Page 61 of Just My Type (The Boston Hearts #3)
CHAPTER FORTY
NOAH
“ C ome on guys. Hannah’s waiting for me,” I complain as I trudge down Comm Ave.
I’ve tried to speed up this little walk my brothers insisted on taking, but for some ridiculous reason, they’re meandering through Back Bay like old ladies on an afternoon stroll.
We never stroll. We run, so I have no idea what the fuck this is, and I’m grumpy about it.
I didn’t even want to take this walk with them, but they practically manhandled me out of my own apartment. My apartment. Where I should be right now. Preferably with my head between Hannah’s legs.
“Jesus, you’re so irritable today,” Cooper says, hooking an arm around my neck.
“Yeah, what’s your deal? It’s not like you,” Elliot says.
Jordan just smirks at me, and I swear he deliberately slows down his pace. Fucker.
“My deal is that I miss my girl.”
Elliot rolls his eyes. “You literally just saw her, like, four hours ago.”
“Four hours that feels like forever,” I mutter .
“Wait.” Jordan lifts a finger and looks at me. “I know what this is about. You haven’t told her you love her yet.”
“Fuck off,” I mumble.
“Wait, seriously?” Elliot gives me a you’re so pathetic look, and I can’t even blame him because I am.
“Well, what the fuck are you waiting for?” Cooper asks, letting go of my neck.
Fuck if I know. After Jordan and Jo’s wedding.
Hannah’s run in with Brett, and then telling our family about our accidental marriage, it felt like the wrong time.
Like I would be telling her in the wake of some really intense events and maybe she would think that I was just saying the words because of that, even though nothing could have been further from the truth.
Then we came back to Boston last week and I got all up in my head about making it perfect. But of course, nothing could possibly come close to perfect when it comes to telling the woman you love more than life that you love her and want to spend the rest of your life with her.
I considered telling her on the roof. At midnight on the Common.
I considered yelling it in a primal scream.
Spelling it out in Twizzlers. Writing her a book.
Okay, maybe not a book, but a letter or something.
Nothing felt good enough. So here I am, on an endless fucking walk with my brothers while Hannah has a conference call with her agent and her new publisher about release timelines for her books, and I still haven’t told her I love her even though the words are right on the tip of my damn tongue.
“I don’t know,” I say impatiently, throwing up my hands in exasperation.
“I want it to be perfect, but nothing feels good enough for her. Not when she’s everything.
And since I haven’t told her I love her, I also haven’t told her that I want her to stay here in Boston forever and move in with me and be mine until the end of time and maybe even after that because that’s how much I love her. ”
Cooper looks at me, his face going soft.
“It doesn’t have to be perfect, dude. For reasons passing understanding, Hannah looks at you like you hung the damn moon.
What the two of you have is so fucking special, and when you tell her you love her, it’ll be perfect because it’s you and her.
It doesn’t have to be a whole production, Noah.
You don’t need to write it in the sky or in fireworks or whatever else I’m sure your brain conjured up. It just has to be real.”
Jordan lets out a low whistle. “Little brother just dropping truth bombs today.”
“Fuck off.” Cooper punches Jordan in the arm. “I know shit.”
“Then why don’t you have a girl of your own?” Elliot asks, smirking at Cooper.
Cooper rolls his eyes. “Because I choose not to.”
“Okay, but back to me,” I say, loud enough to put a stop to whatever bickering is about to ensue. “You think I should just, like, go home and blurt it out or something?”
Elliot chuckles. “I think you could maybe do a little more than blurt it out but basically? Yes. Just tell her, Noah. You love her. I’m one hundred percent sure she loves you back.
And I promise she isn’t going anywhere. This is her home.
Tell her, and then you can start the rest of your lives together. ”
“I mean, they’re already married,” Jordan snarks. “Isn’t there an argument to be made that the rest of their lives started, like, two months ago?”
“It’s not official until I tell her I love her,” I grumble, staring straight ahead, wondering if my brothers will be able to catch me if I break into a full-on sprint for the last mile home.
Before I have the chance to decide, Elliot’s phone buzzes.
He grabs it out of his pocket and looks at the screen, smile spreading over his face before shoving his phone back in his pocket and picking up the pace, tossing glances at Jordan and Cooper, who also speed up.
Jogging a couple paces to catch up with them, I slap Elliot on the shoulder. “What the fuck? Now you decide to stop walking like you belong in an old age home? ”
Elliot shrugs. “Amelia needs me for something.”
I roll my eyes to avoid losing my shit. “Well, I need Hannah for everything, and you’ve still forced me to literally stroll around Boston for the last four hours like a tourist who has never been here before.”
Elliot just smiles. “It’s for your own good.”
“Trust us,” Cooper says with a toothy grin.
Jordan tosses an arm around my shoulders. “We would never steer you wrong.”
I stop in my tracks, looking at the three of them. “Um, what is going on right now? You’re acting weird.”
“We’re always weird.” Jordan keeps his arm where it is, leading me the last block to the brownstone.
Cece waves from her front stoop where she’s watering plants with Elliot’s dog curled up at her feet. Elliot groans behind me. “Cece, didn’t I tell you not to buy any more plants? You just kill them.”
At Elliot’s voice, Killer shoots up and practically tumbles down the stairs, jumping on Elliot’s legs and bumping her little face into his knee.
Cece just smiles. “Oh honey, when have I ever listened to you, or anyone for that matter? And I’ll probably kill them, but isn’t it lucky I have a grandson who is so good at bringing plants back to life?
Anyway, hi my babies! Did you have a nice stroll? ”
I narrow my eyes are her. “How did you know we were on a stroll?”
“Noah honey, I know everything.”
“If you know everything, maybe you can tell me why my brothers took me out on a four hour walk around the city I’ve lived in for my entire life. They made me walk so slowly I think we actually went backwards at one point.”
She shakes her head and puts her hands on her hips. “Sometimes it’s nice to slow down and take it all in. Boston is so beautiful this time of year. By the way, I think Hannah is waiting for you in her apartment. ”
“You mean my apartment?” That’s where I left her when I went out on this ridiculous sojourn. She said she had some writing to do after her call so she would just hang until I got back.
Cece shakes her head. “No, she definitely said hers. I never forget anything.” She gives me a serene smile then goes back to watering her plants, effectively dismissing us.
“Cece, you’re overwatering the plants,” Elliot says with a sigh.
“Don’t be so uptight, El. I’m giving them the exact amount of water they told me they need.”
Elliot sighs, leaning down and scooping up his dog, heading for home. “Call me when they start to die,” he calls back over his shoulder.
“You can be sure I will,” Cece answers, a sly smile on her face that tells me getting a rise out of Elliot was exactly her plan.
“See you later, Cece,” I call, heading home.
“Don’t forget, Noah. Hannah’s apartment,” Cece calls back.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble, wondering what everyone’s deal is today.
I throw open the front door to the brownstone and leave Cooper at his first-floor apartment, taking the stairs two at a time to the top floor.
“Don’t say goodbye or anything,” Cooper yells after me.
“You’ll survive,” I yell back.
Panting slightly, I reach the top. Throwing open the door of Hannah’s apartment, I walk straight into the living room, desperate to get my arms around her. “Four hours is an eternity, Gorgeous!” I yell as I yank my shirt over my head. “You better be naked!”
I toss my shirt to the floor and then freeze as I take in my surroundings. “What the…” I trail off as Hannah strolls into the living room, wide smile on her face.
“What do you think?” she asks.