I looked at Ollie with my fork suspended in midair.
“They did?”
“Yes.” Ollie exhaled through tense lips. “They’re not coming home for Christmas. They asked me to tell Noah. He’s going to be upset, he always gets so worked up about them.”
I huffed. “Can you blame him?”
My best friend contemplated me for a long moment, then he gave me a half smile. “I suppose not. I’ve just had enough of handling someone else’s emotions for the rest of my life.” His eyes went wide, and I was certain he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“Good thing he’s an adult, then. You can just focus on your own shit.” The words came out a little sharper than intended, but I was beyond sugarcoating anything when it came to Noah.
“Touché.” Ollie huffed. “I sometimes forget that he’s almost thirty.”
Wish I could say the same.
We finished our stew in near silence, took the dishes back into the kitchen, and parted ways.
Why did things have to be so difficult? Why couldn’t I just tell him that Noah and I were in love?
I’d have to come clean soon, I knew that, but part of me was still waiting for Noah to tell his brother that we were dating.
Kjartan’s truck, which was almost as large as my own, was parked in the yard, and Duncan, a bear of a man, got out of his car when I stepped into the courtyard. His sheepdog took off with Maddie’s poodle. Duncan looked after Fern and Madigan, and was still chortling when I stepped up to him.
“Hey, man!” I thumped my friend on the back. “Good to see you.”
“Lew, good tae see ye, my friend.”
We joined forces with Kjartan, an enormous Orc with his long hair in a braid, and scars none of us ever dared ask about. He was quiet but a good guy. Maddie showed us exactly where Duncan’s stall was supposed to go, and we got to work.
In the end, I barely had time to watch Noah show a bubbly curvy woman with an infectious smile around. Louise Reid looked nothing like I had imagined her. And she seemed genuinely excited about what we got up to at Lone Fox.
“Hello, boys,” she said when Noah led her past.
I huffed. Between a scarred Orc with biceps as thick as her thighs, a bear shifter with a nose ring, and me, we hardly qualified as ‘boys.’
“Lou, meet Lewis, our brewmaster,” Noah introduced me with a slight edge to his voice. “This is Duncan Cassidy, who owns a croft nearby and is the local sheep shearer, and Kjartan.” The Orc’s head turned around when Noah said his name and a minuscule smile lifted a corner of his mouth. Noah had always had a thing for languages. “Kjartan is a carpenter for Struan Fox, the contractor from Kincardie.”
I swooned at how confidently he explained it all.
How did Ollie still see Noah as a kid when he was this confident and skilled at his job?
They moved on towards the restaurant to warm up as I heard Noah go over a few more things for their feature.
It took us another two hours to put the stall up, and I headed towards the staff apartment house to have a shower before meeting Noah.
Almost as if my brain had willed him into existence, I ran into my sweet puppy again. He was about to get into his car but paused when he spotted me.
“I was going to text you. I forgot that I need cat food and litter for Mr Pickles, and I’m out of pretty much everything,” Noah explained with one hand braced on the door and the other on the car roof. “I’ll be extra brave and head to the shops on my own.” Noah dragged his bottom lip between his teeth. “And then I’m going to clean up properly before you come over,” he added with a suggestive wink.
It made me hard.
Gods, Puppy, what are you doing to me?
“Okay,” I choked out. I had a plan for later but didn’t stop him. It gave him the peace of mind he needed to let go in bed.
“I’ll see you at my place, then?”
“Yes.” I reached out but caught myself just in time to redirect my hand when Ollie stepped out of the restaurant building and waved over.
