Ordinaries

Chapter 17

After a while, we managed to build a decently sized fire in the center of the pit Jade and I had dug. And shockingly enough, Noah and Eric had actually managed to catch a couple of pretty big fish, enough for all of us to eat pretty well. Now, I sat in the sand around the fire, only clad in underwear after we'd all been swimming. The others were still in the lake, splashing around and screaming. I'd wanted to stay in, but Noah had told me he'd wanted to see me about something. I'd yet to discover what that was.

Noah returned from the helicopter, slinging something down in the sand. Turning my head, I recognized the small black bag he'd been clutching earlier in the helicopter. Noah took a seat beside me and observed me with mirth on his face. "Going to sleep on me?"

I scoffed. "I wish. The only reason I got into that god forsaken lake is because Camila dragged us out there."

He laughed, full and whole-hearted, the bass in his voice thrumming through it. I felt my stomach and my heart swoop as one. "What did you want?" I asked.

Noah stopped laughing and gave me a look of mock offense. "What, I have to want something? I can't just want to be near you?"

"Sure, I guess you can. Is that the case here?"

Noah didn't answer. He simply opened up this bag and pulled out a bottle of tequila, a devilish smile on his lips as he watched for my reaction. My jaw dropped. "Okay? Um. Explain, please. Not that I'm not happy. I'm definitely happy. But when in the hell did you get this between running from homicidal bounty hunters and subsequently escaping from said hunters in a pirated helicopter?"

Noah unscrewed the bottle's cap and sniffed its contents, contorting his face at the scent. Nevertheless, he put the bottle to his lips and took a drink, letting out a long breath after he swallowed. "It wasn't something I planned." He passed the bottle to me. I sipped from it, recoiling at the initial sting of the alcohol as it hit my tongue.

Noah continued, "You remember that room we hid in with all of the alcohol in it? Well, I got this out of one of the rooms in the hallway." He held up the black bag. "And I went back to the alcohol room and put that," he said, pointing at the bottle I had in my hand, "in it. The end."

I took another drink from the bottle, processing his words. "So, you took time to steal alcohol from the people that were trying to kill us as they were trying to capture us?"

"Yep," he said matter-of-factly. "It only took a couple of seconds. And I saw you eyeing it. Why wouldn't I?" He reclaimed the bottle and tipped it into his lips again, looking out over the lake. His jaw clenched and unclenched, something that I'd come to know as a subconscious stress response.

I scooted closer to him. He draped his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into his body. "Risking your life for tequila," I mused. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

He tore his gaze from the horizon to glance at me. "Just one reason?" His eyes drifted to my lips.

I felt something deep in my gut tighten. I pushed the feeling down and turned away from him, watching as Jade dove underwater after the others. "Of course not," I said. "Infinitely many." I reached for the bottle in between his thighs and pulled it up to my mouth. After I was done drinking, I put the bottle back. I had to resist the temptation to casually brush my hand against his thigh.

"What did you bring me up here for, anyway? It's freezing," I complained. "We're both going to get hypothermia."

Noah laughed. "Come here." He pulled me closer and handed me the bottle again. "Mr. Tequila and I will keep you warm."