He pressed me closer and took long, deep breaths that I felt in his chest when he inhaled and against my hair when he exhaled. After at least a minute, Noah stepped back, reached down to adjust himself with a pained grimace and said, “I think we can go back now.”

“What time is it?” I pulled up his wrist to look. It was past ten. Surely whatever party the Forest house was holding was in full swing by now. “Do you think the guys will mind if we leave?”

We both looked toward our table. It was nearly empty, as were almost all the tables around the stage. Adam sat in one chair, his legs outstretched and arms folded. Mal sat next to him texting someone. The rest of the occupants were either by the pool tables in the rear of the room or over by the bar.

“You round up your girls, and I’ll see who else is coming with us.” Noah instructed. I nodded. Lana and Amy were by the bar with Finn and a couple of other guys from the table. Lana gave me a smile and wiped a finger across her lip when I approached.

“Do I have lipstick on my teeth?” I asked.

“No, but there is some gloss on your cheek.” She reached out and smudged it with a finger. Turning my head slightly, she said, “Also on your jaw.” I’m sure I blushed because everyone in the group laughed.

“You guys ready?”

“Just waiting for you,” Lana replied. I beat back another blush. Apparently Noah and my makeout session had been seen by all. At least our conversation had been private.

Noah came up with the other guys whose names I didn’t catch when I came in. “It looks like Mal and Adam are staying here. What about you Bo?”

Bo drained his glass. “I’m with you.”

“Who’s good to drive?” Noah asked. One of the unnamed guys raised his hand, but Noah ignored him. “Great, Finn, you drive Eric, Bo, and Tim. I’ll take Grace and the girls.”

This drew a round of protest from Eric that made Lana and Amy smile, but Noah ignored them and hustled me toward the door. “Let’s go, or we could spend the whole night talking about who drives whom.” The tone of Noah’s voice was implacable, so we just went. He held opened the back door of his -truck and helped both Lana and Amy in. Then he lifted me into the passenger side.

I didn’t protest like I normally did. Noah liked doing this, and admittedly I didn’t mind either his minor show of strength or his courtesy. These little things made me feel important to him, like I was a treasure. As he was circling around the front of the cab to climb into the driver’s side, Amy said, “God, swoon. He helps you into this car? Is Bo like this?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never ridden with Bo,” I said.

“Did you ask Noah if he was seeing anyone?” Amy said.

“No, Amy, he was too busy giving her a tonsillectomy.” Lana hit Amy in the arm.

“Ouch, I was just asking.”

“I’ll ask him,” I promised. Noah climbed in, started the engine and the heavy metal music he enjoyed listening to filled the air. I immediately turned it down and flipped it to a popular radio station.

He rolled his eyes, but didn’t change the station.

Amy and Lana chattered in the backseat, but I felt strangely shy. Noah reached over, picked up my hand and placed it on his thigh. It was rock hard beneath my palm. I absently stroked it until Noah halted my motion by placing his hand firmly on top of mine. He turned to look at me. His dark eyes glittering, and he gave me a slight shake of his head. He pulled my hand higher and pressed it lightly over his hard-on and then released my hand.

I hid a small smile, delighted in my ability to rouse this man’s body. Noah lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it and placed it back on his thigh. A hot ache spread through me, and I clenched my own legs together in anticipation and excitement. I felt feverish, as if all my blood was bubbling right under the surface of my skin, and I wanted to run his hand all over my body. Could he ease me just by a touch? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.

“Swoon,” Amy said in the back. This time my smile couldn’t be disguised.

Noah dropped us off with a promise to catch us inside after he found a place to park. Bo and the other guys spilled out of Finn’s car and walked us inside. The house was charging cover but the guy at the door waved us girls in for free.

Away from Noah, my comfort level took a nosedive. Had I just promised to have sex with him? It’s not that I didn’t want him. I did. But what did I know about pleasing a guy like Noah in bed? What if he decided I was so terrible at sex that he would break up with me? Or worse, what if I was terrible, but he didn’t tell me and kept pretending that he enjoyed having sex with me but instead had to fantasize about Emma Stone or something. Actually, I didn’t even know whom he would fantasize about.

I wondered if I could get Lana alone and get some tips from her. What if I needed to pull a Meg Ryan and pretend like I had an orgasm?

Inside, crepe paper streamers were draped along the walls and lit up with Christmas lights. A fake disco ball was strung up in the middle and spun every time someone tall enough went by and slapped it. The place smelled like weed, spilled beer, and sweat.

Either it was too early or the entire crowd was in the back, but the front room was fairly empty except for a few people loitering around the windows.

A table set up at the end blocked the path to the rooms beyond. It was full of small shot glasses filled with amber liquid. A guy wearing a T-shirt that read“ FCK” in big letters waived us over. As I neared, I could see that the small print read“ All that’s missing is ‘U.’”

“$2 a shot for the guys. Free for the girls. Beer’s free back there.” He gestured behind him. I rolled my eyes. The Forest house was apparently a party house where the members tried to make money by charging for liquor. The freebies for the girls were to entice the guys to come and spend generously.

I wanted to wait for Noah out front, and I turned to head back out when Amy grabbed my arm. “Let’s do a shot,” she said. I nodded agreement. I hated whiskey but maybe a little liquid courage would help me in bed. I’d have fewer inhibitions. I wouldn’t be so embarrassed at being naked.

“Is that whiskey?” I asked.

He nodded, “Jack.”

“Please,” Amy pleaded. Maybe she needed some liquid courage to hit on Bo, too.

“You should wait until Noah gets here,” Bo suggested, which set off Lana.

“She needs permission from Noah to drink now?” Lana marched up to the table and laid down a ten-dollar bill. “Three shots. This can be your tip.”

Shot guy wordlessly picked up the $10, stuck it in his pocket, and pushed three shot glasses forward. I took one of the shots and drained it. As the Jack burned down my throat, I coughed and wiped at my watering eyes.

“Come on, ladies, do a shot with us.” Tim and Eric, the guys from Noah’s gym, come forward to do their own shots. Bo looked to protest again, but Lana held up her hand. He remained silent but brooding. We all did another shot while Bo looked on like a discontented father. This one went down far easier, as if the first one burned away any resistance. I felt better already.

Tim and Eric wanted us to do another shot with them, but by that time Noah and Finn had walked in. Noah looked unhappy to see us crowded around the shot table.

“Did you have to park really far away?” I asked him.

He laced his fingers through mine and pulled me close to him, placing a quick kiss against my forehead. “No, why?”

“You look unhappy.”

“I tried to stop them, brother, but no go,” Bo said, clapping a hand on Noah’s shoulder. He turned to the shot man, with sarcasm heavily weighting his words, “Did we pay a sufficient toll?”

Shot guy merely held up his arms. “Go on through.”

Noah led the way, pulling me behind him. This room had tubs of glass-bottled beer, a luxurious drinking item for college students. Noah stopped and bought drinks for everyone. I tried to remember the rhyme. Was it liquor first and then beer or reverse?

“You look perplexed,” Noah said, leaning down to speak into my ear. His breath tickled my lobe and thoughts of our activities in the bar made me squeeze my legs together slightly. Thank god I was a girl. The shots were doing their job. I wondered if there were some dark corners I could take him into.

“I’m trying to remember if I should just keep drinking shots or if it’s okay to have beer.”

“Liquor first. You’re good to go,” Noah said and then sighed.

“Do you want to go?” First the glower and then the sigh.

“No, it’s all good,” he replied, squeezing my hand.

We wandered through to the back deck that was very crowded. There were two kegs out here and dozens of plastic cups already discarded on the ground like abandoned toys.

“Walk through the crowd with me,” Lana demanded. I turned to Noah and informed him of our plans.

“I’ll be right back,” I reassured him.

He nodded and went to hold up a piece of railing with Bo while the other guys delved into the crowd. Amy looked at Lana and me and then back at Bo. “Go forth, young pilgrim,” Lana said, winking at Amy.

We began a slow circuit through the crowd, saying hello to the people we knew. Lana was more familiar with the faces than I was. At the back of the yard, someone was handing out paper cups full of Jell-O shots. We were forced to swallow two before we could get out of there. By the time we had done a full circuit, we hadn’t seen Jack anywhere. It was early yet, but I felt buzzed.

“Lana,” I tugged at her hand, “how do you know when you should fake an orgasm?”

“I don’t think you’re going to have that problem with Noah,” she said, scanning the crowd.

“How do you know?” Had she slept with him!?

“No, I didn’t sleep with him.” She rolled her eyes, sounding disgusted. I must have said that out loud.

“Sorry. It just came out,” I apologized.

“Noah can barely allow your feet to touch the ground. He opens your doors. He carries your backpack for you. He makes sure you have food and that you’re entertained. Trust me when I say you aren’t going to have to fake anything.”

Rubbing the side of my face, I tried to add together all the facts. Impatiently, Lana grabbed my hand and said, “He will make sure you are satisfied. Don’t hide your reactions. He’ll learn from them.”

Lana’s explicit instructions penetrated a little better. Don’t hide. Be happy. Or was the song“ ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy?’” Confused again, I asked Lana, “Is this the point to stop drinking or keep drinking?”

Jack appeared out of nowhere to hand me a bottle and say hello to Lana. “Keep drinking,” he offered.

“Are you a genie?” I asked him stupidly. He laughed and tipped his head back to swallow his beer.

“No, why?” he asked, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

“We were just talking about you and, poof, here you are,” I said, looking at Lana. I didn’t want her to bring up my orgasm question in front of Jack.

“Like magic,” she nodded in agreement.

“I’ve got something magical, but I can’t show it to you here,” Jack replied. Lana rolled her eyes, but I was gone enough that I actually giggled despite his lack of originality.

I felt a warm hand at the nape of my neck and turned to find Noah behind me with a curious look on his face. Like he wanted to take Jack’s magic and crush it beneath his size 13s.

But when he noticed me looking up at him, he smiled that tender sweet half smile that I could tell was just for me. I swung myself around and threw my arms up to his neck.

“Whoa there,” he said, taking the beer bottle out of my hand. Apparently my actions had sprayed a little beer out of the newly acquired bottle. He said nothing about his bath and, instead, scooped me up to half walk, half carry me back to the railing, leaving Lana and Jack to discuss his David Blaine tricks.

Amy was still there with Bo, but there were others as well, guys and girls.

“Do all these people want to take Bo home?” I asked Noah. He choked a little on his drink and threw a look of glee toward Bo.

“I don’t know, but Bo’s pretty open minded, aren’t you Peep?”

Bo lifted a finger, but shifted closer to us so I could hear him. “You do know why we call Noah Jep right?”

“Sure, because he knows all the answers on Jeopardy,” I recited.

“That and because the only one who’d blow him was a toy he built himself.”

“Better the puppeteer, Geppetto, than the puppet. At least I can get it up without the assistance of pharmaceuticals,” Noah said.

“You know, when you brought Bo to the movies, Mike thought you were a couple,” I confided. This made both Noah and Bo laugh.

Bo leaned toward me. “I have slept with Noah before, Grace. He snores, just an FYI.”