Page 118 of Beau and the Beast

“Yours too,” Beau said, chuckling. The sound of his brother’s laugh was like a cool washcloth on a fevered chest.

“Are you coming home?”

There was a pause.

“No,” Beau said. He sounded tremendously sad. “Not yet.”

“Then when?” Noah demanded.

“I don’t—“ Beau stammered. “I’m not sure yet.”

“What? You’ve been there three weeks and you still don’t know how much longer?”

“Not really.”

There was something wrong. Beau sounded distracted—or, Noah realized, like he was holding something back.

“Can you tell me what’s going on? Are you alright?”

“I can’t—not yet—but yes, I’m fine. I’mgreatactually,” Beau said, though he didn’t sound great. “I’ve just been worried about you.”

“I’mfine,” Noah said, bristling.

Was this… what, code for something? Was Beau trying to tell him something?

“You sound really strange,” Noah added after a minute.

“Things are good here,” Beau insisted. “I’m just not sure what the timeline looks like, you know? I just needed to check on you.”

“Beau if you need help, you have to tell me right now.”

“Help? No, Noah, I’m great, I’m fine—please, don’t go poking around—“

“This fucking sucks, Beau,” Noah said, his anger flaring. “I can’t tell if you’re being real with me right now or if somebody has a gun to your head.”

“Nobody has a gun to my head, Noah. I’m staying here by my own free will, ok? But I have to stay until my job is done and then I can tell you everything.”

“None of this sits right,” Noah admitted. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Listen, just chill. I just needed to hear your voice and hear that you were ok. I really miss you.”

“I miss you too. The apartment’s too quiet.”

“You’ve been eating every day? And sleeping too?”

“Yeah,” Noah said, trying to ignore the panic rising in his throat like bile. “I’m fine. I’m just worried aboutyou.”

“Apparently, you and Lincoln are fast friends now?”

“What?” Noah asked, the panic returning in full force. “How did you know I’ve been talking to him?”

“I, uh,” Beau fumbled lamely. “It’s not important. I just had to make sure you were safe and—“

“Seriously, Beau, I need you to tell me what thefuckis going on right now.”

“I can’t yet,” Beau said. “You have to keep trusting me. I promise it’s going to make sense soon, but in the meantime just don’t go digging.”

“You realize that makes me want to do nothing except dig, right?”

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