Page 36 of Sweet Spot

“Fuck you. You know who’d be really proud of you for resorting to bullying?” he sneered. “That little princess of yours.”

“Trust me, Tess was more than happy to hear that I handed your ass to you.”

“I’m not talking about Tess. I’m talking about Wyatt.”

The blood drained from my face. I gripped the receiver and the room instantly spun at the mention of his name. Motherfucker. My heart slammed against my chest as Cam laughed at my silence.

“You know I’m right. Good thing the kid didn’t live to see you become the bully that used to torture him,” Cam sneered with delight. “By the way, what is it today? The Nineteenth? Shit, we’re exactly a week away from the day he decided to – ”

I hung up.

Rather, I slammed the phone down so hard both girls jumped in their seats outside. My heart was beating so fast I could barely see. I rose to my feet, my mind racing as I started out of my office with no direction in mind.

“Stop,” Noelle hissed, pushing me back in as I flung open the door. “Lukas, breathe. Sit down and just breathe.”

“I’ll breathe outside. There’s air.”

She ignored me and sat me down on my couch, standing over me with her hands on her hips.

“Nice try but I’m not going to let you find him and break the rest of his limbs. You’re not going to jail over Cam, okay?” she muttered, pushing back her blonde hair. “And not to say I told you so, but I did say you should wait till after the Twenty-Third to talk to him. You know your head’s just… better once that day passes.”

“You’re right.” I nodded vacantly. “My fault.”

“Don’t do that with me.”

“Do what?”

“Act all calm and collected when I know you aren’t. Whether you like to admit it or not, I’m one of the few people you can actually talk to about this shit,” Noelle said. “I’m one of the few people who knows everything about you – you, Tess, Wyatt and your stupid fucking parents.”

I glanced up at her. She wasn’t wrong. Noelle had grown up with us in Miami, right next door to our dysfunctional house. She knew the ins and outs of our family – every crack in our dark and broken history.

Of course, she also used that knowledge to get in my bed.

She knew when I was at my weakest and she knew when to pounce. It was cheap and ugly and precisely why I preferred to keep a distance from most. If knowing my past meant securing some permanent spot in my heart then I wanted the fewest number of people in the know.

“I don’t want or need to talk about this, Noelle. I never do and you know that.”

“I do. But if you’re ever going to open up to someone, shouldn’t it be me?” she asked, sitting across from me on the glass table. “And fine, even if you don’t open up to me, at least let me be the one who makes you feel good. I don’t like when you let someone else have that job,” she pouted in a baby voice. But she dropped the cute act fast when I let several seconds pass without saying anything. “Are you seeing that girl?”

“What girl?”

“The one who came in looking for her key.”

“Whether or not I am is not your business.”

Noelle scoffed. “I beg to differ.”

“How so?”

“Because you’re my business, Lukas.” Noelle glared at me. “I put time into you. I’ve always been there for you. In case you forgot, when you left for college, I was the one who had to listen to Tess’s crazy ass crying all the time, talking about all the shit your parents were putting them through. When you were here starting the company, I was in Philly helping your sister drive Wyatt to school if she was too fucking sad to get out of bed,” she hissed mockingly. “I am the closest thing to a girlfriend that you have ever had, that you’ll ever have and I’ll always know you better than any slut you’re fucking, including the neighbor, so don’t try to push me out of your life because I deserve to be here. I earned my spot here.”

My jaw was tight as I stared at Noelle. Zero to sixty. It was her specialty. Ignoring her fiery stare, I got up and returned to my desk, noting that it was too early to call even Emmett for a drink.

“You’ve known me most of my life, Noelle. That’s true,” I said once I resumed my seat. “And I’m grateful you were often there for Tess but make no mistake, there’s no debt here. From what I understood, you were kind to my sister because you were her friend – not because you looked forward to me owing you for the rest of my life. I might’ve felt like I did at one point but I don’t anymore.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because it’s bullshit,” I fired back. “First off, you begged to help with Tess’s depression. When I moved them to Philly, you begged me to move you there, too, so I could pay you to help around the house,” I said heatedly. “All that aside, only a horrible person would take advantage of someone they were there for during a hard time. Are you telling me you’re that person?”