Page 66 of The Murder Between Us
Katie was snorting, covering her face with both hands as she tried to stop laughing. Cole was three different shades of red at the same time, and he passed Katie his napkin to wipe up the water she’d snorted half across the table. Beneath the table, Cole squeezed Noah’s hand.
Noah squeezed back and laced their fingers together.
Dinner had started stilted and awkward, Katie too quiet and Cole so nervous he dropped his silverware. Noah had ordered a double whiskey on the rocks as soon as they sat down. Cole ordered water.
Fifteen minutes later, Cole was deep in the middle of a story from the BAU, Katie was hanging on his every word, and Noah was holding his breath, watching the two most important people in his world try to navigate each other’s edges.
Somehow, Cole’s story got Katie talking about cheerleading, and the football team, and the personalities of the teenagers she knew. Cole pretended to diagnose each of her friends, then her teachers, but begged off tagging Noah with some fantastical nonsensical diagnosis. The conversation continued as their dinner arrived, moving from friends to classes to books (Cole hated the assigned high school English curriculum, same as Katie) to movies (they both were beyond tired of superhero movies, and Katie was so done with the boys always wanting to take girls out to the thirty-thousandth sequel of the Unfunny Guy Squad with the hot chick sidekick) to music, and then to TikTok and Snapchat. Noah became a sidekick to dinner himself, letting the conversation roll over and into him, listening to Katie share things with Cole she’d never even mentioned to her father.
As the waiter cleared away their plates, his phone vibrated in his pocket. One-handed, he pulled it out under the table and checked the incoming text.
Jacob.Dinner go okay?
It’s still going. I’m the third wheel.
That’s what Holly says about me and Brianna sometimes. :)
Noah smiled.
He finally asked for the check when he caught Katie smothering her third yawn. She was half draped on the table, head propped on her sweatshirt-covered hand, elbow right where her lasagna had been as she listened to Cole describe yet another twisted murder investigation. Katie’s eyes were sparkling, dancing in the low lights of the restaurant as she gazed at Cole.
“Da-ad,” she complained as he signed the bill. “It’s still early. We don’t need to leave yet, do we?”
“It’s after ten, K-Bear. We’ve been here for three hours.” He squeezed Cole’s hand again, still out of sight under the table.
“So?” She waved her sweatshirt-covered hand at the space between them and where both of their arms disappeared beneath the table. “I mean, you guys look like you’re having fun. And you don’t have to hide from me, you know? Not after—”
“Thank you, miss,” Noah said quickly, cutting her off as he snapped closed the receipt book. “Ready to go?”
She made a face but hauled herself out of the booth. He wrapped one arm around her as they walked to the parking lot, kissing the top of her head, and she leaned into him, forgetting, for today at least, that it wasn’t cool to be seen hugging her dad in public. Cole stayed at their side, his hands shoved in his pockets. He smiled as he walked, staring at some point in front of them as if he were looking at memories or dreams, imaginings playing out in his mind.
This could be our life.
It hit Noah so suddenly, so strongly, he almost doubled over. Like a gunshot, or a gut punch, or a slap to the face.This could be our life, the three of us.This could be how his nights went, once or twice a week. This could be the contentment he felt, the warm, full-bodied peace that settled like a blanket on his bones. This could be Katie, leaning into him, cheerful in a way she hadn’t been in months—years, even. The two of them close, no secrets between them. Cole, making both of them laugh, smile so much both of their faces ached, making both of themhappy.
He hissed, his heart aching. Katie turned her face up to frown at him. He pasted a smile on and helped her into the back seat as Cole climbed into the front. “I’ll drive you back to the hotel?”
Cole nodded. When they pulled out of the parking lot and into the darkness of the streets, he slid his hand across the center console and rested his fingertips against Noah’s leg. Noah laid his hand over Cole’s.
In the rearview mirror, he saw Katie smile as she stared out the window.
They made it to the hotel too quickly. He should have detoured to Nebraska. Anything to keep the hum of the tires, the warmth of Cole’s hand, and the peace radiating from the back seat going. But he pulled up to the hotel’s front doors and shifted into park.
Cole’s eyes met his in the half light thrown into the SUV by the parking lot’s sodium lamps. They were still holding hands on his thigh. He’d started stroking the back of Cole’s hand with his thumb during the drive, tracing Cole’s slender metacarpals and the bounding of his pulse. “I’ll pick you up in the morning?”
Nodding, Cole brought their hands to his lips, pressing a slow kiss to his knuckles as he held Noah’s gaze. Katie was watching from the back seat, seeing everything: Cole’s lips touch his skin, Noah’s hitched breath, the way his fingers curled around Cole’s hand and refused to let go. This was more than Cole kissing him good night. This was the three of them, this moment. Cole and his desire, Noah and his yearning, Katie witnessing it all—
“You guys can kiss in front of me, you know.” Only a teenager could sound so unimpressed and thrilled at the same time. “It’s fine. Really.”
Noah threw Katie a dirty look as Cole chuckled, the tender moment vanishing. He grabbed his laptop bag and the case files and slid out of the SUV. “Night, Katie!”
“Night, Dr. Kennedy!” She leaned forward, half into the front seat, and waved at Cole. “See you tomorrow!”
Together, they waited for Cole to walk into the hotel. As the glass doors slid open, he turned, waving to them both again, grinning. Noah smiled. Katie beamed.
She turned that smile on him as Cole disappeared into the lobby, still half in the front seat. “I like him,” she said, letting her ponytail fall over her shoulder as she tilted her head. “Seal of approval, Dad.”
He pushed on the center of her forehead. “Seat belt, miss.” She flopped back, arms and legs going every which way as she sighed and flounced and rolled her eyes, still with that huge smile on her face. He waited until he heard the seat belt click, watching in the rearview mirror. “So, what’s the homework situation tonight?”
