My mom flinched like I’d slapped her.But after a beat, she nodded.“Of course.”
“Great.”I smiled, but it felt more like I was faking it and baring my teeth.Then I forced myself to close the distance between me and my mom and bent down to kiss her cheek.“We’ll see you tomorrow.”
I don’t remember the rest of our goodbye.The next thing I knew we were standing on the sidewalk next to my Range Rover.
Alice plucked the key fob out of my hands.“Yeah, you’re not driving.Get in the passenger side.”
I blinked at her with wide eyes.
Tenderness softened her features as she looked up at me.Then her arms came around me and hugged me tight.
I clutched at her, bent my head into the side of her neck, and tried to keep breathing.
Chapter 24
Alice
My heart was hurting.I’d stood on his parents’ sidewalk for so long just trying to hold him together.It’d taken a few minutes, but once his breathing had calmed, I’d convinced him to climb into the passenger seat.
He’d spent the last ten minutes just staring out his window, thinking.
I was at a loss.That whole scene with his mom had been so fucked up.She didn’t seem to realize how much she’d hurt her son with her callous words.That she hadn’t even considered moving close to him.Or seemed to care what the climate in Seattle would mean for her husband’s quality of life.
As I coasted to a stop at a red light, I chanced a look at Noah, but his face was pointed away from me.I didn’t know if he was embarrassed at his outpouring of emotion or just trying to process everything his mom had said.
I cleared my throat.“That was pretty amazing hearing what your dad said about you when you were little.”
Noah nodded slowly.“Yeah.I had no idea he even liked my drumming.He threatened to break all my drumsticks if I even tried to play ‘In the Air Tonight’ one more time.”
I grinned.“That is a pretty epic drum solo.”
“It’s my favorite.Better than anything I’d ever written.”Noah rocked his head against the headrest as he turned to me.
“Eh, disagree.I really love ‘Nowhere to Hide.’I could probably play that drum solo in my sleep.”
“Heh.Can and have.One time I was in my bunk and I smacked this woman’s ass—you know, you’re probably not the audience for that story.”
I snorted.“I know exactly who the man I’m sleeping with is.And for the record, I love this version of him way more than the party animal who bounced off the walls because of drugs and alcohol.”
“Eh, it wasn’t all drugs and alcohol.”
I raised my eyebrows as I looked back at the road and accelerated through the intersection.“Really?Where’s he been then?”
“Trying to figure out who he is.”He sighed heavily and went back to staring out his window.
Again, I struggled to find the right thing to say to him.I know his mom’s words had cut him deeply, but I didn’t know how to fix it.I’d stopped looking for acceptance from parental figures over a decade ago.I couldn’t even remember what my mother looked like.And most of my foster parents had seen me as a paycheck.The good ones cared enough to make sure I had food in my belly and a roof over my head.The bad ones…weren’t worth even thinking about.
I’d survived.
And Noah would too.
After a few minutes, I reminded him that I didn’t exactly know where we were going.Noah woke up enough to navigate us through LA traffic and back to his Manhattan Beach home.
But when we got inside, he took off for a room downstairs and a few minutes later I didn’t have to wonder which one as a drum cadence vibrated through the house.
I stood in front of the picture windows overlooking the ocean as I listened to him play.It only took me a few seconds to recognize the song.‘In the Air Tonight’ was pretty epic.
After a minute, I smiled and played the air drums along with him.
