Page 2

Chapter two

Noah

T oday, I was supposed to be chilling at my house and breaking out the most recent Zelda game. The work week had been longer than normal because my boss asked me to take on extra jobs last minute. Which meant two attempts at hookups had gotten canceled, and any other opportunities to relax had gone out the window.

Mom had called about a chip in their outer wall that a recent storm had taken off, and then Olivia showed up in a tizzy because she was figuring out dresses for her bridesmaids for her wedding a year and a half out. She vacillated between big pom-pom yellow dresses that would make her bridesmaids look like Pac-Man and purple floofmonsters that would make them look like Grimace. Either one would guaranteed be mourned over at great length once the pictures got finalized.

Once Emily descended with her latest breakup sob story, I knew I wasn’t getting out of here.

My chance to decompress rotted in a dank corner at this point .

“Rick seemed like such a decent guy.” She tightly clutched a mug of chamomile tea Mom had made her. “He told me I wasn’t like other girls.”

“Oh, no, no, no, girl.” Olivia leaped from her seat. “That’s a huge red flag. What the hell is wrong with other women? Fucking nothing.”

My fingers itched to grab my phone and text Sebastian to see if my brother could substitute for me and I could plan an escape. Emily was nineteen, and she was in her “I can change him” mode, which I hoped would end soon.

I’d been through a slut phase that hadn’t abated, but I sure as hell wasn’t trying to change anyone.

Maybe try to figure out how to crack the code on a certain guy, but that had been a long-term project I wasn’t sure would ever come to fruition.

Emily flung herself back on the couch—thankfully, without the mug of tea—and wailed. “I’m going to die alone and get eaten by cats.”

“If you’re a pussy lover, you could always try batting for the other team,” Olivia teased. She would know. She was marrying her childhood bestie, Lauren, and they couldn’t be happier.

“But he took my favorite yam,” Emily moaned into her forearm, which she’d slung over her face.

“I’m afraid to ask.” I scrubbed my face with my palms. In conversations like this, I couldn’t offer much. I could be there as a shoulder to cry on, but my sum collected time as a boyfriend could fit into a season of baseball. Even though I was ten years older, dating had never quite worked out for me.

“The yam I’d bought from the grocery store the day we met. I planned on saving it.”

I blinked. “You know they rot, right?”

“Your relationship was the lifespan of a yam?” Olivia said .

Oh lord.

“Speaking of relationships, when are you bringing someone home, Noah?” Mom swept into the living room, where we congregated. She had her pale blonde hair back in the obligatory bun, her appearance always tidy, even in her own house.

My least favorite question. Hurray.

“When I start dating, you’ll all be the first to hear of it,” I said. “Who has time for dating when Emily’s got relationship yams?”

Olivia snorted, and we shared a look. Em shot me daggers.

Mom shook her head. She was an attentive mother, but she’d poured her whole self into being a mom and had been grasping at straws ever since we left. Probably why she called me so often to come over and fix things. Seb had the right idea of moving an hour away. Granted, he’d always been good at saying no, something I was garbage at. Thirty-two years old and I got tongue-tied, and the anxiety cranked up the volume whenever I might be disappointing someone.

“Em, you all could help me with my bridesmaid dress conundrum.” Olivia tossed the catalog she’d been sorting through onto the table and mouthed “escape while you can” at me.

Emily got up from the couch and pointed at the thick catalog, her nose wrinkled. “What kind of war crimes are in here?”

Mom plunked down next to Olivia. Her focus was locked in.

My cue to leave. “If you guys have this under control, I’m heading out.” Hopefully, home to carve some time for myself. I’d been pulled in so many directions that I rarely got the chance to decompress, and after long hours at the job, I needed space to breathe, to assemble my thoughts from the chaos in my mind.

Mom gave me a hug. “Thanks for fixing things.”

Guilt flushed through me that I’d been itching to escape so much. My folks weren’t bad at all. My mom was a social butterfly who probably would thrive in a badminton club, and my dad was the quieter sort who was off fishing most days. A lot like Seb. However, because Seb and Dad had perfected the art of disappearing, I was the guy who got roped in by the women of the family. “Love you.” I walked out the door and set off to my car, relief thudding through my veins.

As I approached my car, a streak of gold caught my attention from the street.

“Catch that dog,” Ollie Brannon hollered.

I moved before my brain registered what he’d said. I burst onto the asphalt right as the little blur was about to sail by.

“Come here.” I snagged the leash rattling on the ground behind the dog rather than make an attempt for the bolt of fluff. The tug sent me lunging forward, but I managed to keep hold of the leash. The blur morphed into a golden retriever who turned around and yapped at me in complaint. “I know, little dude. You were getting your run on, and I stepped in and ruined it.”

I led us out of the middle of the road to the grass of my parents’ front yard and dropped to my knees. The golden retriever was small enough to still be a pup, even if he wasn’t teeny anymore, and he pushed up on my knees and licked my face. A laugh escaped me as I ran my hands down his soft fur, which was fluffed out in every direction.

“Thank fuck.” Ollie reached us, huffing and puffing. He lived right up the street from my folks, along with his boyfriend, Liam, and his parents lived a few streets over. Growing up, we’d been close to the Brannons, two big families that ran together. Except the Brannon I’d been closest to when we were younger avoided me like I’d rolled around in smallpox blankets now.

Declan was a puzzle I’d never solved, and I couldn’t help being drawn into his orbit every few months or so when we ran into each other.

My unrequited crush in high school hadn’t abated. He was the guy. The one who made me realize I was into men. But no attempts of flirting had ever gone anywhere with him. He’d been dating women since senior year, so clearly, the crush wasn’t returned.

“When did you guys get a puppy?” I didn’t stop petting the cutie, who looked up at me with soulful brown eyes and needed all the pets. My gut tugged. I wanted a dog so damn bad, but with the way I always got yanked in different directions, I would never be able to give a pup the love and time it deserved.

“A month ago.” Ollie crouched next to me. “Subzero’s got so much energy. We only had one puppy growing up, so I’m not used to it. Plus, after Brandysnaps, Mom and Dad said we didn’t need any more pets, since we were their wild and crazy animals.”

I snorted. I’d met the Brannons, and his parents weren’t wrong.

“I’m surprised the lot of you didn’t all go out and get pets the second you moved out,” I teased.

Ollie shrugged. “Josie wasn’t a pet person, but Liam caved when I suggested a dog.”

Envy thudded through me fast and fierce. Liam had won the golden ticket there—his best friend fell for him after his divorce. If only it would happen to me. Granted, Declan and I were a far cry from best friends. I’d been pining from afar, ever since we went on different paths.

“I’m glad you guys gave this little one a home.” I gave Subzero a kiss on the nose. He licked me back, and a laugh burst out of me. “I’m heading out.”

“What broke at your folks’ house this time?” Ollie asked, a knowing grin on his lips.

“Chip in the outer wall.” I pushed up and handed the leash over. “It was an easy patch, though. ”

Ollie shook his head. “Never understood why she doesn’t just say she wants to see you.”

“We leave straightforwardness to your family,” I said, though Ollie’s words burrowed in deep. Did I pull the same shit as my mom? Dodge around what I wanted to make everyone else happy or not be an imposition?

My phone rang, and I glanced at the screen. My boss.

“Gotta get this. Talk to you soon?” I quick-walked to my car. Chances were, if my boss was hitting me up, someone had called out, and they needed me to come in. My shoulders tightened as I braced myself.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I answered the phone.

“Ray was supposed to go over to do a quote for a job this afternoon, a local one.” Brandon had been my boss for the past five years, but over the last year, he’d been foisting extra jobs on me left and right. To the point that the sheer volume had started to weigh on me. “Need you to go over and complete it.”

“He called out?” Frustration percolated inside me. I wanted to put my foot down, to say no, but I’d known Brandon for so long, and hell, no one waited at home for me. My gut twisted tight. Maybe the loneliness seeped under my skin a little more than I realized.

“Yeah. If you go do the quote, you can have the job,” he said. The idea he presumed I’d be free rankled a bit. This was why I’d drifted from almost everyone, why my connections felt superficial. How the fuck was I supposed to develop any relationship when I got tugged in all these directions?

Brandon rattled off the address, and my mouth dried.

Because I knew the address far too well.

This job, I’d definitely take.