Page 11 of Fractured Trust

She hadn’t heard anything from Noah since she got the text message saying his sister wanted her for the position. Eden had sent all the job details directly to her through email. Summer had gleaned from bits and pieces of reporting she’d seen online that he was on tour with Crossfire right now, and while she was relieved she wouldn’t be seeing him again anytime soon, she couldn’t help wondering whether he was aware she was in L.A. now, not far from where he lived in Malibu. A fact she only knew because Eden had mentioned it in passing.

Somehow, knowing that she was now living close to where Noah lived made her awareness of him a constant annoying buzz in the back of her mind. At random moments, her thoughts would turn to him, and she’d wonder what he was up to. Was he on the tour bus? Playing a gig? With a woman?

The last thought still had the power to send a stab of pain through her, even after all these years. She wondered if it always would, or if one day she’d feel nothing at the thought of him being with someone else. God, she hoped so. Hurting over someone she hadn’t been with for such a long time, someone who had broken her young heart and who couldn’t care less about her now, except for maybe as someone to pity, made her feel pathetic. And she hated that.

Summer stared sightlessly out of her bedroom window, her mind drifting back to the first time she’d ever spoken to Noah. It had been at the end of their sophomore year of high school; only a few months after she and her mom had moved to Ohio for a fresh start. She’d been walking across campus on her way to the library, soaking up the late spring Sunshine and still reveling in having turned sixteen only the week before.

“Hey, wait up!”

Summer turned, not sure if whoever was calling out was talking to her. Her pulse kicked into high gear at the sight of the blond boy jogging toward her. She recognized him of course. Noah Taylor, one of the hottest and most popular boys in school.

He must have seen her uncertainty as he’d gotten closer, because when he came to a halt in front of her, he smiled. “Yes, I’m talking to you.”

Summer blinked at him. “Uh…”

He grinned wider. “So, I just wanted to say hi, and introduce myself. I’m Noah.” As if she didn’t know. “You’re Summer, right?”

Her cheeks warmed under his gaze. “Yes?” Why had that come out as a question?

He laughed at her, but not in a mean way. “You don’t sound so sure.”

She pulled herself together. Just because he was one of the cutest boys she’d ever seen in real life, with his sparkling blue eyes, tousled blond hair, and a deep dimple flashing in his cheek as he smiled at her, didn’t mean she had to lose her common sense.

“Hi. Yes, I’m Summer. Um, do you need something?” She still couldn’t figure out why one of the most popular guys in school was talking to her. It wasn’t as if she was unpopular; she’d made plenty of friends. But she wasn’t in the cool crowd, either.

The gleam in his eyes and the sexy smile that spread across his face made her stomach cartwheel. “You know, your name suits you,” he said instead of answering her question.

“It does?” She’d always thought her name would have suited her better if she had golden blonde hair and blue eyes, rather than the strawberry blonde hair and green eyes she’d ended up with.

Noah only nodded, that gorgeous smile still on his face. “Yeah. Maybe I’ll tell you why I think so after we’ve been dating for a while.” He chuckled when her jaw dropped.

“W-what?”

His shrug was easy, but the look in his eyes seemed to hold more weight than his casual body language was letting on. “I mean, okay, we haven’t had our first date yet, but I can already feel it’s going to go well. So yeah, I’ll tell you why after we’ve been dating for a while.”

Her heart did a slow tumble in her chest.

She just might be in trouble…

Summer clamped her lower lip between her teeth to control her reaction to the memory. Thinking back on how it had all started was only going to make things worse. She needed to keep all the hurt and disappointment firmly in the past where it belonged.

Summer tipped her head back and closed her eyes, then laughed at herself. God, why was she dwelling on ancient history? She had a new job she was looking forward to; she was going to figure out how to stand on her own two feet and live her life her way, and she was going to make friends and have some fun. Something she hadn’t had in far too long. She was in L.A. after all; opportunities for fun abounded here. A smile spread across her face, and she threw herself flat on her bed, her body bouncing up and down on the springs of the brand-new mattress she’d bought herself.

A sudden urge overtook her, and before she could think too hard about the ridiculousness of it, she scrambled to her feet on top of the bed and jumped. She kept jumping, erupting in giggles—half mortified at doing something so childish at her age and half delighted that she was doing it, and no one cared. There wasn’t anyone to tell her she was being silly or embarrassing herself. No one to roll their eyes at her. And as silly as it might be, right at that moment, jumping up and down on her new springy mattress, Summer felt freer and happier than she had in years. That, more than anything, told her she’d done the right thing.

Out of breath, she flopped down on the bed. Acting on instinct, trying not to overthink everything, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and tapped out a quick message to Noah.

Summer: Thank you. You didn’t have to help me get this job, and I really appreciate it. x

She stared at what she’d written for a second, then deleted the x at the end—debated deleting all of it and just letting it go. She chewed her bottom lip, finger hovering over the delete button, but then suddenly decisive, she hit send. If she was going to make a new life here, she wanted to start out right. And if that meant thanking Noah for doing her a huge favor, then that’s what she was going to do.

After putting her phone back down, she rested her hands on her stomach and looked up at the slightly watermarked ceiling that was lit up by the setting sun. She smiled to herself, a long-lost feeling of contentment washing over her.

The beep of her phone startled her, and she forced herself to wait for a few seconds before she picked it up, all too aware of how her heart rate accelerated. Was she that excited by the thought that it might be Noah messaging her back? She needed to get hold of herself. No matter the fact he’d done her a favor, he wasn’t her friend. He wasn’t anything to her anymore, just someone who had helped her out when she needed it. Being grateful to him and being excited to hear from him were two completely different things.

Picking up the phone and seeing Noah’s name next to the new message icon, she tapped it.

Noah: You’re welcome.

---