Kaj grabbed Mads by the waist and kissed him. It was brief, but it seemed so intimate as their lips molded against each other. Something they were clearly used to.
Uncomfortable, Noah looked to the other side.
Despite him being quite dirty when he was the one involved, seeing people making out or even full-on fucking didn’t do much for him. He had already accepted this strange dichotomy withinhim, so he had no idea why these two kissing made his stomach revolve.
When he glanced back, Kaj was saying something in Mads’s ear. However, his cold gaze was anchored on him, all his sharp edges on full display. Broken. Angry. Cruel. An all-consuming euphoria traveled through Noah’s body.
Breaking eye contact, Kaj said goodbye and walked away, bumping into his shoulder with enough force to make him stagger.
Noah hated this.
He hated that in the span of three months, after two years of not hearing a word from Kaj, this was the third time he was forced to be in the same room and breathe the same air as him.
Noah wasn’t usually spiteful, it was a waste of energy, and even though Kaj had hurt him, he still couldn’t say he hated him. Not when the good memories were stronger than the bad. Of course it was strange to be around him; it stung, but he would have found a way to deal with it.
However, Kaj made it so difficult to want to be civil with his daring glares and belittling comebacks. He was an annoyance. A pebble in his shoe. A thorn in his side.
Why has he become such an asshole?
“Tell me he hasn’t always been like that.”
Zach’s voice and his hands on Noah’s waist startled him. “What?”
“I know he’s your ex—it’s all good—but the stories you told me and the way he acts... He seems like two different people.”
“Oh, yeah.” Noah chuckled and took a step back. “He’sdifferent, to put it mildly.”
“Do you think he still... feels something for you?”
Noah quirked an eyebrow.
Was Zach fishing for information? Not that he had anything to hide, but this was odd. His questioning didn’t sound curious,like the talk they’d had about their pasts during some post-coital haze.
“I mean, I don’t think you kicked his dog.”
“Nope.”
“He’s clearly angry at you, though. And you haven’t seen each other in two years, so…”
“Nah,” Noah said, waving a palm. “He’s dating Mads, and it’s been too long for that. He’s just a flaming imbecile.”
Zach laughed, then wrapped an arm around his shoulders and said, “He’s definitely an idiot for doing what he did to you. I would never.”
Coziness settled behind his ribs upon hearing those words. Zach taking his side without even needing to hear Kaj’s version of the story was the best reassurance—he was the right man for him. But, at the same time, it felt wrong. He was not a gossip.
Noah felt awful. The last thing he wanted was for Zach to think he wasn’t good enough. Love might not be the word that described their relationship, but he was important to him. They hadn’t been together long—barely three months—but the emotional connection was there. It was deep, and warm, and exactly what Noah needed.
Zach was like a balm. A ray of sun on the coldest winter day. Thanks to him, Noah had learned to trust again. He made him feel safe and sexy as hell. The way he looked at him, their conversations, the time they spent in silence listening to music, or those rainy afternoons Noah would simply watch him while he made magic on his laptop or directly on the piano. Zach was a genius. If it weren’t for him, his portfolio for the college application wouldn’t have been the same.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Noah asked, not wanting to talk about Kaj anymore. He had gone through hell to forget about him and didn’t want his moody ass to ruin the night orwhat he had with Zach. “I thought you had plans with your sister.”
“And I did, but she called me last minute to tell me this guy—her crush—had asked her out on a date and she couldn’t say no.” Zach rolled his eyes. “Never trust a hormonal teenager to stick to your plans together.”
Noah leaned in closer to his ear. “Good for me then.”
“How so?”
“That way I won’t have to spend the night alone.”
