CHAPTER 15
KILLIAN
Noah has been relentless.
He’s been blowing up my phone for four days straight. It started with endless calls. By day two, he must have realised that I wasn’t going to answer, because the calls turned into texts.
Noah: I’m sorry, man.
Noah: I thought I was doing the right thing.
Noah: Can you just let me explain myself?
Noah: I knew that if I told you, it’d just hurt you more.
Noah: If you don’t answer, I will show up at your house.
I’ve had four days to calm down and rationalise everything. And in a way I understand why Noah didn’t tell me, but it still doesn’t change the fact that my best friend betrayed me.
I think the most hurtful part is, Noah has always been the closest person to me. He has seen the best and the very worst parts of my life since childhood.
He’s bore witness to my alcoholic mother and her psychotic outbursts. He was by my side when I begged my father not to leave us with her. He held me through countless panic attacks after Daisy left and listened to my drunk ass when I cried on his shoulder.
That’s what makes this that much worse.
I know that in his mind, he thought he was doing the right thing. Keeping the trip and Daisy’s whereabouts to himself was his way of protecting me.
I just haven’t decided how I feel about the whole thing.
I’m not even mad at Daisy for not telling me. I expected this shit from her considering she’s hiding so much already. But I never would’ve imagined that Noah would keep something like this from me.
I’ve gone back over every conversation from the last few years wondering exactly how many times he lied to my face. The conversation around Grayson’s firepit being the most recent.
“Yeah. And I offered her the job. She has great references from the three years she spent in Montana.” Hunter had said.
“So that’s where she went, huh?”
“You didn’t know that?” Noah had questioned.
I shake my head.
All along, he fucking knew.
A heavy banging pounds against my front door and I growl, already knowing who it is on the other side.
I cross the floor in two strides and swing the door open, coming face to face with my sorry-ass friend.
“You’ve got one free shot,” Noah taps his cheek, and I don’t hesitate for a second before I rear my fist back and clock him straight across his jaw.
My knuckles connect with his face with a sickening crunch and Noah stumbles back a few steps, catching himself on the guard rail before bringing his hand up to rub his face. “Ow, fuck.”
Getting absolutely no satisfaction from hitting him, I spin on my heel and sulk my way over to the freezer, grabbing a bag of frozen peas. I hand it to Noah, who followed me inside, and turn back to the fridge, pulling out two beers.
“Thanks,” Noah mutters, accepting the beer I offer to him.
“Hmm,” I hum.
He places the peas on the counter, a deep purple bruise already forming along the line of his jaw.
“Look, man, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where she was, or that I went to see her.
I know that it probably don’t mean shit to you now, but I honestly thought I was doing the right thing by not telling you. ”
I observe him. The look in his eyes tells me he’s being sincere, but it doesn’t settle the hurt any.
“How did you even find her?”
“I ran into the Rhodes brothers at an auction with my dad. When they heard we were from Rosewater Creek, they let it slip that their groomer was from here. I put two and two together.”
I shake my head at him, disgust lining every feature. “You should have told me.”
He returns my movement with a head shake of his own. “I’m glad I didn’t.”
I frown. “What?”
“You heard me. I’m glad I didn’t tell you, Killian.
Because if I had, you would have been the one to go looking for her, and that would have hurt you more than any lie I could ever tell would.
” He puts his beer down and levels me with a serious look.
“You think this hurts? I promise you; it would have hurt a whole lot more if you had gone all that way just for her to look you in the eyes and tell you she didn’t love you anymore. ”
He’s right. Even knowing she’s not being truthful, hearing those words from her mouth yesterday felt like someone had reached inside my chest and wrenched my heart out with their bare hands. I don’t even want to think about how I would’ve felt hearing them three years ago.
“Why did you go there in the first place, Noah?”
He sighs, taking a seat on one of the wooden barstools at the kitchen island. “Because you’re like a brother to me. I could see how much it was killing you. I thought I could convince her to come home.” Noah shrugs, taking a swig of his beer. “I failed.”
“How did she look?” I question.
Confusion laces Noah’s features. “What?”
“How did she look when you went to see her?”
“I don’t know, man. It was a long time ago.”
“Did she look sick?” I all-but snap at him.
Noah’s eyes search my face, and I hold his gaze, willing him to just give me something.
“She looked tired. And maybe a little thin, but other than that, no. Should she have looked sick?”
I blow out a long breath, scrubbing at the stubble on my jaw. “Hunter thinks she was sick.”
His forehead creases. “Why would he think that?”
“There was a gap in her employment. Hunter questioned it in her interview, and she told him she was sick.”
“Shit,” he stares off into the distance for a long minute. “Do you think she’s still sick?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so.”
We settle into a thoughtful silence for long minutes before Noah speaks up. “I have a confession to make.”
I raise both brows, waiting.
“I’ve been giving her shit at work.”
I nod, my lips pursing. “I sort of picked that up from the argument you guys were having. And it ends, now.”
“I know, man.”
“One more thing.” I rap my knuckles against the counter. “Does my sister know you went to Montana?”
Noah’s face turns one shade lighter. “No.”
I chuckle. “You’re screwed.”
“Dude, don’t remind me.” He drags a hand over his face and for the first time since he got here, I feel a little sorry for the poor bastard.