Noah (2 page)

Caleb inside me is one of my favorite ways to spend a
lazy afternoon.

When I came home from work early this afternoon and
slipped in bed to take a nap,
his tender kisses woke me up surprisingly
. In those
first waking moments, when my eyelids flutter open and my pupils
adjust to the light, I sometimes find myself reflecting over the
day so far. But there are other afternoons, like today, when I'm
startled awake by the soft hands of my boyfriend, as he wraps his
arms around me and claims my body as his.

He takes his time, caressing every curve of my body
with his fingertips, as he slowly takes me from behind. His left
hand dips down to my swollen mound as his thumb plays with my clit
and I feel my climax approaching. My head falls back on his
shoulder and I close my eyes, ready for the feeling of ecstasy to
take over. I reach back and wrap my hand around his head and knot
my fingers in his hair, needing to hold on to something.

Chills run up my arms in anticipation of what's to
come.

But then I'm ripped out of my happy place as the
front door of our luxury apartment slams closed and I hear the low,
sexy rumble of Noah's voice as he calls out from the front room,
"Honey, I'm home."

I let out a frustrated, needy groan as Caleb chuckles
gently against the back of my head. His thumb continues to move
against my clit as he controls his laughter and yells
back
,
"We'll be out in a
minute, sugar."

Caleb's hips grind against my ass but the moment of
extreme high is gone. There's no way I'll be able to finish, or
even let Caleb finish, with Noah able to hear everything in the
other room.

I grab Caleb's forearms and shove his hands away from
my body before rolling away from him and climbing off the bed.

"What the hell, baby?"

"I'm not...finishing with him in the other room," I
hiss, loud enough for Caleb to hear but quiet enough that Noah
won't be able to.

Frustrated, Caleb drags a hand through his blond
curly hair and slides off the bed to stand up. While I'm getting
dressed
,
I toss him a
t-shirt to throw on, and when he catches it he looks down at his
hard cock. "What do you expect me to do about this? I'm not going
out there with a hard
-
on.
”
He
fists his erection as if to show me exactly what he means and I
roll my eyes as I finish throwing on sweats and a t-shirt.

"Go take care of it in the bathroom and I'll keep
your buddy company."

Caleb's facial expression softens as he strolls over
to me and rests his hands on my shoulders. "Come on, baby. He can
wait two more minutes. Let me have two minutes and I promise to
make all one hundred and twenty seconds worth it for you."

A part of me feels bad for stopping the release we
both obviously need. My southern region is still screaming to be
satisfied, but I've never been into public fucking, and even though
we're in the privacy of our own home, knowing another person can
hear us ruined the mood for me.

Standing up on my toes I lean in and kiss Caleb on
the cheek, while giving him an apologetic pout. "I'm sorry, honey,
I just can't. We can pick this up later and I'll make it up to
you." Before he has any time to distract me I walk
past
him and out of our bedroom so
I can go greet our unwanted houseguest.

My stomach aches with unwelcome knots every step I
take.

The man I'm walking towards
who gives
me this unwanted stomachache is
Noah. He's my boyfriend's best friend, a title I used to share with
Noah until the end of my freshman year of college. Noah and I grew
up together and were inseparable our entire childhood. We did every
activity imaginable and he even played dolls with me because there
were no girls my age on our block. As we got older he'd beat up the
boys who teased me during my awkward phase. When I learned how to
drive
,
he came home for
a week and taught me how to change my own oil and fix a flat
tire.

Although he was my best friend growing up, we had
entirely different plans for adulthood. While I knew I wanted to
get married and have a successful husband, three kids, and a career
to fall back on when the kids started school, Noah was more of a
free spirit. He had no plans. He lived life by his own schedule,
and never let anything get in his way. Now he can barely take care
of his dog.

When he graduated high school, he left to go travel
Europe
,
leaving me to
finish
h
igh
s
chool and prepare to attend
university alone. Noah believed anything worth learning was taught
through experience, not in a book.

Back then
,
my teenage self thought he'd grow out of his Peter Pan
phase
and eventually go to college
and settle down. I wanted a marriage and love like my parents
had...and I wanted that with Noah. I knew that when he was ready
to, I'd be right by his side and hopefully he'd look at me as more
than the little girl he grew up with and more like wife
material.

My teenage self was dreaming because that never
happened. A few years after he began traveling the world, he
visited me in the spring of my freshman year of college. He didn't
come alone. He brought his friend
,
Caleb
,
with him.

Caleb was the textbook for the type of guy I
envisioned settling down with. He had goals for himself, great
goals that included getting an education, a stable job, and then
settling down with a wife and kids. Noah had no plans of settling
down with a girlfriend
,
let alone a wife.

And Caleb was incredibly sweet and unbelievably
reliable. Their different lifestyles and goals made it hard for me
to believe they were such good friends.

Caleb and Noah had met briefly in Prague over the
previous summer and after traveling together for a week, Caleb left
to go back to the
S
tates
so he could start his senior year of college, while Noah continued
on to another city and adventure. They kept in touch and when Noah
invited him to come with
him
to visit me for the weekend, Caleb took him up
on his offer.

I wouldn't say Caleb and I hit it off right away, but
when Noah ditched me to hit on a sorority girl, Caleb and I got to
talk and we've been together ever since.

Six years, one cross-country move, and a graduation
from law school later and I'm still with Caleb, one of the most
promising new lawyers at his law firm.

As I enter our bright purple kitchen with white
cabinets and a variety of paintings I found around the city, Noah's
back is to me as he pours himself a cup of black coffee. He turns
around when he hears me enter and smiles my way. His eyes trail up
and down my body as he takes a sip of his drink.

"Good afternoon, shorty."

"Hey," I grumble as I nudge him away from the
speckled granite counter and grab a mug to fill with coffee for
myself. There's always a fresh pot of coffee on in my apartment
when I'm home. I need caffeine continuously flowing through my
veins to survive. You'd think I'd get enough at work to last the
day, but I don't. "Next time you come over you should knock and
wait for someone to let you in."

"Why would I knock when I have a key?"

Ugh.

I never gave him that key. Caleb did. Around the same
time we stupidly decided to rent the apartment across the hall from
Noah.

"Because knocking is the polite thing to do. We
were...sleeping and you startled us."

Turning to face him, I lean back against the counter
and place my mug down next to me so I can fix my messy hair. I pull
my short, shoulder length blond hair with subtle pink and purple
streaks up into a messy ponytail and then resume sipping my
coffee.

"I almost forgot," Noah says, reaching into his
pocket and changing the subject. Pulling out a Hershey's Kiss, he
hands me the single piece of my favorite chocolate and I smile over
at him before unwrapping the silver foil and plopping the chocolate
kiss in my mouth. "Happy Unbirthday, shorty."

"Thanks, Noah," I mumble back as I suck on the milk
chocolaty goodness.

We stand in the kitchen in silence, both of us
enjoying our warm caffeinated drinks. Noah and I have a lot of
these moments where we're both present in the room, but neither of
us talks much. I long for the old days and how comfortable we were
around each other. Conversation used to flow effortlessly between
us. I was able to tell him everything, but since I've been dating
Caleb our friendship has wavered. Sometimes I think the only reason
we still talk and are in each other's lives is because Noah and
Caleb are close friends.

Caleb's feet tap against the hardwood floor of our
apartment as he enters the kitchen dressed in a designer suit and
dress shoes. His blond curls are slicked back and he's ready for
work. He's adorable when he's dressed all business-like.

“
Listen, lover," Caleb says,
directing the romantic pet name to Noah. "If you're going to come
barging in here whenever you see fit, you better be prepared to
suck my dick. Because of you I'm struggling with a massive case of
blue balls."

Noah laughs, spitting the last sip of coffee back in
the cup. "It's not my fault your girl doesn
’
t want to get you off."

"Jesus," I chime in. "I'm right here, guys. Can we
please not talk about this." I'm uncomfortable with where the
conversation is headed. I've known Noah my entire life and I don't
want him to know any of the details of my sex life.

They both ignore me.

"Skye was just about to come, taking me with her, and
then you came in and killed the mood."

I wish I could say this is the first time they've
openly discussed Caleb and my sex life in front of me, but it's
not. They do it because they know it makes me uncomfortable, but
they also know I won't stay mad. Caleb would never talk so vulgarly
about it if he thought it really bothered me.

"If she wasn't willing to finish with me in the other
room, then you aren't doing it right, Caleb. You should have your
girl so hot and bothered that a Tsunami could hit and she'd rather
come and flood your dick than run for cover."

Oh my God, are they really having this conversation
right now?

"Next time I'll get here earlier so I can watch. I
can critique your performance and give you some tips." Looking at
me, Noah continues, "You're into that type of kinky shit, right,
shorty?"

"Ugh," I grumble, leaving the kitchen that suddenly
feels too small and suffocating with the two of them in it. I storm
back into the master bedroom to get changed into normal clothing.
After working at the coffee house early this morning I took off
from my midday dog walking job and came home to take a nap, hoping
to enjoy a peaceful afternoon in and not listen to those two talk
about my sex life. Caleb had a rare afternoon off but now he has to
head into work.

Just as I'm about to close the bedroom door Noah
yells, "I'm just kidding, shorty. I don't have to come in and watch
you have sex with my lover. Caleb already lets me video tape
you–shit! What was that for?"

"Your big mouth, dick. Now she's going to be checking
the bedroom for hidden cameras."

Their banter causes me to let out a soft chuckle.

Men.

If the two of them weren't such idiots, and Noah and
I were as close as we used to be, I'd probably find their
inappropriate closeness sweet. But they are idiots–my cute,
adorable idiots, so it's not sweet. Plus, Noah and I aren't close
anymore. Sure, I see him everyday and he still knows everything
that's going on in my life because he lives across the hall and is
best friends with my boyfriend, but something has changed. It's
like an invisible wall is up between us and no matter how hard I
try, I'm unable to tear it down.

I miss how easy it used to be between us. I miss
being able to talk to him about anything and everything, and
spending countless hours with him every day doing absolutely
nothing and loving every minute of it. I miss the innocence of our
relationship when we were kids and our biggest problem was choosing
whose house we were going to eat at that night.

Skye

Age 8

"Did you know that Mattel sells a pink
Barbie
dream house that's two stories high and you can buy a plastic pool
separately to go in the backyard? I want it so bad."

"They probably sell a bunch of
Barbie
shit,
Skye. That's how corporations make money. They suck you in with a
cheap
Barbie
and then they have all these add-ons where they
really make the money. My dad explains it better than me."

"Noah!" I shout with my eyes wide. "You can't swear
in my house. If my daddy hears you you'll get in trouble." Noah's a
few years older than me so I'm not surprised he knows so much about
corporations and stuff, but I know he's not allowed to say bad
words.

Noah rolls his eyes and continues to play with one of
my brunette
Barbie
dolls. He takes her sparkly orange and
blue top off and starts playing with her boobs. It's really
frustrating because I take a lot of time finding just the right
outfit for each of my dolls and then he takes their clothes off in
less than ten seconds.

"Do you ever wonder why
Barbie's
breasts have
no nipples?"

"Gross, Noah. Can you stop playing with her boobs and
put her pretty top back on. She needs to be dressed when my
Wedding
Barbie
marries
Ken
in a few
minutes."

He doesn't set my doll down and it's infuriating.
When he ran over here this morning in his basketball shorts and
yellow video game t-shirt he wanted to spend the day on the lake,
but I was already playing with my
Barbie
dolls. I thought he
was being a good friend agreeing to play with me, when really he
just wanted to get my dolls naked.