12. Noah
Chapter 12
Noah
U ntil yesterday, I was sure Vic was exaggerating when she talked about how awful her family was. I had expected them to be snobbish, but nothing had prepared me for just how cruel they’d been to her.
Her father, who was far too busy talking to his golf cronies to do more than acknowledge her, wasn’t much better. The man seemed content to stand idly by while her mother terrorized his oldest daughter.
I’d seen a very different side of her this weekend. Back in Lovewell, she was one of the most confident, level-headed people I knew. But for the last forty-five minutes, she’d been shaking her head and muttering to herself. This weekend had left her all out of sorts. While I didn’t have the first clue how to make things better, I wanted to at least offer my support.
“You don’t have to argue with yourself,” I said softly as we passed Augusta on 95. “You can talk to me.”
“Or me,” Lou said from the back seat where she was playing Words with Friends on her phone.
Vic stared out the window. “Sorry. I talk to myself a lot.”
“It’s a sign of genius.”
That garnered a hint of a smile. “More like I’m losing my mind, but I appreciate the positive spin on it.”
“For what it’s worth,” Aunt Lou said, “you handled the weekend beautifully. You’re a good kid. You showed up for your sister and kept your chin up.”
I couldn’t help but think there was more to this story than I knew. It all weighed so heavily on Vic, and it killed me to know how painful it was.
I was the guy who ran away, the brother who was AWOL for family gatherings and holidays.
For so long I thought it was for the best. Now, witnessing the strength she mustered to show up, despite how difficult it was, I was rethinking all of it. Maybe staying away hadn’t been brave. Maybe, all this time, I’d been a coward.
“I think you were brave.”
In response, she scoffed and curled up in the passenger seat. She was dressed in sweats, with her hair back in its usual ponytail. She looked beautiful.
At the wedding, she was glamorous and sexy. But right now, looking vulnerable in the front seat of my truck, she looked like my best friend.
After a long stretch of silence, she finally spoke again. “My family is coming to Lovewell. For the entire summer.”
The words hung in the air between us for a solid half mile.
“And I’m spiraling.” One fat tear rolled down her cheek, quickly followed by another and another.
I almost drove off the road. The sight gutted me and sent my mind spinning. What could I do to make it better? How could I make her laugh and smile again?
“That was so painful.” Her voice was smaller than I’d ever heard it.
Aunt Lou reached over the seatback and handed her a tissue.
I kept my eyes on the road. Fuck. Crying. Tears. How do I fix this?
“What if—” Vic bit her lip and shifted in her seat. “What if we kept pretending?”
Oh fuck. Of all the possibilities I’d come up with to help her during the drive—ice cream, a Britney Spears singalong, maybe a quick soft shoe routine on the side of the road—being her fake boyfriend beyond today had not entered my consciousness.
“I know it’s a lot to ask.”
Vic’s slumped shoulders and the pain in her eyes killed me. The way those people spoke to her made me want to fell a tree and make sure it landed on their car. A dozen times this weekend, she’d faded away into a distant, beautiful person I didn’t recognize.
It was fun pretending to be in love with her, and it was too goddamn easy. I’d never been in love, and I’d never had a long-term girlfriend. Most of my relationships ended after a few months. Usually, I’d work nonstop during fire season, which wasn’t conducive to maintaining relationships.
But I’d also never met a woman who made me want to give my all to a relationship. Not the way Jack had with Emily. Living with them, having a front-row seat to their love story, made it impossible to deny that they’d found in one another something they could not live without.
Maybe it was the way I was wired. I’d always lived to chase the next adventure, and my whole life, I’d feared boredom.
These days, my brothers were finding their people and building adult lives.
I had Tess now. She was my person. And I’d spend my whole life loving her and caring for her.
What woman would want to come in second place to my daughter?
If the women at the wedding this weekend were any indication, not many.
Every single one of my hero instincts was screaming at me to put on my cape and fix this for her.
“It’s not,” I said, racking my brain for words that would help. “I can understand why you want to.”
“He’s an excellent boyfriend,” Lou added from the back seat.
Vic cracked a teary smile. “Yes. You performed perfectly. Polite, smart, and sexy as hell in a tux.”
My heart stumbled. Oh shit.
That was new information.
In my periphery, she turned to look out the windshield, her cheeks flushing.
She thought I was sexy? Interesting. Irrelevant, but interesting, nonetheless.
My knee-jerk reaction was to say yes. To say I’ll pretend to be your fake boyfriend forever. Please keep smiling and never cry again .
But I hated lying. And I’d come back to Lovewell to rebuild trust with my family.
It was a miracle they hadn’t disowned me when I showed up with a secret baby last month.
I’d fled as soon as I could, and I didn’t keep in touch. I’d been too busy living a life of adventure. All the while, they’d worried about me.
The last thing I wanted was to hurt them again. Especially Jude. We were two halves of a whole. I’d already lost Jack. I couldn’t lose my twin too.
Behind me, Lou cleared her throat. “Here’s a wild idea. What if the two of you actually dated? You’d fall in love and live happily ever after. That would be a real fuck-you to your mother.”
I didn’t dare look at Vic. My heart raced and my sweaty palms stuck to the steering wheel. That would be ridiculous. Impossible. We were both busy. And I had a lot to accomplish before I could even consider being in a committed relationship.
I clung to those logical, reasonable thoughts. Or I tried. My brain, the traitor, circled round and round, back to the sensation of her lips on mine, the way she gasped slightly when we’d broken apart, the warmth of her beneath my palm when I gripped her hips and pulled her body flush against mine.
I could live a thousand years and not forget a single detail of the kiss I shared with Victoria Randolph. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
“You’re both grown, but if you want to act like children and pretend, that’s your choice.”
“We’re just friends, Aunt Lou.” Vic’s tone was defiant, her posture rigid.
Okay, then. My heart sank a little, but I pushed away the niggle of disappointment.
“You keep saying that—”
“Because it’s true.”
I kept my attention fixed firmly on the road rather than on the beautiful, sad woman in my passenger seat. If I looked at her, I was worried I’d give in to the urge to pull over, drop to one knee, and propose just for the prospect of another kiss and to make her forget about Graham. What kind of name was that anyway? He was a pair of pleated khakis in human form.
“My sweet Vic, listen to me,” Lou said. “That shithead treated you terribly. I’d love nothing more than to shove a nine iron up his ass. And your parents? The idiots have their priorities all screwed up. I hate how much they’ve hurt you.”
I knew what was at stake. I’d seen her face as Alexandra smugly rubbed her belly. The way Graham had looked her up and down like she wasn’t good enough.
The way they treated her, dismissed her, made me stupid. Stupid with loyalty for my friend, and maybe the tiniest bit stupid with lust.
“Maybe,” Aunt Lou started, squeezing Vic’s shoulder, “the best way to heal is to date a wonderful man who makes you happy. Not Noah, of course. Since you two aren’t interested in one another.” She eyed me in the rearview mirror and gave me a wink. “But we can find someone else. You’re wonderful. Once the town knows you’re on the market, there will be hotties lining up for a chance with you.”
I gripped the steering wheel, making the leather creak beneath my hands. I didn’t want Vic to date anyone else. Lou wasn’t wrong about how incredible she was. Smart, beautiful, and funny. Plus, she cared deeply and worked hard for the people and things she loved.
The thought of losing her created a pit in my gut. And the idea of some other bozo getting a chance with her sent anger coursing through my veins.
“I can’t date for real,” Vic said. “I don’t feel attraction anymore. I’m not interested in anyone.”
My stomach clenched. She couldn’t feel attraction? I guess I was the only one who’d gotten my ass kicked by that kiss, then.
Lou threw up her hands. “Jesus H. Christ. Shit-For-Brains really did a number on you.”
Turning in her seat, Vic glared at her aunt. “Stop talking like I’m a helpless victim. I don’t have the capacity for romantic relationships anymore. That’s it. It’s not the end of the world. And the last thing I want to do is explain such a personal, delicate issue to my mother and sisters. Especially the one carrying my ex-husband’s baby.”
Suddenly, she was crying again. Big, fat sobs this time.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Lou said, rubbing a soothing hand down her niece’s arm. “The last thing I want is to make you feel worse.”
Vic covered her face with her hands. “I don’t want to have to explain to the world that I’m broken. I don’t want scorn. Or worse, pity. For once, I’d like my family to think I have my shit together. That my life is great. Is that so much to ask?”
As I peered over at her beautiful, tearstained face, I knew I couldn’t possibly say no to her.
A literal damsel in distress sat in the front seat of my car, asking me to pretend to be her boyfriend. To touch her and kiss her and take her out on dates.
In what universe would I ever say no?
I still couldn’t shake the feel of her lips, the scent of her hair.
The minute she kissed me, I was a goner.
Eventually, I’d have to deal with the shit my family would give me, but for Vic, I’d endure anything. I’d never have a chance for anything real with her, so I might as well enjoy faking it for a summer.
“I’ll be your fake boyfriend,” I said, keeping my eyes on the road. “We can do what we did this weekend. It’ll be easy. We already spend a lot of time together, and the town thinks we’re dating.”
Straightening, she examined me, the hope emanating from her breaking my heart. “I promise I won’t ask too much of you.”
That was the thing. She could ask whatever she wanted of me. She should ask more of others. Demand more and better.
She didn’t have to make herself small or minimize her needs.
She could be who she needed to be. She should be.
“You can ask whatever you want. I owe you. Not only for Tess, but for being my friend when I needed one. It would be my great honor to be your fake boyfriend.”
As she wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, she squeezed my biceps firmly.
I may have flexed a bit. Who could blame me? I’d landed my dream fake girlfriend.
“Thank you.”
“I’d like the record to reflect that I think this is a terrible idea,” Lou chimed in.
“I’m ignoring you.” Vic finally cracked a smile.
“Mark my words: by the end of the summer, you’ll either fall madly in love or hate each other’s guts.”
My new fake girlfriend scoffed. “You watch too many movies.”
“Kid, when you’ve lived as long as I have, you learn things. And this”—she pointed from Vic to me, then rubbed her hands together—“has the makings of an epic story.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Vic chastised. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Me?” Lou’s tone was one of disbelief. “Of course not. I love you and respect your choices. Even if those choices are baffling and misguided.”
“Thank you,” Vic and I said in unison.
“I’m gonna get ordained and officiate your wedding.” The comment sounded less like a prediction and more like a threat.
Vic laughed to herself as I took the exit that led to Lou’s assisted living facility.
I’d just put the truck in park when a doorman stepped out of the building. He took Lou’s bag from me while Vic gave her aunt a big hug.
“Thanks for a fun weekend,” the older woman said to me. “And take good care of my girl.”
“I will.”
She patted Vic’s cheek. “Use protection!”
With a gasp, Vic reared back. “ Aunt Lou .”
“I mean it. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She gave us a saucy wink and headed into the building.