“Penny for your thoughts?” someone asks, the question taking me back to when I first spoke to Noah here at this exact bar.
I knew of Noah being friends with Jax because we ran in the same circles. I saw him from afar, but that was the extent of it until I came here looking for an escape and found him sitting at the bar, drowning his sorrows.
Usually, I’d have one drink, go check in with Octavia, and then go explore the rest of the club and see what caught my attention.
But I was too drawn to Noah to make it further than the bar that night.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked as I sat on a stool, one away from the beautiful man with light brown hair and sad eyes.
He peered over, cocking a brow, and I honestly thought he was either going to flip me off, or tell me to mind my business.
Instead, he sighed. “Do you ever feel like you can’t do right for doing wrong, like you will never be enough, no matter how hard you try or how hard you want it?”
I was stunned not expecting any of that to spill from his lips.
“Actually, yeah, I can relate.”
I grew up seeking affection from parents who were not fit for the purpose, hence why I ended up in foster care, moving from home to home. Until Maggie and her husband, that is.
“Noah,” he said, holding out his hand towards me.
I nodded. “I know who you are. I’m Caleb,” I replied.
His lips twitched as he shook my hand once, his grip firm and warm. “Yeah, I know who you are too,” he said, his lips lifting into a smile.
I arched a brow. “Oh really?”
He’d let out a deep chuckle. “Of course, you’re not exactly hard to ignore.”
“Well, I’m flattered,” I said as a waiter came over. “My usual, please and whatever he’s having.” I nodded towards Noah.
“You're not going into the club?” Noah asked.
I shook my head. “No, not tonight.”
“I’ll have another,” he said to the waiter in response. “I’ll get the next round.”
And that’s how I spent the next five hours sat at a bar, talking about anything and everything to a man I only ever saw from afar.
I glance up to Octavia, her lips bright red as she gives me her signature smile. As always, she’s dressed impeccably in a long, tight-fitting dress, high heels, and her hair hanging over one shoulder as she studies me.
“You don’t want to know,” I reply in answer to her question, before lifting my chin to the booth in invitation.
She slides onto the bench across from me as a waitress comes over and passes her a champagne glass.
“Thank you. Can you let Bree know I’ll be busy for a while?”
She nods and leaves as quietly as she came.
“Talk to me Caleb. Something is wrong. I’ve not seen you like this since before you got together with Noah.
I swallow. Apart from Mason, Elliot, and Maggie, Noah asked that we not tell anyone else about the cancer. Not until after the surgery, but O is our friend.
“Noah has cancer,” I say.
Her eyes widen as she sucks in a deep breath.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” she says.
