Page 98 of Splintered Hearts

“You don’t have to have a winner to play a game. I think we’ll both win.” Noah lets the blue paint drip from his graceful fingers. “You can go first. Ask away.”

I think for a moment. “Anything off limits?”

Pressing a blue finger to his chin, leaving a cute smudge, he thinks. “No. If I’m uncomfortable, I’ll let you know. Same with you.”

Alright, well. Here we go. There are a bunch of things I want to know, but I also want to keep it light. Tonight was a lot. I just want Noah to have a little fun. “What’s your favorite romance trope?”

That brings the biggest smile to his face, as intended. “I have a couple,” he says.

“Tell me.”

Noah reaches in, grabbing more blue paint and throwing it toward the canvas. “Enemies to lovers is the best. Forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine.” My brows pinch. “Can’t imagine why I like you.” He giggles.

“I’d hardly call us enemies.”

“And I’d hardly call us lovers.” Noah smiles, but it’s a bit off. “You are grumpy, though.”

Okay, I can agree with that, and Noah is definitely sunshine personified. “You weren’t forced to live here.”

“No, but thiswasthe best option. Hunter had enough of my ass.”

“He was in the trenches.”

“I get it. Not what he expected after just moving in with Mark. That was bad enough, and to then add me to it—not great.”

Laughing, I ask, “What’s your favorite sub gen—”

“That’s another question, honey bee.” Fair enough. Scooping red paint, I wait for Noah to take his turn. “Do you speak Japanese?”

Okay, that surprises me. “Not really. My birth mom didn’t teach me.” I’d probably be mute if it wasn’t for daycare. “The short version is... she barely spoke to me, let alone taught me.”

Noah doesn’t linger on it or ask any other questions, which warms me. It’s like he can sense when something’s hard to talk about and changes the subject.

My red paint smacks onto Noah’s blue, forming a dull purple. “My turn.” Grabbing pink, Noah smiles and waits with the paint dripping from his fingers. “How many boyfriends have you had?”

That question seems to surprise him. “Huh?”

“Too many?”

Noah rolls his eyes. “No. Honestly I can’t think of any. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve hooked up plenty. College was freedom. I was like one of those kids getting a key to the chocolate factory. I indulged but... no boyfriends. Not really.”

Noah smacks his pink across the blue and purple combo. “Same question, but girls.”

Grabbing orange, I shrug. “Four, I guess. Two in high school, although they were short and silly relationships—well, I see it that way now—then that girl I dated when she started college. The one I mentioned earlier.” Her name was Elana and she was, up until that point, one of the most beautiful people I’d ever seen. She was one of the only people who distracted me from how badly I loved Luci. Then she broke up with me in her freshman year of college. Long distance. Honestly, I still think about her sometimes. “Then... uh, I met a girl during summer vacation with my family. Lia has a lake house about two hours from here.” Strawberry-blonde hair. Freckles that spattered her nose. “We dated for nearly a year.” Long distance was hard. In the beginning we’d drive halfway to meet in this small town. It was fun and romantic.

At first.

Long distance was hard, though. We were doomed from the start.

“What happened?” I cock a pierced brow and Noah concedes. “Right. New question.”

Noah grabs the teal, waiting for me. The canvas is now spattered with so many different colors it’s becoming a little muddy. Beauty isn’t the point, though. “What’s your favorite memory with your mother?”

“Oh, wow.”

“You don’t have to answer.”

“No, it’s okay.” Noah walks to the paint, putting both his hands in the white. Instead of throwing it though, he walks to the canvas and smears his hands across the other colors. “My mother lovedAlice in Wonderland. She had this one worn copy. It was beautiful. The pages were gold and the cover baby blue. She used to read it to me every night—just a little bit. Once she was finished she’d start again. It was our thing. Throughout the day I rarely saw her, but the nights were ours. Now, if I see a copy at a sale or something I pick it up. I have eighteen different versions so far.”

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