Man Up Party Boy (14 page)

I shake my head. "No. Cooper told me you took off and I thought this was the logical place."

She straightens herself up on the lounge chair, so that she's sitting tall, and takes a good look at me.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Stephan. He thought you might," I pause searching for the right words. I think using the term 'wet your panties', would earn me a slap across the face. "He thought you'd be more likely to listen to me if I came out here in a bathing suit."

She rolls her eyes and smiles. "I guess that's why he forced me into this bikini."

"Except I don't need any help listening. I'm not going anywhere. I'm all in Lexi. All in. I'm sorry if you got the impression I'm not, but I am."

She looks away from me. I take her hand. "I know you may not be ready to say it. Maybe you don't even want to believe it, but I know how you feel about me because it's how I feel about you." I slip a champagne flute into her free hand hoping she'll drink it and not pour it over my head. "You try to find some escape, but I'm always there. Little things I say or do jump into your mind during the thirty seconds of peace you thought you found. I possess you, the same way you possess me."

She shakes her head and moves her legs off to the side opposite me, like she's going to get up and walk away. I grab them, pull them toward me, and hug them against my body.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" I ask.

"Don't even," she warns.

I take a sip from my glass buying time to search for the right words. "I'm not saying that. Just answer the question. Do you believe in love at first sight? At all?"

She sips her drink, shrugs, and then nods. "Yes. I guess I do."

"Good. So do I." I reach for the pie and break off a piece. I offer it to her on the fork, but she refuses. "Eat it, Alexis." My eyes trail down her body for a moment. "You've lost too much weight, and this is delicious."

"I can't."

"You can, and you will." My voice is stern. She needs to eat, and I'll force feed her if I have to. "Besides, I can't get that image of feeding you the eggs out of my mind."

Reluctantly she opens her mouth. This is the best sign of all. I say a silent prayer of thanks.

"I didn't love you the moment I saw you. I want to get that out there."

"Great!" Her eyes cloud over, and I can see she has no idea where I'm going with this.

I break off another piece of pie and wait for her to open her mouth and accept it before speaking again.

"But if we both believe people can fall in love immediately, then we can believe that people can fall in love quickly. Only with us, we didn't fall in love quickly. Things have been simmering between us for years, and maybe they simmered so slowly we didn't realize the heat level was rising. The point is we had a foundation. While it seems like everything happened in a whirlwind over this last week, it didn't. It took years for us to get to this point, so it's not too fast, like I was afraid of. And it's not an illusion, like you're afraid of."

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does." I place the pie back on the snack table and take her hand again. "Because if I can get you to believe it's possible, I can convince you it's real."

"This is all bullshit. You talk about this happening over the course of years. You forget how you felt about me years ago. You were never interested in me. Not then. Not now." Her eyes blaze as she leans forward, in the chair, inadvertently bringing her mouth closer to mine.

"And how dare you come here and spew out all this garbage about how you feel for me when you're so embarrassed you couldn't even admit we were together to my brother. Instead you acted like I was some cheap tramp you hooked up with for the night, and couldn't wait to get rid of."

She tries to pull her hand away from me, but I don't let her. I squeeze it tighter instead. "I wasn't embarrassed, Lexi. I was scared. I didn't want him to lose his mind the way he did until he heard all the facts. I wanted you dressed and by my side, and most of all, I wanted Cooper rational when I told him that I'm in love with you."

"You're what?"

I close in on her, bringing my face so close to hers that if I move another centimeter I  won't be able to see her clearly. I look directly in her green eyes, with all the focus and intensity I could muster so she can see the emotion in mine. I speak, making sure to articulate each syllable of every word clearly. Concisely.

"I am totally and completely, head over heels, once in a lifetime, I'll cut my heart out and hand it to you in a chest of gold, in love with you."

I don't wait for her to respond. I bring my mouth down on hers, because I need a moment to regain my strength. I need a moment to fill myself with her, so I can find the courage to hear her response. I'm frightened that she might be so pig headed and stubborn that she's going to turn me down, or lock me out of her heart. I don't think I can handle it. She doesn't fight this kiss. Her hands run over my chest and shoulders. Her fingers stretch up into my hair. I close my eyes as she pulls back.

"I love you too, Noah." She shakes her head, "But I don't trust you."

I cup her face in my hands. "It's a start."

"No. It isn't. If I can't trust you there's no point. You hurt me, and I don't think I can get over it."

I run my hand over her hair, down her neck, right over her heart. "I hoped my word would be enough, but I understand that it's not. You've been told lies for years by the people you trust, about the men that love you."

She looks confused.

"You're mother and Cooper. One kept you from your father, the other kept you away from me. You asked me why Cooper would lie. I know now. He saw us in the hall hugging. He heard me promise to steal you away if your boyfriend didn't treat you right. Do you remember that? Please say you remember."

She nods her head.

"That's it. The moment when the heat between us turned up just a little bit. That's when my feelings started to simmer, only it was so slow and subtle I didn't know it until now, when they got so hot, so wild, and out of control, they bubbled over and threatened to scorch everything in their path."

"And he didn't want us together?"

I shake my head. "For the same reasons I didn't want to touch you until I was absolutely sure you weren't going to be a quick fling. He was afraid if it didn't work out he'd have to choose between us, or worse, that he'd lose us both.

"What fucking bullshit is this? You knew you cocksucker?"

Cooper comes storming out from the sliding glass door. He comes toward us at full steam, reminding me very much of a steamroller and stopping dead in his tracks when I come into full view.

"What the fuck?" His eyes open wide as they drop down to the tight fitting bathing suit.

"It was Stephan's idea," I explain.

Lexi giggles at her brother's reaction. We both turn our attention to her.

"How did this happen? How did you and Noah? How did you end up here with Dad? And how long have you known about him?"

Lexi finishes the champagne in her glass before answering. Cooper takes the opportunity to rummage through the basket. Not finding any other glasses, he pulls the bottle out, screws off the top and looks at me.

"I don't know what's worse, the fact that you're trying to sweet talk my sister with this cheap shit, or that it's so fucking girly."

He brings the bottle up to his lips and takes a large gulp.

"I'll answer your questions, after you answer mine." Lexi stares her brother down. "Did Noah ever say I was fat and repulsed him?"

Cooper takes his time, looking us both over. He looks worried, and for a moment, I'm not certain he's going to tell her the truth. He promised on the flight here, but there's nothing I can do if he changes his mind. All I know for sure is this moment right here is a game changer, for all of us. If he lies I'll never forgive him. If he tells the truth, he's afraid we'll never be the same. In the end, I hope I know my friend well enough to trust he's going to do the right thing.

"If he did, don't you know I would've kicked his ass."

"What?"

I can't tell if she's relieved or upset. Her eyes are watering up again. I squeeze her hand to remind her I'm here, right beside her.

"Do you know what that did to me? How I've never felt pretty enough or thin enough for anyone? Hearing it constantly from Mom was one thing, but when you told me Noah said it, you destroyed me, Cooper."

"Then you should fucking thank me. You should give me a gold plated thank you that I helped you save yourself for Mr. Right over here."

"If it matters, I think you are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. And I can't get enough of your body. You know what you do to me."

"My sister, dude. You're talking like that to my fucking sister."

Lexi's eyes meet mine, and I can see she's still frightened, still leery. "What if I gain weight again and get fat?"

"You never were fat."

"Noah, I've seen some of the girls you've been with, girls you've been interested in. None of them are curvy or look like me. What if I get lazy and stop exercising so much?"

"The truth is I hope you do gain weight. I hope at some point in the future, you gain thirty or forty pounds, and that you're stomach gets big and round, just like Marlena's. And I hope like hell that I'm the reason for it."

No one speaks. I swear, if a fish blew a bubble miles away in the ocean we'd be able to hear it.

"Not now. Not today. But eventually." I clarify, worried I might have just scared her off. "And if it does work out," I point my thumb at Cooper, "He promised to pay for the honeymoon."

"No way?" Lexi's all smiles. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her close for a kiss. There's nothing better in the entire world than holding her like this.

Lexi pulls back. "Wait. I
heard
Noah say those things. If he wasn't talking about me, then who?"

Cooper's eyes are closed as he shakes his head he opens them and looks at me as he answers. "Do you remember after we graduated from high school there were rumors about that lunch lady?"

"The one that used to flirt with the guys from the football team?"

He nods and smirks. "Yeah, that one."

"You said she started a prostitution ring and you wanted to check it out."

"Right. And you said no way . . ."

"Because she was fat and ugly and repulsed me."

He nods.

"I swear Cooper, I should kick your fucking ass right now."

He shakes his head. "Nah. No need. They were just stupid rumors anyway."

"You did not go to her house!" Lexi says as if she can't believe he brother would do it.

He sucks in a breath. "Bitch threatened to call the cops and get a restraining order against me."

"Serves you right. How come you never told me?"

"Because I was still pissed you hit on my sister, I wasn't going to let you know what a jackass I was on top of it." Cooper looks away, toward the house and then back at us. "Hey, I was supposed to tell you Dad wants us inside. He said there's something he wants to discuss with us. I'm seriously hoping he's going to tell me this whole gay thing is a joke."

I find my friend's eyes. "He's a good man, Coop. That's all that matters."

"Go tell Dad we'll be right there. I just want another minute with Noah."

"Fine," Cooper says getting to his feet. "And, sis?" He says looking at me and shaking his head. "Seeing him like this is pathetic. Do me a favor and give the poor guy his balls back."

We both laugh as Cooper disappears back into the house.

"I love you Alexis Sutton. And I told you I never said any of that." I stroke her face.

"I'm sorry, I should've trusted you, party boy."

"As long as I'm your party boy. And for the record, I don't mind if you hold my balls. Just as long as you keep them safe."

"I promise. And I promise I'll only turn them blue if you step out of line."

"Got it." I say getting to my feet and pulling her up to hers.

Lexi smiles before standing on her tip-toes to meet my lips. My girl is back in my arms, just where she should be, and whether she realizes it yet or not, I'm never going to let her go.

      Thank you for reading Man Up Party Boy If you enjoyed it, please leave a review on the site where you purchased it, and recommend it to a friend!   

Continue reading for an excerpt of
Into You

Other books by Danielle Sibarium

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And Forever (Eternity 2)

The Heart Waves Series

Heart Waves (1) (FREE)

Breaking Waves (2)

Waves of Love (3)

Man Up

Man Up Party Boy

Man Up Playboy (Coming fall of 2015)

Stand Alones

To My Hero: A Blog of Our Journey Together

Into You

Regret Me Not