Page 80 of Christmas Criminal

I nod.I will not ask her how she is.

And she waits there. Hanging onto me. And it makes me irrationally angry because Iknowthat she's waiting for me to break, like I might have before.

"Oh for fuck's sake," I hear over my shoulder, and I can't help it–my heart warms at the sound of her f-bomb as a grin spreads over my face.

Noelle doesn't hesitate knocking Delia's hand off my arm. She hands me the second coffee cup in her hand and turns toward her. "We tried to very surreptitiously let you know thatNick is not interested in you. But if you can't take a hint, I'll tell you straight out thathe is not. So take your damn hands off him. You're being rude, and if you were a man doing that to a woman, I'd be calling the police for an escort home."

Delia rears back, finally taking her hand off my arm. "That's a little dramatic, don't you think? I was just saying hello."

Noelle fixes her with a glare. "Don't."

And then Noelle smiles.

And it is the longest, most tense silence I have ever been a part of.

But if there is one thing I know, it is that I shouldnotspeak at this moment.

After what feels like an eternity, during which I start counting seconds and then the number of breaths Noelle takes, Delia finally scoffs, turning and heading in the other direction with her head held high.

"Man, that woman has quite a set of balls on her," Noelle says, shaking her head. "Are you okay? You looked like a trapped cat about to scratch her."

I laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was kind of hoping she'd lose interest."

Noelle pats my cheek. "Ridiculous that she feels like she can force herself on you like that." She stands on her toes to kiss my cheek. "I'm sorry you're such a catch, Saint Nick."

"Well thank you, Noelle, for giving her hell."

"That woman deserves a good egging," she says.

I let out a quick puff of air. "Noelle."

"What? I'm just saying, you've made it abundantly clear that you're not interested. Isn't there a point in time where you have to do somethingotherthan words?"

"She'll lose interest eventually."

Noelle grumbles. "So what, you just wait around and do your best to avoid her at town events?"

"It's not that serious, Noelle. So she grabs my arm every once in a while.Iget to grabyou," I say, wrapping my arms around her neck, careful not to hold my coffee in any way that could spill on her. I kiss her, closing my eyes briefly so I can imagine we're alone, just like this, in the confines of my house.

Someone remind me why I was so insistent on this stupid parade.

She grumbles, but I can tell by the way she nuzzles her head into my neck that she's ready to move on from this conversation.

"So who was your friend?" I ask, nodding to the coffee hut.

She shrugs. "My friend's mom. Mrs. Singh," she says. "Well, I guess my former friend's mom."

"What happened?"

She lets out a long breath. "Bullying. Loss of self-esteem. Loss of friends. Move to Philly. You know the story."

I nod. "She seemed like she liked you."

She unwinds her limbs from mine to take a sip of her coffee. "We were really close for a long time. She had a trampoline that we weren't allowed to go on unless we had adult supervision, but we did anyway. Made out with a boy for the first time on that trampoline. Smoked weed for the first time on that trampoline."

"You should reach out to her," I say.

She shrugs. "Why?"

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