We walk to the kitchen where everyone is gathered, except for Noah, who doesn’t seem to be present yet. I put a squirming Dante back on the floor when he notices Gracie crawling away to the living room.
“What is that thing?!” Silas asks as he strides over to Cecilia and takes Daisy from her grasp. “Is this… Is this the thing that’s supposed to eat me?” He snorts. “This thing fits in my hand! Even my magic stick is bigger than that!” He throws his head back and laughs.
Everyone joins in, minus Emma, who glares at him for making fun of her dog. She quickly snatches the pup from his huge hand and holds her to her chest. “She isn’t a this or a that. Her name is Daisy, and you will not make fun of her. And for your information, yes, she will be the one eating you. I’ve already started giving her raw meat. Give or take a year, and she’ll be feasting on your bones, Silas. So don’t mess with me and my pooch.”
Laughter explodes around the room once more, this time excluding Silas, who stares at Emma with fear. “She’s joking, right?” he asks me.
All I do is shrug, then kiss Bunny against her temple.Of course she’s joking, but we can let him worry for a little while.
“Hey, where’s Casanova?” Veronica asks when the room quiets down.
We all look around at one another, waiting for someone to speak up, but no one does.
“He didn’t come with you?” Morgan asks Gabe.
“Nah. When we got home from the airport, he said he had something to do and left. He still wasn’t back when I was on my way out,” he answers, not seeming too worried about his best friend.
“He’s been different lately. I’m not the only one who’s noticed, right?” Em asks the group.
“She’s right. He seems to be in a strange mood every now and then. And every time he is, he drinks more,” Aubrey says next.
“I’ve noticed that, too. It makes me worry about him,” Cece adds.
“You guys don’t need to worry about him. He’s a big boy. He does this often. Disappears for a few hours, then comes back. If he’s not talking about it, then it’s none of our business,” Gabe says as if he’s talking from experience.
“I don’t agree. We shouldn’t ignore it simply because he hasn’t voiced it. If it’s affecting him, then we should be there for him as his friends,” Clay tells Gabe sternly.
“Certainly when it starts affecting his play.” I point at Gabe.
“And it has been. Coach and I talked about it after last night’s game. Whatever’s going on with him is making him more vicious on the ice. Yes, it helps when it comes to blocking the other team, but it’s also earning us a lot of penalties.” Sy folds his arms over his chest. “But if he’s not talking about it, then we don’t know what we’re dealing with and how we can help fix it.”
Just then, the front door opens, and in storms a sulky-looking Noah. He marches past us and goes to the liquor cabinet, taking out a bottle of Scotch, only turning to us once he’s poured himself a glass.
“Hey,” he says simply as we all stare at him.
“We were just talking about you and wondering where you were,” Morgan says in her motherly worried tone.
“Well, here I am,” he answers, sounding miffed.
“Hey! Watch your tone when you’re talking to my wife,” Clay barks at him.
“Whatever, man.” He rolls his eyes and drains his drink before taking another.
“Adler, what’s going on with you? You’ve been off,” Silas tries.
“Nothing. I’m fine. Can’t a guy be in a mood from time to time?” he bites out, annoyed with us already.
We all look at each other, seeing this is getting nowhere. We’ll have to try another method to get him talking. Ronnie leaves her spot beside Aubrey and walks up to Noah, leaning against the counter beside him. She bumps her shoulder into his and smiles at him when he looks down at her.
“Are you okay, Noah?” she asks him quietly.
He stares at her for a moment, then nods. “Yeah, Kitten. Nothing you need to worry about.” He offers her a small smile before lifting his arm and placing it over her shoulders.
She doesn’t push him off like she normally would, but instead leans more into him, sensing he may need this moment even if he won’t admit it. Then her gaze travels over all of us, offering a tiny shrug.
I think we just found our new method.
Chapter thirty-nine
