Noah set the brown bags in the middle of the table and April sat down opposite her mom with her back to the kitchen, the same way they’d sat for breakfast. Noah didn’t question the change, just slid in nextto their mom without comment and began spreading out the contents of the takeout. The empty place to her left felt gaping, obvious, but April did her best to ignore the strangeness of it. Being here with her mom and brother, a family of three now instead of four, would take some getting used to.
“Enough for two, my ass.” April gaped. “Twoarmies, maybe. Are you single-handedly keeping this place in business?”
Noah rolled eyes the same color as her own. “It was a long day. I couldn’t be bothered to cook. Shut up and eat your noodles.”
With only two years’ difference between them, she and Noah had always been close. But given what had been going on back home—the neglect of the house, Mom sleeping on the couch—either he’d stopped confiding in April at some point or he didn’t know how bad it was.
She wasn’t sure which was worse.
“How was your week, sweetie? Did you make a move on the girl from the library?” Kathy wiggled her brows and Noah grimaced.
“Long, but good. And I told you, the library job was just a favor for a friend.”
Kathy shot April a look. “Is it me, or did your brother just avoid the question?” April hummed, mouth too full of noodles to answer.
Noah rolled his eyes. “There’s nothing going on with me and Tasha—Ethan would literally murder meif I ‘made a move’ on her.” Noah did air quotes around the words, a look of mild disgust on his face at his mom’s choice of words. Kathy opened her mouth, her eyes alight with an idea, but Noah held up a finger and cut her off quickly. “Andno, you may not set me up with June-from-Support-Group’s daughter.”
“OK, touchy,” Kathy teased, and April giggled into her noodles as Noah huffed. “I’ve been meaning to ask whether you and Ethan will be coming round for dinner any time soon? It was so nice to see you boys last month … Oh, and you could bring Luke, too—that would be a lovely little group!”
April’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at her mom. “Surely you don’t mean LukePointer?” A fleeting memory of his thumb brushing her lip surfaced, and she shook her head slightly, refocusing her eyes on her mom and brother as they looked at her innocently.
“Well, yes, he and your brother have gotten quite close over the years, haven’t you, Noah?” Kathy said the words simply, as if it was nothing at all that April’s high-school rival was now an accepted part of their lives.
“Yeah, Luke’s a sound guy, April.” She scoffed at Noah’s words, but he ploughed on. “We always got on well at school. Plus, we’ve ended up doing quite a bit of work together since he started his property development firm a few years back—he’s always good to the guys when we’re working on site together, superfair with hours and pay. And you know how things work here—everyone knows everyone and there aren’t that many spots to hang out; we’d see him about all the time. He eventually just became another one of the boys.”
“It was bad enough that you guys were friends at high school, I can’t believe you’ve kept it up,” April grumbled.
“Quit acting like you’re still fifteen,” Noah chided jokingly. “This might shock you, but we actuallylikeLuke. He’s a good time, smart and funny, but he’s still got a good head on his shoulders. You know, sometimes he even reminds me a bit of you.” There was a gleam in Noah’s eyes as he said this last sentence, and April’s mouth fell open at the comparison.
“That is NOT true, Noah—you take that back right now!” Her voice was louder than she’d meant it to be, but she couldn’t stop the frustration rising inside of her. She knew her brother was goading her, but, dammit, he knew how to push her buttons.
“Hey, that was meant to be a compliment, April.” Noah held his hands up in mock surrender.
“As if, Noah,” she shot back. “God, I can’t believe you’d bring that ass into my childhood home. This is meant to be my sanctuary! My safe place!”
“Noah’s got a point, April,” Kathy interjected. “Luke’s a real sweetie these days.”
“Ohhh my God, not you too! I didn’t realize I was having dinner with the Luke Pointer fan club.” April’sexasperation at her family’s blind acceptance of her literal childhood nemesis was mounting, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. “Fine, whatever. Feel free to bring him round to dinner. But make sure you give me enough warning so that I can evacuate the area. I don’t want to see that jerk if I can help it.”
A knowing look passed between Noah and Kathy, and April’s eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what they were both thinking. They at least seemed to take these words as a sign that they should drop the subject, and April breathed a sigh of relief before taking another bite of her dinner. There was quiet for a second as they all chewed, and then Noah’s eyes fixed on April, a softness to them that hadn’t been there a minute before. “Sooo … no Tyler?”
April shrugged, shoving a spring roll in her mouth with enough gusto that her mom winced. But it effectively meant she couldn’t reply. Unfortunately, Noah didn’t seem eager to let it go.
“C’mon, Bug. Why are you really home? And withgreenhair?” Noah’s grin and gentle ribbing should have put her at ease. But it was impossible with the question he’d asked. This was the conversation she’d been dreading the most.
“Don’t call me that,” she said automatically, busying herself with a gulp of water as Noah watched her intently. It was a nickname he’d tormented her with through high school, one that had unfortunately caught on thanks to the friendship her brother had struck upwith her nemesis. She was certain that Luke and Noah had only become friends to piss her off—which had worked, obviously—but somehow the camaraderie had stuck and the two were still friendly long after high school, much to her chagrin.
Maybe her mom would have let her get away with half-assed excuses, but Noah … There was no escaping this conversation. Not with him. Worse, he’d never liked Tyler and she just couldn’t take the “I told you so” right now. Not that she had much of a choice. Maybe it would be better to just rip the Band-Aid off, especially with his humor fading and concern lighting his blue eyes as she dodged his questions.
“I broke things off with Tyler.” She kept it short, to the point.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, honey.” Her mom reached over and touched April’s hand, eyes soft and concerned as she peered at her.
Noah, ever sensitive, was much more exuberant. “Fuck,yes. I’m sorry, but you could do so much better than that asshole.”
“Yeah, well.” She shrugged and focused back on her food, stuffing another spring roll in her mouth to avoid saying anything more while the two of them stared at her.
Dark brows furrowing, Noah set down his cutlery. Crap. Here it came. “You seem … torn up about it, considering you broke it off.”