5th Street: Noah

Chapter 15

Don’t say it. Don’t go there. “So that’s the Rita, huh?”

Ugh! She was so weak! The second Veronica heard Rita’s name and realized this was the girl who Noah had been with so recently and would probably be with again real soon, her insides were on fire. She’d never been that type of girl, but as much as she tried, she could not stop looking at her. She’d nearly lost her appetite all at once and had to force herself to eat while trying not to stare at Rita.

“Um, yeah.” Noah shifted in the passenger seat. Veronica had sensed his discomfort at the restaurant as well.

“She seems nice.” She really had—too nice.

“She is,” Noah said, glancing out the window.

“She’s pretty.” If you liked the overly made-up type with massive tits.

Veronica could almost imagine those huge things bouncing above Noah as Rita rode him hard. This time Veronica was the one who looked out her window, grinding her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut. Stop it.

“I guess.”

Noah was obviously not going to willingly contribute to this conversation, but for some stupid reason, Veronica couldn’t drop it. She should. She really should, especially after concluding that Noah’s feelings for her were passing the friendship line, and she had to put a stop to it. She’d already made a conscious decision to start pulling away. But her insides were still boiling just thinking about him and Rita and where he might be spending his free time now that she was in town.

“So I guess you two will be hanging out now that she’s here for the holidays, right?” And her stupidity continued.

Noah shifted again in his seat, and he cleared his throat. “I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it or anything. Probably not.”

Veronica chuckled. It came out sounding a little more sarcastic and louder than she expected to.

“What?” Noah asked, turning to her.

Veronica backpedaled, feeling like an idiot. She shrugged. “Nothing.”

“That didn’t sound like nothing.”

She stared ahead, not wanting to look at him. Let it go. Say you were thinking of something else. “It’s just that, well, you know, after what Hector said the other day, I’m pretty sure you’ll make the time.” Why did she never listen to that little voice of reason?

“Once you get to know Hector a little better, you’ll know that half the stuff that comes out of his mouth is bullshit.”

Finally, she forced herself to do the right thing and change the subject, but not before rolling her eyes. “Listen. AboutChristmas Eve—”

“Unless you have other plans, you’re going, Roni. I don’t want you home alone.”

“But—”

“If you don’t go, I’ll stay home with you.”

Veronica frowned as she pulled into her driveway. She’d agreed to go but had every intention of getting out of it. Noah and Rita hadn’t gotten so much as a moment alone at the dinner much less done anything cozy, but Veronica knew now, without a doubt, it wasn’t something she’d want to be witness to. There would likely be drinking involved on Christmas Eve and an atmosphere that might allow for more interaction between them, but she couldn’t have him stay home on her account.

They both got out of the car and headed for the front door. “Noah, you can’t do that. It’s just that I’d feel more comfortable if I stayed home. Those are your friends. Just because I’m your roommate—”

“You’re my friend too, remember? And as far as I’m concerned, we’re more than friends now.”

Veronica froze as she pushed the front door open and glanced back at him. Their eyes locked, and then he added, “We’re like family now.”

She let out a slow breath and stepped in the door with Noah behind her.

“I mean it makes sense, right? You don’t have anyone, and I don’t either, but we have each other. If you wanna stay home Christmas Eve, then we’ll stay home, but I won’t leave you alone.”

She exhaled as she walked toward the dining room. He wasn’t going to give her a choice. Staying home was not an option. She wouldn’t keep him from yet another one of his holiday traditions. She’d have to bite the bullet sooner or later. If they were going to continue to be roommates—friends—then she may as well get it over with. Seeing him with other women was inevitable, and like it or not, something she was going to have to get used to.

Placing her purse on the table, she gave him a little smile. “I’ll have to make something to take. I won’t go empty-handed.”

He grinned at her, satisfied. “I’ll help you make it. You’re not getting all the credit.”

Her smile felt a little more genuine this time, even though the idea of being around Noah and Rita made her more anxious than she’d ever admit.

A couple of things had been confirmed tonight. First of all, Noah had this friends-with-benefits thing down to an art. Everyone there assumed Veronica and Noah had something going on. Yet Rita hadn’t seemed bothered by it at all, something Veronica knew she could never do. At first, she thought it was an age thing, but Veronica was certain, even at twenty, she would not have been able to handle seeing the guy she’d just slept with a few weeks prior walk in with another girl and be so amicable about it. It just took a certain personality and Veronica didn’t have it. Period.

Second, most of the guys there didn’t even make an effort to be discreet about the way they gawked at Rita’s bust. They were so obvious it was almost funny. Veronica’s delusional theory that Noah was just protective of his friends, especially girls, and that’s why he acted the way he had with the Edward guy at the gym had been squashed. Veronica had watched as the guys openly flirted with Rita, and Noah hadn’t so much as flinched. He didn’t seem bothered by it in the least.

Leading her to her final confirmation—one she’d suspected for weeks. Young and impressionable Noah had begun to fall for her and in the process was becoming territorial, something she really needed to discourage. Yet every time she said she was going to, she took one step backwards, possibly encouraging him further.

First, his employee Christmas dinner. Now Christmas Eve again with his friends whom he considered closer than family. So much for pulling back.

~*~

Noah had succeeded in turning Veronica into a believer. Anytime they went somewhere together now, she made him drive so she could play with his phone.

“I told you I’d sell you on it,” he said with that handsome grin of his.

Just then the only thing she hadn’t quite gotten a grasp on about his phone happened. A text came through, and she pressed something that had it pop wide open for her to read. She hated for him to think she was being nosey, but it was impossible not to read the text before she could figure out what happened.

“Oh! You got a text,” she said, shoving it in his direction so he’d know she wasn’t trying to read it, though she already had. It was from Gio telling him he better not be flaking tonight.

Noah read it as he came to a stop at the red light and smiled. He pushed something then spoke into his phone. “I’m around the corner.”

Veronica giggled about the insanity of it.

“Really? You don’t even have to text anymore?”

“Nope,” he said, handing it back to her.

She played with it again until another text popped up that she tried not to read, but she did catch something about the guys making bets about whether he’d show or not. Veronica frowned, knowing she was the reason they were betting he wouldn’t show. She set the phone down as they pulled up in front of an overly decorated home—the kind where the decorations have no rhyme or reason and there’s big, small, multi-colored, and white lighting going on, as if they just threw every decoration they’d collected in the past twenty years onto the front lawn. “Is this his house?

Noah laughed as he got out of the car. “Yep, this is the famous Bravo Christmas fiasco. It gets worse, uh, better every year.”

They hadn’t been kidding about Christmas Eve at Gio’s. For starters, his family was huge. Noah told Veronica about Gio’s dad passing a few years ago but that his side of the family, the Mexican half, was still very much in touch, and a lot of them were here tonight. But then there was his mom’s side of the family—the Italian side who it seemed were all here tonight, and the place was packed. Between Gio’s dad’s side of the family, bringing all the tamales and a bunch of other Mexican dishes and his mother’s side—Noah had mentioned several times before that they were known for going overboard on food even when it wasn’t a holiday—there was an endless amount of food.

The two loaves of zucchini bread Noah and Veronica had baked together were quickly lost on the buffet table where they were told to set them. Most of the younger crowd—cousins and friends around Gio’s age and younger—spent the majority of the evening in the back yard.

It seemed there were three main generations here: The older generation in their forties and up—uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. Then there were the young adults like Gio and the older teens, some in their early twenties with their young girlfriends or boyfriends who hung out in the back, having drinks and listening to music. Finally, the crowd Veronica should’ve been in was the older cousin crowd: the young married couples dealing with young kids and babies that were inside, talking about more pregnancies, Santa Claus, and shopping for toys.

After a while of obsessing about things like that and casually watching Rita for any signs of jealousy or resentment and finding none, Veronica decided to just relax and have fun.

Unbelievably, she was coaxed into playing some of the silly games and even won a prize, though she was certain it was a pity gift. She never even came close to winning any of the games. Veronica was embarrassed when she met Gio’s mom. The only thing she knew about the woman was that she was Italian and she cooked a lot. With that in mind,Veronica had kept to the stereotype and pictured Gio’s mom as short and heavy. To Veronica’s surprise, the woman had a body a twenty-year-old would envy, and she was very young-looking for her age. And Gio had obviously gotten his striking green eyes from her. Since Gio was twenty, Veronica assumed his mother was in her early forties at least, yet she could pass for early thirties.

By the end of the night, Veronica was completely stuffed and exhausted. The night had begun with her dreading it, and now she was so glad she’d gone. She really had a pleasant time, and she had to admit it did beat staying home alone.

When they got to the party, she’d warned Noah that she might leave early but that he should stay as long as he wanted. Of course his response had been, “We’ll leave whenever you’re ready.”

As sweet as that was, it was also worrisome. Noah was becoming far too devoted to their friendship. As much as she appreciated his loyalty as a friend, she now knew he didn’t see it as just that.

For now, she had nothing to worry about. There was no one else in her life. But just like she’d never dream of asking Noah to close that door in his life, she wasn’t closing it in hers either. Judging from the way he’d acted with Edward, if she didn’t get a handle on this now, things could get ugly later.

~*~

After running his five miles Christmas morning, Noah got back to the house to find Roni still asleep. Perfect. He made a pot of coffee before jumping in to take a quick shower. Her door was still closed when he got out of the shower. He changed into a pair of loose sweats and a T-shirt, grabbed the gift bag from the closet, and placed it under the tree.

He was nervous as hell. It was something he’d thought of getting her before but was afraid she’d think him corny.

The doorknob to her room jiggled. She was up. Noah’s eyes shot back down to the bag under the tree. There was still time; he could make a dive for it and get it before she saw it. But he took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen instead.

“Merry Christmas.”

The sound of her voice instantly made him smile. He turned from where he poured himself a cup of coffee and smiled at her. “Merry Christmas.”

He grabbed another cup out of the cupboard and poured her some coffee.

“I don’t know about you, but I could go for some blueberry pancakes.”

“Sounds good,” Noah said.

Of all the Christmas mornings he’d ever had even as a child, he couldn’t remember one feeling more satisfying than how he felt that very moment. Coffee and pancakes with Roni and the promise that he’d have her all to himself for the entire day. He couldn’t think of a better present. Well, he could think of one thing that could make this even better, but he wouldn’t push it.

Noah walked Roni’s mug over to where she stood by the stove and set it down for her. “Need any help?”

“Nope,” she said cheerfully. “But you could turn on the Christmas music.”

He did just that and walked back to lean against the counter. He tried not to stare at her profile, but at this point, she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, even right now in the morning, especially right now in the morning, because this look—her tousled hair, her pajamas, and big fuzzy slippers—was reserved for him. No one else could see her like this but him.

She looked up and caught him staring at her like a lovesick puppy. The more he was around her, the less effort he put into concealing how he felt about her. Though he did take a sip of his coffee before he freaked her out and pulled her right out of her cheery mood.

“This year is almost over, Noah. Any resolutions for the New Year?”

“Nah, I don’t make resolutions. Or I guess I do, but I call them goals, and I don’t wait for the New Year to start toward them.”

She turned to him, her eyebrow arched. “You have a point. Why wait?”

“Do you?” Noah asked, genuinely curious.

“It’s not really a goal, but I want my life back. I’m just hoping that, by going back to work and catching up with my old friends, I can get back to the way things used to be, you know, before I let myself fall into this black hole I was in for so long.”

Feeling a little annoyed by that last statement, Noah asked, “But you haven’t been in it lately, right?”

She now had a stack of pancakes ready, and she flipped the last one onto the top of the stack, adding a sliver of butter on top like she had with all the others. She picked up the tray with the stack and turned to him. “No, I haven’t, and I have you and Nellie to thank for that.”

They sat and ate as she told him more about her plans for the next year, irritatingly adding that she was also going to work on getting her social life back.

“What does that mean?” Noah asked, digging his fork into his pancakes.

He noticed that she stopped cutting into her pancakes for a second before she responded. “I used to do things with my girlfriends from work. You know, go out to dinner, the show. Believe it or not, I used to play tennis a couple of times a week. I haven’t done any of that in so long. I just buried myself away from everyone and everything. I’m anxious to go back to the way I once was—feel normal again.”

“You should’ve said something; we could’ve gone to the show or played tennis.”

Once again, he had to bite his tongue not to say more. He knew she had every right to go back to feeling normal. She should, but the thought of her getting back to possibly going out with guys made the food he swallowed go down like jagged rocks.

She stared at him for moment then smiled. “That’s true. We could. But I’m still anxious about getting back to work and getting my old life back.”

Noah polished off his pancakes and saw that she was nearly done. What he was anxious about all of a sudden was getting off this subject. “Ready to open up your gifts?”

Her eyebrows pinched together. “Gifts?”

She licked syrup off her bottom lip, and it was all he could do to keep from leaning over and helping her lick it all off. He managed to stop staring at her lips long enough to stand up and take his plate over to the sink. Clearing his throat,he said, “Yeah, you said your neighbor brought something over, right? And Nellie?”

Her expression eased up and she nodded in agreement.

“And I got you a little something.”

She stopped chewing and looked up at him. “You did?”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I just thought that it’s Christmas and we’re roommates—friends now, so—”

“I don’t mind.” She stood up and smiled. “Hold on. Let me go get what I got you.”

Noah’s stomach dropped as he watched her hurry back to her room. She’d gotten him a gift? He brought his hand to his forehead in a panic. What if she bought him something expensive? Holy shit. He’d never even stopped to think she’d get him something.

She walked back out into the front room with a big smile as he walked toward the tree. Roni knelt down next to the tree and handed him the gift bag. “You have to open yours first.”

He knelt down in front of her. “I do? Why?”

“You’ll see.” She smiled so brightly it made him smile. “Just open it.”

Noah took the bag and pulled out the tissue slowly. To his relief, it was clothes. He pulled the clothes out one garment at a time: two pajama pants—one with the Raiders’ logo, the other with the Dodgers’. Noah laughed.

“I tried so hard to find some that had boxing gloves or anything that had to do with boxing, but they had nothing.” She pouted adorably. “And I remembered you and the guys at the gym going on about the Raiders and the Dodgers.”

“This is cool.” He smiled, pulling out two dark colored, soft, long-sleeved, crew neck shirts and two pairs of thermal socks with rubber on the soles. “Anti-slippage?”

She giggled. “Of course, we wouldn’t want you to fall!”

Noah put it all down and leaned over to hug her. “Thank you,” he said as he took in her scent and the soft feel of her hair brushing against his face. Feeling her arm on his back made him squeeze his eyes shut, and he took in a deep breath of pure, unfiltered, refreshing Roni. This was the first time since the day she’d fallen off the stool that he’d been able to hold her. It felt damn good, but he knew it had to end, so he pulled away slowly, meeting her apprehensive eyes.

“You have to go change into one of them. That’s why you had to open them first. Remember Christmas is pajama day around here.”

“I will. Just as soon as you open yours.”

He pulled the bag from under the tree and handed it to her. She took it a little too slowly, almost as if she were afraid of what it might be. Relief washed across her face when she pulled out the bunny slippers and giggled.

“I figured yours were getting a little raggedy.”

“What?” Her eyes shot down to her slippers; then she laughed and had to agree. One of the eyes of her current bunny slippers was missing. “I guess it’s time to put these down.”

She pulled her slippers off and started to put the new ones on. Noah gulped, waiting for the moment she’d notice it. She slipped her foot halfway in the first one, then he saw the confusion on her face, and she looked up at him. Noah shrugged. Slowly, she took the slipper off and with her hand pulled out something wrapped in red tissue paper.

Again, she looked at him full of questions. “Open it.”

She did, and it took her a moment to unravel it and see that it was a medal: the kind of medal that athletes win in competition.

“Read what it says.”

She glanced at him then read, “Champ.”

“The other side too,” Noah said.

She flipped it over. “Forty pounds. You did it, Roni. I knew you could. I’m so proud of you. Noah.”

He felt a little panicked when it seemed maybe she was tearing up. “I wanted to tell you so many times how proud I was of you.”

“You did.”

“I know, but since you are my first ever trainee, I wanted to do more. Jack gave me my first chance when you and Nellie walked in.” He paused for a second when she pulled the medal over her head. Then he watched as she pulled her curls from under the ribbon so that it hung around her neck. “I had no idea how this was gonna turn out, but you were such a fighter. After the first workout . . .” He stopped when he saw her get on her knees and come toward him. He was immediately on his knees too. “I wasn’t sure you’d be back.”

When she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her small waist, burying his face in her curls. They held each other for a long time.

“I’m so glad you came back,” he whispered.

She pulled back and cradled his face in her hands then kissed him softly on the cheek but so close to his mouth she caught the corner of his lips, and she didn’t pull back. He felt her breathing accelerate, and then he kissed her back in the very same spot. Finally, she took a very deep breath and pulled away just enough to lean her forehead against his and smiled. “I’m glad I came back too. Thank you for this. It means so much to me.” Noah stared at her, barely able to breathe and not wanting this moment to end. “Merry Christmas, Noah,” she whispered.

“Merry Christmas, Roni,” he whispered back.

She stared at him for a moment longer then smiled. “Now go get your jammies on. We got a marathon to watch.”