“I’m not sure of anything, so what could it hurt?”
“Him.”
I turn to find Cameron, her hands on her hips, breathing shallow.
She walks to us, a somberness on her face. “It could hurt him, and he’s been nothing but hurt since the day you were hit by that truck, which was on this street by the way. Right here, in front of this house.”
“Cameron,” Mason snaps, but she pushes on.
“It was right after their last game of the season, a loss in the playoffs. You came here to find him, but Chase found you first.”
I frown, shaking my head.
“You had something to say that night, to Chase and to Noah. But you only got the chance to talk to one. Face to face anyway.”
“Cameron!” my brother screams.
“You texted the other.”
My skin prickles, and I draw into myself.
She tosses me my phone, and I catch it.
“If you’re really ready for all this, re-sync your cloud, Ari.”
Mason jerks from me, getting in her face. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“What you should have done a long time ago.” She glares. “You were the one who got her a new phone, flashed her account over.”
My eyes fly to Mason, his glare still pointed at Cameron.
She shrugs. “I’m her best friend. I know her passwords too, and after she decided, she didn’t want to know, I went to her phone planning to do the same, but it was already gone. The entire thread. You deleted it, didn’t you?”
“I did what was asked of me.” After a moment, his eyes meet mine, shame weighing them down. “He didn’t want to make things harder on you.”
He…
Noah.
My chest rises and falls with several breaths, and then I whip around, rushing into the house. I lock the door once I’m through, and Mason’s hard bang beats down instantly.
Someone comes around the corner, frowning at me as he heads to unlock it, but I’m already tearing open the door that leads to Noah’s room.
As I reach the last step, Noah pokes his head around the corner, and we both freeze.
“I… um.” I blink, glancing behind me and back. “No one told me where your room was…”
Noah’s brows pull and then slowly, he nods.
“Yeah,” he answers the question I didn’t have to ask. “You’ve been here.”
“A lot?”
“That’s up to interpretation.”
“Noah.”
“Yes, a lot.”
I nod, looking down, and that’s when I remember why I came in the first place.
I step around him, into the space, and I’m nearly knocked off my feet.
It’s the scent. The mint and pine. It’s Noah.
“Ari…”
I lift the calendar and turn to face him, slapping it into his chest.
He has a choice to watch it fall or grab hold of it and read it, and he chooses to let it drop to our feet.
A tenderness falls over him and his head tips the slightest bit.
He already knows what’s on there.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he rasps.
A humorless chuckle leaves me, and I shake my head.
“What?” I stare. “That’s what you have to say about this?” I shake my head again, spinning away from him, and moving farther into his place.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he says quietly, the warmth of his presence growing closer. “But more and more, I have no idea how to accomplish that.” He’s right behind me now, my body senses his. “Lies hurt people, and I feel like all I do is lie when I look at you.”
I gulp. “So don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
The hairs on the nape of my neck stand as the heat of his breath reaches me.
“Lie.” Slowly I face him, and my lungs expand. “Don’t lie to me, Noah.”
His blue eyes pierce mine, and he gives a curt nod. “Okay.”
“Say You Swear.”
A broken breath pushes past his lips, and he nods again.
With anxious waves rolling over me, I point to the calendar on the floor. “The gala. I was supposed to go with you.”
He nods, and an ache forms in my chest.
“I had a dress.”
His lips tip the slightest bit. “You did?”
“You didn’t know?”
He shakes his head. “I bet you wanted to surprise me. What color?”
“Guess.”
He points his smile to the floor, as if he knows but doesn’t say a word.