Page 40 of Numbers Boy
“Of course,” Noah says excitedly. He goes through the various designs and the meanings behind them. There’s everything from “Well, I like petting dogs, and it makes people smile” when he tells me about the back of his hands to “I liked how it looked” about a swirl along his bicep.
“And this one?” I prompt, tracing the ink on his chest near his collarbone. I can just barely see part of it peeking out along the edge of the muscle tank I found of Stu’s to lend to him.
Noah’s smile turns a little sad as he shifts the material over so I can see the rest of the triangular piece. “This one matches one that Blake has. We got it with another friend in college.”
“Yeah?” I don’t want to pry, but my curiosity is piqued. It’s a pretty big deal to get matching tattoos with someone. It doesn’t surprise me that he has one with Blake, but the fact that it was three of them getting a triangle makes me wonder what the significance is.
“Yeah.” Noah takes my hand and starts to play with my fingers as he goes on. “Blake and I had another best friend, Kyle. Ex-best friend, now.”
“I know I can’t really judge because my collective friend group reads like a who’s who of a frat roster, but his name was Kyle?”
“Yep.” Noah’s mouth twitches in a small smile, so I feel okay pressing for more information.
“What happened with this Kyle?”
“Well, Kyle’s straight.” Oof, not a good start, if he’s now an ex-best friend. “And that wasn’t a problem for a really long time. But then some things changed, and it led to him removing himself from our triangle.”
I narrow my gaze at Noah, who is doing his best to not make eye contact as he trails one finger along my arm, connecting the freckles there. “One of you fell in love with him, didn’t you.”
“That’s really not my story to tell.”
Ah, so it was Blake who got his heart squashed by the straight boy. “Got it.”
“Yeah,” Noah says on a slow exhale. “So that’s the story of that one. Not the best, but it’s part of me.”
“And it’s cool you and Blake have matching tattoos,” I point out, trying to keep things positive.
Noah turns and gives me a genuine smile. “Yeah, that is cool. Now, it’s your turn. Tell me about your drag performance this weekend.”
A wide grin takes over my face, and I sit up a little straighter. “So that one is a routine as a backup dancer for another queen. But I have a bigger show coming up in a few weeks.” A thought occurs to me, and I decide to take this a step further. “Do you want to see the dress I’m making for it? It’s not done yet, but it’s getting there.”
“Hell, yeah, Princess.”
My heart flutters at his easy acceptance, and I pull him up off the couch to drag him into the spare room. After I show him the start of my dress, which he has plenty of compliments for, we spend the rest of the night sharing what we love about performing. The whole time, all I can think is that this is what I want. Someone who gets me and supports me. And I’m starting to think I’ve found it for real this time.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Noah
MY PHONE PINGSfrom where it’s sitting on the coffee table, and Blake sends me a knowing look.
“Is that your boyfriend?” he singsongs, making kissy faces when I reach over to set my water down and pick up the phone. Blake knows we made it official after I stayed the night at Steve’s the other day, and he’s been taking any opportunity he can to give me crap about it.
I can’t even be mad because when I see that it is a message from Steve, or Princess, since I changed it as soon as I saw him blush at the pet name, my heart beats faster, and I just know there’s a stupid smile on my face. So, I ignore my best friend and open the text instead.
Princess: Happy Friday! I hope you’re having fun with your free evening. *kissy face emoji*
Me: Sure am. Just getting settled in for a movie and take out.
Princess: *waving emoji* hi Blake!
“Steve says hi,” I mutter, happiness filling me at the words. I had offhandedly mentioned hanging out with Blake when Steve said he didn’t need me to walk Stacy tonight, but I didn’t expect Steve to remember. He really is the sweetest man. And I love that he so easily involves Blake.
As for Blake, he tilts his head to one side, a slow smile growing on his face, like he’s not sure what to make of Steve saying hi, but likes it. “Tell him hi back. What’s he up to tonight?”
“Not sure.” I shrug and send through Blake’s greeting, then ask. I was curious, too, but didn’t want to push since we’ve been seeing each other more days than not recently. My favorite times of the day are when I know I might see Steve and Stacy out for a walk. My phone pings again, this time with a picture along with the message.
Princess: The Working Boys are playing football. Somehow I ended up on the skins team *image attached*
