[Emily] Noah admits a secret

Lucy was all out of sorts, but she hadn’t bowed out of the game. She had a drink in her hand. Maybe that was loosening her up. Her eyes had glazed over and she looked completely lost. Noah reached over her to get the deck of cards from Sarah for his turn. He drew a card that said BOY ACROSS, meaning Ben.

Rachel’s boytoy thought hard on his question. Still maybe a little miffed about what was going on in the other room, he spat out his words. “Is there anyone here you’ve gotten off to, other than Em?” he asked. His question hung in the air, creating a charged silence among the group.

Noah had gone as white as his shirt. He took a second to try to process the question. Then he glanced at Emily, who was trying hard to maintain her composure, her eyes growing wider by the second. A faint blush was creeping up her neck.

“Well, uh, I guess…” Noah started, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “There was this one time when I was thinking about, um, Sarah. But it was more about how intense she can be, not… anything specific.”

Sarah’s eyes sparkled with amusement, though she tried to play it cool. She gave Noah a playful smirk. “Well, I guess I should take that as a compliment.”

Emily, though shocked, **** a smile and tried to lighten the mood. “Well, at least he’s honest,” she said, attempting to sound casual. She leaned in to Noah, giving him a quick, reassuring kiss on the cheek. “Guess you’ve got good taste.” The words felt like sharp ice in her mouth.