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“Noel came and got me.”
I nodded and continued to comb my fingers through her hair. I have no idea where this nurturing side of me came from, but this girl was a part of Noel, and she was hurting. I had to fix her. “Where are your younger brothers?”
“They’re sleeping in Oren’s room.” Finally, she lifted her face and blinked at me. “Does anything hurt worse than getting your heart broken?”
“I...” The diplomatic answer caught in my throat and wouldn’t come. So I went with honesty. “No, not in my experience.”
She opened her mouth to say something else, but footsteps in the hall jerked both our attentions to the doorway.
“Caroline?” Noel’s hushed voice woke every fiber of life inside me, making my muscles tense with anticipation. “Are you okay? I heard voices—” He entered the room and took a full step before seeing me. Jerking to a stop, he stared. And stared some more before rasping, “Aspen?”
I didn’t know what to say. I suddenly felt lame and insecure. When the word, “Hi,” fell from my lips in a tiny, uncertain voice, I internally winced.
“Hi,” he breathed, glancing back and forth between Caroline and me. His voice was flat when he added, “You’re back.”
I nodded, worried it had been a mistake to come here like this. “I...I came to talk to you, but...” I motioned to Caroline. “I met your sister instead.”
He turned his attention to his sister, and she scurried off the bed. “I’ll just...” She hooked her thumb toward the door. “I’ll let you two talk.”
“No.” Noel held up a hand. “You stay. We can go. You need your rest.” Tipping his face to the side, he finally seemed to notice her wet eyes. “You okay?”
She nodded and tried to wipe the evidence off her face. “Yeah. Better. With a little help from Aspen.”
When she glanced at me, I sent her a supportive smile. She started back toward the bed, so I took that as my cue to climb off it. But as we traded places, she gave me one last impulsive hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered into my ear.
I nodded, gave her a farewell smile, and turned toward Noel. He stared at me, his eyes swirling with emotion but his expression hard. Then he spun away and stalked from the room. I followed him, down
the hall and to the front door. He didn’t slow down or hold out his hand for me, and that hurt. But I really couldn’t expect less, could I?
Once we were outside the apartment, the dim lights from the exterior halls showed how stiff and uncompromising his shoulders were.
He kept walking, so I kept following down the stairwell. Hurrying to keep up, I finally called, “You didn’t tell me Caroline had lost her baby in any of your messages.”
Jerking to a stop, he whirled around. We’d just reached the landing between floors, where the stairs turned. He grasped my arm and urged me toward the wall until cool brick met my spine.
Stepping in close enough for me to feel his heat and smell mint on his breath, he growled, “Well, you didn’t tell me you were leaving town. You didn’t tell me Marci Bennett had blackmailed you. And you sure as hell didn’t tell me you’d lost your fucking job...because of me. Christ, Aspen.” He cupped my face and pressed his forehead to mine. “You didn’t tell me shit.”
He was so mad he shook with it. I felt every tremor move through him so acutely I might as well have been shaking too.
“Damn it,” he muttered when I didn’t respond. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I closed my eyes. “Because I didn’t want you to do anything stupid.”
He snorted. “Too late.”
“Oh, God. Noel.” Shoving against him, I gasped. “I lied for you. I refused to tell them who you were, to protect you. Why would you...wait. What exactly did you do?”
Looming above me, he fisted his hand on his hips and scowled right back. “I told them it was me in that picture. What do you think I did?”
“No.” Denying it, I shook my head adamantly. Fear raced along my skin, prickling my scalp. But if Noel had gotten hurt from this, after everything I’d sacrificed to keep him safe, I...I didn’t know what I’d do. I’d probably lose all faith in the world. “Did they...did they kick you out?”
Shame entered his eyes. Bowing his head slightly, he glanced away and ran his hand over his hair. “No,” he admitted in a low voice.
Air hissed from my teeth. “Oh, thank God.”
“They wouldn’t let me leave,” he added on a frustrated sneer.
