“It’s not nothing, Hannah. You’re hurt. Who hurt you?” he asks, his voice low and dangerous as he lays his hands on top of her now covered ones. Hannah sets her mouth in a line, her face turning red and her eyes just a little too bright. “Was it him?”
I don’t know who the him is that Noah is talking about, but Hannah seems to because for the second time, she yanks her hands away from Noah, glaring at him. “No,” she snaps. “It was no one. Seriously, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”
Jo leans down and whispers something in Hannah’s ear, and Hannah closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and whispering something back. Jo glances back at Jordan and they have some kind of wordless interaction. Jordan nods and kisses her, squeezing her hand before Jo gets up and, without a backward glance, leads Hannah out of the room.
Jaw tight and hands clenched into fists, Noah watches the girls until they disappear around the corner and flinches a little when the front door closes, a pained expression on his face, and every muscle in his body coiled tight and primed for motion.
It’s Cece who breaks the silence in the room, laying a hand on Noah’s shoulder before he can spring up and follow Hannah and Jo. “Not yet, Noah.”
I have no idea what she means, but Noah seems to get it because he nods, closing his eyes and letting out a long, slow breath, scrubbing his hands over his face. Then he stands and sits back down in his chair, his gaze still on the living room doorway like he’s waiting for Jo and Hannah to reappear.
“Okay, we’re ordering Chinese food,” my dad says, pulling out his phone. When he reaches out and lays a hand on Noah’s shoulder, I know this is his attempt to distract my brother from whatever just happened with Hannah. “Everyone is staying for dinner and then we’re having game night.”
“As long as we’re not playing Monopoly,” Cooper says. “It takes a zillion years and Mom cheats.”
“Don’t try and deny it, Pamela Wyles,” I say when she opens her mouth to argue. “You’ve been cheating at Monopoly since we were kids.”
She scoffs. “I have not. I’m just that good.”
Jordan laughs, kicking his feet out in front of him. “No, you fucking aren’t. No one is that good. You’re a cheating cheater who cheats and Monopoly is, objectively, the worst board game in the entire world. We’re not playing it.”
“Ticket to Ride,” Noah says. “And s’mores in the fireplace.”
Amelia grins at Noah. “I kill at Ticket to Ride. And I really love s’mores.”
She glances back at me, and I know she’s thinking of the s’mores we made together on Dean Miller’s patio, and I am too. How badly I wanted to touch her, to kiss her, for her to be mine. I have all of that now, and I can’t even believe it’s real. Even having to keep it a secret at work with no expiration date in sight to that little act of subterfuge, it’s still the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I wrap my arms around Amelia and tugher back into my chest while the rest of my family keeps arguing about board games.
Amelia leans up and kisses my jaw. “I love it here.”
I love you.
It’s not time for the words yet, so instead I press a kiss to her temple and lean my head against hers. “Ames, having you here is my favorite thing in the world.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
AMELIA
“God, why have I never thought to put a Reese’s cup in a s’more before? Just give me the prize now and bow to my genius. One of these is definitely not going to be enough.” Jo lets out a happy hum as she takes a giant bite of her s’more with one hand and holds a roasting stick over the fire with another.
Less than an hour after Jo and Hannah left the room, they came back, faces flushed from the cold like they had been standing outside for the entire time. They both wore strained expressions, and Jo looked disgruntled, like she grilled Hannah on why she’s in Boston and how she ended up with bruises on her wrists, and Hannah refused to talk. But now, with Chinese food containers spread all over the coffee table, more margaritas, and a truly impressive s’mores bar set up by the Wyles’ living room fireplace, they both seem happier.
The three of us are sprawled around the fireplace, placing bets on who can make the best tasting and most unique s’more out of the ingredients Pam set out, and there are many of them. The Wyles family really doesn’t do anything halfway.
Hannah shakes her head, her face screwed up in concentration as she assembles a precarious looking concoction. “I’ll take your Reese’s cup and raise you keeping the Reese’s cup but swapping out graham crackers for chocolate chip cookies.” She holds up the completed s’more, a look of triumph on her face.
I grin at them both, loving this moment. It’s always been a fact of my life that making true friends is hard because of my connection to my brother. But spending the day in the company of Hannah, Jo, Pam, and Cece, and sitting here right now with Hannah and Jo, makes me realize how much I’ve been missing, and how much I hope there are more days like this in my future. “I think we found our champion.”
Hannah gives a little mock bow, taking a huge bite of her s’more. “Yeah, I definitely win the prize. This is fucking amazing.”
“Hannah Evans, what is in your hand right now and how can I get one?” Cooper asks as he drops down on the floor next to us and grabs a roasting stick from the pile by the fireplace.
“Sorry, Coop,” Hannah says, licking marshmallow off her finger. “This is a limited edition.”
“Cookies instead of graham crackers? That’s freaking genius,” Noah says, sitting down next to Hannah and leaning over to take a bite of her s’more.
She snatches it away, giving him adon’t you fucking dareexpression. “Make your own.”
He grins at her, chewing the bite he managed before she pulled it away. “But yours tastes so much better than mine would.” He swallows and winks at her, his grin widening at her scowl. He has definitely recovered his usual good cheer, except for every once in a while, when his gaze drops down to Hannah’s sweatshirt covered wrists and for just a second his entire body language changes, his spine going ramrod straight andhis jaw ticking with barely restrained rage. I don’t understand what’s going on between them, but whatever it is, it’s definitelysomethingand it doesn’t feel new to me.
