Page 26 of Santa Is A Sl*t

I see Romeo and Beau look over her head to share matching grins. Something tells me that Hart doesn’t often say no to Val.

Reaching across the table, I shake each of their hands before Kane does the same.

“One more thing, if you wouldn’t mind,” Nico says and we all take our seats again. “I have a really big favor to ask and it’s not an easy one.”

He explains his idea and I absolutely adore it.

So does Val.

I just hope it works.

Chapter Twelve

NOEL

After leaving Nico’s office, I was upset.

I wanted to call Val and ask her to meet me at the apartment with a bottle of vodka and I almost did. Then I thought about how before I overheard Nico, I planned to take the necessary steps to move forward with my life in a more serious manner. The first was to try my hand at a relationship with three other people.

That might be on hold for now but there were other things I could do to start my journey.

So I called Val anyway. I asked if she could meet me at the apartment. She said she would as soon as she got out of an important meeting.

I’m waiting outside the apartment leasing office for her now, thinking about how easy it felt to not chase my sadness with anger.

I’ll still be having vodka later because I’m still really fucking mad. But I can be a grown-up first.

Val runs up the sidewalk and hugs me tight.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She’s very energetic, practically jumping in place. “Me? I'm wonderful. What are we doing here though?” Her tone turns suspicious. “Wait is there someone waiting in there to hold me hostage so that I have to extend the lease and stay in our apartment with you for the next fifty years?”

I laugh so hard I have to bend over, completely out of breath.

We both know that I would pull something like that.

“It’s the opposite. I’m trying to grow up.” I tell her.

Val’s face drops and I’m surprised. I’ve put her through some wild things over the years and I thought she’d be relieved.

“Noel, you are perfect. You’re a majestic unicorn in a world of darkness.” She tells me while pulling me in for a hug. “Please don’t change that.”

My eyes water up. “It’s okay, Val. I’m still going to make you go out for girls’ night just to end up at a tattoo parlor while we wait for your guys to come and stop us.”

It’s happened three times in the last six months. I can’t help it, drunk Val is always convinced she wants some ink and I enjoy the way Hart stares at all the male tattoo artists who could have tried to touch her.

“What’s this growing-up nonsense?” She asks, pulling away and putting her hands on her hips.

I shrug, feeling eerily calm. “I’m ready to make some changes. I was even thinking about trying my hand at relationships and careers but I thought we could start with something small.”

She raises her left brow curiously. “And that would be?”

My arm winds through hers, leading the way into the building. “Getting my own lease.”

A kind lady takes us to her desk and begins explaining our options.

Assuming I’d need to find a smaller place that I could afford on my own, I was prepared for us to both move out of our apartment. Then Val pulled out her checkbook and paid twelve months’ rent to ensure that I could keep our place for another year.

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