And not. He’s obviously alive, so he’s eating, sleeping, and breathing just fine without me, even though some days I feel like my insides are on the outside.
“Dad says he left for the fishing cabin after you left, and he’s been gone ever since.”
I shake my head. “Let’s not talk about him.” I look up, meeting Noah’s eyes. “What about you? Are you happy?”
He looks down at me, and I wonder why it couldn’t be him.
He’s so easy to love.
“Do you resent me?” I whisper when he doesn’t answer.
He hoods his eyes, a gentle smile curling his lips. “You were right, Tiernan,” he says. “I was in love but with something else.”
Racing.
“I have my future now,” he tells me. “I’m really happy.”
I lay my head down again, letting out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding for months.
Laying his head over mine, he kisses my hair and we watch the ocean.
“He loves you to death, you know?” he says.
Needles prick my throat as a tear spills down my cheek. “He’s still in that car, Noah.”
Tiernan
Noah heads back to the extended-stay hotel he’s paying through the nose for to gather his things, while I return to the house to prepare a room for him. His sponsor is based somewhere outside of Chicago, so Noah might be traveling a lot, but they also have a branch of their business here, so this will be home-base when he’s in town.
We spent the rest of the day walking and talking, and after lunch, I took him to one of my father’s favorite tailors to get him suited for any dressy occasions that might pop up in the future with his new adventure. By the time we were done, it was late. We ate dinner, he went back to his place to sleep and pack up his things to check out tomorrow, and I came home.
I’ve had the bed replaced in my parents’ old room, so I’ll put him in there, since it has a private bathroom. I don’t need to take the chance of running into an overnight guest, should he choose to have one.
“You should be shot!” I hear Mirai scream as I enter the house.
I stop, pausing before gently closing the door as I listen. What the hell?
“Whoever designed this room should be shot,” Jake spits back. “These drapes look like the same shit that lines caskets.”
Jake? My heart lifts a little more. He’s here, too.
“Ugh!” she growls.
Something crashes, shattering across the floor, and I tiptoe through the foyer and hide behind the wall to the sitting room.
“Whoops!” Jake says. “There goes a candy dish. Probably three-hundred dollars and never used, either, because this house hasn’t seen a carb since 2002.”
I snort, but I cover my mouth, so they don’t know I’m here.
“Leave,” she says.
“No.”
“I’ll call the police!”
“TMZ will be here before they are.”
I shake my head, peering around the corner to see him digging his hand into a bag of my veggie fries as Mirai stands close, hands on her hips and huffing.
She holds up her claws like she wants to strangle him. “I’ve never wanted to hit someone so much since—”
“Since last night when you dreamed about me?”
I pull back and lean against the wall. Mirai’s anger over what went down on the mountain between the Van der Bergs and me is still strong—but man, he’s not afraid of it.
“Where is she?” he asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Mirai?” he sing-songs.
“Screw you.”
I peek around the corner again, seeing their backs to me, him standing behind her and egging her on.
“It didn’t happen like you think it happened,” he explains. “We’re her home. We’d kill to protect her.”
My cheeks warm at hearing that, but Mirai still isn’t having it.
“Fuck off,” she says.
I jaunt past the archway and dash up the stairs before they can see me, not having the energy to get in the middle of that tonight. I’ll say hi to Jake tomorrow.
“I’m calling security,” I hear her warn him.
“I’m not leaving,” he taunts. “I’ll be here all night if I have to. Waiting with you…”
“Nope, you won’t.”
“Close to you…” he continues.
“Shut. Up.”
“Watching you…”
“Ew.”
“Just you and me…” he teases.