Page 174 of Echoes of Us

“I wasn’t kidding when I told you I think you saved my life. I’m sure you did. Even if you weren’t, I felt like you were there. That was enough to push me to get better and come back here, hoping you’d forgive me,” he said.

I moved my hand from his and wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. Noah buried his face in my neck and breathed in.

“I never thought you’d let me get this close to you again,” he whispered.

I tightened my arms around him. “I don’t know how to quit you, Noah.” I was so tired, so fucking tired of fighting this, and he was so warm next to me. I could just fall asleep right there.

“Neither do I.” His hand ran over my arm, his nails brushing softly over my skin. “I need to get you off the floor. Come on.”

I held on to him tighter.

“If you fall asleep here, I won’t be able to lift you, and I’m not going to let you sleep on my bathroom floor.”

He helped me up, and I half walked, half stumbled to his bed. Noah made me take aspirin and drink more water as he helped me pull off my shoes and get under the covers. He covered me snuggly and doused the lights. The room was still spinning, but my stomach felt better.

I grabbed his hand before he left. He let me lead him into bed with me. I fell asleep with Noah curled against my chest, feeling the skin on his back, running my hands over him.

I had nearly lost him, but right now, he was here and safe. That thought let me drift off.

I woke up with a mouth full of cotton and a dull headache. Looking towards the window in Noah’s room, the familiarity of the view almost let me go back to sleep before I remembered I wasn’t supposed to be here. I checked my watch—it was ten past seven. Noah wasn’t in the bed, and I rubbed my hand over my face, feeling the embarrassment of showing up at his house drunk last night. I had carried him to bed and then thrown up in his bathroom.

“For fuck’s sake.” My voice was hoarse.

The door of the room opened, and his bare footstepsparaded across the wooden floor. He placed his palm on the bed in front of me, gently pushing the hair back from my forehead.

“Good morning.” He kept his voice low. “I’ve left you a couple of aspirins on the bedside table with a Gatorade. There’s a fresh towel in the bathroom if you want to shower and a toothbrush on the sink. I’ll be outside, okay?”

He gave my arm a squeeze before leaving again. What the hell had I been thinking? I waited for the door to close again and got up. I showered in his bathroom and strode out with a strange sense of déjà vu. I saw the pills on his sink and my stomach turned in a different way. It wasn’t just one prescription anymore; there werefivelittle bottles. I took a deep breath and brushed my teeth.

Walking out of Noah’s room, I found him in the kitchen. He gave me a small smile. I was sure he was feeling the same thing I was.

“There’s a place set for you on the table.”

I glanced towards the dining room. Sure enough, there were two places set. I turned towards him again, uncertain.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t cook. I don’t think my specialty of simultaneously under- and over-cooked eggs is the best for a hangover.”

That made me smile. I had never minded how bad Noah was at cooking. Just the fact that he had tried for me made it perfect.

I sat at the table. “So, what’s all this?” I looked at the food.

“Jaz,” he explained. “She helps me around the house and makes sure I eat right.”

“And she’s here?”

Noah nodded. As if on cue, a short lady walked from the other bedroom towards the kitchen, talking in fast Spanish.

“Jaz, this is Atty.”

“Good morning, Mr. King. Do you drink coffee?” she asked, smiling brightly.

Noah chuckled and went back to assembling the coffee cups. “I’m on it, Jaz.”

He came with them to the table. I sat down and listened to them speak. I had only heard Noah speak Spanish a handful of times and never this much. He had a great accent. I thought I knew everything about him that made him attractive, but this was definitely high on the list. I smiled to myself as she asked him if I had spent the night and if she needed to start setting a place for me at the table and extra towels, while Noah told her to stop getting ahead of herself.

He sat beside me and gave me a look. “She’s just?—”

“I’m from Miami, Noah. I know what she just said.” I sipped on the coffee.

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