Page 63 of Monsters within Men
Zaya raised her eyebrows.
“It was Noah.” He fought to keep his expression straight. He’d never mentioned liking a guy to Zaya before. Zaya knew him better than he knew himself—apart from this particular newfound revelation.
“What? Since when have you—”
“Shit, that’s him,” he hissed, voice low.
Noah leaned against the car they’d borrowed, parked exactly where he’d dropped Zeke off. His pale face, eyes closed, tilted up towards the sun like a flower drinking in the light; statue-still.
To his horror, Zaya gave a low, appraising wolf-whistle. “Say no more.”
“Shut up!” He shoved her, hard. She tumbled into a lamppost and the sound of their scuffle finally attracted Noah’s attention. His eyes opened, and the brilliant smile he wore when he caught Zeke’s eye exploded his world. He was gone. He was far, far gone.
“Hi,” Noah said, hands in his pockets. He nodded at Zaya. “Nice to meet you. And happy birthday!Gefeliciteerd!”
“Likewise! Zeke’s told me so much about you,” she said, a wicked glint in her eye.
Zeke fought the impulse to wrap his hand around her mouth.
“Did you want to come in?” she continued.
“No, no,” Zeke said. “We’ve got to go.”
Noah looked between them. “Have we?”
Zeke turned to pull Zaya into one last hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed so tight it hurt.
“You need to ring me more,” she said.
He grumbled and kissed her forehead.
Once they were back in the car, they sat for a moment, silent, as Zeke watched Zaya disappear behind the glass doors and recede into shadow.
“I feel bad for coming back now. You should go up with her for a while longer.”
“It’s fine. How was… your thing?” Why was Khyan’s name so difficult to speak?
“Yeah.” Noah tapped the steering wheel. That was all he seemed able to say. “So, anywhere else you need to go?”
“I wondered if we could swing by my flat so I could grab some more clothes.”
Speaking about his flat made him instantly nostalgic. He’d considered cancelling his lease a few times—it was now a colossal waste of money—but couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“A most excellent idea. Splat has threatened to burn your current outfit at least twice.”
“And then… can we quickly stop at my friend Oliver’s house?” Zeke grimaced, becoming acutely aware that this was turning into an afternoon of Noah following him around on his errands.
Noah tilted his head. “Your colleague?”
“Yeah, the one who’s not replying to me.”
“Sure, if you think it’s a good idea to appear at his doorstep.”
“Well, I’m running out of ideas.”
For some reason, Zeke couldn’t cope with the thought of Noah in his flat, so left him in the car to take the stairs two at a time to reach his floor. His apartment was exactly how he’d left it, all those weeks ago, when the two strange men arrived to implode his life. He shoved as many clothes and a few random trinkets as he could fit into his large duffle bag. Sliding back into the passenger seat, he found Noah on a voice call with someone. Noah hastily hung up.
“Who was that?”
