It Started with a Crack by Piper James

Chapter Twenty-Six

Noah

“Welcome, everyone. Thanks for coming.”

I held my wineglass in the air, and waited until everyone else lifted theirs before bringing it to my lips for a drink. Ryder, Belle, Chase, Sage, Ethan, and Ember drank their wine silently as we waited for Dakota to bring out the huge pan of lasagna we’d made. Well, she made everything, and I just helped assemble it in the pan.

It was ridiculous really, us holding this dinner party to officially announce our relationship when everyone knew already, anyway. Both Dakota and I had refused to confirm it, but everyone at this table had come to each of us individually, asking if we were sleeping together.

Apparently, I’d been wearing the cheesiest of all cheesy grins every day for weeks, and Dakota had been inexplicably happy every time the girls got together. Especially considering she still hadn’t sold a house, was still broke, and had been living here with a roommate she never asked for and didn’t want.

A roommate that gives her multiple orgasms on the daily.

My grin expanded as she walked in with the pan and set it in the middle of the table.

“Sorry,” she said. “It took longer to cook than expected, being so big. We just need to let it cool for a few minutes, then I’ll serve it up.”

“So we have time for you to tell us what this is all about?” Belle asked, narrowing her gaze at me as she rubbed her pregnant belly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, the picture of innocence. “Can’t we just want to have those dearest to us over for dinner?”

“Bullshit!” Ember shouted with a laugh. “You and Dakota are together. Just admit it, so we can eat.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Dakota cut in, obviously fighting a smile.

“You’re together- together,” Sage said, looking between Dakota and me with a grin. “It’s so obvious.”

“Bumping uglies,” Ember added with a confident nod.

“Playing hide the sausage,” Ryder threw in, laughing.

“Taking old one-eye to the optometrist,” Chase said, earning a light slap from Sage.

“Thank God Daniel isn’t here,” she muttered. “Chase almost made him skip his sleepover for this.”

“Well, he’s not here, so we can talk about Dakota and Noah having a little horizontal refreshment,” Ember said.

“Guys, come on. We really don’t need to talk about them making the wild ox moan,” Belle shouted over the noise, not to be outdone.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” I asked, barking out a laugh.

“Okay, stop. Please, stop,” Dakota said, laughing with me. “Yes, Noah and I are together.” She looked at Sage. “Together-together.”

“I knew it,” Ember said, pumping a fist in the air.

“Everyone knew it,” Ethan said sourly, speaking for the first time since the uproar began.

Ember stuck her tongue out at him, flicking the tip while she shot him the middle finger. My head reared back as I looked between them. What the hell was going on there? My gaze shot to Dakota at the other end of the table, and she was looking between them with a confused expression, too. When she met my stare, she shrugged. I made a mental note to ask Ethan about it later.

Dakota distracted everyone by cutting the lasagna and serving it up. We ate, we drank, and we made merry. The girls tried to get Dakota to tell them story of how we got together, in full detail, and I grinned as I watched her stammer as her eyes flicked between them and my brothers. No way was she going to tell them how she pranced through here in that sexy-as-fuck nightie to get my attention.

Fuck, she’d already had my attention. All she had to do was crook a finger, and I would’ve been inside her before her next breath. But fuck, was I glad she’d done what she had. I had everything because of that one decision. Because she had the balls to go after what she wanted in the most glorious of ways.

God, I lo—

Woah, woah, woah. Slow your roll, buddy. Like. You like her.

When dinner was over, and everyone was mingling around, I managed to corner Ethan in the kitchen by himself. He was leaning against the counter, sipping a beer he’d obviously just pilfered from my fridge. Walking toward him, I grabbed one of my own and popped it open before mirroring his pose next to him.

“What’s going on, E?” I asked, keeping my voice casual.

“Just taking a minute,” he said, taking another drink of his beer.

Kane wandered in, and I scooped him up and held him against my chest. Silence stretched between us for a moment, and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I opened my mouth and blurted out what I really wanted to know.

“What’s going on with you and Ember?”

“What do you mean? Nothing is going on between us,” he said.

“Didn’t seem that way to me earlier.”

“Oh, that,” he sighed. “It’s nothing.”

“Come on, man,” I said. “I have eyes. Tell me.”

He sighed again, dropping his chin to his chest.

“I had dinner with Chase and Daniel a couple of weekends ago. Sage was out shopping with Belle and Ember, and when Daniel went to bed, we had a few beers. Somehow, we ended up talking about Ember, and I started running off at the mouth about how wild and inappropriate Ember acted the last time we all went to the bar together.”

“What?” I said, my mouth falling open.

Ethan was the kindest, most tolerant of the four of us, and I was having a hard time believing he’d been talking shit about anyone, much less someone so close to our family. Ethan shook his head, his cheeks filling with color.

“I was drunk, Noah, and you know I rarely let myself get that far. I was practically shouting about how loud and…sexually explicit she was acting in the bar, and guess who walked in at that exact moment and heard me.”

“Sexually explicit?” I asked, the pause in his speech telling me that wasn’t at all what he said.

“Slutty. I said slutty.”

“Oh, Ethan. No,” I groaned, shaking my head. “What did she do?”

“I tried to apologize, but she refused to listen. She said I was a stuffy asshole with a stick the size of a telephone pole up my ass, and that it would take the fucking jaws of life to get it out.”

A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it, and Ethan scowled. My laughter turned into a cough, and I sat my wriggling dog down before straightening and facing him with a blank expression.

“Sorry,” I said.

He shook his head at my apology. “Chase’s drunk ass fell off the couch when she said that, he was laughing so hard. I didn’t mean it, Noah. Hell, I don’t even know why I said it. Like I said, I was drunk and bullshit was flying out of my mouth. I’ve seen her a couple of times since, and she’s been…difficult. She’s tried her best to push my buttons, and fuck, she’s succeeded. I’m not proud of my reactions.”

“Well, I think you should think about why your drunk alter-ego would insult her to begin with,” I said.

“I told you, I don’t know,” he replied, his voice rising slightly.

“Oh, I think you do, brother. I think you do.”

I slapped him on the back and walked out, leaving him to ruminate over that a bit. It was obvious to me—he liked her. And if drunk-Ethan accused her of acting slutty, that could only mean she’d been hitting on some other guy.

He was fucking jealous. Classic.

But that was none of my business. He’d figure it out on his own. If he screwed it up too much, I’d step in and try to help, but for now, I was looking forward to the show. Because Ember put on one hell of a performance when she got riled up.

I found Dakota on the couch, tucked into the corner beside Sage. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her up, took her spot, and then pulled her down onto my lap. She snuggled into me, warming me from the outside in.

I was a happy man. I had my brothers, my friends, my dog, and my girl. Life didn’t get much better than this.

* * *

The house seemed almost tooquiet as I snuggled in bed with Dakota tucked against my side. Her breathing was slow and even, her arm clutching my waist even in sleep. I hugged her a little closer, and a breathy, contented sigh slipped through her lips.

Overall, our dinner party had been a success. Being around those we loved, having everyone in our home—

My breath hitched, and the muscles in my back and arms tensed. This whole situation, Dakota and I living in this house together, was temporary. It could sell at any time, and we’d have to move out. A shiver crept through me at the thought.

Even though we’d only been here for a short time, this place felt like home. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want Dakota to move out, either. I wanted us to stay here, just like this.

Forcing my muscles to loosen up one by one, I tried to relax. This was an easy fix. I needed to talk to my brothers first, but I was sure they’d be all for me taking the ranch off the market and keeping it for myself.

And once I got the details ironed out, I’d break the news to Dakota. I knew she was counting on the commission she stood to earn by selling a property this large. But we could figure that out. There would be other houses to sell.

I knew she liked me, and I was fairly confident she’d want to continue to live here with me if I kept the house. And if she didn’t want that, want me, well, I’d just leave the house on the market and let her sell it. I didn’t want to stay here without Dakota.

Because honestly, what made this place my home was her.