closed?” Noah asks Callum.

Noah pulls my body back to where it was, driving his leg up between my legs. His hand curving around my back traces the hem of my shirt before he presses into my tailbone, pushing me into him.

I can feel his hardened length against my hip.

My gaze meets his again and I see the challenge in his eyes. Who’s going to chicken out of this first? Thanks to the magic of white rum, I’m not interested in being the person who concedes tonight.

I rock my hips again. This time the pleasure catches me off guard so much my mouth drops open in a surprised gasp. My gaze follows the roll of his Adam’s apple, his lips parting as he watches me.

“The roads are still flooded,” Callum chimes in.

He sounds like he’s in the kitchen. Not close enough to see what we’re doing, but close enough we could get sprung in an awkward position.

The thought of getting caught only spurs me on.

“I came from Steph’s. I didn’t want to get stuck there because her roommate annoys me. ”

Noah and I silently find a slow, tortuous rhythm.

The unmistakable feel of how turned on he is only adds to the tension, his breathing ragged in my ear.

His hand lowers beneath the hem of my shorts, straight into my underwear, and curls around my ass.

He squeezes roughly and lifts me higher, quicker, encouraging me to increase my tempo against him.

The chase of the high overpowers every sense I have left, and I oblige without a second thought. I lower my head, turning slightly so I face his neck as I grind against his leg.

“I’m going to crash here,” Callum says. The fridge door closes, and a drawer opens. “Hopefully we get some good swell, and we can go for a surf in the morning?”

“Sure.” Noah’s voice is clipped, strained.

“What time will you be up?”

“I’ll message you,” Noah grits out.

As we continue to grind, I smile. Callum appears oblivious, preparing something in the kitchen behind us. The TV likely drowns out the rustling of fabric and movement, and he can’t see us in the reflection of the windows from this angle.

The more my pleasure climbs, the more daring I become. I turn my head slightly and drag my teeth over Noah’s ear lobe. His breath quivers and a strained croak sounds from his throat. His hand moves from my butt and finds its way to the front of my underwear, where he rubs his fingers over my clit.

A silent orgasm rips through me, and I tuck my head into the crease of Noah’s neck, biting down into his flesh to suppress the noises desperate to escape my throat. His breathing is quietly erratic, and he quickly tucks me closer to him, tickling my hair as I hear the shuffle of feet.

Callum walks by us in the living room as Noah stops rocking his hip, holding me into his chest as I come down from my high. I don’t know whether he came too, but Callum’s presence meant we had to stop, regardless.

“I love this movie,” Callum says, flopping down. “How hot is Jamie Lee Curtis?”

“Shh!” Noah hisses.

I assume it’s his way of diverting attention away from the two of us, pretending I’ve fallen asleep. Or maybe it was a panic-response, and he didn’t know what else to say.

I know I should clean myself up, but Noah doesn’t let me move. I know I should also be freaking out, analysing and assessing what we just did. Instead, I sink into his body, Noah dragging his fingers up and down my back.

Laying against Noah’s warm flesh isn’t awkward or weird. It’s comforting. My body sags against his as I start losing the battle to keep my eyes open. My breaths match Noah’s as I listen to the low hum of the television and Noah’s voice vibrating through his ribcage as he talks quietly to Callum.

He continues to trace his hand up and down my back, like a boyfriend would to his real girlfriend after bringing her to orgasm. It’s hypnotic and relaxing, and the tension from today slowly ebbs away with each stroke.

I’m already on the brink of sleep when Noah presses a kiss to the top of my head.

Turns out, there are some perks to having a fake boyfriend.