Page 45 of Touchdowns and Temptations

Noah is sitting on his bed. His back is against the big headboard, and he's looking down at his cell phone. I clear my throat to make myself heard.

“Here I am again.”

He has swapped his gray t-shirt for a white one and his long sweatpants for shorts.

“Sexy,” he comments on my outfit and heat rises in my cheeks. Compliments like that don't exactly make me not want to sleep with him. Especially when he's sitting there looking so damn sexy.

“You look sexy too,” I reply.

“So,” he changes the subject to my surprise and puts down his smartphone.

“What do you want to know?”

“Hm,” I say, trying to figure out where to start. “Let's start with the scar.”

Noah sighs and touches the spot where it is.

“Logan and I had a fight. He's five years older than us. He was eleven and I was six. Alex and I were teasing him and he picked up one of our toy cars and threw it at me. It hit me here,” he taps the scarred tissue above his left eyebrow, “and I got this scar”.

“Couldn't he have defended himself any other way?”

“Of course he could,” he says, laughing. “But this was the most efficient from a seven-year-old's point of view. He always had to stand up to two little brothers. Alex and I always stuck together.”

“Against Logan?” I guess, and Noah laughs.

“Against Logan, yeah,” he agrees. “Alex and I were and are a unit.”

“I see,” I mutter. “So how did Alex manage to find a girlfriend - without you?”

“I wasn't allowed to sit next to him anymore and Daisy was put there,” he answers with a laugh.

“Did you like her?” I ask.

“Daisy?”

I nod.

“Sure,” he says. “I still like her. We're all the same age, and we still get together when we're in Nashville. We're friends.”

“That's nice,” I say. “That you're still connected.”

“I think so too,” he says, smiling at me. “It's our home, and sometimes it's good to get away from the stress of Boston.”

“Why are you going to Nashville this time?” I want to know.

“It's our mother's birthday and it's the Fall Fair.”

“The Fall Fair?” I ask curiously, because I've never heard of it.

“You really don't know anything about it, do you?” Noah replies amused.

“No,” I say, biting my lip. “I'm from Boston and I've only lived in big cities. What do you do there?”

“During the day it's a market where local farmers sell their goods, there's food and drink. Of course, there are a lot of carnies and live bands. We try to go every year. And the Fall Fair is always held around our mother's birthday.”

“That's the official reason, of course,” I tease him.

“Absolutely!” Noah laughs too. “Every year we get drunk on our mom's birthday because there's a big party at the Fall Fair the night before. Once Alex came straight from the fair to the birthday breakfast.”

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