Page 21 of My Ex-Best Friends

I’d gone looking for my dad one summer. Aunt Karlene had gotten drunk enough times to give me little bits and pieces of information and I’d finally gotten enough to figure out who he was. I’d shown up on a strange man’s porch and found him having dinner with his shiny, happy family. I’d heard another girl call him dad and I’d taken one look at the horrified look on his face and known what he was going to say without him having to say it. He’d definitely never felt pain at having to leave me.

“Can I help you paint again, Brooke?”

I quickly wiped my face and turned to her with a bright smile. “Duh. You think I’m going to paint that whole wall all by myself?”

“Promise?”

I reached back with my pinky extended. “Promise.”

She got out finally and Noah picked her up to carry her up to the front door. I could see him talking to her and watched as Sinclair threw her arms around her dad and hugged him tight. It was so strange to see Noah in such a different light but it felt so right for him. He was a dad and he was a good one.

I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Kelly standing in the doorway of her house, eyes narrowed on me. I cringed when she turned on Noah and his shoulders stiffened. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole when Noah gestured back at me and Kelly shook her head before going inside and shutting the door in his face.

He stood there for a few seconds before turning to me with a fake smile on his handsome face. He climbed back inside the truck and pulled out of the driveway before speaking. “Sorry about that.”

I turned to face him. “I mean, it wouldn’t be Beaumont if Kelly didn’t hate me.”

He let out a small laugh and then groaned. “She’s protective over Sin, of course. She’s a good mother. If you stick around, she’ll see that you’re nothing to worry about.”

That had me turning away just as quickly. He understood why she was worried about me being around her daughter. Which meant he’d probably had some of the same thoughts. I swallowed a lump of pain and watched the ocean as we drove back towards Logan’s house.

“You okay?” Noah parked in front of the house and left the truck running while he stared over at me.

Was I okay? Not even a little bit. “Yep! I’m good. I’m going to go wash this paint off. You should give Kelly a heads up and let her know that the faster she gets it off Sinclair, the easier it’ll be to get off.”

“Brooke.”

I ignored his tone and the look he gave me. Opening the door, I smiled back at him. “I thought I’d cook dinner for everyone as a thank you tonight.”

“Logan and Colt are out of town tonight.”

My smile fell slightly. “Oh. Okay. Well, I guess I can just wait to cook.”

“Or I can help you cook tonight and we can tell Logan and Colt all about it when they get back.” He’d turned off the truck and joined me on the porch. “Probably safer that way. Since I don’t remember you being much of a cook.”

I wrapped my arms around myself and nodded. “Sure. Sounds good.”

“Brooke. I can tell something’s bothering-”

“I’ve got to get cleaned up. I’ll see you back down here in a couple of hours.” I sprinted up the stairs and locked myself in my room. I probably didn’t have any right to be hurt that he didn’t trust me or maybe even think very much of me but I couldn’t help it.

I showered and put off going back downstairs for so long that Noah eventually came to my door and knocked. I sucked in a breath and forced myself to open the door. I’d changed into Colt’s t-shirt and sweatpants again, needing to feel comfortable.

Noah’s eyes ran down my body and a slight scowl marked his mouth. “Did you change your mind about dinner?”

I shook my head and tried to adopt a cheerier attitude. “Nope. I was just coming down.”

“Wait here.” He turned and went to his room, coming back only a minute later with a bundle of clothes in his hands. “Here. Those are dirty. I just washed these.”

I took them and took a deep breath before looking up at him again. “Your clothes? I already ruined one of your shirts.”

He took a step closer. “I’m already fighting back the need to force you to tell me what’s wrong. Just work with me here and put the clothes on.”

I huffed and shut the door. “I thought you were supposed to be the easy-going one. Why are you acting just as cranky as Colt?”

I changed into his t-shirt and boxer briefs and then swung the door open to find him gripping the doorframe, leaning into my space. His face was intense as he watched me. “I am the easy-going one. I just don’t like that I hurt you somehow earlier and you won’t just tell me what I did.”

I groaned. “Noah!”

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