The Other Side of Love

Chapter 11

“What’s your favorite flavor ice cream?” Skylar grinned at me as she licked her ice cream cone eagerly. “I think mine is chocolate, but I love strawberry cheesecake and mint choc chip as well. Oh, and vanilla.” She giggled. “I guess I love a lot of them.”

“I think mine would have to be rum raisin.” I smiled at the joy in her eyes, and felt a surge of happiness inside. It was a rare occasion to see her so happy.

“What’s rum raisin?”

“It’s not a popular flavor.” I laughed. “And it’s not one you should eat.”

“Why not?” She frowned. “I want to try it.”

“It’s high in alcohol.”

“I like alcohol.” She licked her lips and I shook my head at her, trying to hide the sorrow in my gaze.

“Alcohol is bad.” I grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s go bowling.”

“I’ve never been bowling before.” She paused to bite off a big chuck of her wafer cone. “Is it hard?”

“You’ve never been bowling before?” I forgot to hide my surprise and I saw her react to my statement. She looked a little bit sad and worried and I wanted to slap myself for making her feel bad. “No worries, it’s not hard and I can teach you.”

“You should be a teacher.” She smiled at me, happy again.

“I don’t think I would be a good teacher. You’re the only one I like teaching.”

“That’s because I’m your favorite.” She nodded happily. “And you’re mine.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“You’re my most favorite person ever.” Skylar’s eyes were wide open as she stared at me with her innocent beautiful face. “I never want you to leave.”

“I never want to leave, either.” I bit my lip and looked away, not knowing how to tell her that one day I was going to have to leave.

“Promise you will never leave me.” Her eyes were earnest as she spoke the words so simply.

“I don’t know if I can promise that.” I paused and looked down at her. “You know I love you very much, but I don’t know that I can promise that I’ll never leave.”

“If you leave, you have to take me with you.” She gulped and started breathing fast. “You have to.” Tears starting building up in her eyes and they quickly became moist. “You can’t leave me here.”

“Let’s not talk about it now, Skylar.” I pulled her towards me and hugged her hard.

“You can’t leave me, Noah. Please never leave me. Promise me.” She whispered as I held her and I felt my heart freeze over at the sound of her voice pleading with me. I wanted to tell her that I would never leave, but I knew that was one promise I couldn’t make.

“You’re up early.” Lucky walked into the kitchen as I was making coffee. “Early night?”

“Not really.” I smiled at her and turned back to the French press. I groaned as I saw Zane walk into the kitchen behind her. He looked me up and down and frowned at my half naked body. All I was wearing was a pair of boxer briefs and I knew he was not happy to see me that way in his kitchen.

“Morning, Noah. Were you hot last night?” Zane gave me a look and I shook my head.

“No, not really.”

“What did you do last night?” Lucky spoke up, obviously sensing that Zane was going to continue to go on about my appearance passive aggressively.

“Watched a movie.” I grinned, thinking about all the hot sex before and after the movie. “What about you two?”

“Zane and I went down to Santa Monica to an art show, then we had dinner at a new Italian place and talked.”

“Are you okay?” I looked at Zane searching to see if he was still upset.

“I’m surprisingly okay.” He gave me a reassuring nod. “And don’t worry, I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re not?” I looked over at him in surprise and he laughed.

“Shocker, right?” He shrugged. “I understand why you didn’t want to tell me. I don’t hold it against you. I most probably wouldn’t have told you, either.”

“So, we’re still brothers?”

“Try getting away from me.” He walked over to me and gave me a slap on the shoulder. “Now please pass me a cup of coffee.”

“Oh, sorry, I only made enough for two.”

“Right? One for me and one for you. Lucky can’t have caffeine right now.”

“Well, actually the other cup isn’t for you.”

“Huh?” He looked at me in confusion. “You’re going to drink two cups of coffee?”

“No,” I shook my head and bit my lip. “The other cup of coffee is for …”

“Me.” Robin’s voice rang out as she walked into the kitchen looking sexy as hell in just my shirt. “Good morning, everyone.” She smiled and looked at me shyly.

“Morning, gorgeous.” I walked over and gave her a big kiss. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me back, pressing her chest against mine. It was at that point that I realized that she was naked underneath the shirt. I turned around and both Zane and Lucky were staring at me with shocked expressions.

“Hey, so Robin stayed over last night.” I grinned at both of them and watched as Zane looked at Robin’s body appreciatively.

“Hey, can we have a talk, Noah?” Lucky half smiled and half frowned.

“I’m sorry for not asking if I could have a houseguest.” I made a face.

“Don’t be silly.” Lucky shook her head. “This is your home, you can have who you want over.”

“We sure don’t mind.” Zane grinned at me and Lucky hit him in the arm and glared at him. “Don’t be jealous, honey.”

“I’m not jealous, ass.” Lucky blushed, and I felt bad that I may have inadvertently set her green monster off.

“Can we talk after I’ve had a shower, Lucky?” I walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Yes.” She smiled at me and shook her head before looking over at Robin. “It’s good to see you, Robin.”

“You too, Lucky.” Robin smiled back at her and walked over to me. “Is that coffee ready? I’m about to fall back asleep.”

“Well, if the coffee doesn’t wake you up. I know something that will.”

“Oh, really?” she purred.

“Really.” I leaned towards her.

“And what would that be?” She leaned towards me and I felt my body heating up.

“Well, it would consist of …”

“Guys, we are still in the kitchen.” Zane cleared his throat and grabbed Lucky’s arm. “Though I think Lucky and I will just go out for breakfast.”

“Oh, sorry. You don’t need to do that.” Robin blushed and shook her head. “Please don’t leave because of me.”

“No worries. It will give Lucky a break from cooking.” Zane rubbed Lucky’s back and she leaned into the crook of his arm. “You guys can come as well, if you want.”

“That sounds great.” Robin responded at the same time that I started shaking my head.

“Well, I guess we can go.” I said reluctantly. I didn’t want to leave the house. I just wanted to go back to bed and ravish Robin some more.

“You don’t want to just keep me in the bedroom, do you, Noah?” Robin raised an eyebrow and Lucky laughed.

“You tell him,” she giggled.

“Of course not.” I kissed Robin again. “We have plenty of time to eat and then come back to the bedroom.”

“Noah!” Both Robin and Lucky glared at me while Zane laughed.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” I put my hands up. “I was cornered into that statement.”

“Really?” Robin looked up at me with a devious smile. “I didn’t see anyone corner you.”

“Well, you know.” I laughed. “I’m a guy, it happens to us all the time.”

“Sure.” Robin laughed and backed away from me. “I’m going to go and shower. I’d love to go to breakfast. I have to get to work by noon.”

“Oh, no.” I groaned. “I wanted to spend the day with you.”

“Sorry,” she smiled sweetly. “I have to make money, and I took off yesterday after Zane came into the restaurant last week saying he really needed me to come and see you.”

“I was wondering how Zane set that up yesterday.” I laughed. “I’m glad to hear that it wasn’t too complicated.”

“I think I’m going to go shower as well.” Lucky smiled. “Shall we go up, Robin?”

“Let’s do it.” Robin leaned up and gave me a long deep kiss before walking out of the kitchen. I watched her walk out and then turned to Zane who was giving me a bemused look.

“What’s so funny?” I rolled my eyes at him.

“You look like you’re sprung.”

“Sprung? Who says that?” I laughed and sipped some of my coffee as my heart pounded.

“I say that.” He laughed. “And trust me, I recognize sprung when I see it.”

“Zane, every guy looks sprung after a night of good sex.”

“You dirty dog.” He winked at me. “I guess you have been in drought, huh?”

“I had sex in Palm Bonita.” I laughed and shook my head. “Though this is not a conversation I want to have.”

“Well, we both know we’re Beaumonts.” He laughed. “We can both get laid anywhere.”

“It’s not about the sex.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes at him. “And if Lucky heard you right now she would kill you and then leave you.”

“What’s the point of leaving me if I’m dead?” He laughed, but then his eyes grew dark and more serious. “Seriously, though, I hope you know what you’re doing. Sex is great, but Robin looks like she’s not the sort of girl to just have casual sex.”

“I’m not using her, Zane.”

“I know you’re not that type of guy, but you know, just be careful. I know things are complicated with you.”

“Nothing’s complicated.” I lied.

“Does she know about the other girl?”

“What other girl?” I feigned ignorance.

“The one you dated in Palm Bonita?”

“We broke up, Zane.”

“But there’s still unresolved stuff there. I can tell.”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now.” I shook my head. “I’ve got it handled.”

“Sure you do.” He sighed. “You may have the Beaumont sex appeal, but you also have the Beaumont knack of messing it up with girls.”

“You got Lucky.”

“Only because the gods were with me.” He laughed. “I swear I must have done something right in my life.”

“You’re a good guy, bro.” I said seriously. “She’s lucky to have you as well.”

“Sometimes I don’t know if I’m good enough for her.” All of a sudden he looked unsure of himself. “I love her so much, Noah. I never knew love could be like this. I still get overwhelmed sometimes. She’s everything to me. She’s my life. I’m so happy. You can thank her for me not killing you yesterday or today by the way. She’s grounded me and made me feel whole in a way I never knew was possible.”

“I don’t know what to say.” I stared at him. “I’m so happy for you. You’ve found a happiness that eludes many of us.”

“You’ll find it as well.” Zane paused and was about to talk again when my phone started ringing.

“One moment.” I reached for my phone and my heart stopped when I saw Skylar’s number on the caller id. “Hello.” I spoke into the phone softly. There was silence on the other side. “Hello. Skylar are you there?” I held my breath as I waited for her to reply.

“Hello,” a voice whispered and I felt sweat break out in my face.

“Skylar?”

“Yes,” she mumbled.

“Oh, my God, Skylar, are you okay?” I spoke into the phone quickly worried she was going to hang up on me again. I saw a movement from the corner of my eye and I realized that I was still in the kitchen with Zane. He was staring at me with a worried expression in his eyes and I turned around. I couldn’t deal with him right now. I needed to concentrate on Skylar.

“Noah?”

“Yes, angel. It’s me.” I let out a deep breath. “Are you okay?”

There was silence on the other side of the phone and that I heard what sounded like sobs and I froze as my hand gripped the phone tightly.

“What’s wrong?” My voice rose slightly. “Tell me what’s wrong, Skylar.”

“You left me.” She sobbed, this time not hiding her tears.

“I didn’t …”

“You didn’t say goodbye,” she sobbed into the phone. “I miss you, Noah.”

“I didn’t want to make it harder.” I said slowly, not sure what to say. I had taken the coward’s way out. Everything had gotten so bad and I had no recourse, and I knew that I just had to walk away.

“I love you.” She cried harder. “You told me when people love each other, they are always there for each other.”

“I am always here for you.” I whispered into the phone. “I am always here for you, Skylar.”

“My arm hurts.” She stopped sobbing and her voice grew softer. “I have to go lie down because my arm hurts.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It got broke.” She sighed. “It got broke when I bumped into the chair.”

“Oh, my God,” I closed my eyes. “You didn’t bump into the chair, did you?”

“I bumped into the chair hard and it broke because I am clumsy.” She said the words that she had been commanded to say.

“Skylar, tell me the truth, please. What happened to your arm?”

“You don’t care,” she whispered. “You left me.”

“Skylar, please.” My heart ached for her.

“I have to go and lie down now.” She yawned. “I’m tired.”

“Didn’t you sleep last night? It’s morning, Sky.”

“I had to stay up last night and keep guard.” She yawned again. “I’m sleepy and my arm hurts.”

“Skylar, put Monica on the phone.” I spoke quickly.

“No.” she sounded scared.

“Please put Monica on the phone.” I begged, praying she would do as I asked. But then I heard a click and realized that she had hung up. I stood there with the phone next to my ear for at least a minute before trying to call it back again. This time the phone went straight to voicemail and I knew she had turned it off. I stood there for a moment in a complete panic, not sure what to do, when Zane spoke.

“What’s going on, Noah?” Zane looked at me with a concerned expression. “What was that call about?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head, not knowing how to explain the situation to him. An idea was starting to form in my mind and the less he knew the better. If he didn’t know anything, then the police couldn’t accuse him of being an accessory to my plan.

“Noah, I’m not going to ask you again. What was that about?” Zane looked at me with a furious expression. “It sure didn’t sound like nothing. It sounded like it was a lot more than nothing. Who is this Skylar and what does she have over you?”

“She doesn’t have anything over me.” I glared at him, my heart still pounding. All I could think about was how tiny her voice had sounded. And her arm. What had happened to her arm? I was pretty sure that whatever had happened hadn’t been an accident. I needed to get her out of Palm Bonita even if it meant we had to be on the run.

“Noah.” Zane grabbed a hold of my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “Are you in any trouble?”

“No. I’m not.” I shook my head and attempted a smile. I needed to diffuse the situation or he was going to keep at it. And I didn’t want to tell him anything. Part of my heart was splitting open as I realized that once again I would have to leave him without telling him what was going on. I couldn’t risk him knowing the truth.

“Okay.” He sighed. “Don’t tell me now. But I sure hope you know what you’re doing. You’ve got one girl upstairs in your shower and another one calling you on the phone and I’ve got a feeling that it’s not a good idea to be playing both of them.” He shook his head and walked out of the kitchen and I stood there frozen. I had almost forgotten about Robin. If I carried out my plan, that would mean the end for me and her and any possible relationship. I couldn’t expect her to understand my tie to Skylar. I wasn’t even going to try to explain it to her. I clenched my feelings as I realized that I was going to lose the chance to see what we could have been. I couldn’t dwell on a relationship that hadn’t even happened yet. I couldn’t regret the future that wasn’t to be. Not if I wanted to save Skylar. I pulled out my phone to call Sidney, to see if his son had found any loopholes in the law to allow me to carry out my plan without becoming a fugitive. The phone went to voicemail and I hung up without leaving a message.

“Noah, you still in here?” Lucky walked back into the kitchen, her long, wet hair hanging down her back. She gave me a concerned look. “Everything okay?”

“I take it Zane rushed right up to tell you about the call.”

“No, of course not.” She blushed and I knew she was lying.

“Lucky, I don’t want to talk about it.” I shook my head. “I’m going up to shower.”

“Wait a second.” She called out to me as I was leaving the room. “If you’re in love with someone else, it’s not fair to keep seeing Robin. It’s not fair at all.”

“I like Robin a lot. I’m not using her.” I turned around and looked at her with bleak eyes. “We have a very special connection.”

“As special as the connection you have with Skylar?”

“That’s not fair. Like I told you before you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then tell me, Noah. Tell me and Zane. Let us in. We may be able to help you sort it all out.”

“Lucky, I would love to tell you both more than anything. But it’s too risky.” I shook my head. “I don’t want either of you to get into trouble. I just …” I broke off as Lucky’s face became even more worried. “I’m sorry, the less you know right now the better for you both.”

“You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”

“I always do something stupid.” I sighed and gave her a half-smile. “Thanks for your concern, Lucky, but I’m going to take care of everything.”

“Okay.” She sighed and looked away. “Hey, can I borrow your phone quickly? I wanted to test the Facetime feature out with my phone. Just while you’re in the bathroom?”

“I guess.” I handed over my phone reluctantly. “If Sidney calls me, don’t answer. I’ll just call him back later.”

“Okay, sure.” She smiled and took the phone. “Oh wait, can you unlock it for me, please?”

“I guess so.” I sighed as I punched in the numbers giving her access to my phone. For some reason I didn’t think she was being honest about wanting to play around with Facetime, but I didn’t really know what else she would want my phone for. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Take your time.” She turned away from me and opened the fridge and I walked back to the stairs slowly. I felt like a fraud going back upstairs to Robin, pretending everything was the same as it had been just minutes ago. I felt nauseous walking up the stairs. Last night had been one of the best nights of my life. Making love to Robin had awakened something in me that I didn’t know existed. I had felt truly alive for the first time in my life, but now I would never be able to explore that connection.

“Hey,” Robin looked up at me as I opened the door. She was sitting on my bed, wrapped in a white towel and she was combing her hair. “I thought you went missing.”

“Sorry, had a call and then had a chat with Zane.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah,” I walked over to the closet so that I could avoid looking at her. A part of me was already aching as I stared at her. “He’s fine.”

“I suppose that must have been a super big shock for him. I couldn’t imagine finding out that my mother wasn’t really my mother and that my real mother was dead.”

“Yeah.” I pulled out a shirt and jeans. “Life can be a bitch sometimes.”

“That’s true.” Her voice was soft and I looked back at her. She was staring into space with a thoughtful look on her face.

“What about you? Where are your parents?”

“Not sure.” She looked over at me with a wry smile. “My foster parents are in Ohio, but I have no idea where my real parents are.”

“I didn’t realize you were adopted.”

“I wasn’t adopted.” She made a face. “Just fostered. Went through five different families until I hit thirteen and then stayed with the same family until I aged out of the system.”

“That must have been hard.” I walked over to her and sat on the bed next to her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” She shrugged. “The older I get the more I realize just how shitty some families can be. So maybe I got lucky. One of my foster fathers told me that my father used to beat my mother and then she killed him. I don’t know if that is true, but I’m sure it’s true for someone out there.”

“I don’t understand people sometimes.” I clenched my fists. “Or men that hit women and children. Or women that hurt children.”

“Abuse is horrible.” Robin nodded and I looked at her quickly. “And no, I was lucky enough to have never been abused.”

“Thank God.”

“Yeah, I’m lucky that my last foster family was made up of two parents who really cared. They weren’t just in it for the paycheck.”

“Do you consider them your family?”

“Yeah.” She paused and then looked at me with wet eyes. “They loved me. They supported me. They took care of me. It doesn’t matter to me that they aren’t my blood. I still love them with all my heart.”

“Love isn’t about what family you’re born into.” I pulled her into me. “Sometimes we form families with people we would never expect to.”

“Have you ever—” She started to talk, but I leaned down and kissed her, not wanting to think about anything else. All that mattered right now was that we were together and we were bonding. All I wanted was to feel her lips under mine as I kissed her. I listened to her low moan and sigh and I couldn’t stop myself from pulling her towel off and slipping my boxer briefs off at the same time.

“Oh, Noah,” she moaned as my hand cupped her breast and squeezed. I pulled her down with me to the bed and allowed my body to enjoy the feel of her naked skin against mine. “We have to go to breakfast.”

“I need you.” I groaned as I continued to kiss and caress her. “I need to feel myself inside of you.”

“You were inside of me all last night and this morning as well.”

“Well, my body needs to feel you again. I’m thirsty and only you can quench my need.”

“Oh, Noah,” she giggled.

“Don’t you want me as well?”

“Yes, I want you.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to feel you inside of me, heating me up internally. I want to feel our two bodies become one,” she whispered into my ear, and I pushed my erection up next to her, so that she could feel the urgency of my need.

“I want to fuck you, Robin. I want to make you mine,” I groaned as she pushed her breasts up to my chest and pulled me down on top of her, spreading her legs and wrapping them around my waist.

“Take me, Noah. Take me.” She moaned and then screamed as I entered her roughly. I thrust into her hard and fast. This wasn’t a romantic fuck to show her how much I appreciated her body. This was a hard, rough, primal fuck to allow us both to connect and release our passions together. This was to let her know what my words couldn’t tell her. This was for her to remember when I was no longer here. It was selfish of me, but I wanted my face to be the one she thought of when she was alone in her bed. I wanted her to remember the feel of me sliding in and out of her when she was ready to come. I needed to make sure she never forgot me.

“You guys took a while. I’m starving.” Lucky gave me a look as we finally descended the stairs.

“Sorry, Robin was helping me scratch my back.”

“Sure she was.” Zane frowned at me and walked towards the front door. “Let’s go eat.”

“He okay?” Robin mouthed at me as we walked hand-in-hand to the door.

“He’s always grumpy when he’s hungry.” I smiled at her and tried to ignore the feelings of guilt that had crept into my stomach.

“Will you spend the night at my place?” Robin looked up at me with an anticipatory look. “I know it may seems a bit fast, but I was hoping you could come over tonight, so you could see my place.”

“I, uh, I’m not …” I stammered not knowing what to say.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to.” She looked disappointed. “You can always come over some other time.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.” We got into the car and she shifted away from me in the backseat. “I had something I was supposed to do tonight, but I can cancel and come over tonight.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Her eyes lit up, but she still looked a bit uncertain. “I understand if you can’t make it.”

“No, no. I want to come.” I scooted over to her, so that I could feel her warmth against me. “It will be fun. Plus, I will get to christen a new bed.”

“That’s why you want to come over?” She laughed, but I could see that she was happy that I was coming over. What are you doing, Noah? I screamed at myself inside. I had no idea why I was continuing to develop this relationship when I was likely going to be leaving Los Angeles forever in a couple of days. I didn’t want to perpetuate a lie or have Robin hate me, but I didn’t how to say no to her. Not when all I wanted to do was to see her smile and have her next to me.

“You guys okay with a pancake place?” Lucky looked back at me and her eyes were disapproving.

“Sounds good to me.” I nodded and Robin licked her lips. “I think Robin’s okay with it as well.”

“Oh, remind me to give you back your phone when we get there.” Lucky mentioned casually and I saw Zane giving her a quick look.

“Yeah.” My stomach turned as I thought about the last phone call and everything that I was planning to do came crashing back down on me. “Did Sidney call at all?” I looked at Lucky and she shook her head. I looked out the window and panic suddenly filled me. All of a sudden I felt very alone and I wasn’t sure who I could turn to or talk to. It hit me that I was making a mistake that could end up getting me imprisoned but then the other possibility was that something really bad could happen to Skylar. Maybe next time it wouldn’t just be a broken or fractured arm. Maybe next time she would be even more seriously injured. I just couldn’t take the risk. She meant too much to me. Skylar was a part of my heart, and when you loved someone, you never let them go.

“Hey, Noah. What you thinking about?” Robin squeezed my knee and I turned towards her slowly.

“You.” I lied.

“Liar,” she laughed and shook her head.

“You can read me already.” I played with her hair.

“It’s not hard. Your face is an open book.” She snuggled into me. “It’s one of the reasons I like you so much.”

“You like me, huh?”

“Kinda, sorta.” She grinned up at me. “I did invite you to my place, didn’t I?”

“Kinda, sorta, huh? That’s it?” I kissed her cheek and she shifted her face so that I was kissing her lips.

“Well, maybe a bit more than that.” She grinned as she pulled away from me. “And maybe that bit isn’t so little.”

“Great.” I grinned back at her and sat back feeling dazed. Part of me was excited that Robin was falling for me, really falling for me. But the other part of me wanted to scratch my eyes out for leading her on when I knew that nothing good could come out of our relationship. I closed my eyes to try and stop the guilt from spreading through my body.

“I can’t wait until tonight,” Sshe whispered in my ear, and I opened my eyes and turned to her.

“I can’t wait as well.” I held her hands as I stared into her eyes, trying to memorize her face. I was going to be selfish and spend one more night with her. And then I was going to leave. I had already decided that there was only one answer to the pain in my heart. I had to go to Palm Bonita and I had to take Skylar and we had to disappear. And I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone my plan. Not if I wanted to keep Sklylar safe. If everything went as planned, we’d have to disappear off the face of the earth. I stared at Lucky and Zane chatting in the front seat and then at Robin as she sat next to me with a happy smile on her face. I should have been happy. I was finally surrounded by love and happiness. But I wasn’t. I was sad. I was sad because I knew that this future, this life would forever elude me. I was not destined for the happily ever after like Zane was. I was destined to save a life. And if her safety meant giving up everything, it was something I had to do. I was Skylar’s everything. I couldn’t be the next in the long line of people to let her down and fail her forever. Walking away had already broken her heart. I couldn’t allow her spirit to be broken forever as well.

“Hello,” Lucky grabbed her phone as soon as it rang. “Yes, I called earlier and left a voicemail.” Her voice was low as she spoke and I saw her look at me quickly before turning back to the front. “Can I call you back in about ten minutes please? A different number? Sure, hold on.” She grabbed a pen and piece of paper from her bag. “Ready.” She scribbled something down and then pushed paper back in her bag. “Got it, thanks. I’ll call you back on the other number.” She hung up the phone and pushed it into her bag.”

“Who was that?” I asked her curiously.

“Oh, no one.” She looked at me with a quick smile, as her face turned red. “Someone about a class I wanted to take at UCLA.”

“I see.” I didn’t push the conversation, even though I was sure she was lying.

“I’m super hungry.” Lucky changed the subject. “I could eat about ten pancakes.” She laughed and Zane joined and laughed with her. I was about to say something else when Robin whispered in my ear. “I’d rather be eating big Noah.”

I turned to her with a shocked expression and she grinned at me. “Maybe I’ll get to eat him tonight.”