Friendship On Fire. Joss Wood

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СКАЧАТЬ to know how deeply she was affected by this news—hell, the world was Jell-O beneath her feet—Jules let out an exasperated laugh. “It’s not a big deal, Mom. Noah is entitled to come home.”

      “Oh, please, you’ve been dreading this day for years.”

      Jules stared down at the glossy wooden floors beneath her feet. “Don’t be ridiculous, Mother.”

      “Jules, you’ve been terrified of this day because you’ll no longer be able to leave your relationship with Noah in limbo. Seeing him again either means cutting him out of your life for good or forgiving him.”

      “There’s nothing to forgive him for.” Okay, she had a couple of minor issues with that gorgeous, six-foot-plus slab of defined muscles. Things like him getting engaged to a woman he didn’t love and kissing her on New Year’s Eve while he was engaged. And then for remaining engaged to Morgan, disappearing from her life without an explanation—she was still furious that he dropped out of college without finishing his degree—and not trying to reconnect with her when he and Morgan had finally called it quits.

      In the space of seven years, the two men she loved the most, her best friend and her dad, had dropped out of her life without rhyme, reason or explanation. Her dad had been healthy, too healthy to be taken by a massive heart attack but that was exactly what happened.

      Jules doubted there was a reasonable explanation for Noah abandoning her and their lifelong friendship, for not being there at her dad’s funeral to hold her hand through the grief.

      Okay, maybe that last one wasn’t fair; Noah had been in the middle of his last race as a professional sailor at the time.

      “No more coffee for me, Mason,” Callie said, snapping Jules out of her wayward thoughts.

      She grabbed her mom’s words like a lifeline. “Mason is a nice name. Is he hot? If he’s too young for you, can I meet him?”

      “He’s far too old for you and not your type.” Well, that was a quick reply...and a tad snappy. Did her mom have the hots for Coffee Guy? And why not? It was time she started living for herself again.

      “I don’t have a type, Mom,” Jules replied, and she didn’t. She dated men of all types and ethnicities but none of them stuck. She didn’t need a psych degree to know that losing the two men she loved and trusted the most turned her into a card-carrying, picket-sign-holding commitment-phobe.

      “Of course you do—your type is blond and brown-eyed and has a body that would make Michelangelo weep.”

      She hadn’t said anything about Michelangelo, had she? How did her mom know that? “Why do you say that?”

      “I’m old, not dead, Jules. The boy is gorgeous.”

      Noah, wet and naked, flashed behind her eyes. Goddammit. Like she needed reminding.

      “You need to deal with him, Jules. This situation needs to be resolved.”

      Why? Noah had made his feelings about her perfectly clear when he dropped out of her life. She’d received nothing from him but the occasional group email he sent to the whole clan, telling them about his racing and, after he retired from sailing, his yacht design business. He didn’t mention anything personal, instead sharing his witty and perceptive observations about the places he visited and the people he met.

      His news was interesting but told Jules nothing about his thoughts and feelings and, once having had access to both, she wasn’t willing to settle for so little, so she never bothered to reply. For someone who’d had as much of his soul as he could give, she’d needed more, dammit...

      “Mom. God, just butt out, okay?”

      There was silence on the other end of the phone but Jules ignored it, knowing that it was her mom’s way of showing her disapproval. “Mom, the silent treatment won’t work. This is between Noah and me. Stay out of it.”

      Jules rubbed the back of her neck, feeling guilty at snapping. Her mother had mastered the art of nagging by remaining utterly silent. How did she do that? How?

      “Mom, I know you love me but I need you to trust me to do what’s best with regard to Noah.” Not that she had any bright ideas except to avoid him.

      “The problem, my darling, is that you and Noah are so damn pigheaded! Sort it out, Jules. I am done with this cold war.”

      Jules heard the click that told her Callie had disconnected the call and stared at her phone, bemused. Her mom rarely sounded rattled and considered hanging up to be the height of rudeness. But as much as she loved her mother, she was an adult and had to run her life as she saw fit. That meant leaving her relationship with Noah in the past, where it belonged.

      Jules looked up, waited for the lightning strike—her mom, she was convinced, had a direct line to God—and when she remained unfried, she sighed. What to do?

      Her first instinct was to run...

      Jules heard the bathroom door open and, hearing Noah’s footsteps, headed down the hallway in her direction, flew to her feet. Grabbing her bag off the bed, she pulled it over her shoulder and hurried to the door. She pulled it open and nearly plowed into Noah, still bare-chested, still with only a towel around his waist. Do not look down, do not get distracted. Just push past him and leave...

      “I’m going out, but by the time I return, I want you and your stuff out of my room,” Jules stated in the firmest voice she could find.

      “Levi said that you were away for another two weeks. He insisted I stay here when he picked me up from the airport yesterday. I’ll find a hotel room or bunk on the Resilience.”

      His forty-foot turn-of-the-century monohull that he kept berthed at the marina. The yacht, commissioned by his great-great-grandfather was his favorite possession. It was small but luxurious, and Noah would always choose sleeping on the Resilience over a hotel.

      “How long are you staying?” She needed to know when her life was going to go back to normal. With a date and a time, the Jell-O would, hopefully, solidify into hard earth.

      “I’m not sure. A month? Maybe two?”

      Great. She was in for four to eight weeks of crazy. Like her life wasn’t busy and stressful enough. Jules rubbed her forehead with her fingers. God, she did not need to deal with this now. Today. Ever. Seeing him created a soup of emotion, sour and sticky. Lust, grief, hurt, disappointment, passion...

      All she wanted to do was step into his arms and tell him that she’d missed him so damn much, missed the boy who’d known her so well. That she wanted to know, in a carnal way, the man he was now.

      Jules shook her head and pushed past him, almost running to the stairs. Sort it out, Mom?

      Much, much easier said than done.

       Two

      Callie...

      After a brief and tense conversation with Levi, Callie dropped her forehead to the table and banged her head on the smooth surface. Levi reluctantly admitted to her that none of them told Jules that Noah was back. Nor had they СКАЧАТЬ