Page 57 of Catching My Dreams

Ella rolled her eyes. “Such a charmer.”

“What’s wrong, Montgomery?” he retorted with a wink. “Can’t handle the banter?”

Ella didn’t know if she wanted to punch him or laugh. She settled on sending him an unimpressed scowl, which dissolved seconds later when he bent down to give Archie more attention.

“Are you going to be okay after I leave?” he asked after he’d warmed up her heat pack for her and made them each a coffee. “I know you’re not up for lectures, but I could drop you off somewhere else?”

Her neck felt better, but she’d decided last night that she’d take another day or two off to let it recover properly. She could at least move her head more easily that morning, but the burning ache was enough to let her know that sitting in lectures all day would become excruciating after the first half an hour.

“I’ve lived alone for a long time, Noah. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded as he cracked an egg into a bowl, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced. He was worried about her.

“I’m perfectly safe here,” she lied.

Noah sighed. “Is that why you had to move your bedsheets and pillow from the closet to your bed last night? Because you feel safe.”

Ella grimaced. Forgetting about her embarrassing sleeping habit had been an oversight, and seeing the pity in Noah’s eyes when she’d scrambled to put everything back in its rightful place had been almost too much to bear. At least he hadn’t seen the knife she’d been keeping under her pillow.

“It’s worse at night,” she explained quietly.

The muscle in Noah’s jaw feathered. “I hate that you have to be scared at all.”

Ella bit her lip, wishing with all she had that she didn’t feel terrified of the dark. But she did. Maybe she always would. “Me too.”

“Promise you’ll call me if you need me.”

She’d sworn to do so the previous night already, but Ella didn’t mind setting his mind at ease again. “I promise.”

“Would it be okay if I came by later to check on you?”

She hid her smile behind her cup of coffee. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

He didn’t bother hiding his smile, and the sight of it warmed Ella’s chest, melting whatever ice might have remained around her heart.

“Maybe we can order in some food again for dinner?” she suggested, hoping that if he was there late, he’d stay over again.

“Absol—” He cut off with a wince and a muttered curse. “I just remembered that I have dinner with my family tonight.”

“No worries,” she replied, hoping her disappointment didn’t leak into her voice or show itself on her face.

He looked over at her and rubbed the back of his neck. “Would you maybe want to come with me?”

“You want me to come with you to your family dinner?” she asked, certain she couldn’t have heard him correctly.

He shrugged and started whisking the eggs with far more vigor than was necessary. “Asher, Riley, and Chris will be there. I don’t know if you’re ready to tell them about us, so if you don’t want to go, I get it.” He poured the eggs into the heated frying pan, spilling some over the edge. “But I’d like you to come,” he added, and Ella suddenly realized what was going on.

Noah was nervous. He was asking her to go with him as his date to a family dinner, and he was nervous that she’d say no. There was only one thing she could say.

“I’d love to come.”

Noah’s stooped shoulders straightened. “Really?”

“Yep. I have to be there if only to see the shock on our friends’ faces when they find out you willingly invited me.”

He winced. “I don’t think Asher’s going to be very happy with me.”

“Why?”

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