“No reason.” That was weird. He was definitely hiding something.
Noah told her pretty much everything and anything, so if something was bothering him and he didn’t want to tell her about it, maybe it washer. She couldn’t think of anything she’d done or said that might have upset him, though, so she let it go. For now.
It was a twenty-minute drive to the trailhead and he laughed at all the right places when she shared some funny stories from the world of tourist-driven retail. But he was drumming his fingers on the wheel.
She’d bide her time. Noah would crack. He always did.
But he said nothing while they parked and unloaded the four-wheelers. Or while they grabbed their gear—helmets, goggles and gloves—from the backseat of his truck. Maybe some time on the trail would shake loose whatever was stuck in his head, she thought.
She lost a quick Rock Paper Scissors best-of-three, so Noah got to lead and she’d have to ride in his dust trail thanks to a lack of rain in the last week. He took off up the trail and she followed, unable to keep from smiling as she hit the throttle. In their teens, they’d saved up their money and gone in halves on an old, beat-up quad they spent as much time working on as they did riding it. And they had to share it, riding double and taking turns driving, but they’d loved being out in the woods and they still did.
Not even five miles later, Noah’s tire went flat and they ended up on the side of the trail, looking for the puncture. Carly let him work in silence for a few minutes, but finally she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Spill it,” she said.
Having found the puncture, Noah opened the kit they always had with them and worked on plugging the hole in the tire. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re acting weird, like you do when something’s bugging you. Just tell me whatever it is you don’t want to tell me.”
“What makes you think I’m acting weird?”
“I’m not going to tell you because I like being able to tell when you’re hiding things from me.”
“Or maybe you’re imagining things.”
“Am I?” He might try to hide things or hedge around the truth, but he wouldn’t lie to her. And it wouldn’t do him any good to try. She knew those tells, too.
After plugging a small air compressor into his ATV’s accessory port, he popped it onto the tire’s valve. “Fine. My boss is getting married weekend after next on the Cape.”
“Yeah, you mentioned you had to go to that when we were trying to figure out when we could ride.” When he made a face, but didn’t say anything, she pushed. “What partdidn’tyou mention?”
“So Emily—the bride—has a sister, Sara, who’s single. And she seems to like me. Likea lot.”
That wasn’t earth-shattering news. A lot of women liked Noaha lot.“And?”
“And Jim and Emily think we’d make a great couple. Plus, it would tie me more to the business, being family, so to speak. They werenotsubtle about it.” He killed the air compressor and sighed, one hand resting on the tire. “So I told them I have a girlfriend. Like a serious one.”
She laughed. “You did not.”
“I did.”
“Have you been watching romantic comedies without me?” She unplugged the compressor from the machine and started coiling the cord. “So now you have to find a woman to pretend to be your girlfriend for your boss’s wedding. That’s some funny shit, Noah.”
“Trust me, I haven’t even gotten to the funny part yet.”
“It gets better?” After stowing the stuff they’d used back in the cargo box, she turned to him and crossed her arms. “I can’t wait.”
“They thinkyou’remy girlfriend.”
That surprised another burst of laughter from her, but Noah didn’t even crack a smile. “They think I’m your girlfriend? Like kissing, sexy-times girlfriend and not your best friend who just happens to be a girl?”
He sighed. “They think you’re my kissing, sexy-times girlfriend.”
The idea of her and Noah having sexy times was so funny she had to laugh again, and he even joined in this time. “Why didn’t you make somebody up?”
“I was going to, but then I realized I have a shitload of pictures of the two of us on my phone, and all kinds of true stories of fun shit we’ve done. I’ve heard when you’re going to lie, it’s best to stick as close to the truth as possible.”
“If you were shooting for close to the truth, you missed.”
