Page 42 of The King Contract
I shrug. “No reason.”
Ellis raises her arms and clenches her fists into a fight stance. “Did you get your dukes up, Millie?”
“I slapped a stranger the other night,” I blurt out. “It was obviously not my finest moment. He was rude to Noah, and I snapped.” I omit the comment about dying cancer patients.
Ellis looks mildly impressed. “How’d the guy react?”
“Stared at me in shock while Noah got us out of there.”
“Aww,” she sings. “You were standing up for your boo.”
I was standing up for myself, really.“Ugh. Gross.”
Ellis looks at me quizzically. “There’s no shame in standing up for loved ones. And he is your boo.”
“Stop calling him that.” I run a hand through my already tangled hair. “I’m not ashamed I stood up for anyone. It’s the slap. Islappedhim. Imagine if he’d reacted and launched himself at me? What if the cops show up here to charge me with assault? He knows who Noah is. He might try to get a heap of money out of him.”
Ellis’s eyes soften and she steps forward to grab my hands. “I know you’re beating yourself up.Ha.Beating yourself up. But give yourself a break. You’re self-aware enough to know it wasn’t your best decision and I’m almost certain you’ll never do it again. From what you said, that dickhead deserved it. Own the moment for what it was and let it go. Stop creating scenarios that haven’t even happened.”
I exhale a long and deliberate breath before leaning and resting my head on Ellis’ shoulder. “I’ll do my best.”
Ellis pats my back. “What did Noah say?”
I lean back with a small smile. “He was impressed. Said he was half a second away from punching the guy himself.”
“There! See? He’s onboard too. I knew I could like him.”
“Youdolike him.”
As if his ears are burning, the front door to the store bursts open and we jump in surprise. Noah stands in the doorway, drenched. His black t-shirt sticks to his torso, outlining every ripple and muscle. “Good, you’re still here.”
I tear my gaze away from his body. “What’re you doing here?”
“Taking you to my place,” he pants, doing his best to shake off the excess water. “I don’t want you driving home in this weather.”
I still in surprise, waiting for a joke or a wink to come my way, like it usually does when we refer to our little secret. But it doesn’t come. Instead, Noah crosses the room to us and kisses my forehead in greeting. I grip the back of the chair in front of me.
“Ellis, you can come too,” he offers.
Ellis raises an eyebrow in surprise. “That’s very kind, but I’d rather give myself a thousand paper cuts than third wheel with the two of you.”
Noah snickers, running a hand through his dark curls. “You’d get your own room so you wouldn’t need to hang with us.”
“Don’t try to woo me with your giant house, King,” she retorts. “I can handle a storm in my own home. I grew up here.” She turns to me, a cheeky grin on her face. “Plus, Dahlia’s already at our place.”
I smirk. “You kept that quiet.”
“We’ll follow you to your place.” Noah rubs a hand of his stubbled chin. “Let’s go.”
Ellis raises her eyebrows in surprise. “Let me go grab my stuff.”
She heads into the back room, and I turn to Noah. “What are youreallydoing here?”
He frowns. “Ireallydon’t want you out in this. Some of the roads to your place are closed, or about to be. It’s safer for you to come to mine until the storm passes.”
I tilt my head, unable to shake off the unease. Noah notices and he sighs. “Maybe it’s a good time for us to have a sleepover.”
I snort. “There it is.”
