19. Noah
Pulling up in front of the Solomon family’s house, Dani looks like she’s about to pass out.
Her head is leaning back on the headrest and her eyes are closed.
“Hey,” I say.
She lifts her head. “I’m so ready to go to sleep.”
“Then, get inside and go to sleep.”
“What about the groceries?”
“I got them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Go, before I change my mind.”
“I’m going,” she says as she gets out of the car. “Thanks.”
She walks up to the door, unlocks it, and goes inside.
Why did I offer to do this? This is going to take forever.
I’m so fucking tired from being at the hospital all day yesterday and from grocery shopping. Now I know why I let Gray handle the grocery shit. It’s. So. Boring. But, it’s not boring with her.
All the groceries are put away. My exhaustion has hit its breaking point. I’m sprawled out in bed in the guest bedroom of my childhood rival’s house.
I’m in Dani’s house.
She’s right down the hall from me.
I can’t get the look on Dani’s face when Marina told us about how we’d make good-looking babies out of my head.
Her rosy cheeks.
Her smile.
Her laugh.
The way she kept challenging me at the grocery store.
God, I need help.
DIPSHITS
ME
I need to talk to you
XANDER
And who are you referring to?
ME
Both of you
GRAYSON
I have been summoned. What’s going on, bro?
ME
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about my dad. It just shocked the hell out of me. And my mom. I should’ve texted you
XANDER
Don’t beat yourself up about this
ME
I’m just freaking out. What if Lizzie doesn’t wake up? What if she ends up being stuck like this for the rest of her life?
XANDER
There are no ifs, Noah. She’s going to wake up
GRAYSON
Hey, how’s it going with Dani? You know, being under one roof together and everything
ME
Do you know how easily I can walk to her bedroom from my room?
We went out for dinner because there was nothing here we could make. And then we went grocery shopping. Kudos to you brother because I was ready to go back into the car and wait for her. It was brutal
GRAYSON
It’s a different experience when you actually enjoy doing something
XANDER
I agree with you for once
ME
Holy shit, it’s a fucking miracle!
It’s getting late. I need to attempt to get some sleep
GRAYSON
Good luck with that
XANDER
I’ll be back at the hospital tomorrow morning and give you updates when I get them
ME
Again, I love you bro
GRAYSON
What about me?
ME
Yeah, yeah. Love you too. Sometimes
I turn my phone off and close my eyes, hoping I’ll get some sleep.
But I doubt I will because my brain doesn’t want to rest.
Please fucking rest.
Fuck, I can’t sleep.
I glance at the clock and it’s 12:30 in the morning and I’m hungry.
We have that cake from Marina’s. God, I love Marina.
I remove the covers off my body and quietly make my way into the kitchen. Turning on the light, I see Dani standing there with the styrofoam box in her hands.
We both scream.
“Fuck. Why do you do that?” she asks, her eyes widening and placing her hand over her heart.
“Like I knew you were going to be in here.”
“You should. You seem to have a radar for when I’m around.”
“I’m not a meteorologist.”
She squints her eyes. “The next time you scare the shit out of me, it might actually kill me.”
I walk closer to her, looking into the box. “What the hell?” I cock my head. “Marina didn’t give you the cake, so you can hog it all.”
“No, but I figured you don’t like chocolate, so…”
“You know it’s not nice to make assumptions.” I shake my head, pressing my lips together. “Give it to me.”
She backs away with the cake in her hand, inserting a piece of it into her mouth. “You want it?” She hides the box behind her back. “Come and get it.”
I don’t have the energy for this shit.
Boxing Dani in, I grab the container from her and then a fork from one of the drawers behind her. “That was unnecessary, don’t you think?”
“That was perfectly necessary,” she says as she giggles.
“You have chocolate fudge all over your face,” I say.
She pulls her neck in slightly. “Do I?”
I nod. “Uh-huh.”
“Where?”
I put some of the fudge on the pad of my thumb, swiping it across her forehead.
She’s looking at me like she wants to kill me. “Asshole!” She grabs a napkin off the kitchen table and sits down to wipe the chocolate I swiped across her forehead.
“What are you doing up?” I sit down at the table next to her.
“I could ask you the same thing.” She folds her arms underneath her breasts.
I can’t help but glance at them before I answer her. How can I not? They’re right at eye level.
“Can’t sleep, you?”
She nods in agreement. “I was laying there for an hour and then I got hungry. I remembered we have the cake from Marina’s and here I am.”
“Me too. I think eating because you’re nervous about something is an anxiety thing.”
She rests her fist on the edge of her jawline. “I’ve had anxiety munchies since middle school. When I get anxious about something, I eat. It’s not as bad as it used to be. The last time it was really bad was?—”
I cut her off. “When your dad passed away.”
“Yeah.” She clears her throat, scratching the back of her ear. “When did you get the munchies?”
“I think I’ve always had the munchies, but it got worse in high school.”
“Why?”
“I put myself under too much stress, trying to be the best in class and writing a book. It was too much shit.”
“Speaking of books…” She trails off as she crosses one leg over the other.
“Yeah.”
“You went into my room, didn’t you?”
My mouth gapes open slightly. “How do you know that?”
“You have a radar for me, and I have a radar for you.”
“When did you get into mysteries and thrillers?” I smirk.
“I figured you’d notice my collection.”
“It was hard not to. You have two shelves full of them.”
“I got into them in high school. Let’s just say there was always a voice stuck inside my head which kept telling me I needed to read them.”
“Did this voice sound like me?”
“It sounded exactly like you.”
I grin, looking down at the table. “Well, I’m glad to be of service.” I meet her gaze, studying every feature on her face. “Can I ask you something?”