When in Rome(43)

My sisters laugh, and Emily moves her feet to the floor to give her more teasing leverage. “Aw, Lover Boy, do you not like the nickname?”

Madison practically croons, “Come on, Lover Boy, be a good sport and grab me that bag of potato chips before you sit down.”

These women.

Luckily, I have so much dirt on them I could make a whole new continent. I look at Emily. “Should I tell them about May twenty-third?” Her smile drops. “Mm-hmm. Thought so.” I turn to Madison next. “How about the name of the guy I saw leaving your house the morning after Emily and Annie went to pick up that farmhouse table in Alabama?” Madison zips her lips.

I’m just about to unleash my blackmail on Annie when she holds up her hand. “Save it. Point made. We’ll shut up.”

“Thank you,” I say, taking my seat at the table and stealing one of Emily’s jelly beans. “Now, can we get the game going, please?”

Emily starts dealing. “Fine. But you’re being a killjoy.”

Her words immediately snap me back to that moment on the couch with Amelia. I can’t stop thinking about her and what she said. Sometimes I’m happy. At least, I used to be. I think. But I don’t want to think about Amelia tonight, so I force myself to focus on cards with my sisters.

We play a few rounds of hearts and shoot the breeze until they can’t stay quiet about it any longer. They are all three practically vibrating with unasked questions. Their bodies can’t take it anymore or they’ll just pass out.

“Soooo,” Emily starts. I raise my second beer to my lips and take a long sip, watching her with narrowed eyes. “How are you feeling about Amelia leaving on Monday because you won’t let her stay at your place?”

“Amelia, is it?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Yeah, she told us everything, including her name. We offered to let her stay with us since you’re being rude. Told her she could have my bed and I’d sleep on the couch, but she’s too nice and said she wouldn’t put us out like that.”

Yep. Amelia’s got them under her spell just as I suspected she would.

I set my beer down carefully and try not to act too eager to discuss her. “Thoughtful of you guys.”

“Mm-hmm,” Madison says, laying down a five of clubs. Her eyes pop up to mine with an amused glint. I can tell she’s trying to outsmart me in more than just this card game. “Does it annoy you that you’re not the only one she confided in?”

I hold her gaze. “Not a bit. She can tell the whole damn town and I wouldn’t care.”

I would care. I do, in fact.

They all grumble and grunt and roll their eyes because the only thing these girls hate more than not making fun of me is being left out of the loop. I throw them a bone because they’ll forever be five, six, and eight years old in my eyes, begging me to take them along on my adventures with James. “I told her earlier today that she could stay with me until her car was fixed, though.”

They all squeal. My eardrums burst. I regret all my choices.

“All right, all right,” I say, rubbing my ear and then standing to go grab another beer. Because I’m going to need it.

Emily points an accusing finger. “You do like her! I knew it! Lover Boy strikes again!”

“I do not.” I pop the top off my beer. “I just feel pity for her and looking out for her is the right thing to do.”

Madison wags her eyebrows. “Look out for her or check her out?”

“I’m serious. Nothing’s gonna happen between us. She’s just passing through town and needs a place to crash while she’s here. Besides”—I sit back down at the table and look at my hand of cards again like I’m actually paying attention to this game—“I already told her I’m not interested.”

“You didn’t,” Madison says. She’s never been more disappointed in me.

“I did. It’s only right to set expectations up front. I’ll be her friend, nothing more.”

Emily lifts her eyebrows while staring at her cards. “Well. Probably smart. It’s fun to tease you, but I agree with not pursuing her. You’re not really the fling type of guy and she’ll have to leave eventually…and you can’t go with her.” We all feel the warning in Emily’s voice in that last statement. She still hasn’t fully forgiven me for moving away with Merritt to New York. I think Emily was the only one who wasn’t upset when everything blew up between me and my ex-fiancée because she knew it meant I would stay in town for good.

Madison is appalled. “No! Not smart! You’re an idiot, Noah, and I want to push your chair over.”

“So violent. Play your hand, Annie.” We all look up to see what’s holding Annie up. She’s smiling at me. A soft, knowing smile that prickles at me. Annie has always seemed to understand me better than my other sisters, and it grates on me that she knows something now that I’m desperately trying to pretend doesn’t exist.

I chug the rest of my beer and decide to have another…and then another…and another.





Chapter 17


    Amelia


It’s midnight and Noah isn’t back yet. Not sure why I’m fretting around like a wife whose husband didn’t come home tonight, but I am. Does he normally stay out this late? What is there to even do in this town after ten p.m.? I’m only worried because I think I upset him earlier trying to talk about his parents. What I need to do is quit trying to pursue this odd sense of friendship between Noah and me, and let it go. He’s essentially my Airbnb/tour guide. When I leave town, he won’t think of me again. He made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested in me. Just let it go, Amelia. And great…now I’m singing the song from Frozen because it’s literally impossible to say that phrase anymore without singing it.