This One Moment (Pushing Limits, #1)(35)

“You’re not like him,” I said. “You’re nothing like him, Nolan, and you never will be.”

Nolan slammed his fork on the plate, metal clinking against ceramic, and I jumped. “You don’t know that.” He pushed away from the table. “I don’t want to talk about this.” He stormed off.

I rushed after him and gently grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” When he still wouldn’t look at me, I placed my hand on his face and guided it so he was forced to look at me. “You need to trust me. I only want to help you. You know that, right?”

He studied my eyes for a second, then nodded. “I do trust you. But I’m not ready to remember.” He looked away. “I’m scared. I’m afraid of remembering what I did or didn’t do to save them. I’m terrified of having to relive it again and again.”

I brushed my lips against his cheek. “I know you’re scared, Nolan. But I’m here for you. No matter what, I’m here for you.”

He hugged me, body shaking, face buried in my hair, and whispered, “I know.”

We stayed like this for several heartbeats before he finally pulled away. His wall was sliding back into place, even if there were now holes in it that hadn’t been there before. He still wasn’t ready to remember, but ready or not, it would happen. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“How about we finish dinner, then watch a movie?” My lips curled up on one side. “I’ll even let you pick it.”

Nolan snorted. “Yes, because I’ve been dying to watch a chick flick all day.”

“Hey, I also have Lord of the Rings.” I poked him in the side. “You can’t say no to that.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. “It’s you I can’t say no to.”

My heart leapfrogged into my throat. Before I could respond or kiss him back, he returned to the table and ate like the last few minutes had never happened. Fine—if it made him feel better for now, who was I to argue?

After dinner, I snuggled against him to watch the movie. We’d done this a million times before, but this time it felt different. We felt different, and I didn’t mean because we’d been kissing lately. I still hadn’t figured out what that was all about. I knew I should ask him what was going on between us, but hello, this was Aragorn we were talking about. He was nice to look at, and I didn’t have to figure out how he felt about me. He just went to work, killing orcs and making the girls watching the movie swoon.

At one point, as the wind and snow stormed outside the window, Nolan stiffened next to me—and I had a feeling it had nothing to do with the movie.





Chapter 21


Nolan


FIVE YEARS AGO

I paced back and forth on the wet sidewalk as Hailey did her best to soothe my sister on the phone over the sound of the storm. Single-story houses and tall trees stood on either side of the street, but I might as well be in the middle of nowhere as far as I was concerned.

I stopped my pacing long enough to glare at the flat tire. Too bad it wasn’t my father; if it had been, I could’ve beaten his f*cking ass.

I needed to use the phone, but I didn’t want to take away the only lifeline Sarah had to knowing that help was coming. Once I hung up on her, she’d be alone.

But I didn’t have a choice.

I indicated for Hailey to give me the phone. “Hey, squirt. Everything’s going to be okay, but I need to hang up and call for help.” I didn’t want to tell her the truth, that I had a flat and wouldn’t be there for a while yet. “I’ll call you right back. Is that okay?”

“You promise?” my sister asked, her voice quiet against the pummeling hail. My heart hurt hearing her like this. I was her big brother and I was doing a shitty job of protecting her.

“I promise.”

“Okay.” The word came out as a defeated whisper.

As much as it killed me doing so, I ended the call and dialed 911.

“Nine-one-one. State your emergency,” a woman said on the other end. Several cars drove past, slowing down long enough for the drivers to check Hailey out.

I glared at them as I explained Sarah’s situation to the woman. I kept the information as brief as possible, avoiding anything that would give away my family’s situation. I told her something must have happened to my father. He should’ve been there by now. Who knew if I was making things worse for all of us, especially Mom. But I couldn’t risk my sister’s life because I was worried about that. Sarah came first.

“I’m sending someone to the address,” the woman said. “Please stay on the line.”

I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “I can’t. My sister’s alone. I need to call her back to make sure she’s okay. This is the only phone I have.”

“All right.”

I hung up and dialed Sarah’s number. She answered on the first ring. “You okay, squirt?”

“Are you coming?” she asked, sobbing. Lightning lit up the sky, followed a second later by the loud rumble of thunder. Sarah shrieked, and I pictured her huddled against the wall, her knees to her chest as she made herself as small as possible.

“Sarah, it’s going to be okay. You have to believe me. I’ll be there as soon as I can. But the police will be there before me. I called them.”