56. Noah
The phone in front of me said it was eleven o’clock. Total darkness blanketed my room, and the quiet in the house had me wondering if anybody else was here. “Shit, I took a six-hour nap.”
When I got back from the resort and showered, I hadn’t set an alarm because I hadn’t planned on going to sleep. But waiting for True to respond to my voice note had turned into my body trying to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get last night.
There was a notification on my screen, but it was from Greyson, not True.
Grey:
Dinner’s ready whenever you get up
Hunger pulled me out of bed with one thing on my mind. After a pitstop at my bathroom, I walked into the hall.
My eyes didn’t have to adjust to the lighting out here because the dim lamp in the living room was the only one on.
In the kitchen, I didn’t find Greyson, but I found a pot on the stove on low heat. The rice and chicken looked untouched. And the steam rolling off of it made my mouth water and my stomach growl.
“Fuck, did he fall asleep waiting for me?”
I was on my way to his room to find out until the sleeping figure on the couch caught my eye.
True.
And Duchess.
She had the cat cradled against her while she slept and I was on my knees in front of the couch before I could fully register it.
She was here.
“True.” Her name rushed past my lips before I was kissing her face.
They woke up slowly, but True was the only one who looked happy to see me. Duchess aimed a deadly squint at me before climbing over True’s chest and stretching with a purr.
True snickered, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “What time is it?”
“Eleven.”
“Damn,” she groaned, her stretch mimicking Duchess’s. Her red sweater rode up, exposing her stomach over the band of Greyson’s sweats. Or my sweats. I shook my head. It didn’t matter. She was here. She wasn’t gone.
Eyes jumping back to her face, I asked, “You were waiting for me? You didn’t leave?”
“I wouldn’t just leave Bliss Peak without telling you, Noah. But you wouldn’t let me say that this morning.”
“Sorry, I panicked.”
True smiled softly at my solemn tone and reached out to cup my face. “It’s okay.”
“We’re okay?”
She hesitated, biting her lip. “Yea, Noah. We’re okay. But I can’t be around your parents if that’s how you let them treat you. I’ll never be quiet about it and you’ll always be mad at me.”
“I know,” I whispered, dipping my head to kiss her. I didn’t want to talk about my parents right now. What I wanted was the softness of her lips, and the safety of her tongue wrapped around mine.
With her hand still cupping the side of my face, she kissed me back, groaning when I pulled away.
“I wish you weren’t quiet about it either,” she added, giving me a pained look. I opened my mouth to tell her I was going to work on that, but Greyson’s voice cut in before I could say it.
“You’re awake.”
I didn’t know if he was talking to me or True, but he walked past us on the couch and straight to the kitchen.
“Let’s eat.”
“Why are we having dinner so late?” I asked, grabbing my glass of water. When I realized neither one of them had dinner before I woke up, I couldn’t hide my confusion. We were at the table, eating as if it was seven instead of eleven at night.
True kept eating as Greyson paused to turn his head and stare at me, his eyes unreadable as he said, “We were waiting on you.”
“I was sleep for six hours.”
He nodded. “We know. We didn’t start cooking until eight. True took a nap after we got back too.”
When he reached for the bowl of rice to put more on his plate, his arm brushed mine and everything on me came alive. He had on a black thermal, but all it took from him lately was the lightest touch and I was lost to the feeling.
“You must have needed the sleep,” True chimed in, dropping her fork. “Oh, speaking of sleep—I saw your sister today. She gave me some tea for you. I don’t know where my purse is though.” Her brows tugged together and she looked beyond the dining table to the living room.
“It’s in my room,” Greyson told her, his focus back on his food.
“Wait. You saw my sister today? On purpose ?”
A quiet giggle came before her explanation. “No, I guess not. But I went to have a drink with Goldyn and she walked in. Said she was there to get some takeout, but she stayed for a drink.”
“Oh. How was it?” Did they talk about last night? Did they talk about me? Lottie and True had one-on-one time. Why did that make me more nervous than her meeting my parents?
“It was good until Greyson showed up.” There was a dip in her voice that piqued my curiosity.
I turned my head to look at Greyson. He was smiling at his plate but didn’t add anything.
“What happened when Greyson got there?”
Rolling her eyes, she lifted her shoulder. “What always happens when Greyson goes anywhere…”
She let the cryptic sentence trail and I bit back my smile.
I loved this. Loved how much they cared about me without having to say it. Loved how much I could tell they loved each other. This felt safe. It felt like home and after last night, all I wanted to do was freeze this moment so I could feel this way forever.
Greyson must have read my mind because he reached over, dropping his hand in my lap while he stared at me before his eyes found True. “Whatever that was last night…we’re not doing it again. Fight as much as you want but I’m not sleeping alone. So figure that shit out.”
He didn’t have to say more, the finality in his voice was enough to get his point across and when True bit her lip with a subtle tilt of her head, I knew she agreed.
Greyson squeezed my leg before his reassuring touch was gone.
We ate in silence for the rest of dinner, the only soundtrack our forks hitting the plate.
Silence usually fucked with me, but I could do it with them. Because silence didn’t equal lonely when they were around.
Later, when I cleared the table, my mind was set on one thing: I couldn’t fuck this up. Not enough people loved me out loud, so I wasn’t going to push away the two who did. I knew that whatever came from this, whether it was good or fucking scary, we would figure it out together.