Page 121 of Aria

I was angry.

I was angry at Devon for letting me down in so many ways. I was angry at myself for putting up with it and ignoring all the red flags along the way. I was angry at Ian for worming his way back into my life and destroying all the progress I’d made. I was angry for pushing my parents out of my life and being too much of a coward to reconnect.

I was angry that Noah was lying in a hospital bed unconscious when we should be out having celebratory drinks until the bar kicked us out.

I was justangry.

And I knew it was all my fault.

I had found solace in another man, prompting Devon to push me away. I had brought Ian into my life in the first place, setting off the domino effect of trauma and bloodshed. I had chosen a chauvinistic rapist over my parents when they’d only tried to help me.

And Noah… I had dragged him into all of it, putting him in the line of fire.

“I need some coffee.” Rising from the chair, I headed down the long corridor, trying not to put pressure on my right ankle. I did my best to ignore the horrified looks I received as I approached the coffee machine, looking like a scene out of a Stephen King movie.

The coffee dispensed into a paper cup, the hot steam wafting from the top. The cup warmed my hands, and I wasted no time in bringing it to my lips. I didn’t even wince as the piping hot liquid scalded my tongue.

I didn’t want to head back to the waiting room, so I leaned my back against the wall and slid down until my bottom hit the cold floor.

“Because I’m in love with her.”

Noah’s words had been plaguing me all night. Did he mean it? Did he just say it to throw off Ian? Did he say it because he thought we were both going to die?

Devon had never uttered those elusive words to me. Not once. Truthfully, I wasn’t accustomed to being loved. I had taken the broken pieces of my life and put my world back together, all by myself. I didn’t have anyone cheering in my corner. I never had a partner in crime. There was no one I could ever run to when life got hard.

Until there was Noah.

He had become my rock. He was the one wiping away my tears and calming the demons in my soul. He was the one cooking me pancakes and giving me relationship advice. Noah was there when I wanted to see a new movie and everyone else was too busy. Noah knew my birthstone, and my favorite toothpaste, and the name of my childhood goldfish. He was the first to show up when I needed a friend, and he was the last to leave.

I recalled a wintery night not long ago, days before I had quit my job at The Pit Stop. It had snowed all night and into the morning hours, and I was on the closing shift that evening. I’d been dreading cleaning the snow off my car at three A.M.

When I’d finally trudged through the eight inches of heavy snow with soggy socks and a frosty face, I’d noticed my car was the only one to be brushed clean. I had been dumbfounded. It was only when I’d gotten closer to the vehicle, I saw the words drawn into the snowy side:“Noah was here.”

He had shrugged it off when I’d called him the next morning to thank him.

“It was nothing,” he had said.

But it wasn’t nothing. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.

Maybe that was love. Maybe love was clearing snow off someone’s car in the middle of the night, just to make their life easier.

The revelation brought me to tears. I set down my coffee cup and clutched my legs to my chest, sobbing into my knees.

“Miss?”

I lifted my head and sniffed. A nurse stood over me with a look of concern.

“Miss, there’s an officer here to speak with you. I’m very sorry to interrupt.”

Wiping my nose with the back of my arm, I nodded. “Thanks,” I said, rising to my feet.

A police officer approached me with two more men in uniform trailing behind. “Chelsie Combs?” he asked.

“That’s me.”

“My name is Detective Brennan. I know this is a difficult time, but I’d like to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight. Is that all right?”

I nodded.

---