The One Night Stand That Stayed

Chapter Four: Noah and I

I sighed as Noah disappeared into our bedroom, leaving me alone with Penelope and Mr. Wilson. I had a feeling that Mr. Wilson wanted me alone with him. I was certain he already had a copy of Noah’s games for the season. I ran my fingers through my hair, as Mr. Wilson focused his eyes on me.

“Penelope, could you excuse me and Jayson for a moment?” Mr. Wilson asked. Penelope nodded as she walked out of the room, leaving me all alone with Mr. Wilson. I was used to Mr. Wilson’s attitude towards me. He tolerated me for the most part.

“Well – you have me alone,” I sighed. “Let me have it.”

“I want to thank you, Jayson,” Mr. Wilson said glancing down at his hands. “You always have looked out for Noah’s best interest. It pains me to say this but Noah might not have gone to Georgetown without you and he probably wouldn’t be as focused and as motivated without you here. So, thank you.”

Well I’ll be damned. I thought I’d never see the day when Mr. Wilson thanked me.

“You’re welcome,” I replied casually. “I mean – You know how much I care about Noah. I’d do anything for him.”

“I know,” Mr. Wilson nodded. “It’s good to know that someone is looking out for him here. That’s all I wanted to say.”

“Thanks Mr. Wilson,” I said shaking his hand firmly. It seems Mr. Wilson and I had a greater understanding than I originally thought. I smirked as Noah walked back in the room, glancing at the two of us in confusion. He handed his father the paper, before sitting back down beside me.

“Thanks Noah,” Mr. Wilson said skimming over it, before placing back down. “Well – Penelope and I have to go. We have dinner reservations in town with a few business associations. But we’ll stop by again before we leave town. “

“Alright Dad,” Noah replied walking them out the door. I waved as they left our apartment. Mr. Wilson even cracked a smile at me. It seemed like things were finally coming together for Noah and I.

“My dad interrogated you again, didn’t he?” Noah said sliding onto my lap. “Was he being a jerk?”

“Actually not,” I grinned. “Your dad thanked me for everything. He’s grateful that I’m in your life.”

“No way,” Noah said shaking his head. “He did not? He said that?”

“I swear to god,” I nodded. “He actually thanked me.”

“Wow,” Noah laughed. “Just wow. I thought I’d never see the day. My dad approving of us. Damn. I just might have to dump you, Jayson.”

“Ouch,” I chuckled shoving Noah lightly.

“I’m kidding,” Noah said kissing me on the lip. “I’d never dump you, Jayson.”

“I wouldn’t dump you either,” I winked pressing my lips to his neck.

Present

“Fuck,” I heard Mason growl from the distance. “I knew he’d be here. Jayson is so predictable sometimes.”

“Should I grab him?” Daniel’s voice echoed.

“No! No! You’ll only anger him,” I heard Mason respond. “I’ll handle this. You stay over there as back-up. I’ll give you the wink if I need you.”

“Wait? The wink? How do I know you’re winking and not blinking?” Daniel rasped.

“You’ll know!” Mason huffed in exasperation. I scoffed. God, I have the worst roommates. I hope they know that I can hear everything they are saying right now. So, my head, might be pressed against the bar, but that doesn’t mean I’m passed out drunk. God, I only had like four beers. If I wanted to get drunk, I would have had shots of whiskey. I jerked my head up as soon as I felt someone tap me.

“Mason – What do you want?” I growled.

“I’ve been trying to call you for hours,” Mason sighed. “Hours! It kept going straight to voicemail. I was worried.”

“I threw my phone out the window – so it’s probably broken somewhere,” I huffed.

“Wow – really? I’m not even going to ask why you did that,” Mason huffed. “Come on. I’m taking you back to the apartment. You and I are going to have to talk and you’re going to tell me everything that happened with Noah.”

“Fuck off,” I said standing up from the bar and walking away from Mason. I moved right past Daniel, pulling my keys from my pocket. I could hear Mason sigh.

“Oh! Am I supposed to stop him?” Daniel called out as the door slammed shut behind me. I stuck my keys into my car engine and drove off before Mason and Daniel could stop me. I didn’t know where I driving to, but I found myself in the parking lot of the strip joint I had dropped Zack off at. I shoved my keys into my pocket and I walked straight inside without another thought.

My eyes flickered across the room, until I caught sight of Zack grinding on a gentleman. Before I could get to him, a guy in a cowboy pants and a cowboy hat approached me, with a wide grin on his face.

“I want to ride you like a bull,” he said gripping my arm.

“No thanks,” I muttered walking over to where Zack was. His eyes flashed to mine almost instantly.

“I need to talk to you,” I said casually.

“I’m kind of working,” Zack hissed glancing around awkwardly. I rolled my eyes, grabbing a wad of money from my pocket.

“How about a private dance?” I huffed. Zack’s client growled, as Zack led me to a room in the back of the club. He closed the door behind us, sitting down on the chair beside me.

“You’re the last person I ever expected to walk in here,” Zack chuckled. “I thought you hated me.”

“I tolerate you,” I huffed. “I just needed to get away from Mason and Daniel. Somehow I ended up here.”

“At a strip club?” Zack laughed. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Yes,” I mumbled. “I didn’t come here for a lap dance or anything like that. I’m not really into strip clubs or anything like that.”

“I see,” Zack nodded. “As long as you’re paying, we can just talk, Jayson. You can tell me about your ex if you want to. We don’t even have to talk about him. We can talk about the weather or CNN or Beyonce – I don’t know.”

“Ok,” I laughed awkwardly. “We can talk about Noah. It’s easier because you don’t know Noah. Mason and Daniel do, so I can’t really talk to them about him.”

“Understandable,” Zack nodded. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

And so I started from the beginning from when Noah and I first met outside the bar.