Page 8 of Keeping Noelle

“No, not yet. I need to build up to it,” I explain, and he snorts.

“Dude, you’ve been building up to it all of your life,” he points out.

“Says the guy who has been in love with his girl for a year and hasn’t told her yet either.”

“I’m building to it. I’ll tell Cora.”

“When?”

“Soon. She’s moving in with me, and I’m going to woo her. I have it all planned out.”

“Well, so do I.”

“Yeah, but maybe you should speed up the timeframe. You never know what could happen or how much time you have.”

His usually happy tone trails off, and I know that he’s thinking about what happened to Kip. He was shot and blown up on our last deployment and it’s why they got out. I wasn’t there, but I heard about it, and I know that it was Huxley whowas there with him, putting pressure on his wounds and trying to save him.

My eyes trail to the calendar, and I realize that today is the two-year anniversary of the attack.

Shit.

“How’s Kip doing?” I ask, my voice coming out just as low and somber as his.

“He’s good. He’s hanging out with Ginger today.”

“Good.”

Kip is a good dude and he deserves to be happy. I’m glad that he’s found it with his girl.

“Back to you and your girl problems,” Huxley says after a moment.

I clear my throat, glancing at the stairs to make sure that Noelle isn’t close by.

“I’m working on it. I’m making us dinner, and then I’m going to take her to see that new holiday movie playing in town.”

“Classic. Alright, good, let me know how it goes.”

“Will do, boss.”

He laughs, and I grin.

“I kind of like you calling me that. Maybe I’ll make you salute me when we’re at work.”

“It will be with my middle finger,” I warn him, and he lets out a bark of laughter.

“Alright, man, well, good luck. Be careful. With all of the snow that we’ve been getting, I’m not sure how the roads are.”

“I’ll be safe. See you soon.”

“See ya.”

He hangs up, and I hear Noelle’s footsteps above me. She must be done getting dressed, so I hurry to plate our food and set it on the counter. We spent most of today looking at furniture and home décor online. We ordered quite a bit, but none of itwill be delivered until January, so we’ll have to make do with what we have until then.

She appears in the doorway, eyes bright and cheeks flushed, and I can’t help but think how right she looks here in my cabin. Like she belongs.

She spots the table and grins, eyeing the plates I’ve laid out with grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, and a side of garlic bread. “You made dinner?”

“Only for the best houseguest in the world.” I smile, pulling her chair out for her. She rolls her eyes, pretending not to be impressed, but I catch the little smile she’s trying to hide.

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