Page 29 of Glitches and Kisses (The Havenwood #2)

Noah

I should have gone home.

That was the plan.

After a week of hell in Chicago, drowning in work, in my own frustratingly endless thoughts, in the absolute silence from Evan that stretched across every fucking moment, I should have gone back to my apartment, ordered some food I wouldn’t finish, and collapsed into bed.

But instead, I was here.

The Rainbow Taproom was wild with bodies and energy as Pride had officially arrived.

It was too crowded, too loud, too much. And yet, the second I stepped inside, I knew why I was here.

I was looking for him.

I hadn’t even made it past the bar when I felt eyes on me.

“Noah! Hey, man!”

Liam’s voice was too loud, too forced, and the moment he pushed off the bar and stepped in front of me, I knew.

They knew.

The rest of them weren’t far behind. Callie appeared at Liam’s side, their bright red drink sloshing over the rim as they threw an arm around my shoulders like we did this all the time.

“Look at you, fresh off the Chicago express,” they said, their tone way too casual.

“Are you here to unwind? Buy us all a round? Have a little fun?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You know,” Sam piped up from my other side, clapping me a little too hard on the back. “Fun? That thing people do when they’re not locked in their apartments pretending they don’t have feelings?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”

“Nothing!” Callie’s smile was all teeth, too wide, too obvious. “We just missed you! Havenwood’s boring without you.”

I glanced around the crowded bar, scanning the familiar faces of our friends. Renzo, Ezra, Harper, Tess… all here.

And Evan. He had to be here. The thought hit hard, my pulse kicked up. Evan was always here.

I stiffened; my head snapped to the dance floor just beyond the bar.

Callie saw it first. “Wait…”

Too late.

I looked. And every thought in my head stopped.

Evan.

Moving with someone else.

His body pressed close, fluid with the beat, lost in it in a way that made my chest tighten like a vice. The other guy, some tall, broad-shouldered blonde asshole I didn’t know, had his hands on Evan’s waist, his mouth close to Evan’s ear, too fucking close, saying something that made Evan laugh.

Something inside me snapped.

I hated it. Not because I didn’t think Evan deserved to move on. But because I didn’t want him to.

The realization hit like a freight train, slamming through my ribs, through my chest, through my fucking bones. I didn’t want him with someone else.

And that changed everything.

I moved without thinking, stepping toward the dance floor, my body tense, my jaw locked, my hands in fists at my sides.

And then, a seven-foot-tall Appalachian grandmother made of sequins and judgment stepped into my path.

Maxie Glam blocked my way with the kind of effortless grace only a drag queen could manage, one hip cocked, her sharp emerald eyes scanning me like she could read my entire fucking soul in a glance.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she sighed, shaking her head like I was a misbehaving child she had neither the patience nor the time for. “That’s a look.”

I didn’t answer. Didn’t move. Just stood there, my body wound too tight, my mind too full of static .

Maxie gave a slow, knowing smile, stepping forward until I had no choice but to look at her. “So. What’s it gonna be?”

I swallowed, my throat dry as hell. “What?”

She tilted her head toward the dance floor toward him.

“I know it really isn’t any of my business.

But you are one of my regulars and I tend to find a way to make your business my own.

You are in my palace, my love.” She stared me down.

“You keep running, or you fight for what you want. But if you don’t choose soon, sugar?

” Her painted red lips curved, her voice dropping into something almost affectionate, something that made my chest ache. “Someone else might.”

I fought back a flood of words hard, looking away. “It’s not that simple.”

Maxie scoffed, giving her glass a lazy, theatrical swirl. “Oh, darling, it is. You just don’t like the answer.”

I dragged a shaky hand across my face, my whole-body tense.

She watched me for a beat longer, then her face softened, her smirk turning into something wiser, more serious. “Listen, baby.” Her voice dropped, quieter now, more grounded. “If you love him, you fight for him.”

I flinched.

Love.

I wasn’t ready for that word. Couldn’t be ready for that word.

But I couldn’t deny what I was feeling, either.

The thought of someone else getting that version of him, the one who lights up a room without even trying, burned hotter than I wanted to admit.

I’d said the wrong thing. Again. Shut him out because it was easier than letting him see how much I actually needed him. God, I hated how my own shit always got in the way.

Because Evan is effortless, even when he’s chaos. He makes me laugh when I don’t want to. He’s beautiful without trying, messy hair, crooked smile, eyes that see too much and still stay soft. He’s kind. Sarcastic. Caring in all the little ways that matter. And he’s safe.

That’s what terrifies me the most. Because the moment I let myself feel how much I want him, how much I already care, I open the door to losing it. And I don’t know if I can come back from that.

Maxie let that linger for a moment before delivering the final blow with all the weight of Dolly Parton giving life-altering advice over a plate of biscuits and gravy.

“Shit or get off the pot.”

My fists were still balled at my sides.

Maxie arched a perfectly sculpted brow, tipping her glass back.

“Now, before you do something spectacularly stupid, let me remind you, this is my house, and I don’t do mess.

So, if you’re about to go all tragic romance novel in the middle of my dance floor?

” She smiled sweetly. “I suggest you reconsider.”

I clenched my jaw, my pulse roaring in my ears.

I didn’t cause a scene. Didn’t storm onto the dance floor and rip Evan out of someone else’s arms.

Because she was right. Evan deserved to have his fun, after everything I put him through. That was the least I could give him while I figured my own shit out.

I took one last look at Evan, at the way his head tilted back, at the way his smile stretched wide, at the way he let someone else’s hands hold him the way I should have been holding him.

And suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

I turned. I walked away. And just as I did, Evan’s focus snapped up.

Our eyes locked. His expression shifted, surprise, confusion, something else, but I didn’t wait to figure out what it meant.

I pushed through the crowd, out the doors, and into the cold night air, my chest tight, my head spinning, my feet carrying me away from the one thing I was finally ready to admit I wanted.