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Finally, finding his balls and taking the damn hint, he awkwardly lowered his hand and straightened his already straight jacket. “You going fishing?”
“Just got back,” I lied, improvising, and thanking every single poker match because neither of my brothers gave so much as a flinch to contradict what just came out of my mouth. Like hell would he get any ideas about her being alone.
“Oh, wow. Well, I hope your trip was…fruitful.” His lip curled before he forced a smile back onto his face. “In a town like this, I’d love to know what constitutes asplans?” he asked, still masked in some syrupy, backhanded bullshit.
I pressed a kiss to Noel’s head, brain raffling through my ‘fuck off’ cards. Oh man, she was going to knee me in the groin later, but this one should work. “We’re actually moving her into my place.”
“Jesus,” Eric muttered, finally breaking character, grinding his teeth, eyes turning hard.Do it, asshole. Fucking do it, I dare you. Do something, anything, that can justify me rearranging that pretty face.“Awfully fast, don’t you think, even for one of these little religious communities?”
“Whether it’s fast or not is absolutely none of your business.” Seeming to stir back to life, Noel lifted her chin, plastering on a tacky smile. I hated it. That wasn’t my Skittles. Wasn’t the embodied sunshine the town loved. It was fake. Practiced. “Sometimes, you just know when you find the one,” she supplied happily, patting my chest for emphasis.
There it was. She spoke up and the vein in his temple visibly pulsated. Red crept up his neck. This was a control contest, and he was losing.Do it, dipshit. Whatever dumbass, bullshit decision just ran through your pea-sized brain, do it.He swallowed. Hard. But something in those dark blue eyes said he could see me baiting him, begging for the fight. A subtle smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth, and I let it linger as he spoke.
“Well. I’ll see you around.”
“Looking forward to it.”
* * *
Never letting goof Noel’s hand, I stuck by her side as she locked up Grizzly Grind, shooing Kara home without bothering to close. Seeing as she about broke skin with how tightly she clung onto me, I didn’t think she minded. AndIdidn’t mind that one bit.
Once she was safely tucked inside my truck, the boys and I filed in. There was a beat of silence, and then chaos broke loose. Noel, Maverick, and Axel all spoke at once, nervous voices ricocheting off the cab walls. I was too busy counting backward, forcing controlled breaths in, and strangling my steering wheel like I might decide to snap it.
“I’mmoving inwith you!?”
“Yo. What the fuck was that? Your name isNoel?”
“Uhhh, can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? I’m always down to tussle, but I’d kinda like to know why before I smash some dude’s face in.”
“James?!” Axel barked, going silent when I held up a solitary finger.
“Noel–cute stuff–I think we all need some clarification on what just went down.” Slowly, I opened my eyes and turned to face her as she stared back at me.
“You first,” she yelped back.
Relief swept through me at the snap in her tone. “There you are, sweet Jesus. What happened back there? I was afraid you’d cut out your tongue.”
“Har-har,” she mocked, fire coming back into her eyes. “Hilarious. I was trying not to piss myself!”
“Yes, I saw that.”
Her eyes flew wide as she squeaked, “That I was trying not topiss myself?!”
“That you were scared shitless.That prickis the ex you didn’t want to talk about?!”
“Can everybody take a chill pill?” Mav demanded. “Lower the volume, just a notch. This is a tiny space. Hold up,whywere you scared of that little shit?” The way our baby brother could look down on anybody in the name of solidarity made the big brother in me proud.
“That’s Eric,” she squeaked, voice still higher than usual.
“We got that,” I said, shifting from one side of my seat to the other.
“That’s my ex-boyfriend and the reason I’m in Mistyvale in the first place. Can we please get back to the wholewe’re datingand moving in thing?!”
“I thought you were here to fill in for Brin while she’s on leave,” Mav said, skipping her questions. I made a mental note to slip him a crisp twenty because I didn’t have a fucking clue how to navigate that situation. I’d just…done what felt right, said what came to me without particularly thinking through the consequences of keeping up the farce.
“I’m filling in for Brin because your big brother is a superhero and helped me get out of town with basically no notice.”
“Because of theshit?” Axel asked, blinking. I shifted again, anxiety making sitting still physically painful.
