Don't Forget Where You Belong

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Noel! Cole! Get your arses out of that bed right this instant!” Darcy’s voice pulls me out of my sleep.

Sitting up, I glare vehemently at her noticing Noel still sound asleep next to me. Gently shaking her, I start to roll out of the bed. “Come on, Noel. We’ve got to get up.” I groan, shaking her again. She stirs, slowly sitting up and glaring at me. I put my hands up in surrender, shaking my head. “Hey, Darcy, came in and tried to wake me up. You slept through that though.” I whine, looking around for Darcy.

“Oh, really?” She mocks, smirking at me. “Where is she, then?”

“She left, I swear!”

“Sure.” Still smirking, she crawls out of the bed and walks to her bags. “You going to get dressed?” she asks as I just stand there, watching her.

“Uh, yeah.” I stutter, walking to my own bags and pulling out jeans and a shirt.

We take turns in the bathroom, showering and getting dressed. Just as I’m exiting the bathroom, Darcy barges into the room, a hand over her eyes.

“Everyone decent?” she squeals, her voice really loud.

“Yes.” Noel giggles.

“Awesome! Now, downstairs! Ava and I have big plans for today!”

I frown, glancing at Noel. “Shouldn’t we get started on finding Hunter?”

Darcy sends a glare in my direction, but I stand straighter, showing her she doesn’t intimidate me. “Ava and I have plans with Noel. We will execute said plans.”

“We’ll just start tomorrow, Cole.” Noel says, looking to me with an unreadable emotion on her face.

“Noel, we came here early for a reason. We can’t just ignore that reason.” I almost seem to be whining, and I don’t know why.

She sighs, resting a hand on top of one of my own. “I need to ease into it, Cole. Don’t rush me, it’ll get done.”

Nodding, I keep my glare inside. She doesn’t need to know how much that’s irritating me. I can’t help but keep remembering the look on Hunter’s face in those photos. Rowan needs out of there. “Yeah, okay. Tomorrow, Noel. Or I’ll start without you.” She nods quickly, skipping after Darcy out the door. I sigh and lean back on the bed, not really wanting to get out of the comfort and warmth the bed provides.

*

Thudding on the floor of the hall reaches my ears, and I sit straight up in the bed. Seconds later, the door bursts open, and the three guys I recognize as Matt, Landon and Owen run in, breathing hard. Matt slams the door shut, latching the lock and sliding to the ground against the wooden frame. Owen plops down next to him, looking up and meeting my eyes. Landon walks to the chair on the other side of the room and sighs, relief flooding over his features.

“You guys okay?” I ask, hesitantly looking from one to the others.

“Yeah, just, trying, to get away, from the, girls.” Owen barely gets out, his breathing erratic.

“Noel and Darcy?” My eyebrows raise as I meet his gaze again.

“And Ava.” Matt adds, nodding in sync with the other two.

I chuckle, earning simultaneous glares from all three guys. “And what exactly had you running from a couple girls?”

“Girls?” Landon exclaims, an incredulous look on his face. “You think they’re innocent? HELL NO!”

“They’re like a bunch of she devils! They’ll corrupt you and make you do unspeakable things.” Owen’s expression looks similar to Landon’s, their similar features making them really look like cousins. What with the brown eyes and dark hair, it is really humorous how similar the whole group of kids look.

Matt chuckles. “Trust us, lad. You’re going to regret underestimating them. You don’t believe us, go see for yourself.”

I scoff. “Noel’s harmless. I imagine her twin and best friend are pretty harmless too.”

Owen, Matt and Landon share a secret smirk, and Matt gets off the door, unlocking it and shoving me out. I laugh, shrugging my shoulders and heading off down the hall. Might as well make the most of this trip and head to the kitchen, right? I mean, food is good.

*Noel’s POV*

I giggle with Darcy and Ava, sitting at the counter in the kitchen. The looks on the boys faces as they ran off when we told them out idea? Priceless. Geez. Who would have thought that three guys would run mock ten at the idea of skinny dipping in the pool in the middle of the day?

“I wonder what Cole would have done.” Darcy mutters, getting a faraway look in her eyes that fuels a spark of jealousy. It shouldn’t, but it does. I mean, Cole isn’t mine or anything. Unfortunately.

Ava nudges her, looking towards the doorway. We both follow her gaze. “Ask him now.” She whispers, giggling quietly. Cole raises an eyebrow at us, but doesn’t say anything as he walks towards the cabinets.

“So, Cole-” Darcy starts, only to be cut off by Cole.

“Oh, no. I’ve been warned about you girls.” He chuckles, the threat seeming half-hearted.

“Really?” I ask, batting my eyelashes at him and making my face look totally innocent, even though we both know I am anything but. I mean, I have a son for goodness sake! “Even me?”

“Yes.”

“But, I just wanted to ask you something. It’s really important. Can I?” he nods, and I grin mischievously. “Will you go skinny dipping in the pool with Ava and Darcy and I?”

His eyes widen, and my grin spreads. “What, now?”

Ava and Darcy share a shocked look, grins on their faces nonetheless. “Yeah, now.”

“But it’s like, noon. Aren’t you worried about neighbors seeing you in the middle of the day? It’s really sunny.” His expression is dead serious, not giving away what he’s thinking at all.

“There are walls around the pool. No one will see anything except us.” Darcy winks, her shock seeming to ebb away and be replaced with a cocky confidence that she supposedly inherited from our Dad.

“Well, then. Who would refuse an offer like that?” Ava goes to respond, but he cuts her off. “Someone who would like to keep the show for one girl, and one girl alone. Therefore, I don’t think it’d be a good idea for me to join you. If my boys were here, I would guarantee nearly all of them would be jumping at the chance. However, I don’t know how happy that would make me.” Cole winks, grabbing an apple off the counter and sauntering up the steps and disappearing.

Ava and Darcy both flip their gazes to me, and I blush, widening my eyes. “What?”

“‘Keep the show for one girl, and one girl alone.’” Ava teases, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Darcy winks at me, a taunting look on her face. “‘I don’t think it’d be a good idea for me to join you.’”

“Stop! He probably isn’t even talking about me. Trust me, there are girls who are all over him back in Texas. I’m sure it’s one of them.” I cover up the jealousy burning in my stomach at that thought.

“And yet,” Ava pokes my stomach, and evil grin on her face.

“He’s here with you.” Darcy finishes, poking the same spot Ava just did.

“I guess.” I sigh and lean back on my chair, hoping today will never end, since I don’t want tomorrow to come.