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I shake my head, grinning. “And still cocky as ever,” I add.
“Yeah, well, that’ll probably never change.” Noah shrugs. “So fill me in on what’s happening. Anything new with Robert?”
We spoke the day after Robert’s and my huge blowout, and I told him I’d ended it.
“He hasn’t reached out to me since the dinner last Friday, and I’m hoping it stays that way.”
“You know I love you, Gem, but I’m happy you called it off.”
“Have you met him?” Tyler speaks up.
“Once, and that was enough to confirm I didn’t like him, but even so, Gemma was gonna do what she wanted anyway.”
“I asked him to come here with me, but he’d always say he was too busy with work,” I explain. Looking back, Robert always acted too good to be seen visiting a convict in prison. He judged and mocked people who had criminal records, my brother included.
“Fine by me. Less times I had to fake being nice.” Noah flashes a smirk.
“Just wait till you come home. Everyone’s polite to your face but talks shit behind your back,” Tyler warns. “Hope you got some thick skin.”
“Tyler…” I mutter and give him a look. The last thing I want is to scare Noah about going home.
“Gem, it’s fine. You don’t need to sugarcoat anything for me. Without a doubt, it’s gonna be rough, but since Tyler is there, I won’t be so alone.” Noah shrugs, and it breaks my heart that he’ll have to deal with this when he’s out.
“I’m not trying to. I just wanna make sure you don’t change your mind and move to Alaska or something.”
“That’s way too damn cold for me.” Noah grunts. “Plus, I don’t have any money, remember? I’ll be a thirty-three-year-old man living the dream at home.”
“I’m thirty-four, and I’m staying with my baby sister,” Tyler mocks. “She said we can start a convicts club when you’re back.”
Noah laughs, and I love hearing that sound come from him because it doesn’t happen often.
“I’ve been working out at the gym and am training a few people.”
“So what you’re saying is I have less than eighteen months to bulk up so I can kick your ass?”
“Yep, something else to look forward to,” Tyler says, and I’m glad he’s being so positive.
Glancing back and forth between the two of them, I beam because they’re getting along so well.
“So you’re dating my sister now?” Noah bluntly asks.
“Noah!” I whisper-hiss. “I just ended my engagement.”
“Exactly. You’re a free woman. He better hurry before another old guy swoops in and steals you away.”
Tyler tries to hold back his laughter, but fails, as I hang my head. “You’re both jerks.”
“Hey, I just said what Tyler is probably thinking.”
“What the whole town is thinking,” Tyler adds.
“How’d we get on the subject of me anyway? We’re here to talk about you,” I deflect. There’s no way Tyler and I are having this conversation in front of my brother in a prison.
“There hasn’t been anything new with me in over eight years.” Noah leans back, crossing his arms. “Well, unless you consider us getting two new flavors of Jell-O this month.”
“Ooh, which ones?” Tyler acts interested.
“Watermelon and strawberry banana,” Noah confirms.
I burst out laughing at his excitement. “If that makes you happy, just wait till Tyler makes you one of his amazing dinners. He’s practically a chef.”
“No,” Tyler argues. At the same time, Noah says, “Can’t wait!”
“Stop being so modest. Considering you could’ve lived on ramen and PB&J sandwiches but decided to teach yourself how to cook so you and Everleigh could eat a home-cooked meal is something to be proud of,” I tell him genuinely. He probably doesn’t think he did anything special, but he did. Tyler was all Everleigh talked about in middle and high school, and those stories are what had me falling for him in the first place.
Tyler and Noah mostly chat about Noah’s plans when he’s free. Though I know better than to mention Katie’s name, Tyler has no shame in doing so.
“Since our time is almost up, I gotta ask. Why didn’t you ever write Katie back or let her visit?”
The moment his question comes out, Noah’s face pales.
Shit.
Bowing his head before shaking it, Noah blinks at us with glossy eyes. “It’s complicated.”
When I spoke about it with Tyler, and explained Noah’s version of “it’s complicated,” he said he understood Noah’s reaction. However, Tyler looks like he’s ready to bust Noah’s balls for pushing Katie away.
“You gotta man up,” Tyler insists. “Life’s too short.”
“Trust me, I’m aware of that. I live with the guilt of what happened every single day. I wanna be able to see Katie in person, not with a table between us and no privacy.”
Everyone was shocked when Gabe died and more so when Noah was convicted of his murder. The whole situation is a tragedy, and though Noah didn’t mean to harm our cousin, he acted on emotions instead of logic. Katie stayed with Gabe for the baby and because she always wanted a family. Eventually, I think she would’ve left him after his cheating scandals, but in the heat of the moment, Noah didn’t think about that.
