“She sounds nice.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, she was pretty cool.” Then he looks back at Noah again. “Can we get some food now? I’m really hungry.”
Oh, the attention span of a child.
“Sure.” Noah nods at his nephew before locking gazes with me. “It was good seeing you.”
I do my best imitation of a bobblehead. “Yeah.”
“I’m really hungry, Uncle Noah,” Alex pipes up again, and I laugh.
“You better go and feed them.”
“Yeah.” His eyes widen for a moment before his hand disappears in his pocket and he pulls out his phone. After tapping on it a few times, he hands it to me. “Want to put your number in it?”
“Uh, sure.” I type in my number and give it back to him.
How weird is it to not have the phone number of the man I’ve been working with at the hospital, took to lunch with my mom, went to the movie theater with, and had glorious sex with.
“Thanks. I’ll send you a text, so you have my number too.” He taps the screen a few times before putting the phone back in his pocket.
“Okay.”
“Well, have fun.”
“You too.”
Noah does a little salute and he and the boys head to the counter.
My gaze stays on them, watching them interact. How Noah follows whatever Alex points at, and how he bends down to talk to Mason.
Just like earlier, I have to eventually avert my eyes. They stray over to the group of people he came with who are all staring at me before looking away quickly.
Were they watching us the whole time?
“Oh, for the love of I don’t even know what,” Eadie sighs and slaps her hand on her chest.
I put my chin on my hand. “I know.”
“I’ve seen photos of him, and videos, of course. But shit, it’s nothing to this.” She tilts her head in the direction of where they stand. “This is like a wet dream come alive. But better.”
“I know.”
“Chloe Williams, you are in so much trouble.”
“I know,” I sigh, this giddy feeling in my stomach reminding me too much of my teenage years.
And all of a sudden, it’s hard to remember why Noah and I can’t be together.
It’s like he’s dousing me in some magical dust whenever he’s around and I can’t think straight.
All I want is to be with him.
And I’m not sure I’m able to resist him.
I’m screwed.
So very screwed.
Twenty-Four
Noah
Noah: Did you have a good time with Eadie yesterday?
* * *
Chloe: I did. It was nice to spend some time with her.
* * *
Noah: Good. Are you busy tonight? I thought maybe we could hang out?
* * *
Chloe: Sorry, I’m going over to my mom’s.
* * *
Noah: No worries. Have fun.
I blow out a breath. I was really hoping to see her tonight.
There’s still so much to talk about, especially after I’ve had some more time to process our past with different information. With the truth.
Do I feel like I have a right to be angry? Yes, especially when it comes to having choices taken away from me.
But is it worth holding a grudge against her after all this time? After everything she told me? After knowing what she’s had to endure, what she’s still dealing with on a daily basis? After not being able to help myself and googling the life expectancy of heart transplant patients and seeing that the number steadily declines with each year post surgery and how low the number is for a ten-year survival?
The answer is a big fucking no.
It doesn’t make what she did back then right. But we were only fresh out of high school, and to be honest, I’m actually also amazed that she had the wisdom—the selflessness—to set me free as such. I know she loved me. I know she wanted a future with me. But she somehow let me go so I could achieve the goals I had been merely hoping I’d have a chance at.
Who has that amount of altruism at eighteen? Chloe Williams.
Punishing her for . . . being noble hardly seems right or fair. Despite my anger, I never stopped caring about her.
My phone vibrates in my hand.
Chloe: Maybe tomorrow after the hospital? You’ll be there, right?
* * *
Noah: You bet.
* * *
Chloe: Okay. I left Crush for you to paint. You always liked him.
* * *
Noah: Dude. I just watched Nemo with my nephews a while ago, and they agreed that the turtles were super cool.
* * *
Chloe: Ha. I bet they did.
* * *
Noah: Yeah.
I lean my head against the headrest.
It hasn’t been