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“I can’t,” he answered.
I was relieved none of them pressed him for an explanation. If all the guys were occupied, we’d have time to ourselves.
He smiled at me before ducking his head and finishing his lunch. I tried to engage in the conversation, but I was too preoccupied. I hadn’t expected to be so excited about hanging out with Noah.
After the final bell rang, I met Noah in the parking lot with Sky and Luca.
“Noah’s going to give me a ride since Gavin’s going to your house,” I told Sky as we walked away.
“See you guys,” he called out.
“Is it just me or do you feel like we’re getting away with something?” Noah asked once we were in his car.
I laughed. “I’ve felt like that since I asked you. I was hoping the entire time the guys were talking that they wouldn’t notice me asking you. I know this isn’t technically a date, and we already knew they had plans, but I still feel like we have to be sneaky.”
He sighed and took my hand in his. “I know. The whole dating schedule is stressful.”
I glanced at him. “The schedule? I thought we agreed to play it by ear?”
His attention was suddenly fixed on the road.
“Noah? What aren’t you telling me?”
He sighed. “Damn it. I thought someone else would have slipped by now.”
I pulled my hand back and twisted enough that I could face him. “Please tell me because I’m starting to freak out a bit.”
“It’s not that big of a deal. We all just talked and decided to try to keep things fair that we couldn’t go on another date with you until all the others have. Like if we counted today, then I couldn’t ask you out again until everyone else had.”
I crossed my arms. “Why didn’t anyone feel the need to mention this to me?”
Shouldn’t I have been included in the decision? What if I didn’t like the arrangement? In theory, it sounded fair, but what if one of them was out of town or their schedule was crazier than normal? Did everyone else have to wait to spend time with me until that one person could? It wasn’t the most likely situation, but I hated there being restrictions, especially without my knowing. This felt an awful lot like the fake requirements they were using against me. Something that might have been done with the best of intentions but was still going behind my back.
He gripped the wheel until his knuckles went white. “We thought it was something we should figure out on our side. We’re the ones who have problems with each other. You have enough going on, and we were trying to come up with a solution without having to drag you into it.”
I shook my head. I got where they were coming from, but it still wasn’t right. “I should be included in decisions like this. Things that affect all of us should be a group discussion.”
How else were we ever supposed to survive? If we couldn’t communicate now about silly things like this, how could we handle the big stuff?
“I realize that now.” He ran his hand through his curls. “I swear every time we think we’re being smart or a step ahead we just screw things up worse.”
I wasn’t going to argue that.
“Next time we have the chance, we’ll all talk it out,” he promised.
I really didn’t want this to ruin our afternoon together, so for now, I agreed. A minute later, he parked in front of my house.
“We’re going to use Gavin’s garage. I already checked with Tessa.” I explained after I dropped off my backpack and headed across the street. She mentioned they wouldn’t be home, so I used the spare key Gavin gave me to let us in.
“I’m going to get us some water,” Noah said while I continued through the hall to the garage. I flipped on the lights and stood in the center of the mats to start warming up.
“Ah, I remember these old friends,” he said with a rueful smile. “I can’t say I miss them.”
“I didn’t know these were the same ones you guys used to train.”
“Oh, yes, and every single time, we ended up having a wrestling match once we finished our lessons. It was before Vince’s ability came through, but he was still so much stronger than the rest of us. We’d team up in pairs against him to try to pin him, but I think we only managed it once or twice.”
I laughed. “Of course. Poor Tessa was probably so worried you’d all end up in the hospital.”
