Page 47 of The Girl I Once Loved

“Are you speaking from experience?” I arch an inquisitive brow.

“That’s my business,” he retorts evenly, with that tone of his that says stay the fuck out of his business.

“Fair enough. Then tell me. How would you go about it then?”

“Like you said, we’re not the same. I’d follow Daisy anywhere she went. She wouldn’t be able to get rid of me so easily.”

“Well, I don’t have that option.”

“Are you sure?” he presses. “I know you don’t have a lot of money, but you could still follow Skylar to Dartmouth if you wanted to. I mean, the girl is willing to go to community college in Falmouth, for crying out loud. Why wouldn’t you make the same sacrifice for her? Get a part time job to pay your way in New Hampshire and be near her.”

“Not going to lie, I did think about it. Just say fuck it to my old man and leave with her. But I can’t do that to him. My father needs me here. He won’t be able to pay my mom’s health bills on his own. We’re scraping by as it is. Besides, with me in New Hampshire, it would only serve to distract Sky from school. No. She needs to be focused if she’s going to live up to her potential.”

“What about your potential?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Bullshit, Noah,” he curses. “That shit might work on everybody else, but not me. You forget that I know you. I know how you yearn to sail the ocean and make a life at sea. Don’t minimize your own dreams just because reality right now doesn’t give you any hope to accomplish them. Things change. Life is always evolving. You can’t give up on it.”

“What kind of life could I have without Sky?! Huh? What kind of life would you have without Daisy if the roles were reversed? Would you be spouting that shit to me then? Would you be focusing on your future if you knew Daisy wouldn’t be a part of it?”

His expression turns lethal, and I know I’ve hit a chord.

“Daisy is my future,” he says, nostrils flaring.

“Then you got lucky. Because Sky can’t be mine.”

He sits silently beside me for a while, ruminating on everything I’ve just told him. I know I’m being a prick to him, but I’m fucking hurting, and need someone to hurt with me. I just need someone to share in my misery and fuck it if I care who that is.

“I can help you,” he finally says, splitting the silence in half.

“Yeah?” I sneer. “How?”

“I can ask my father to dip into my trust fund to help you pay your mother’s debt.”

I shake my head immediately.

“No. I don’t want a handout.”

“Good, because I’m not giving you one, asshole. I know you’re good for it. Besides, it’s not like I’ve never made money off of you before. Or do you forget how much money you’ve made me all these years with the drag racing and fights?”

“Yeah, well, that shit isn’t going to happen anymore once I start working for my old man. I can’t risk getting myself arrested. So I’m not sure how you expect me to pay you back.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty blond head about it. I’ll find a way for you to make some extra cash."

“Legally?”

“Legally. Just give me some time to think it over. I’ll come up with something. I always do.” He smiles smugly like the cocky asshole he is.

Still, I have my reservations.

“Hmm, I don’t know, D. I don’t think your dad will be happy that you’re touching your trust fund to save my ass. He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t like me much.”

“The fucker doesn’t like anyone from the other side of the island, so don’t take it personally.”

“Kind of hard not to,” I mumble. “But that only proves my point. Why would he let you help me?”

“Daddy wouldn’t. Not unless I ask him to,” Stacy says strutting into the room, revealing that she’s been listening in on her brother’s and my private conversation. “And before you say anything to the contrary, dear big brother, you know I’m right. Daddy loves telling you no, while with me, that word isn’t even in his vocabulary.”

---