My eyes narrowed on Sinan, who was grinning at his winnings like a mouse with a fat chunk of cheese.
“I don’t know if Sanny won that bet,” I mused and playfully tapped my finger against my chin.
“Hey!” Sinan’s fists clenched around the money. “This is for Zuri’s wedding dress.”
“Yeah, but are wetogether-together?” I blinked innocently at Noah over my shoulder. “I thought I was more like your live-in casual non-exclusive sexytime hookup.”
“I don’t wanna think about what that means,” Sanny groaned.
Noah’s grip on my thigh tightened, hard enough to make me squirm and remind me of all the other perfect moments when he grabbed my legs like that. His dark brows drew deep over his eyes. “Don’t even joke about that, princess. We’re exclusive and anything but casual.” His voice was a low rumble that sent goosebumps rippling down my arms.
There really was nothing casual about the pull Noah had on me. I tilted my head back to meet him for a kiss. Noah needed no further invitation. His hand slid into my hair, cupping the side of my face, and he pulled me to him for a breathless kiss. He was staking his claim. He was showing everyone that we weretogether-together. Even after his lips had left mine, and it felt like my mouth was bruising, he kept his eyes on me. “Clear?”
“Crystal,” I answered, heart still racing, and grinned a stupid, giddy grin.
“Ugh. Gross. Are you going to be one of those disgusting PDA couples?” Adriana asked, pulling me out of the moment and back to earth.
“Yes,” Noah replied without missing a beat.
I cleared my throat and turned to Sanny. “I can’t believe you bet on us.”
“I knew this was going to happen the very first time Noah complained about you.” He leaned over, speaking louder as the volume around us rose. “You remember what you said to me?”
“I’m not sure. That you should send her home to your parents?” Noah replied, just as loud. As if he wasn’t perfect enough already, he tried to sign his reply. You couldn’talways verbatim translate to sign language, but he’d clearly picked up a few words.
“I remember.” I sat up straighter, so I could properly look at both Noah and my brother. “You said ‘She’s careless and irresponsible. Don’t let her blow through your life like a tornado.’”
“I’m sorry, princess,” Noah whispered and pressed a kiss to my shoulder.
“No, but exactly.” Sanny grinned. “Noah has, like, a sixth sense for weather. Loves a storm. And rides aTornadoevery day.”
I groaned at the implication and shot Noah a withering glare. “Please don’t tell me that you like me because I remind you of your horse.”
“You’re more stubborn than any horse I’ve ever met.” Noah’s chest shook with laughter.
I made a show of getting up, but Noah pulled me back into his lap and tightened an arm around my hips, locking me in. He tilted my chin up only to smile at me with so much warmth in his eyes, the air spluttered from my lungs.
“I like a good storm,” he said.
“Perfect,” I corrected him. “Unusual chains of events and rare conditions all coming together with perfect timing, resulting in an exceptionally strong storm.”
Something must have happened on-stage because the people around us were jumping up in their seats and cheering, but Noah stayed perfectly still under me, holding my gaze. The tips of our noses brushed together before he closed his lips over mine. It was a quick kiss, in the middle of a bar, with people jumping around us, and it shouldhave felt casual. In his arms, it was the most intentional I’d ever been kissed.
“Perfect storm,” he whispered against my lips.
I nodded and despite the rising noise and excitement around us, I chose to stay seated, chose to kiss my cowboy again, chose Noah.
Epilogue
NOAH
One Year Later
“Okay, I’ve narrowed it down. Primary Motor Cortex, which would be movement-related, Cortex for short. Or Broca’s Area, which is all about expression through speech, Broca for short.”
“You’re not naming your horse after brain parts,” I replied and tried to shoot her a warning look from the corner of my eye.
Esra sat cross-legged in the passenger seat and tapped her pen against her notepad, where she’d doodled more swirls than listed actual name options. I only knew that those “names” were terms for brain sections because she’d hosted trivia night a few weeks ago and turned out to be better as a participant. All her questions had been incredibly niche.
