“Have my babies,” Chase barely gets out before he drifts back into dreamland again.
Noah pulls me into a hug. The kind you stand in for a few minutes to just decompress. We’re wrapped around each other, breathing at the same time as the exhaustion of the day finally starts to hit me.
He exhales and kisses the top of my head before I push to my tiptoes and kiss the bottom of his chin.
“Are you sure you want me to go? I can just go grab you some nonwork clothes and change mine and be right back. Or I can stay—I am in pajamas, so it’s convenient.”
He sighs. “What the hell would I do without you?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll never find out.” I smile.
“Baby, I’m fine. Promise. Go home and get some rest. I’ll let you know if anything changes. Me and the food god are gonna watch game highlights and sleep.”
“Okay.” I chew the inside of my cheek, still wanting to ask him if he needs to talk. “It’s just—hearing how scared you were earlier. And how triggered you were about your mom ...”
He rubs the back of his neck but says nothing, which says everything.
“And I’m sure the detectives didn’t help. Are you really okay? You can talk to me, you know. You don’t have to be an artichoke today. We can get right down to the heart.”
He cradles my face with one hand. “I swear to you everything’s fine.Iam fine.” He swallows before giving me a tight smile and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Stop worrying. I promise I’m good.”
I kiss him one more time, unable to shake my worry because I hate that he isn’t talking to me. But I don’t push. He’ll open up when it’s time. And maybe that’s not in the hospital where his best friend almost died.
Noah walks over to the chair next to Chase’s bed as I head to the door.
“I love you,” I say, looking back.
Noah smirks with a wink. “I know and I love you too.”
I pull the door open and head to the elevator bank. Evie’s probably already to the car by now, so I pull my phone from my hoodie and send her a text.
Me:pick me up out front.
The elevator dings, and the sound of the doors sliding open lifts my eyes. But I instantly frown because staring back at me are the two detectives from earlier.
I take a quick step back to give them room to exit. “Sorry.”
But neither moves, so I step inside. My brows draw together as I put my back to them, leaning over to press the button for the main floor.
“Have you found any leads yet?” I throw out almost immediately, glancing over my shoulder.
“You’re Goldie Monroe, correct?” the one to my right says.
“Yeah.” I let my answer sit for a second before I turn slightly to face him. “Are we in trouble for something?”
I shift to look at the detective on my left, who smiles and shakes his head. “No. Should you be?”
What the hell is going on? That same uneasy feeling I had before starts to swirl in my stomach. And it’s not because I’m caught off guard. Something is off.
“No ... I just ... this seems weird. Why were you asking Noah so many questions earlier? And why are you riding down in an elevator just to talk to me?”
He inhales deeply just as the elevator begins to slow. “If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you and your boyfriend been together?”
“What?” I blurt out as the doors open.
The one with the mustache motions his arm for me to exit, so I do, but as soon as I’ve cleared the crowd getting on, I turn to face both of them.
“How is that relevant to Chase’s accident?” I hold up my hand. “And if you could answer just one of my questions before asking me another, that’d be great.”
