Page 111 of Alive At Night

The twinkle in his eye told me he didn’t mean a word of what he’d said, but I still had the oddest urge to defend Julian.

“The weekend was actually…a lot of fun.”

“Was it now?” Noah had a prying look worse than Gemma’s. “I heard you saw Gray and Nes.”

I leaned in conspiratorially. “Who I learned was actually Wednesday Elevett.”

Noah leaned back and laughed. “Did Jules tell you how much she hated being called Wednesday in college?”

I shook my head. “Why did she pick it as a stage name, then?”

“Grayson made her love it. Took a while, though.”

“That’s sweet,” I said with a smile before looking down at my menu. Noah also fell quiet across the table, taking a minute to peruse the options. The only thing that interrupted our momentary silence was the continual buzz of his phone. I was sure it always did that, rang off the hook.

With a sigh, Noah put his menu down and glanced at his phone. Not wanting to stare while he responded to girls or fans or whoever was hounding him, I buried myself in the menu again. But my stomach turned, and I wished we had agreed to get drinks, not fine dining for two.

A waitress swung by, grabbing our drink orders. Hard to say if she caught mine, though. Noah had most of her attention.

“God, I’m starving,” Noah commented, leaning back in his chair. His phone had disappeared, and I didn’t hear it anymore, so I wondered if he had silenced it. “I seriously want to order everything. But don’t worry, it’s all on me tonight.”

“Oh, you don’t—”

“Juniper, I asked you to dinner. Now, let metake you outto dinner, okay?” He put a hand up to stop my protest. “What looks good to you?”

“I’m not sure,” I said truthfully. “I ate a big lunch, so I’m really not that hungry.”

Noah fixed me with a stare before opening his mouth and saying something I honestly didn’t believe at first.

“Julian says youbarelyate lunch, and I have to make sure you have something for dinner.” He glanced back down at his menu. “He says you like gnocchi. Or pasta. But I shouldn’t imply they are the same because, according to you, they are not.”

“It’s a debatable topic,” I mumbled, trying not to let my lips curve up. “When did he say that?”

“Just now. He’s been blowing up my phone nonstop for a half hour now.” Noah cocked his head before stabbing a finger at the menu. “They have a creamy penne alla vodka. How does that sound?”

“I—good.” Food was the last thing on my mind, now more than ever. But it seemed that Noah was taking his task of making sure I ate seriously. Just like someone else I knew. “That sounds great, actually.”

“Excellent.” Noah put the menu down again, fixing me with a look. His eyes had a smokey quality to them. That, combined with his crooked smile and sleeves of tattoos, made him seem more mysterious than he really was. And attractive, of course.

But knowing someone was attractive was far different than having an attraction to them, and I realized Noah was firmly in the former category for me.

Shit. That look he was giving me was a dare, and I folded far too quickly. I took a sip of my water to buy myself time to change my mind, but my words came out the same regardless.

“What else did Julian say?”

Noah’s lips slowly formed into a shit-eating grin. “He’s threatening what he’ll do if I touch you. And the longer I go without answering his threats, the more creative they seem to be getting.”

“Oh my God,” I groaned. “I’m so sorry. He’s so incredibly infuriating.”

Of course Julian would try to domineer situations just the way he wanted them. But Noah appeared far from bothered that his friend was threatening him, which I struggled to comprehend. He grinned the entire time we paused our conversation to let the waitress place glasses of wine in front of us.

As soon as she left, he leaned forward onto the table. “Let me explain Julian for you.”

“Oh, I understand Julian.” I took an overly large gulp of my Chardonnay. “I’ve known him for over a decade, and most of it has not been pleasant.”

“I’m not saying he doesn’t have his faults, but you gotta realize he’s a good guy.Morethan a good guy.”

Wow, not only was Noah not bothered by Julian’s incessant threats, but he was also going tobatfor him?

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