My heart comes to a full stop before pounding harder. An anxious feeling washes over me, sending a rush of adrenaline through my body.
“What about her?”
The muscle in his jaw clenches. “What’s going on between the two of you?”
Swallowing roughly, my eyebrows tug together. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Miller.” His eyes are cold, his stare hard as he pulls his hands from his pockets, crossing his arms over his chest. “I was watching the two of you the other night at the fire and it’s pretty fucking obvious.”
My breath is momentarily trapped in my lungs. He means the night I fucked her in their bathroom. When I covered her mouth and had a full conversation with him while I was inside her.
“After you came outside to the fire, I saw the way you were looking at her when she came back out. It was like you couldn’t look anywhere but in her direction. Like something kept pulling your gaze back to her.” He pauses, lifting a hand to rake his fingers through his hair. “Just be real with me, bro. Is there something going on between the two of you?”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This is the exact situation I wanted to avoid. Being cornered by him—by one of my best friends—I’m so fucking torn. Obviously Willow hasn’t said anything to him and judging by what he’s observed, I don’t think he knows what all has really gone on between us.
I don’t want to lie to him, but if I’m honest, what the hell happens then? Although, if I lie and he finds out the truth later, that might be worse.
“Kind of.”
The color drains from Noah’s face. “I—Kind of? What does that even mean?”
I let out a breath. “It’s complicated.”
His nostrils flare. “Are the two of you together?”
“No.”
He holds his hands in front of his chest, interlacing his fingers as he cracks his knuckles. “Does she know that?”
My eyebrows tug together. “Yes, Noah. I’m not that big of a piece of shit.”
“That’s not what I was insinuating,” he mumbles, shaking his head. “I don’t know how I didn’t put two and two together sooner. With how much time the two of you have been spending together, not just at the shop, but outside of that.” He blows out a deep breath. “I don’t even know what to think about this.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, the words coming out in a rush, my voice low as a frown tugs my lips downwards. “I was going to say something about it to you, I just—I’m a coward.”
Noah’s lips press into a flat line. “Clearly.” He runs his tongue over his top teeth. “I don’t know what else to say to you right now. I’m not going to lie and pretend I’m not angry with you.”
“You have every right to be.”
He shakes his head in disappointment. “You’re the one person I’ve always trusted with her.”
Defeat weighs on my chest. “I know.”
“My sister is old enough to make her own decisions and whatever you guys have going on is between the two of you.” He clears his throat, corkscrewing his lips. “You’re my best friend, but she’s my sister and she will always come before you.” He pauses, shaking his head again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rolling my lips between my teeth, I bite down on them as I push my hand through my hair. “Because I told her I can’t give her anything more than this.”
He snorts. “You know that Willow deserves more than that.” He narrows his eyes on me. “She had a crush on you in high school, but I promised her I wouldn’t tell you.” He closes his eyes, sucking in a deep breath before exhaling and looking at me again. “She would take whatever fucking crumbs you threw in her direction.”
My forehead creases. There’s no way… I would have known, I would have been able to tell and she never acted any other way towards me, other than just being friendly.
“No, she never liked me more than a friend.”Or was I just too busy looking at girls my age to notice?
“Jesus, you’re an idiot.” Noah rolls his eyes in disbelief. “If you can’t give her what she deserves, you need to end it with her. Let her have the chance to find something real with someone.”
My heart clenches. The thought of her with someone else. My hand curls into a fist.
