“She apologized to me.”
“Why?”
“She asked if we could be friends. I said no. She reacted badly and wanted to let me know there were no hard feelings.”
“Amber…wanted to be…friends?” She spoke the words slowly, as if they didn’t make any sense to her.
“Yeah. I told her that we didn’t start out as friends and we weren’t going to be friends now. I wasn’t mean about it, just honest.”
“So, as long as you start off as friends with someone you date, it’s okay to keep them in your life?”
Nick didn’t know why but it sounded like a trick question. “I mean, I guess it would depend why we broke up.”
“If the two of us dated and we had a bad breakup, you’d just say see ya?” Her voice went up an octave on the see ya.
“No, what we have is on a whole other level than just mere friendship, Noel, and you know it,” he snapped.
“Do I?”
Nick took a deep, steadying breath, reining in his temper. “I’m sorry. I’m hungover and tired and explaining this so badly. You and I are more than friends and you aren’t getting rid of me.” Nick reached into her pocket and took her hand. “No matter what.”
Noel extracted her hand. “You say that now, but there are no guarantees. You can’t reason with emotions. They make people crazy. Amber wants to be friends and even though I don’t care, Trip won’t stop trying to make amends. It’s so bizarre to me!”
“Wait, what? Trip wants to be friends?” Nick butted in. He didn’t like being lumped into the category as that dick.
“Kind of. I think he just doesn’t like being rejected and instead of letting things go, he has to try to fix us. Even though there isn’t and was never an us. He kept messaging me last night, begging me to meet him for dinner. I finally said yes for my sanity, but lord, we weren’t together. Was it crappy of him to be sleeping with Jillian and me and not tell both of us? Yeah, but I don’t hate him for it. Just like I don’t care two figs about what you and Amber are to each other. I just want people to make up their minds and stick to their guns.”
Flames licked against the back of Nick’s neck as his temper flared. “Wait, you’re going out with Trip again?”
Noel huffed. “No, I am meeting him for dinner to talk.”
“That sounds like a date.”
“It’s not.”
“Does he want to work things out? Is that why you’re meeting him?”
“Did you listen to a word I said? There is nothing to work out. I only agreed so we could meet up, bury the hatchet, and both move on. I have no interest in starting anything back up with Trip.”
Nick searched her face, relief rushing through him as he realized he’d let his jealousy get the better of him. “I’m glad you aren’t considering it. You deserve better.”
Noel arched a brow. “You think I don’t know that? I only hook up with guys like Trip because it’s not complicated.”
Not what he wanted to hear, especially because he still wanted to take a chance on them.
“Yeah, but don’t you ever think about dating someone you care for?”
“Not until recently.” Nick’s spirits lifted at her words, until she added, “But honestly, I’m not sure I’m built for it. And I’d hate to figure that out while simultaneously ruining the best thing in my life. Hooking up with no strings attached works for me.”
Nick knew she didn’t want him to tell her how he felt. The talk he’d wanted to have last night? She’d ducked out on him to avoid it so she wouldn’t hurt his feelings.
“Well, that’s a kick in the nuts.”
“Seriously, you could spin in a chair and randomly pick any girl in town and she would jump at the chance to be with you. I am messed up, Nick. Worse than when I was sixteen. You are amazing and I would hate to drag you down with my fuckedupness.”
“What if I like your fuckedupness? I like everything about you, Noel, even the shit that drives me crazy.”
Noel laughed bitterly. “How do you know that? You’ve been home for a minute. You haven’t really seen me at my absolute worst, not recently anyway. What if we get into this and I’m too much for you?”
This whole conversation had sent him on a roller coaster of emotions, but now, he was back to anger with frustration mixed in. “Was it Amber showing up? Or Trip? Which catalyst sent you ten steps back? Because when we kissed on Tuesday, I thought that was a turning point.”