Page 27 of Numbers Boy
“What, what?” Leighton asks from his spot on the other side of the mattress. “Have you seen how you look when he texts you?”
“I mean, yeah, I like him, but…” I trail off, not really able to think of an end for that sentence.
“Great argument, babe,” Henry says, not unkindly. He rolls over to lie next to me. “Did you really not realize how far gone you are?”
I pick at my cuticles and think about the past month and a half. How Noah felt special even from that first time we met at Spill the Beans. His grin whenever he sees Stacy. The way he called me Princess without making me feel like I was asking for too much. When he first said it, I almost asked him not to. I’ve been accused of being a pillow princess before, like the way I enjoy relaxing and soaking up what my partner does isn’t good enough. But the way Noah said the word made me feel like he wanted to do whatever it took to make me feel good. Like I’m actually something – no, someone– precious to him. “Isn’t it too quick? I barely just got out of that shitshow with Adam and was working on finding out who I am on my own.”
Leighton flips around to join us and laces his hand with mine. “Steve, you know who you are on your own. We all do. You’re a confident, sweet, sometimes slightly nerdy man with akick-ass stage persona and a best friendship people would kill for. And that’s why it sucked to see you lose yourself when Adam started taking over. But we aren’t seeing that with Noah.”
“Not at all,” Henry agrees. “But let’s get the aforementioned best friend’s input on this.”
He grabs my phone and uses my face to unlock it before calling Stu.
“Rude,” I mutter, not really annoyed.
Stu quickly picks up the video call and laughs when he sees it’s Henry and not me on the screen.
“Steve, you got really short since you left on Friday.”
“Hush, you big giant,” Henry snips back. “We called to get your take on Steve’s new man.”
We all squish into frame, and I wave at my best friend, who has been there for most of my life. “Hey, dude.”
“Hey. What’s this about Noah?”
“Henry thinks I’m falling in love with him. I think it’s too soon.” I bite my lip from saying more, but I know Stu will read between the lines and get to the root of the problem.
“If this is about Adam, you need to stop those thoughts right now,” he says, proving me right, an uncharacteristically stern look on his face. “You’ve said it yourself: Noah is not Adam. And Adam doesn’t deserve to take up any more space in any of your relationships. You know what he does deserve?”
My lips twitch with a smile, sure that this is going to be good. “What does he deserve?”
“He deserves to have his sock always falling down over his heel.”
My smile grows, and then Henry chimes in. “He deserves to have his audio just slightly out of sync with the video on his favorite TV shows.”
Now Leighton joins. “He deserves to feel like he needs to sneeze but is never able to.”
My nose crinkles at that one, and I let out a laugh. Back and forth, all three of them shout out random annoying things that my ex deserves.
“To hit every red light.”
“To have his phone automatically forget Wi-Fi passwords overnight.”
“One computer keyboard leg that always folds under.”
On and on this continues for a few minutes until they run out of ideas. Finally, Henry turns to me and plants a kiss on my cheek. “And you know what you deserve, boo? You deserve a guy who will love you for all of you.”
Stu’s voice comes again from the phone speaker. “The fact that you haven’t once said anything about Noah commenting negatively on your style, not to mention the fact that he actively supports you being yourself, dog puns and makeup and all, makes me think you’ll be okay with him. No, more than okay. I think you could be truly happy with this guy. And if you’re happy, we’re happy.”
Henry and Leighton nod, and I pull them in for a hug pile, glad I have these men in my life. “Thanks, guys.”
“That’s what the Working Boys are for.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Noah
JUST AS I’Mgetting Steve’s door open after coming back from my Sunday morning walk with Stacy, my phone blares with Amy’s ringtone. I shuffle the leash to my other hand and hurry to grab it before it can go to voicemail.
