Текст книги "The Other Side of Love"
Автор книги: J. S. Cooper
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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 11 страниц)
“Are you okay, Noah?” Lucky’s voice sounded worried, and I opened my eyes slowly. I stared at the two of them on the couch, snuggled into each other’s arms, and I envied them. I envied how perfect their life was and how lucky they were to have found each other. How simple everything had been for them. It was what I thought my life was going to be like.
“I can still remember the day that I realized I loved Skylar.” I talked without making eye contact with either of them. “We’d gone to the park and she wanted to go to the swings, and of course she wanted me to actually swing as well. I’d laughed, of course, because there were a bunch of little kids and I felt like a creep taking over one of the swings, but the joy on her face dissipated any feelings of worry or concern. Of course, I only stayed on the swing for a few minutes since I still felt slightly self-conscious. A grown man swinging on a swing in the middle of the day is not cute.”
“It sounds pretty adorable to me.” Lucky grinned and I smiled back at her before I continued talking.
“So, I decided to push her, so that she could go higher and higher. And she started laughing in delight. And she let go of the handles and put her hands in the air and she squealed out that she felt like she was flying. And I laughed and told her that I wished that I could fly. And she looked back at me and said, ‘Every time I’m with you, I feel like I’m flying.’”
I stopped talking as my throat grew dry. I could still picture the open joy and honesty in her eyes as she grinned at me, a purely happy smile full of love and trust. “And I told her that every time I was with her, I felt like I could fly.” I stopped talking as emotions overtook me. “It was a perfect moment and I realized that love can hit you in the most unexpected ways.”
“If you still love Skylar, maybe you can try and date her still.” Lucky sounded hopeful.
“What?” I looked at her in confusion. “I don’t think you understand. Skylar is—”
“Don’t push him, Lucky.” Zane interrupted me. “He obviously wants to move on from what went down in Palm Bonita. I’m not trying to be rude, but it seems to me like that relationship was a rollercoaster ride and a bumpy one at that.”
“But true love only comes around once in a lifetime.” Lucky glared at him and shifted away from him in her seat.
“Says who?” Zane shook his head. “He’s obviously trying to move on. Maybe you should—”
“I’m still here, guys.” I cleared my throat, not wanting to talk about it anymore. I didn’t have the energy to explain to them that they had misunderstood what I was saying. “But, yeah, the point of telling you guys all that is to explain why I’m still a bit emotional about everything. Especially getting Skylar’s call.”
“Do you still want to have the dinner tonight? With Robin?” Lucky jumped up and walked over to me. “You can cancel and blame it on me if you want.”
“No.” I jumped up. “I still want her to come over. You guys are right. I need to move on. I need to refocus.”
“Yeah, please do. I want some answers sometime this year.” Zane stared at me as he walked over to Lucky and rubbed her shoulder. She glared at him and he gave her an apologetic smile; within a few seconds they were holding hands.
“Give it a rest, Zane.” Lucky sighed.
“I’m trying.” He sighed as well, and I looked over at them both with a rueful smile.
“You guys are lucky to have each other. Always remember that.”
“You hear that, Lucky?” Zane grinned at her and pulled her into his arms. “You’re lucky to have me.” He kissed her forehead as she rolled her eyes at him. “But really I’m the fortunate one. I’m the real winner. I found you, somehow tricked you into falling in love with me, and now you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Oh, boy.” She shuddered and laughed as he smacked her bottom.
“You’re my forever love and I’m never letting go of you.”
“Not even when I shower?” She grinned at him and wiggled her eyebrows and he slid his hand up her back.
“Especially not when you shower.” He grinned at her before leaning down to kiss her on the lips. I stood there watching them, still slightly shocked to see my previously cold and emotionless brother acting like some sort of Romeo.
“Sorry, Noah.” Lucky pulled away from Zane’s embrace with a flush. “Zane just gets carried away.”
“I guess I know how the babies happened.” I laughed and she blushed even redder.
“Noah!” Zane winked at me, as he faked a disapproving voice.
“Sorry.” I winked back at him and stretched. “I’m going to leave you two lovebirds alone and go upstairs.” I left the room and tried to ignore the empty pit of despair in my stomach. I brightened up at the thought of Robin joining us for dinner. A part of me was buzzing with excitement as I thought about getting to know her better. But then I thought of Skylar and her phone call and all excitement left me. Instead I was filled with guilt and concern and I wasn’t sure if those feelings would ever leave me.
* * *
“Dinner was wonderful. Thank you, Lucky.” Robin licked her lips, and we all laughed at her obvious enjoyment of the food. “I haven’t had a good meal in a long while.”
“Well, you know, us waitresses have to stick together.” Lucky laughed and stood up. “Now for dessert. Zane, help me with the dishes, please.”
“Huh?” He looked up at her and she gave him a look before he jumped up as well. “Oh, sure.” He looked over at me and made a face. “It seems like my daily chores have already started.”
“Zane Beaumont, helping me clear the table once doesn’t count as daily chores.” Lucky’s voice was amused and exasperated at the same time.
“Well, you already had me do a grocery run.”
“Zane, you went to get yourself some beer and I asked you to grab some ice cream. That is not a grocery run.”
“It sounds like she has you beat, Zane.” Robin laughed as she watched them banter and she turned to me, her eyes sparkling. “Is it like this every day?”
“Yup.” I grinned back at her. “I feel like I’m part man, part judge. Well, maybe not judge. More like mediator.”
“And here I thought you were the big bad wolf.” Robin leaned towards me flirtatiously.
“I can be if you want me to be.” I leaned towards her.
“Oh, shit, please tell me I do not sound like such an idiot.” Zane shuddered and Lucky pushed him towards the kitchen with an apologetic look.
“They’re really cute.” Robin smiled as they left the room.
“Yeah.” I agreed. “They’re perfect for each other.”
“It must be nice to live with such an obviously in love couple.” She tilted her head and stared into my eyes. “A real life example that true love can and does exist.”
“When it’s not annoying as hell.” I made a face. “Seriously though, I couldn’t be happier for my brother. He found a gem.”
“I can’t believe she was a waitress.”
“I guess there is something about the men in my family being attracted to the help.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and then groaned as I realized what I had said. “Oh, my God, I so didn’t mean that as it came out.”
“It’s okay.” She laughed at my look of terror. “I’m not going to bite your head off. This time.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I ran my hands through my hair and sat back. “I seem to have a knack of putting my foot in my mouth.”
“Well, you do have a very nice mouth.” She stared at my lips and I wanted to grab her and pull her towards me and kiss her hard. I had been captivated by Robin as soon as she had stepped through the door in her slinky black dress. She was terribly overdressed for dinner but she looked sexy as hell. It didn’t hurt that she also smelled divine. The way she ate was also titillating and I wondered if she was trying to seduce me. My loins felt heavy and hard and I groaned at how typically male I was. All I could think about was getting her into my bed. And the last time I had followed the needs of my body, I had been burned badly.
“I’ve heard that one before,” I mumbled, not thinking, and she laughed.
“Modest, aren’t you, Noah?”
“Dang it. I’m an idiot.” I jumped up and pulled her up with me. “Sorry, I’m distracted by your beauty. Let me make it up to you.”
“How would you like to make it up to me?” She raised an eyebrow. “And please don’t tell me in the bedroom or I will walk right out the door.”
“Well, there goes that plan.” I pulled her towards me and looked down into her eyes with a naughty look. My arms circled her waist and I brought her body into mine so that she could feel just how turned on I was. “But I suppose I’ll allow you to disappoint me.”
“Your body is hard.” She gulped as she stared up at her. Her hands were on my arms and I flexed my muscles for her. “I mean your arms are hard. Your muscles, you know. Nothing else. Is hard. You know what I mean.” Her face flushed and she stopped talking for a moment. “Shit, I think you’ve rubbed off on me.”
“Really?” I held back a laugh. “I’m hard and I’ve rubbed off on you?” I moved my head closer to hers and whispered against her lips. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much for a first date?”
Robin’s face was bright red, and she attempted to move away from me in embarrassment. I kept her firmly pressed against me and then leaned down and kissed her. As my lips touched her, I felt a jolt of electricity pass through us and her eyes widened in shock as I slipped my tongue roughly into her mouth and cupped her ass to bring her in even closer to me. I laughed as I felt her teeth nibble on my lower lip, and then I groaned as her fingers reached into the back of my shirt and she ran her fingernails up and down my back. Robin pressed her breasts against my chest and all I wanted to do was rip her shirt off and then throw her bra across the room before I sucked on her nipples. I felt feverish as we kissed and I felt suddenly bereft when she pulled away from me with a reluctant look.
“Sorry.” She looked away from me. “Like I said before, I’m not on the menu for tonight. If that disappoints you, I can just leave.” Her tone became slightly edgy and I felt the mood between us change.
“Hey,” I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. “You’re jumping to conclusions again.”
“Excuse me?” She glared at me and pulled away and I wondered how women were able to change their moods so quickly.
“You’re acting like you did in the restaurant. You’re judging me and my actions and basing your words on emotions that are running though you. Those emotions are not because of what I’ve said or done. I’ve given you no reason to think that all I want from you is sex.”
“I never said that is all you want.” She sputtered, her eyelashes blinking rapidly. “I never said that at all.”
“That’s what you thought and implied when you said you were just going to leave.” I grabbed a hold of her hands and drew her into me again. This time I didn’t bring her close enough to feel the hardness in my pants. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not attracted to you. I’m not going to tell you that I don’t want to make love to you. I wouldn’t be a normal heterosexual man if I didn’t. But that’s not all that I want from you. And it wasn’t what I was implying. When I stood up from the table, I was going to ask you if you wanted to dance. And not a lap dance or a striptease. Just a regular dance with two normal people who are on a first date and getting to know each other.”
“You want to dance?” Robin made a face. “I did hear that correctly, right? You said you want to dance?”
“Yes.” I nodded and smiled. I pulled away from her, counted to three in my head and proceeded to waltz around the room by myself. Robin watched me with amazement in her eyes as I glided around the dining room, and I continued on with my movements, pretending to dip and twirl my invisible partner before finding my way back in front of her and dipping in a slow and low bow. As I straightened up, Robin’s eyes watched me mirthfully and she clapped enthusiastically, grinning at me as I pretended to preen at her adoration and praise.
“Encore, encore.” She laughed and I shook my head.
“Not unless I have a partner.”
“I’m not really a good ballroom dancer.” She made a face. “I’m more a getting low type of girl.”
“Getting low?”
“You know, to hip hop.” She laughed and did a dance move where she shook her hips as she moved down to the floor. I watched, mesmerized, as she moved her body rhythmically, and all I could think about was her moving that way on top of me. She stood up straight and looked at me quizzically as I just stood there staring at her, unspeaking.
I didn’t know what to say. I wanted her. I felt a connection with her that I’d never felt before but I had nothing to offer her. I was still in limbo; everything in my life was in flux. I wasn’t good enough for her. It wouldn’t be fair to her to try and start a relationship. It didn’t matter that my heart sung when she smiled at me with that happy but uncertain look in her eyes. It didn’t matter that I heard birds sing when she said my name. It didn’t matter that when I was with her I started to feel alive again.
“You do know what hip-hop is, right?” she asked uncertainly and I nodded, still unable to talk. I was transfixed by her beauty and the fragile air around her. Robin put on a good confident show, but I could tell that there was a lot more to her than the exterior she was showing me. Something told me that inside, she was made of glass and that she would shatter if I made one wrong move.
“Yes, yes. I know.” I finally spoke and took a step back. “I’ve jumped on it a few times.” I winked at her and she laughed as she got my little joke.
“Thanks for inviting me to dinner.” She looked away from me, and I knew she could sense the sudden awkwardness between us. I didn’t know what to say to her. Five minutes ago we were making out then we were arguing and then we were laughing and now we were in that awkward space that comes between two people who aren’t sure of what the other person is thinking.
“I’m so glad that you could make it.” I nodded, all thoughts of dancing gone from my mind. “Would you like to stay for dessert?”
“I should be going!” She shook her head and I saw a glimpse of an emotion close to fear in her eyes. “I have to practice my monologue for an audition,” she explained. “But it’s been really wonderful.”
“We should do it again.” I smiled at her, but our eyes didn’t connect. We had lost that special moment and now we were acting like two people who barely knew each other and didn’t want to get closer.
“Yes. Definitely. Please let Zane and Lucky know that I had a great time and thank them for the wonderful dinner.”
“Thank you for bringing the wine.” I nodded and walked with her to the front door. Part of me was prodding myself to say something, to not let the evening end like this. It had been a good night. We had a connection. I knew she had to feel it as well. I wondered what was holding her back. What was her story? I wanted to know everything about her. I wanted her to regain her trust in men. Let her know that she didn’t have to be on the defensive all the time. We weren’t all bad. I wanted to hold her close to me and let her warmth sink into me so that I no longer felt cold and lonely. Instead I opened the front door and gave her a big smile. “Good luck with the audition.”
“Thanks.” She nodded and fiddled with her car keys as she walked out the door.
“I’ll call you,” I lied as she smiled at me weakly and hurried away. I closed the door slowly and fell back, not sure what had happened to our easy rapport. It was as if both of us had sensed that we had chemistry but neither one of us was interested in moving forward with it. But it was more than that: it was as if both of us were interested but we were too scared to do anything about it.
“Hey, where’s Robin?” Lucky walked out from the dining area and looked around.
“She left.”
“She left?” Lucky frowned. “I just put the apple pie on the table. I even made homemade ice-cream with the Kitchen-Aid that Zane got me.”
“Sorry, she had to leave.” I walked towards her and took her arm in mine. “But I can eat her helping and mine if you want.”
“I don’t understand why she left.” Lucky looked at me with narrow eyes. “You guys were getting on so well. What happened?”
“I think we both realized that perhaps it’s best for us to not go down this road.”
“What road?” Lucky’s voice rose and she sounded annoyed. “This was barely a first date. No one’s asking you guys to get married. Get to know each other. Eat some pie.”
“It’s not that simple.” I rubbed my eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. “I think we both felt a connection and I think it scared us both. I’m not in any position to start a new relationship, Lucky. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Why aren’t you in a position?” She sighed. “Do you want to get back with the girl you dated in Palm Bonita?”
“No.”
“Then what? You’re back here now, Noah. You’re not in Palm Bonita anymore. You have to move on with your life. You can’t live in the past. This is now. This is new. This is called moving forward. Nothing good happens if you stay stagnant.” She grabbed ahold of my shoulders and looked deeply into my eyes. “Trust me, you have to make a decision, Noah. You can let the past haunt you. You can keep all the secrets you want, but eventually it’s going to catch up with you. Eventually it’s going to be too much. Don’t let that happen. You need to live for you now. You need to live for the now. Stop holding in the hurt and pushing people away. One day you’re going to wake up and there’s going to be no one waiting anymore.”
She kissed me on the cheek and then walked away from me. I stood there contemplating her words. She was right. I needed to move on. But I knew I couldn’t move on without making everything right. I needed to try one more time to get Skylar. My conscience wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t.
Chapter 8
“Zane, do you think that right now, at this very moment, Mom is staring at the stars as well and thinking about us?” I looked over at my brother as we lay on our backs and stared up at the sky.
“No.”
“I think she is. I think she’s most probably waiting for a shooting star so that she can make a wish. And she’s wishing that she can find us and come back to us and smother us with hugs and kisses.” I spoke wistfully and tried to ignore the tears that were creeping into the corners of my eyes. At ten years old, I still hadn’t perfected the art of not crying when I felt sad. Not like Zane had. He never showed any emotion.
“Then you’re an imbecile.” Zane turned towards me with a frown.
“What’s an im-be-ceil?” I asked him, not understanding what he meant.
“Nothing, Noah. Just be quiet.”
“I’m glad Dad let us go camping this weekend,” I continued excitedly.
“Dad didn’t let us do anything.” Zane sighed. “And we aren’t camping, idiot. We’re lying on bedsheets in the back garden. We don’t have tents or sleeping bags. We don’t have a bonfire. We don’t have anyone telling us scary stories. It’s just us lying here on a dirty bedsheet, looking up at some stars that we can barely see because of all the pollution.”
“It’s still fun, though.” I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m glad that it’s just us. We’re like two warriors staring up at the night sky waiting for the sun to rise and take us on our next journey.”
“Yeah.” He sighed but smiled at me. “We’re two warriors.”
“I’m Conan.” I growled into the air and shouted. “I’m Conan, so nobody better mess with me or my brother Zane.”
“Shhhhh.” Zane placed his dirty hand over my mouth. “Be quiet. If Dad hears us out here, we’ll be in trouble.”
“I thought you said he said it was okay?” I looked at him in confusion and yawned.
“Just go to sleep, Noah, you’re tired.” Zane shook his head and lay back, looking up at the stars. I was quiet for a moment, but I still wasn’t tired enough to go to sleep.
“We’ll always be brothers, right, Zane?” I spoke lightly, scared that I was going to upset him again.
“What are you talking about?” He rolled over and looked at me with his older brother frown.
“You won’t leave me, right?” I bit my lower lip and opened my eyes wide so no tears fell. I wanted to be a big boy. I didn’t want Zane to make fun of me and call me a baby. “You won’t go away like Mom?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment as he lay there staring at me. Then he reached over and hugged me and whispered in my ear. “I’m your big brother. You’re never going to get rid of me.”
“Never?” I asked hopefully.
“Never.” He let me go and stared at me. “We’re birds of a feather, Noah. We could be the same person. We have exactly the same blood running through our veins. We’re family. We are all we got. I will never leave you. You’re stuck with me.”
“Just don’t try and eat all my candy.” I lay back and grinned, everything all right in my world again. “We may be brothers and we may have the same blood, but all my candy is still mine.”
“I’ll think about it.” He laughed and lay back at the sky before pointing up to something quickly. “Look, Noah. There’s a shooting star. There’s a shooting star. Quick, make a wish.”
We both closed our eyes and mumbled our wishes. I wished that I would never have to go a day without Zane by my side. And then opened my eyes. “What did you wish for, Zane?”
“I can’t say.” He mumbled and his voice sounded hoarse.
“Tell me.” I pleaded. “Please.”
“I can’t tell you, Noah. If I tell you, it won’t come true.”
I spent the next week making plans for the documentary and trying to call Skylar back. Unfortunately, her phone number was now disconnected and I had no other way to get in contact with her. Well, I had one way, but I knew that nothing good could come from going that route. So I threw myself into my work and tried to avoid Zane and Lucky as much as possible. I didn’t want to deal with their questions or concern. I knew that they meant well and I knew that Zane just wanted some answers, but I still wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with everything. I also hadn’t spoken to Robin either, even though I had been thinking about her every day since the dinner. I wanted to call her so badly, but I didn’t know what to say. “Hey, I think I like you. I know I want to kiss you and make love to you. But I’m kind of fucked up in the head right now, and I’m scared that I’m going to hurt you and you’re going to break like shattered glass.”
So I didn’t call, but every night I saw her face haunting me in my dreams. However, I didn’t dread going to bed anymore. Not when I knew that I would have visions of her and her green-brown eyes sparkling at and teasing me. I had finally decided to give her a call when I got a call from an unknown number. Skylar immediately popped to mind and I answered the phone eagerly.
“Hello,” I gasped, scared that the other person was going to click off.
“Noah, mon cheri?”
“Mom?” I walked to my bedroom door and closed it before going back to sit on my bed.
“Noah.” Her voice sounded emotional. “You haven’t called me.”
“I haven’t had anything to say.”
“I heard you’re back in Los Angeles.”
“How did you know that?”
“Your father.” Her voice was light and pained.
“You spoke to him.” I frowned. I had no idea that she had been in contact with my dad.
“Oui, I mean yes.” She sighed. “His last two checks have been late. I had to call him to make sure that he wasn’t going to stop providing me with my means to live.”
“You mean the hush money?” I said coldly into the phone.
“It’s not like that, Noah. I need this money. It’s how we live.”
“What do you want?” I said impatiently, not wanting to talk to her.
“Your father says he hasn’t heard from you since you’ve been back.”
“He hasn’t rushed to see me.” I laughed bitterly. “You’d think he’d want to see his dead son back from the grave.”
“Noah, that’s not fair.”
“You’re sticking up from him?” I said disbelievingly. “I thought you hated him.”
“I do hate him.” She sighed. “But he is still your father.”
“He’s my father only by way of my genes.” I scoffed. “He’s not my family. He doesn’t care about me.”
“But I care about you, Noah. I want to see you. Will you come visit your mama in Paris?”
“Do you want me to come alone, or to bring Zane and his fiancée Lucky with me?”
“I don’t even know who this Lucky person is.” Her voice sounded annoyed and vacant. “Why would I want to see her? I want to see my son.”
“You met Lucky when she went to Paris with Zane.” My voice was hard. “And yes, I know that you pretended you didn’t know who he was. How could you do that?”
“It was for your safety, my dear boy. I didn’t want to accidentally slip and tell them you were still alive. You told me that it was imperative that I told no one. Absolutely no one, you said. I was just doing as you said.”
“I didn’t tell you to pretend that you didn’t recognize your own son.” I shouted, angry that she could be so obtuse. “What sort of mother are you?”
“He is not my son, Noah.” Her voice was angry. “You are my son. You are my love. You are the one I have missed every day. You are my blood.”
“You raised Zane as well.” I shouted wanting to punch something hard. “He thinks you are his mother. He has happy memories of you.”
“It is a lie!” she cried. “I will not live a lie anymore. It was all too much. My life was a lie. I couldn’t take it. I won’t live a lie anymore.”
“You told him to look after me. You told him to be a good big brother and protect me.” I spoke words that I didn’t even know I was thinking. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
“He always looked after you.” She sighed. “I knew from the day that you were born that he would protect you with his life. You were safer with him than with me. I had postpartum depression, I couldn’t think straight. I was scared that I would hurt you. And I would never have been able to live with myself if I had hurt you, my precious son.”
“So you trusted and loved him enough to have him look after me when you walked away. He was a little kid, Mom. He didn’t do anything to you.”
“He was too much like your father.” Her voice quivered. “He looked just like your father. It was too much for me. Every time I looked at him, I felt a mixture of emotions. I wanted to love him. In my way, I tried to love him. I just couldn’t love him as I love you, my son. Please come to Paris and visit me. I miss you. I want to see you. Forgive me, Noah. Forgive me for leaving you. Forgive me for being a poor mother. Please understand that I’ve never stopped loving you. You have always been in my heart, just like the blood that pumps through my veins.”
“Zane is my family. It’s my turn to protect him now.” My voice was cold as I spoke into the phone. “I will not come to visit you. I will not have his heart broken.”
“Tell him, Noah,” she cried out. “You need to tell him the truth.”
“No.” I shook my head vehemently. “It would kill him.”
“He deserves to know the truth. You cannot hide it from him. It is not fair of you to play God.”
“It wasn’t fair when you walked out and left us brokenhearted. I won’t have him go through that again.”
“It is not my fault. I beg of you, Noah. Please come and see me.”
“If you cannot love my brother as your own, then you cannot love me.” I spoke slowly. “Goodbye, Mother.” I hung up the phone and powered it off, and sat on the bed just staring into space. A few minutes later, I heard a knock at the door and ignored it.
“Noah?” Lucky opened the door slowly, and poked her head around the door. She stood there hesitating. “Can I come in?”
“Not now.” I looked away from her, willing her to go away. I didn’t want to talk to anyone at that moment.
“We have to go the Johnsons’ now.” She stepped into the room. “They’re expecting us.”
“Shit, I forgot that was today.” I sighed and jumped up, still avoiding her gaze. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Noah, wait.” She bit her lip and walked over to me. She had tears in her eyes and as I studied her face, I could see that she looked distraught.
“Oh, my God, Lucky. What’s wrong?” I studied her face anxiously, worry for her consuming me. “Is it the babies?”
“No.” She sobbed and tears streamed from her eyes. “It’s not the babies.”
“What’s wrong, Lucky? Oh, my God, is it Zane? What happened to my brother?”
“It’s not Zane.” She started crying even more and I stared at her hopelessly.
“What is it, Lucky? What’s wrong? Oh, dear God, you’re not leaving my brother, are you?” Dread and fear filled me at the possibility. If Lucky left Zane, he would be devastated for the rest of his life. I knew that there was no way that he would ever get over losing Lucky.
“No.” She gave me a small smile. “Of course I’m not leaving him. I love him.”
“Lucky, you’re killing me here. What’s wrong?” I shook my head in exasperation. “Why are you crying?”
“I didn’t mean to listen.” She sobbed out. “I came to knock on your door to tell you that it was time to leave, but I heard you shouting, so I decided to wait until you got off the phone and I heard what you said.”
“What?” I froze still.
“I heard what you said, Noah.” Her eyes looked at me wildly and sorrowfully.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I shook my head and looked away from her.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” She sat on my bed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I guess it makes sense. I mean, not really, but it adds up.”
“I don’t know what …” I paused as she looked at me with her big brown eyes full of love and concern for me. “Okay, it’s true.” I sighed. “Zane and I don’t have the same mom.”
