Chapter 25
noah
I patted my pocket, wishing I’d taken the time to put my mother’s ring back in its box. Danielle caught me off-guard this morning when she handed it to me, apologizing for forgetting she was wearing it.
I wanted to tell her to keep it. But I also didn’t know why that was my first instinct or what I really meant by it, and I didn’t want her to freak out, so I just smiled and slipped it in my pocket. Now I was driving to work, and the sun was actually shining. It was shaping up to be a beautiful, almost springlike day, but anyone who was from the Midwest knew that late February nice weather was usually a “false spring,” and we’d probably get half a foot of snow dumped on us sometime between now and April.
Heading into the building, I had an extra spring in my step. Or maybe just regular spring because I wasn’t a very springy person in general. But I did feel lighter than I had in a long time, and it was all thanks to Aris and Danielle.
We’d spent all day Sunday lounging in bed and in the living room, snacking and watching movies. You wouldn’t think three people as different as we were would be able to agree on movie choices, but I learned we all loved musicals.
Well, of course Danielle did. But Aris and I did too. One of our first dates was seeing the touring production of Chicago when it came to the IU Auditorium. Danielle chose Mamma Mia for us to watch since it reflected Aris’s Greek heritage. We watched a few others as well.
And Cynda surprised us by trying some of Aris’s Yaya’s recipes—we enjoyed moussaka, spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, and even baklava for dessert. They were all incredible, and I’d never seen Aris so happy.
I had a full day of seeing patients ahead of me—no surgeries until tomorrow. So I headed up to my office to get started on the day. After greeting the custodial staff in the lobby as I did every morning, I took the stairs up to my floor. Then I unlocked the back door to our practice with my ID badge and went to do the same with my office door, but it was already ajar.
What the fuck? Maybe they just cleaned in here.
As soon as I stepped in, the vibe was off. I shuddered as I went to turn on the light. But as soon as I did, the high-backed leather executive chair at my desk wheeled around and revealed none other than Alexandra Bagby, her petite frame perched where my ass was supposed to be sitting.
“What the fuck are you doing in my office? Who let you in?” I seethed, my eyes shooting her a sharp glare.
She wore a smug smile on her face as she laced her fingers together and set them in her lap, not in any hurry to answer my questions. “I can go anywhere I want in Midwest Health. My dad is the CEO, you know. Helps to be well-connected.” She waved an ID badge in the air.
“You need to go. You should not be here,” I told her. “I don’t know what kind of stunt you’re trying to pull, but rest assured I will be sharing this information with my attorney, and when we go to trial, I will countersue for harassment and stalking.”
“I don’t think I’d do that if I were you,” Alexandra sneered. “I saw you at the ball on Saturday night with your ‘fiancée.’ As if I believe you’d get engaged to a fat girl.” She threw her head back and laughed. “Is that the only girl you could find to pose as your fiancée at the last minute?”
“Get. Out.” My nostrils flared as I struggled to keep my hands off her. I wanted to grab her by her neck and literally throw her out on her ass. Nah, that would be too kind. Throw her out the window, perhaps.
“If I don’t have your settlement offer by Friday at noon,” she said, her voice as cold as ice, “my father will be firing you.” She stood up now and paced toward me, swinging her hips.
“We all know you’re queer as a three-dollar-bill. My father is absolutely disgusted by you, and so am I. I can’t believe you lied to Emma all those months you dated her. She deserves so much better than you. I hope you’re not lying to that fat girl you brought with you Saturday night. I hope she doesn’t actually believe you’ll marry her. You’re an absolute piece of shit, Noah Evans.”
“Danielle is a gorgeous curvy woman,” I gritted out between my clenched teeth, “and she has more beauty and grace in her pinky toe than you have in your entire body. If you think I’m going to concede to your demands because I’m scared of either you or your father, you are dead fucking wrong. I am waiting to hear back from several professional organizations, and it’s your father’s job that’ll be on the line, not mine.”
“Well, we’ll see about that.” She crossed her arms over her chest, scowled at me, and stormed out.
What a weekend!
When I fell in love with Noah, I imagined we would be the kind of partners who could have a lot of fun together but also have the freedom to explore other relationships. With us being bisexual, it seemed like a great dynamic for both of us.
I didn’t have sharing a relationship with a woman on my radar at all.
But as soon as I began to date Danielle, I realized what a perfect fit she would be in our dynamic, and in our polycule.
And, as usual, I was one hundred percent correct. I was so glad Noah saw the light. Who knows how long it would have taken if they hadn’t gone to the charity ball together on Saturday night. I guess, in a weird, fucked-up sort of way, I had Alexandra Bagby to thank for that.
Flashes of the three of us together flickered in my mind all day, making it hard to concentrate on work, not to mention the great lengths I had to go to hide all the hard-ons I got in my scrub pants. Those things are pretty thin!
After work, I sent a text to my two loves, telling them I was going to the gym to blow off some steam. I’d been slacking on my workouts due to healing up from the bike wreck—I had some bruising and swelling afterwards—not to mention taking care of Danielle. It was time to get back into a routine.
Danielle was going to be with us for at least a few more weeks, and then we’d have to decide what to do. I wasn’t sure when her lease with Raine ended, but…maybe she could move in permanently, or we could all go look for a place together. Noah had been saving to buy a house. Perhaps this summer would be the perfect time to start looking to buy a home in the area.
Danielle was going to be around at least through next December. I wasn’t sure what her plans were after that. She’d talked about going to New York to try her luck on Broadway. Well, we’d cross that bridge when we came to it.
There were several folks at the gym eager to say hello, telling me they’d missed seeing me around. I got a great round of back and chest done, and tomorrow I’d do arms and legs. My buddy Kyle said he’d be there to spot. Driving home, I was thinking about how most of the puzzle pieces were falling into place, and, more immediately, I couldn’t wait to see what Cynda was cooking for dinner.
I was starving.
My stomach was more than intrigued by the savory smells coming from the kitchen as I stepped inside the house. I nodded to Jason, Darth and Danielle sitting in the living room, then headed in to find out from Cynda what time dinner would be ready. I needed a shower…maybe Danielle would want to join me so I could give her a proper hello?
“Hey, Cynda, what’s cookin’, good lookin’!” I flashed her my most charming smile.
“Aris, good to see you. Have you heard from Noah today?” She stirred something in a pot. Upon closer inspection, I learned it was chili. Yum!
“No, why?” We often ate lunch together or saw each other on breaks, but some days we were really busy and just couldn’t connect. It was no big deal either way.
“Danielle said he didn’t answer any of her texts today, and I just wondered if you saw him. She’s kind of upset.” She pulled open the oven door and popped what looked like a pan of cornbread inside.
“Okay, I’ll go talk to her. It looked like she, Jason and Darth were watching something, and I didn’t want to interrupt, so I came straight in here. I need to shower before dinner. How long do I have?”
“About thirty minutes.” She smiled.
“Perfect. I’d hug you, but I’m super sweaty.”
She held up her hands. “I’ll take that hug after your shower then.” She wiped her hands on the dish towel attached to the oven door handle. “Aris…are the three of you…good?”
“I think so. I’m…”
“Navigating a new triad,” she said. “It may be rocky at first, and that’s perfectly normal as everyone figures out their roles, needs, boundaries, et cetera. Let me know if you want to chat about it. Obviously, I’ve got a lot of firsthand experience.” She gave me a wink.
“I appreciate that.” I gave her a little wave in lieu of a kiss and headed into the living room to talk to Danielle.
As soon as she saw me, she worked her way off the sofa and crutched into the hallway. Darth and Jason were watching something on Hulu that they looked very engrossed in. Sushi was curled up on Jason’s lap.
I didn’t give her a chance to speak before I said, “Hey, I’ve gotta shower after the gym. You want to join me?”
“Uh…we need to talk,” was all she said.
Not exactly the words a guy wants to hear as soon as he gets home from work. But we’d figure it out. “C’mon, we can talk while I shower.” I helped her down the hall to the bathroom Noah and I shared.
I turned on the shower and then gave her my full attention. “I want to hug you, but I’m soaked with sweat…”
She finally looked up to meet my gaze, but she was still wringing her hands. Her phone was tucked inside her bra. I could see the top part sticking out of her lowcut shirt. Damn, she has incredible tits.
“What’s going on, Dani?”
“Have you talked to Noah today? I’ve sent him at least three texts, and he hasn’t answered any of them. I even tried calling, and I hate talking on the phone.”
“He doesn’t usually answer the phone while he’s working, and he only returns texts between patients if he gets a chance. He doesn’t like the office to get too far behind, so sometimes he doesn’t return them until after work.”
“It’s been an hour now since his office closed.” She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen, frowning. “I haven’t really communicated with him before. I just put his number in here yesterday. Maybe he’s got me blocked or something? I don’t know. I’m just confused as to why he would ignore me. So, I wondered if you’d heard from him.”
“Well, let me try calling him now, okay?” I offered.
She sighed. “You can take a shower first. I’m sorry to freak out about something like this. I’m sure everything’s fine.” She looked down at the floor. Her voice was filled with heartbreak, and it was breaking mine too.
If I knew Noah, and I figured I knew him as well as anyone, he’d just gotten busy and had forgotten other people existed. He probably forgot to eat too, but that was beside the point.
I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Okay, are you sure you don’t want to join me in the shower?”
“Nah, I don’t want to go through the trouble of wrapping my leg and all that. I already showered this morning.” She looked down at her cast and sighed.
“No worries, I’ll see you in a few then.” I lifted her chin toward me. “Quick kiss? I’ll try not to get sweat on you.”
A tiny smile cracked her lips. “Okay. Quick kiss.”
My lips brushed against hers, and desire surged through me. Down, boy! We’d have to revisit that later. Right now, there were showers to take, and soon, chili and cornbread to eat. I was sure Noah would turn up. He always did.
While Aris was in the shower, I got a text from Raine.
Raine: image> Is this Noah?
I studied the photo closely. It showed a man from behind, sitting in a chair at a table or desk with an odd machine in front of him. It kinda looked like Noah in that it was clearly a tall, Black man with short hair, and from the side I could see a hint of a well-kept beard. But I couldn’t be sure since the lighting wasn’t great, and the photo was a little blurry.
Me: Um…where are you?
Raine: I’m doing some research in the IU library for a paper I’m writing. I had to go to the Gov Docs, maps and microforms area on the second floor. And I thought this guy looked like Noah, but I didn’t want to be a weirdo and go say hi if it’s not him, and he looks busy.
Me: Hold on…
I blew up the image again, trying to figure out if the clothes were what Noah was wearing when he left the house today. I couldn’t tell.
Aris came out of the shower wrapped in a towel. As much as I would have loved to snatch that towel and expose his glorious body, I was more concerned about Noah.
“Hey, can you look at this photo Raine just sent me and tell me if it’s Noah?”
He gave me a quizzical look. “Huh?”
I repeated myself and held out my phone. He took it, still looking bewildered.
“Is it Noah?”
He zoomed in, and his jaw dropped. “Where is he?”
“The library at IU,” I said. “How can you tell it’s him?”
“He was wearing those pants this morning, and those are his Mercanti Fiorentini wing-tip shoes.” Aris shrugged.
Huh. I would have never thought to look at his shoes. Though, as someone who couldn’t wear two shoes right now, I was beginning to realize how much I’d taken them for granted.
“What do you think he’s doing at the library? And why hasn’t he returned any of our texts?” I asked.
“Didn’t he go to the library the last time he was upset?” Aris tapped his chin as if in thought.
“He did. But I thought that was the public library.” I couldn’t get over the feeling that something was wrong with him. “Maybe we should drive over to campus and check on him.”
Aris looked around, then seemed to sniff the air like a wolf. “I think Cynda’s almost done with dinner.”
I rolled my eyes. “Isn’t Noah more important than dinner? What if something is seriously wrong?”
“I would think someone who is in crisis would go somewhere besides the library, and what’s he even doing, anyway? What was that machine?”
“Raine said something about government documents?” I shrugged.
“Oh, god…I hope it’s not something to do with that lawsuit.” He rushed into the bedroom and started pulling clothes out of his drawers, scrambling to get them onto his body. “C’mon. I’ll drive.”
Well, yeah. He’d have to. I couldn’t drive with a broken leg.