Noah (19 page)

Not once in all the years he’d known Gio had Noah ever felt any sort of resentment for
him
being so damn good looking but right now he thought he could hate hi
s best friend
. Could that really be it? Was Roni into Gio?
She’d only been around him a few times and
Noah
w
racked his brain trying to remember if she’d ever acted strange
ly
around him
before
.
If t
his
was true then
his theory about her wanting to remain strictly friends because of the age difference just flew out the door.
She’d stared long enough at them and Noah couldn’t take it anymore.     
    

“What’s wrong?
”

She flinched, startled by his voice and her brows pinched. “Nothing. Why?”

He glanced at Gio then back at her. “You looked upset there for a minute. Something bothering you?”

“
No!
” Her eyes widened as if her own tone surprised her.

She
was
upset. “Relax
,
I was just asking.”

“Well, I’m not.” There was something else in her eyes now. Something even more alarming
—s
he was
more
than upset. She turned away, her eyes going right back to Gio and the girl. “Can we leave?”

Really? That bad?
“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She wouldn’t even tear her eyes away from
Gio now and it drove Noah nuts
.

“I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

Noah stood
,
wanting nothing more than to get the fuck out of there. Get Roni away from Gio.
“Let
’
s go.”

Her expression now softened a bit. “Or if you think you can get a ride from one of your friends I can go alone. You don’t have to leave on account of me.” 

It wasn’t so easy for Noah to hide what
he
was feeling. “Nah, I’m tired, too.” He turned to Abel who was already looking at him questio
ning
ly. “We’re out.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, it’s been long day but I’ll be in early tomorrow.
Thanks for the pizza and beer.
”

They said their goodbyes and walked
out
. Noah thought he could wait until the drive home but it was killing him. Friend or not—there was no way.
No
fucking way he’d be able to deal with anything happening between her and Gio. “You wanna tell me what upset you in there now?”

She’d been digging in her purse and her face jerked up at his question
.
He stood in front of her making her stop.
Her eyes said it all. She was still upset and she was stunned that he hadn’t let it go. To his
surprise,
she didn’t
immediately
deny it. Just stared at him—for too long.
Finally she lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Just say it, Roni.” He wasn’t even sure why he wanted her to. Did he really want to hear her say she had feelings for Gio?
Hell no!
But he needed to know—needed to know if he should run now. Run the hell out of her life and never look back before it was too late.

“Tell you what? What is it you think I’m upset about,
Noah
?” 

Now he stared at her completely startled by her sudden change in demeanor. She wasn’t just upset
,
she was pissed. “
I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

She pulled her keys out of her purse and walked around him toward her car. Noah followed. “I told you. I’m tired.”

Noah fought the incredible urge to spin her around by her arm and pull her to him.
Instead,
he walked around her car and
waited for her to unlock the door.

~*~

Infuriating is what it was. Veronica took a deep breath before hitting the unlock button on her car. She knew coming with Noah tonight was a mistake. She never should’ve done it. And if he expected her to admit she was pissed—beyond pissed about the fact that he’d given Gio’s cousin a long
hard
ride the day after Thanksgiving, he was out of his mind.

She thought back to that day now as she shoved her key into the ignition. The day he’d acted disappointed that he couldn’t join her at the park to take her stupid pictures. Yeah
,
she was sure now
that
was sincere. A day at the park watching her take pictures of snails and raindrops on leaves or a day of sex with his holiday whore. Hmm
,
tough choice.

But again she reminded herself, it was none of her business. Noah was free to do what he pleased. He owed her no explanations and she wasn’t asking him for any so why the hell was he pushing this now? Did he
want
to embarrass her? Was
th
is fun for him to know that it had bothered her more than she would’ve even imagined
but
he wanted her to
say it
?
She’d sooner die.

He finished putting on his seatbelt just as she began to back out. “You were pretty obvious, Roni. I don’t know why you just don’t tell me.” She turned to him expecting some kind of smug smirk or twinkle in his eyes. Instead, he was glaring at her. “You have a thing for Gio?”

She blinked, stopping the car right there in the middle of the parking lot and stared at him. “What?”

“I saw the way you looked at him with that girl. Admit it. You were jealous.”

She shook her head
slowly trying to make sense of what he’d just said.
This
is what he’d been referring to all this time? He thought she was jealous of Gio and that groupie?

“You looked disgusted when she sat down next to him. That’s when I noticed you were upset
and
then you suddenly wanted to leave
?
”

Roni’s mind raced as her foot
stepp
ed down on the accelerator and they were on the move again.
She was glad now
that
the restaurant was just a few blocks away from her house. She wanted nothing more than to get this night over with.
Hector
’
s comment had hit her like a slap and she’d spent the entire time after that trying and apparently failing miserably to
recover from it. Seeing Gio with that groupie served only as another reminder that this was Noah
’s
world
and she had absolutely no right to
be
judg
ing
him. He was young and deserved to be sowing his wild oats. But there was no escaping the festering jealousy she
’d
felt
knowing he slept with Gio’s cousin and wo
u
ld
apparently be doing so again in just a week.

She’d have to worry about her annoyingly contradicting emotions later. For now, there was hope that he’d misconstrued her stewing. Instead, he was under the ridiculous notion that she was jealous over
Gio
.

“All right
,
you got me.”

“You’re into him?” His voice was a near whisper
now
.

“No.” She turned to him. He’d been staring straight ahead but he turned
to face her
when she answered. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s your age remember? But you got me about the groupie. I remembered what you said about them before and I guess I
was
a
little disgusted. But I wasn’t
upset
.”

“So you’re saying you couldn’t be into him because of his age?”

Glad that they’d gotten past the subject of her being jealous about
anything
she nodded in relief.
“Well, yeah. He’s
twenty
like you right?”

“But what does that have to do with anything?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “It has
everything
to do with it. Why would a guy his age be interested in a woman
my
age?”

“That’s just it. If he ever was he wouldn’t be thinking about your age. He’d be interested in
you
. You’re hung up on a number
, Roni
. What
?
I
s it because you think a
twenty
-
year
-
old is not mature enough for you?”

Veronica pulled into her driveway feeling a little un
comfortable
about
where this conversation was going. She go
t
the distinct feeling they weren’t talking about Gio anymore.

“No. I’m thinking about experience,” she
said getting
out of the car.

“Oh is that it? You want an
experienced
guy?”

Roni frowned. “That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about his
life
experience versus mine. There is still a lot a guy that age—your age—needs to experience and it would be unfair for me or any older woman to come along and expect him—
or any guy his age
to just skip th
ose things
to catch up to her.”

He stood a little to
o
close to her as she unlocked the front door and it unnerved her. She could smell his musky cologne and this close
,
feel the warmth of his body even though they were still inches away.

“You ever change a baby
’s diaper
, Roni?”

She glanced at him confused as she pushed the door open. “No.”

“I have.
”

“What does that—”

“I helped raise kids for years when I was the oldest one in my foster home and my foster parents weren’t around. Which happened a lot. There were four other kids in the house
.
O
ne was a baby—eight months old. There were two toddlers and
a
smart-ass preteen who thought he knew everything and I was left alone with them
all
the time. I fed them
,
bathed them
,
helped them with their homework
,
and put them in bed at night. Then I made sure they got up in the morning and got to school on time.
And they counted on
me
—
m
e
,
the fifteen-year old
to be the adult.
No
t
their parents who were supposed to be the real adults
”

They were in the living room
now
and Veronica had frozen midway listening to him. She stared at him
something huge pressing at her throat, holding her words hostage
.
Clearing her throat, she finally spoke.
“Where were your foster parents?”

He frowned
,
pulling his wallet out of his pocket and
tossing
it on the coffee table. “They just weren’t around. My point is at my age I have more experience raising kids or being a father than a lot of thirty-year olds do.”

Veronica gulped, bringing her hand to her neck as if that would pull away the invisible hand that gripped it. “I’m talking about other experiences, Noah. People can become parents at all ages in life. It’s not fair but it’s a fact of life. My mom and
my grand
parents are perfect examples.”

“Then what
are
you talking about?” He crossed his arms in front of him and waited for her to answer.

She set her purse down on the sofa and began to peel off the layers she wore
starting with
her jacket. “I’m just saying people my age are at a different stage of their life.” She thought of Noah and Gio’s cousin. Hit with a sudden hot flash she pressed her lips together. “I’m not looking for young guys that are
in
no way ready to settle down. And I’d
never
be selfish
enough or naïve enough
to think a
twenty
-year-old is, especially ones with groupies ready to jump at the snap of their fingers.”

“I think I told you how
I
feel about groupies.”