Page 35 of Taboo
“Let’s not talk about how idiotic I’ve been over the years. I think we can both admit to stupid moves in our past.”
“I care about her and can’t stand seeing her like this.” I swallow around my words while I realize I just stopped myself from saying that I love her. That’s something I should say to her before I say it to anyone else.
“I’ve loved her as long as I can remember.” He says it as if he’s been a Saint all these years and deserves her.
“We can sit here and have a pissing contest, or we can do something to help her find that happiness again. She deserves that.”
“It seems like she can’t make a decision when it comes to the two of us.” Noah moves to the kitchen and pours himself a drink. I take mine back as soon as he hands it to me. “So I guess we do need to make it easy on her.”
“How exactly do you plan to do that?” I know what I want to suggest, but I’m sure he won’t like my idea.
“You can disappear and make my life easy.” His evil smile has me trying to decide if he’s being serious or if he’s just testing me.”
“Or you could go back to being your asshole self and push her away like you’re bound to do soon anyway.” He stops smiling and stares at me as if he’s just now realizing that I don’t have any intention of stepping back on this one.
“Are you willing to walk away to allow her to be happy?” He speaks to me as if I haven’t already contemplated this exact scenario. “Because if that’s what it takes, I’ll go.” He surprises me with his statement. I didn’t expect him to be selfless when it came down to it. It’s honestly not in his nature.
“Seems as though we would both go to extremes to make her happy.” I walk back into the kitchen and refill my glass with whiskey. “So how do we choose?”
“We need to spend time with her together. We’ll be able to tell who she’s drawn to more and the other one will need to disappear once we decide.” I throw that out there, knowing it’ll still be difficult to decide. She’s drawn to both of us and I can see her happy just hanging out with both of us at the same time. But I guess that’ll depend on how easy it is to convince her to meet with us at all. She may be pissed and make it impossible to see what she wants. “She’s determined to stay away from us.”
“Well, then we go to her. When have we ever waited for anything to come to us?” I like how his mind is working and I know instantly what we have to do. “We’ll be at her house tonight when she gets there. This is it. Winner takes all.” He walks out of the room like he’s on a mission and my mind instantly begins to think about how the evening will go.
I need to call in to work. There’s no way in hell I’m missing a single second of this night. I need to be in control of how things go and watch my own back. If there’s one thing I know about Noah, it’s that he’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.
This should be one hell of an interesting night.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Noah
I knew something was wrong with her last night. I wanted to leave all the stress behind us and enjoy my time with her, but it seems as though it just caused the problems to grow and now she’s moved out.
Levi said he cares about her, but I know what he was really trying to say. He hasn’t been the same since she came into this house. For one thing, he hasn’t brought a single woman home since she came into our lives again. That alone speaks volumes about where he’s at in his head. I’ve known him long enough to say he’s used to four or five women in a week at times. He likes to play and that’s something that stopped the second she arrived.
What pisses me off the most is I can see she feels the same about him. The way she looks at him is the way she used to only look at me. Now I’m sharing those perfect expressions with my best friend.
I have only myself to blame. If I would’ve allowed myself to be true to how I felt that first night, none of this would be happening. This would all be going in a completely different direction. Who knows, I may have ended up pushing her away after admitting my feelings, just like I always have. Maybe seeing the two of them together has made me fight for what I deserve for once in my life; which was what Levi was screaming at me to do. Maybe I just don’t want him to have her if I can’t. I’ve always been one for a challenge.
The hot water feels amazing as I shower and think about how I want tonight to go. We need it to be as normal as possible. Stay in and cook together, maybe watch TV or play some games. The best way to really see how she feels is to get her tipsy and see what she says. I’ve always said there’s a truth to what people say when they’re under the influence.
I finish my shower and get ready quickly, knowing there’s a lot I want to do today. The first will be checking out that fucking neighbor of hers. If I end up having to be the one to walk away from all of this, I want to make sure she’s safe.
Levi is standing in the kitchen when I go downstairs. “I’m going to get stuff to cook out on the grill, do you need anything from the store?” I decide to let him know what I’ve planned for the night. “I figured we could just chill at her house. Do the shit normal people do and drink a little. It’s probably long overdue for us again anyway.” He nods at me as checks his phone.
“I have that fucker under surveillance, he’s about to be hauled off to jail for breaking into a house just down the road from Kali’s. I’m not sure if it’ll happen before she gets home or not, so we can’t be late getting over there.”
“Maybe one of us should drive her home. I’d like to see him come in with us there. I might actually enjoy ripping out his insides after the way this day is going.” He looks up at me and smiles as if he can relate. I’m guessing he can.
“I’ll get her from the club and meet you over there.” He pushes off the cabinet and follows me to the door. “Tonight is the night. Looks like one way or another you’ll be rid of me.” He throws that out just as I close the door. I notice the jolt of his words as I take them in.
I may have wanted to choke him at times, but truth be known, he’s the only real friend I’ve had. He’s put up with me at my worst, which has been more often than not.
A somber feeling washes over me as I drive away from the house. My life will change after tonight. One way or another I’ll be saying goodbye to at least one person I care about.
Kali
My shift seems to fly by and before I realize what time it is, it’s time for me to go. I didn’t have the time to call the cab yet, so I pull out my phone to do it.