Page 71 of Fractured Fate

Aiden moved her to the side and around him in a protective gesture before looking through the peephole she had never looked through. She wasn’t tall enough.

The growl that came from Aiden’s throat made her jump.

“What? What’s wrong?” As much as she tried, she couldn’t keep the fear from her voice.

Fear wasn’t an emotion she experienced often, but since leaving Rosebrook Valley, it followed her around like a reaper, tearing at her soul a little piece at a time. Maybe one day it would destroy her completely.

He glanced over his shoulder, and his features softened. “It’s Noah,” he said, voice tight.

“Noah?” What was he doing here? How’d he know where she lived? In the weeks since they met, they did all their project work at Rachel’s place.

Aiden stepped away from the door and moved over to the wall, leaning against it. His arms crossed over his chest as he watched her open the door with undisguised frustration.

She wondered what his problem was. He acted the same way when he met Noah yesterday.

Pausing with her hand on the doorknob, she looked back at Aiden again. “Be nice.”

His expression went blank, and he squinted at her. “What?”

“Don’t know what the deal is, but you two acted like someone stuffed a porcupine in your boxers when you met.”

“A porcupine?” he deadpanned.

“A porcupine.”

Before he could respond, she pulled the door open. She could still hear his snickering in the background as she faced Noah.

“Hey, Noah. How’d you know where I live?”

His hand brushed his curls back from his face, and he gave her a broad smile. His face looked better. The bruising didn’t appear as prominent around his eye; less swollen. His lip still appeared split and scabbed, though. Probably because he kept smiling and opening the wound. He always smiled.

Still, it looked a lot better than she would have looked so soon after a fight.

“Rachel. She told me you moved to the same hall she lived on before. Gave me the address.”

That sounded weird. Was it common for people up here? Give out private information like that? She sure wouldn’t. Rachel had told her to be careful with Noah, and yet she gave him her address. Or had she given Noah her address herself? They didn’t know each other in April when she moved in and Rachel moved out of the building.

“Is that a problem?” he asked, his smile dropping to be replaced with uncertainty.

“No, it’s fine. Um. Come on in.” She stepped back. “Want something to drink?”

“No, I’m good. I’m only here for a minute,” he said, stepping into the apartment, his eyes scanning the space. Fortunately, he had never seen her apartment before. Without the framed photos, plants, throw pillows, and some of her knick-knacks lying around, he might ask questions. She didn’t want to drag him into her mess. “I wanted to ask…” His words died off in his throat as he caught sight of Aiden standing against the wall like a silent sentinel. Noah spun to face her.

He looked between the two of them before raising a brow at her as if to ask a silent question.

They met yesterday. Aiden was supposed to come hang out at her place for the day. He was still here today. In the same clothes from yesterday.

Her head dropped back between her shoulders as she looked up at the ceiling for guidance. She knew the question without having to ask. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together and know Aiden stayed the night. Noah knew he was from out of town.

Ignoring the question in his eyes—if he wanted to know, he could be a big boy and ask—she asked, “So what brings you to my place?” He could have called if he just wanted to ask her something.

Shaking his head, Noah said, “It’s about the project.”

“The project. What about it?” He’d responded to the group text, so he knew they didn’t have to do anything with it until Friday.

“I wanted to see if you had an extra copy of the script Rachel gave us for the presentation. I lost mine, and if I asked her for a new copy, I’d never hear the end of it.”

He wasn’t wrong. Rachel was the least responsible of their group, so if Noah slipped up, she would never let him live it down. If they had to make the presentation today, he’d have had to face Rachel’s wrath.