Pushing You Away - Noah & Katie (Ex-Con Duet 3)

Everleigh: Yeah, I might’ve suggested that…DON’T BE MAD!

Katie: OMG, EVERLEIGH! I’m going to strangle you!

Everleigh: You love me, and you know this is the right thing to do. It hides Noah for a few days and keeps his family safe until they have time to investigate. Sheriff Todd has to interview the neighbors to ask if they saw anything.

Katie: Y’all owe me margaritas.

Everleigh: Don’t worry, they’ll be bottomless :)

I swear, my friends are going to be the death of me.

After an hour of tossing and turning with my thoughts racing about Noah, I decide to get up. I go to my closet and look for an old shoebox I stuffed in the back. We used to write notes to each other during school, and for whatever reason, I kept them. Hell, I know why I did…I was crazy about him, even if we were only just friends.

Everleigh and Gemma would pass notes to me during class too, but not as much as Noah did. Sometimes, they’d be serious things, like how he struggled in a class or how he missed his mom. Other times, it was stupid drawings, jokes, or he’d ask silly questions.

Katie,

If you could only take one thing with you to a desert island, what would it be (besides me, of course)?

I read the note and laugh, remembering how I responded.

If I could only take one thing with me, it’d be a How to Survive on a Deserted Island book, so I had a better chance at living since I know you’d be useless.

Noah knew I was only teasing, but I bursted out laughing when he read it. He frowned and scowled at me.

After school that day, we made a whole survival guide as if we’d actually get stranded.

He was in charge of gathering wood for a fire and branches to build us a shelter. Then he’d hunt, and I’d cook.

We had planned out an entire scenario, and it was moments like those when I thought maybe he did have feelings for me. We were acting like a couple at our pretend island. According to Gemma, Noah did have a crush on me, but I still don’t believe that. If Noah did, he was really good at hiding it.

I find another box with all kinds of keepsakes Noah gave me. Birthday cards, super special notes he’d written me, movie theater stubs, dried petals from the flowers he’d gotten me for Valentine’s Day, so I didn’t feel left out freshman and sophomore year. There’s a decade of memories inside, and though our friendship is long over, I can’t find it in me to throw these boxes away.

Once I finish going through them, I put on the lid and tuck them away because that part of my life doesn’t exist anymore.

Chapter Ten

NOAH

TWO HOURS PREVIOUSLY

After a long day at work, I’m looking forward to relaxing at home with my dad and Belinda. I don’t even care that he keeps his old British TV shows on all night because it’s paradise compared to when I was locked in a cell.

Though I had time outside and in the lounge since I wasn’t deemed a high-risk inmate, it wasn’t much, and I could never truly relax. Not until the day I left.

“How’s the gym remodel goin’?” Dad asks as I sit down with a beer.

“Really good. If it wasn’t for the delay in delivering the equipment, he’d be able to open earlier than expected.”

“I can’t wait to see what he does with it,” Belinda chimes in.

“It’s gonna be pretty awesome. Besides the boxing ring, we’re gonna build a juice bar and serve protein smoothies and healthy drinks. Then a nice studio for classes and a stretching area with punching bags.”

“And y’all are gonna get it finished in a few months?” Dad asks.

“Definitely. We’re working hard, and if we need to pull some weekend shifts, I will. Smith is quite experienced, so that keeps us on task.”

“That’s Tyler’s other guy, right?”

“Yeah, he—”

Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering rings through the air, then a loud thud echoes, and I duck as I wait for whatever is happening to stop. Belinda shouts, and I hear my dad asking her if she’s okay.

Standing, I immediately look around and notice what went flying through the large bay window.

“Holy fuck, is that a…?”

I study the pipe as the clock counts down, and it beeps loudly.

“Get out. Now!” I pull my dad’s arm, and he holds onto Belinda as I rush us out the front door.

Expecting to hear an explosion, I run across the street and keep them behind me as we stand on the sidewalk.

Nothing happens.

What the fuck?

Then I spot my truck that I parked on the street. The word MURDERER is spray-painted across the side.

Goddammit.

“Oh my gosh…” Belinda sees it too.

“I’m calling the sheriff,” Dad says.

I nod, reaching for my phone. “Good idea. I’m gonna call Tyler and Gemma.”