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That wasn’t exactly comforting. I sat up straight and lowered the resistance for a moment.
Can you tell me?
His reply was almost instant. Not yet.
Soon?
Hopefully
I waited for him to say anything else, but no dots showed up. He must be busy or still dealing with whatever he’d been called home for. I couldn’t stress about it. He would tell us as soon as he could.
* * *
School was a waste of time.We had review sessions in preparations for finals starting on Monday. By lunch, I was ready to leave, but Gavin killed that dream and said we all missed too much this semester so we could suffer through two more periods.
One more week. Just one more week of school, and it was summertime. We’d be free. My first summer in Arlington Park, and my first with the guys. To say I was excited would be an understatement.
I was in my room, staring at my dresser, debating whether I should squeeze in another ride or make today a rest day when my phone went off.
It was a message from Noah. Are you home?
Yeah
Where else would I be? I told them all as we walked through the parking lot I was heading home while Gavin and Sky debated what game to play at Sky’s house.
Can I come in?
I thought he was with the guys. At least, I assumed they were all going over together. He was here? Had he been knocking, and I just didn’t hear?
I hurried down the stairs and opened the door. “Hey.”
He stepped past me, kissing me gently on the cheek, and walked down the hall. I shut the door and followed him. “What’s going on?”
He was already on the couch, slumped with his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. “I feel like I’m losing it.”
It hurt to see him like this, in pain and miserable. I sat next to him and rubbed my hand on his back. “What do you mean?”
He rubbed his temples. “You know how you always tell us to be honest and tell you what we need?”
“Yeah?” He was seriously freaking me out. Was he having doubts? Did his feelings change?
He turned his head just enough to look at me from the corner of his eyes, “I need you, Ave. I need time with you.”
I straightened as I processed. I was so often on the opposite side of this conversation I wasn’t sure what to do.
“Noah, I’m here.”
He smiled, but it wasn’t his real one. “I know, and I know we’ve all been busy and things with your dad have been insane, but I’m just being honest. I feel like I haven’t been with you, outside of school or a mission, in forever.”
So he missed me? I never expected Noah to be the one to admit something like that. He was always so cool and collected.
“Thanks for telling me.” I was constantly reminding them to tell me what they wanted and needed from me, and here he was.
“Do you want to hang out here tonight?”
He nodded. “If you don’t mind.”
I leaned over and rested my chin on his shoulder. “I would like nothing more. We can make dinner and watch a movie.”
