Then my phone buzzed.
Noah stilled beside me and then handed it over without comment. Something about the way his jaw tightened told me who it was before I saw the name.
Up until this point, I’d been ignoring Leo’s calls and texts. If something were wrong at home, Ashley would tell me. I didn’t answer. Just hit decline and tossed the phone onto the bed.
But the damage was done.
Nothing like a call from your ex to bring down the mood. It was a jarring reminder.
For both of us.
Noah shifted. “I can go,” he said, his voice cautious. “If you want to talk to him…”
He glanced away, then right back at me. And it still surprised me, to see him looking uncertain. Just a hint and only for a fraction of a second, but it was there.
“I don’t want to talk to him,” I said quickly.
He nodded, once, but his shoulders stayed rigid.
“Does he…want to get back together?” His question wasn’t accusatory. It was just…cautious.
“I don’t know.” I winced. “If he does, it doesn’t matter. Because I don’t want to talk to him.”
Noah might have relaxed a little, but the set of his shoulders, and a motionless tension in his spine showed he was still bracing to leave.
And I really didn’t want him to leave.
What we had was still so new… It was tender. I didn’t want issues with my break-up to come along like a late frost and ruin everything.
Noah exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. “He’s not good enough for you.”
I blinked. That? I hadn’t expected it.
He must’ve seen it in my face—my disbelief. Shock. And then…doubt.
Had I settled when I’d gone all in on a relationship with Leo? He’d been stable, but also creative, and I remembered thinking what an impossible combination that was, how amazing he was. But…
Had I only seen what he wanted me to see? How much of it had even been real?
“You know,” Noah added, with that small, crooked smile, “there’s a lesser-known rule that applies to flings—that you can also be friends. And friends can talk about…whatever.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You don’t mind?”
He tilted his head. “Would either of us be here if we hadn’t gone through those breakups?”
And by here, I was pretty sure he meant this trip, but also…here here. As in, be the people we were.
I didn’t answer right away. Just stared at the picture still glowing on his screen.
“Probably not,” I said.
“No,” he agreed softly.
I took a breath. “I’m sure you already know this—from your marriage—but I imagined my entire future with Leo. Every part of it. I’d woven him into everything—where we lived, what we ate.” My throat tightened. “I built my career around him. My identity. My whole life. And when that thread got pulled... the whole tapestry unraveled.”
Noah didn’t speak. He just listened, with that careful, steady focus I still wasn’t used to.
When I finally trailed off, he dipped his chin. “You feel like you built an entire recipe around one rancid ingredient.”
