Now… he bulked out but still had that mischievous sparkle in his eyes that seemed to still be able to cause Noah’s heart to stutter when she saw it. She hated that he had all of this power over her and they hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years.
“Can I ask you something?” Alec asked, his arms crossed over his chest, causing the grey sleeves of his t-shirt to stretch. “Why are you even here? What, you have a fight with your boyfriend or something? Last I heard, you moved in with Aaron King. Doesn’t he own his own tech company? What’s wrong with him? You guys fight? What?”
“Alec,” Lily snapped through gritted teeth. “What is your problem?”
“My problem is that she’s here in my house, that’s my problem,” Alec said as though it was obvious, turning to look at his sister. “I mean, you don’t even ask me? I live here too, you know.”
“Did you ever ask me if Jack could stay over?” Lily asked. She quickly shot her boyfriend a soft look. “Not that I minded, but I am trying to make a point. You never asked me. He was practically living here and I never got any input even though my name was on the lease too.”
“Yeah, but Jack is my best friend,” Alec pointed out. “Noah Stone –“
“Is my friend,” she said, cutting him off. “And now you’re going to have to deal with it.”
Alec looked like he wanted to argue. He wrinkled his brow, as though he was trying to think of something. When he couldn’t think of anything, he turned his attention back to Noah.
“Why do you even want to be here?” he asked again, throwing his arms out. “Why wouldn’t you want to be with your boyfriend?”
“Why are you so obsessed with my love life, Sinclair?” Noah asked, tilting her head to the side. “It’s not like we’ve seen each other in a while. How did you even know I was still with Aaron in the first place?”
Alec opened his mouth but nothing came out. Noah smirked, looking down at her feet, shifting her weight, and then looking back at Alec. He narrowed his eyes at her and hissed like he was some kind of cat letting out a breath.
“Trust me, obsession is not in my vocabulary, and it certainly wouldn’t be applied to you,” he said, his eyes flickering up and down.
“Good, so we’re on the same page.” Noah didn’t expect Alec to be overjoyed with the situation. In fact, she wasn’t surprised in the slightest that he hated it. She should expect him to vocalize his frustration. It was normal. And yet, she couldn’t help but feel insulted by his words, even if it was a teensy bit.
Immediately, she cleared her throat, hoping to get that little feeling out of her system. She didn’t care. She shouldn’t care. Which meant if he insulted her, so what? She was a grown woman now with much pressing problems than Alec Sinclair and his devastating mouth.
“Can I show you in your room?” Lily asked, turning to Noah. This time, she grabbed one of the garbage bags before Noah could stop her and headed down the hallway.
“I guess so,” she said, following Lily.
Her heart hammered in her chest and she slowed down so she could glance outside, onto the balcony. Shadows flickered across the wood outside and she craned her neck so she could take a look at the nearby tree and make sure Aaron wasn’t hiding inside of it. When she saw it was empty, she continued to follow Lily, shaking her head at herself. This was getting ridiculous.
She glanced back into the hall and found Alec’s pale green eyes on her, his brow furrowed as he looked at her. Like she was some kind of idiot for doing something so weird.
And to be fair, Noah could admit that she was.
She wasn’t going to apologize for it. She had to be sure she was safe, that they were all safe. The last thing she wanted was to put everyone in danger. Even Alec and his attitude.
She forced herself to follow Lily into her bedroom, trying to shake the fears off of her, if only for the moment. Maybe Noah was being dramatic. Maybe checking a second-story balcony and a nearby tree was a tad much.
But she didn’t know what Aaron was capable of. After what he did to her mom, she wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
If Alec thought she was a freak, fine. She would deal with it. Just as long as she ensured everyone who was helping her was safe. But even the thought of it sounded impossible.
5
Alec
The night went by arduously slow. Alec kept looking at the door, waiting for Noah to come out. And yet, he didn’t understand why he kept looking. Probably because the last person he thought he’d ever share a place with was Noah fucking Stone.
He shook his head after eleven. He wasn’t sure if he was more upset with her or if he was upset with himself for letting him be so consumed with her presence. Sure, he was entitled to question it, but to get hung up on it the way he was meant he cared to a degree, and the last thing he wanted was to care.
He blew out a breath and forced himself to sleep.
