Page 72 of Echoes of Us

“Do you think he’ll stay long?”

“He looks about as comfortable as you, so I’m guessing probably not,” he said.

I chuckled. “I hate this. He’s like this other person now, and I want to feel happy for him. I do, but it just makes me feel like he’s living his life, and I’m stuck in this hole I can’t get out of.”

Colin gave me a sympathetic look. “I don’t think he’s over you either, Att. He’s better at pretending than you, but he still looks sad when he looks at you—which is often, like right now,” he said with a smile. He was leaning on the kitchen counter, looking towards the apartment.

“I don’t care.” We both knew it was a lie.

“Maybe you should talk to him, Att,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows.

“I’m not telling you to get back together with him. I think talking to him will give you the closure you need. You can stop wondering what went wrong and break this idealized Noah you’ve built in your head,” he explained.

“You think I’ve idealized him? Trust me, I know how shitty Noah was to me,” I said and turned sideways towards the apartment. Noah was talking to a couple of guys from the team. “I knew while he was doing it. I just…” I started and stopped. I still loved him despite it.

“I know you just,” Colin said simply. “I still think talking to him could help,” he added with a shrug.

I took a big gulp of my beer, draining its contents without making a face.

“See how far you’ve come along?” He gave my bottle a pointed look.

I looked back at the apartment. A girl was talking to Noah, and I felt a bitter taste that had nothing to do with the beer. She was smiling up at him, flirty, tilting her head andlaughing at what he had just said. Noah was smiling back, one hand holding a beer and the other in his jean pocket.

“Let’s go upstairs,” I told Colin. The last thing I needed was to catch Noah making out with a girl in our apartment.

We had a terrace on the second floor, and even though it was crowded, it was infinitely better than being down there witnessing that.

A couple of hours and several Noah sightings later, I headed back downstairs, trying to avoid my drunk teammates.

“King.”

I turned towards David. Thankfully, Noah wasn’t with him. “Yeah?”

“Do you have a lighter?”

“I’ll get you one. If you smoke, could you go upstairs?” I pushed my way through the crowded living room to Colin’s room and opened the door. As I reached for the lighter, I caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of my eye. Noah.

“Hey,” he said, standing next to Colin’s dresser, still holding a beer. His eyes were wide. I had clearly caught him off guard.

“I was getting a lighter.” I held it up for him to see.

“Sorry for barging in. I was just trying to get away for a bit.”

“This isn’t my room,” I replied, my heart stuck in my throat.

“I figured.” He pointed at the pictures on Colin’s dresser. There was one of Colin and his family. “It’s still your apartment.”

I stood there, looking at him for a second too long, clasping the lighter tightly in my hand. “Noah.”

His eyes seemed greener somehow, maybe because of the shirt he was wearing. “Yeah?” he prompted when I failed to say anything.

I took a deep breath. “Do you think we could talk?”

I watched his eyes widen again. “Of course.”

“Give me a minute. I have to hand this to someone.”

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