Page 76 of When the Stars Rise
“Huh.” Hayley is full of surprises. “Yeah?” She nods, and I study her face. There’s no hint of a lie, so I guess she’s telling the truth. “Glad you like it, but if it’s all the same to you, I’m more interested in making new memories.”
She gives me a coy smile. “I’m meeting your mom and sister downstairs in five minutes.”
“Then I guess we’d better make those five minutes count.” I drop to my knees, hook my fingers in the waistband of her leggings and roughly yank them down her legs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hayley
After a family breakfastin our suite the next morning, I’m sad to say goodbye but I follow the McCallisters to the door and hug everyone, promising to stay in touch.
“Promise?” Gracie says, her eyes so hopeful that there’s no way I could ever let her down. She’s wearing one of theBe Kind to Yourselfhoodies from my tour and packed three more in her bag for her friends.
I cross my heart. “Promise.”
I make a mental note to text her daily as Lila takes my hands in hers and squeezes them. “Make sure Noah treats you right.”
I smile. “He always does.” And that, at least, is true. She raised him right. “But if he acts up, I’ll keep him in line.” I punctuate my words with a conspiratorial wink like we’re in on this together.
“That’s my girl,” she says before turning to her son and hugging him goodbye.
I take a few steps back to give them privacy, but it’s plain to see how much they love each other. I always melt a little at the way Noah treats his mom.
He has never been shy about showing affection, and even when we were in high school, and he was Mr. Cool, he never pulled away from his mom’s hugs or got too embarrassed to tell her he loved her.
He’s always said it loud and proud.
Now, he nods at whatever she’s telling him and kisses the top of her head. But I think Lila knows as well as I do that while he’ll take her advice on board, he will still do exactly whathewants, and neither of us can stop him.
With a final goodbye, Noah ushers his family out of our room and closes the door before wiping imaginary sweat off his forehead. “We survived a McCallister invasion.”
I laugh. “It was fun.”
“Exhausting. I need a nap.”
Last night, we all had dinner in a private room in the hotel restaurant, which felt like a family celebration. It might have had something to do with the bottle of wine Lila and I shared, but regardless, we spent the whole night talking and laughing, and I was reminded how easy and how much fun it was to spend time with them.
I wasn’t lying when I said I loved the photo album. I love how much time and care Lila put into choosing the photos. Every memory is a good one, and while I’m not sure how I’ll feel when I see Shiloh, I don’t want to think about any of that right now.
“We need to go. We’re taking the scenic route, remember?” I remind him.
He grabs me around the waist and dives onto the bed, bringing me with him. “I’m ready to take the scenic route right now. Starting with your lips…”
Laughing, I face-palm him and wriggle out of his arms. Then scramble to my feet and jump out of the way when he tries to grab me again.
As tempting as it sounds to have sex with Noah, I know how these things go. If I give in now, one thing will lead to another, we’ll be running late, and Dean will try to force me into traveling on the bus.
So I don my leather jacket, and I’m halfway out the door with my helmet in hand when Noah catches up.
After a brief argument with Dean on the way out and his usual threats to Noah to keep me safe, I climb onto the back of Noah’s bike, wrap my arms around him, and we hit the road.
It’s hot and humid, and ten minutes into the trip I’m sweating in my jeans and leather jacket, but I don’t even care. The open road beckons and there’s so much freedom in that. I’m reveling in the sense of anonymity, my face shielded behind the tinted visor of my helmet with no phone cameras trained on me trying to capture my every move.
When we get out of the city and onto the backroads, the air smells sweet like freshly cut grass and my arms are wrapped around Noah and I feel so light and carefree that I’m practically floating.
I’d never admit this to Noah, but whenever I’m on the back of his bike, I feel like one of the cool girls and, okay, like a bit of a badass. Growing up, I was never really that girl. I remember feeling really awkward in junior high. I wasn’t part of the “in crowd” and I went through a phase where I thought it mattered what the other kids thought of me. Especially the girls. At our school, there were so many cliques and I never felt like I fit into any of them.
Noah never cared what anyone thought of him. He was always so confident and self-assured. He just did his own thing and if someone didn’t like it, too bad.
