He breaks off, overwhelmed.
If I’m honest, I’m genuinely surprised by Rick. I wouldn’t have expected him to have the balls to come clean like that, to choose Noah over his convenient lie of a life with Cassidy. It makes me respect him a tiny bit more, even as I still want to punch his perfect teeth in for hurting Noah in the first place. For making him cry now. For trying to get him back after all this time.
“That’s…” I search for the right words. “That’s intense. But it’s good news, right? Our plan worked.”I try not to sound bitter, but I can’t quite keep it out of my voice.“Rick wants you back. He’s jealous. You got what you wanted.”
Noah makes a small, broken sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. He turns to look at me, his eyes red-rimmed but suddenly fierce.
“That’s the thing, Connor,” he says, a single tear sliding down his face. “Tonight, I realized something.”
I blink at him, confused.
“What?”
He shrugs. “I realized I don’t love him anymore.”
I stare at him, trying to process that.
“What?”
“I don’t love Rick,” Noah says, more firmly this time. “Part of me will always care about him. We have history. He was my first boyfriend. But after what he did to me, after how he made me feel about myself for so long…” He shakes his head. “I could never trust him again. I could never go back to that.”
Relief hits me so hard it’s almost dizzying. I have to focus on the road, on keeping the car straight.
“Then why—” I start, confused. “Why are you so upset?”
Noah stares at me, and something in his expression shifts. There’s a vulnerability there I haven’t seen before.He takes a shaky breath.
“Because,” he says, his voice breaking, “I’m in love with you, Connor.”
The words hit so hard I lose my breath. I nearly swerve the car, my hands jerking on the steering wheel before I get it under control.
Did I just hallucinate that?
Did Noah Caldwell—the man I’ve fallen for so quickly it still scares me—just say he’s in love with me?
“What?” I manage, my voice barely above a whisper.
Noah looks at me through tears, his face full of horror.
“I know it’s insane,” he says quickly, the words tumbling out like he can’t hold them back anymore. “I know we barely know each other, and this was all supposed to be fake, and I’m probably freaking you out right now…”He’s rambling, the way he does when he’s nervous.”I just—” Noah wipes at his face with the back of his hand. “These past three days have been the best…the best I’ve had in such a long time.And I know it’s crazy to say that after just three days of being together, and I know you don’t do relationships, and I’m sure I’m not your type, but pretending to be boyfriends with you, I’ve been happier than I ever was with Rick. So now that I know how…how happy I can be, I won’t go back to him. Not ever. Because now I know what I want. What I could have.”
I realize I’m gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles have gone white. My heart is pounding against my ribs like it’s trying to escape, blood pulsing in my temples.
I should pull over.I don’t think it’s safe to drive when I’m this wound up.
I pull the car onto the side of the road, the tires crunching over gravel as we come to a stop.
When I turn to look at him again, Noah is staring at me, confused.
“W-why did you stop?” he asks, like he’s suddenly uncomfortable having all my attention on him.
I stare at him, still trying to process what I just heard.
Did he just say he’s in love with me?
My brain feels like it’s short-circuiting. I’m just sitting there, unable to form a single coherent thought beyond:Oh my God, he feels the same way.
“I’m sorry,” Noah says quickly, panic flashing across his face. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
