- CHAPTER NINE -
Hazel
“I can’t believe you’re going home already…” Ellie pouts her chapped lips out.
“What do you mean already? I stayed an extra four days than I was supposed to…” I say, lifting the steaming mug of coffee to my mouth and slurping loudly.
“Yeah, but I never got to see you on those days… What have you been doing anyway?” Ellie pins me with a look I know all too well.
She’s right. I might have stayed an extra few days, but I haven’t seen anyone more than I did in the first two days. No one aside from Noah. Noah and the four walls of his bedroom.
“Well…”
I avoid my best friend’s eyes. I can’t hold it in anymore. Noah has been patient. Naggy and annoying as he desperately reminded me to just get it over with…
But still patient.
I do adore the fact that he’s so excited to finally get the correct label on what’s going on between us. For us to be ‘in a relationship’ means more to him than it does to me. I know what I feel, and I know Noah feels the same. But… I guess I still lay awake at night, confused. Completely satisfied after yet another round of steaming hot orgasms… But confused.
How did I get this man?
I’m an ordinary girl. I’m not pretty or attractive. I’m plus sized and my lumps and bumps are bountiful and endless. I sit behind a desk most days at work, barely afforded the time to scratch myself, let alone have a proper relationship. I go home and microwave my dinner and repeat the cycle over and over again.
But yet, here I am… About to seek permission from my oldest friend to date her twin brother.
“Well, what?” Ellie says. She grabs a glass of water and downs it quickly. Her eyes are sunken and blood shot, but I dare not ask why. “What is it you’ve been doing?”
I shuffle forward in my seat, my heart hammering inside of my chest. Just as I open my mouth to reveal all, the bell of the coffee shop chimes, and a group of teenage boys walk in. They’re talking passionately about last night’s game. It was intense and the Vikings dominated the opposition from the moment… well, from the moment Noah sent their Captain flying in the opening seconds.
The guys are noisy, and I see that each of them is dressed in a red hockey jersey, a giant Viking helmet branded on the front. I smile, and as they step across to the counter, I see the name on the back.
‘EDWARDS’
And it’s the same on all four of the tops.
Ellie sees my smile and follows my gaze. Rolling her eyes, she mutters. “Honestly… My brother could be mayor of this freaking city. He’s more popular than the current dipshit who’s in charge. Everyone loves him.”
My throat thickens.
Noah has been so confident that Ellie won’t care about us. But I’m not as confident. I see the way she talks about him when he’s not around. There’s an underlying jealousy there. It’s always been there, and I can even see it as I sit across from her right now.
And on top of that, I’m about to unleash yet more pain by revealing I’m in love with him too? Her best friend! And not only am I in love with him, but I want to spend the rest of my life with him and have his fucking babies…
Maybe I won’t say that part yet. That can wait.
I glance at my watch. My plane departs Vancouver airport in two hours, so I have to get a wriggle on. Security is a bitch as the best of times.
I shuffle forward and reach out for Ellie’s hand. When I grab it, she frowns at me in the most ‘Ellie’ way possible.
I draw in a deep breath and ignore the rising eyebrows of my best friend. “The reason I stayed a bit longer… And the reason that you haven’t seen me in that time is because…”
I hesitate, but then I see a flash of Noah’s eyes at last night’s game. The way he looked at his opposition, there was no fear there. He had courage. He oozed confidence and belief. Noah was a man who saw something and stopped at nothing to get it. He chased me from the bar without me even knowing, and when the hotel shafted me, he stood there and demanded action.
I bite down on my tongue. “Ellie, I’ve been seeing Noah.”
A clattering of cutlery smashes in the kitchen. A barrelling of laughter beams from the table beside us. The teenagers are replaying the goals from last night on their phones, the commentary blaring loudly around the coffee shop.
“You’re what?” Ellie breathes, staring directly into my eyes.
“I’m seeing Noah,” I confirm. Ellie’s expression scrunches and weirdly I feel the need to clarify who I’m talking about. “I’m dating your brother.”
I shrink at my choice of words. Ellie’s just sitting there, and I can hear her brain ticking over. Any other way of saying it would have been fine. But no, I choose the worst combination possible.
“Please, say-”
“As in Noah? You’re dating Noah?” Ellie asks, her voice weird.
I nod. “Yes.”
“Oh my god!” Ellie shoots from her chair and throws her arms up like she’s got that awesome foam finger back on her hand again. “You’re dating my brother! Are you for real, girl? Really? Like actual proper love each other and shit?”
I nod, allowing myself to smile. “Yeah… Proper actual shit.”
Ellie darts around the table and pulls me in her arms. All the air escapes my lungs and if I wasn’t mistaken, judging by the grip on this girl, I could swear it’s the other twin hugging me.
“Oh, this is great!” Ellie settles back in her chair, her hands rolling around in each other. “We’ll be sisters. Actual sisters.”
It’s then that her face drops. “Wait a second…” She eyeballs me and her brows pull into a ‘V’. “You didn’t… Did you? You and Noah? Your…” She leans across the table and cups her mouth. “Virginity?”
I smile and poke my tongue between my teeth. “Gone.”