Page 68 of The Murder Between Us

Jesus.

What if Katie got her heart broken? What if the fantasy she had built up in twenty-four hours came crashing down? Would she want him to date again? Or would she reject any future man he might meet? Was Cole setting an impossible standard that no future man could ever meet, for either him or Katie?

Dread slid through him, dark and poisonous. Dread, and panic, and a building certainty that he’d made a gigantic mistake. Maybe an unforgivable one.

His phone rang, clattering on the tabletop. Katie went still, staring at the screen.

Cole.

Katie beamed. She stood, taking her phone and her shoes but leaving her textbook, and headed for the stairs. “Tell him I say hi!” she called over her shoulder. “And that he needs to come help with pre-calc, ’cause you suck at it, Dad.”

He almost let the call roll over to voicemail. His heart was pounding, about to break every one of his ribs. At the last moment, he swiped to answer and pulled the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, gorgeous.”

He closed his eyes. Agony knifed through him. Hewanted, he wanted so, sobadly. But…

Noah slipped to the patio, the automatic lights coming on as he shut the glass door softly behind him. “Hey.”

There was a beat of silence. “You okay? Is Katie okay?”

“She’s…” He sighed. “She’s got homework, but she doesn’t want to do it. She’s not focused enough.”

“I feel like I’m responsible for that.”

You have no idea.“Partly. I’m more to blame. Dinner was my idea, after all.”

“Noah, Katie is wonderful. She’s absolutely wonderful. She’s just like you. Dinner was…” Cole’s voice trailed off. “If I say perfect, will you make fun of me?”

“It was hardly perfect. She snorted water across the table.”

Cole laughed. “That’s whatmadeit perfect. She’s great. You have every reason to be proud of her. You’re a great father, and she’s a great, great kid.”

The knife in his belly twisted again. He doubled over, almost fell onto picnic table’s bench seat. His jaw clenched. His molars scraped back and forth.

“I had such a great time,” Cole breathed. “Noah, I had areallygreat time.”

He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t get his tongue to move, his vocal cords to vibrate.

“Noah?”

“I’m here.” He sounded like he was being strangled. He heaved in a wet, ragged rush of air.

“What’s wrong?”

Damn it. Damn it, damn it. His vision blurred, and he dug his thumb into the wood of the picnic table. He sniffed, tried to blink. Tears landed on the back of his hand. “It’s just… Cole, I think I made a mistake tonight.”

“What?”

“It’s Katie. She had a great time, too, Cole.”

Cole exhaled. “Thank God. I was nervous about dinner, when you asked. I wanted her to have a good time. I… really wanted her to like me.”

He tried to laugh. “No danger there. She’s head over heels for you.”Like me. He squeezed his eyes closed again.

“Then… why do you think you made a mistake?”

His foot bounced in a manic rhythm. “What are we doing, Cole?” Noah whispered. “What are we? What is this?”