Page 20 of Best Friends for Never

“Wait, wait, wait!” I reach for him, snatching the tail end of his work shirt and tugging at him to stop. “Don’t. Please.”

“Why not?” he asks, whirling around, his face red, and not with embarrassment this time. Now he’s mad. Big-time. “Why shouldn’t I? He leaves you high and dry after telling you he loves you, then breezes back into town like nothing happened, making you cry, and I’m just supposed to be okay with that?”

I want so desperately to squeeze my eyes shut against the truth of what he just said, as if doing that could magically make itnottrue, but I don’t. Axel means it when he says he’ll beat Noel up, and that’s the last thing I need right now.

“No. You’re not. I’m not either. But this is a little much, don’t you think?”

He sighs, then lets me pull him back into the café, effectively giving up on his mission. While I’m touched this is his reaction, I don’t want something stirred up just because I couldn’t handle seeing Noel again, the one person who I never thought would break me like my father did.

Boy, was I wrong about that.

When I’m satisfied Axel won’t try to take off after my former best friend again, I return to my paint-splattered corner, pick up my brush, and set it inside the tray. There’s paint dotted along the wall, but it doesn’t matter. It will have to be repainted anyway because this is not turning out how I wanted.

“Did I know he’d be coming back to town? Obviously. I lead the restoration committee, and this is my project. Wehadto invite him. But did I expect to have a few more days to prepare for it? Definitely.Do I wish our long-awaited reunion had gone differently, maybe involving some apologizing, a bouquet of roses, or a pony? I know it’s a tall request and perhaps a little ludicrous, but yes. But last night was my fault, not Noel’s. I shouldn’t have let him get to me or let his simple question mess with my head. I should have handled it better, like a mature adult would, just as he was trying to do.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s still bullshit, Parker. Not just the pony part—because what the fuck?—but also, you deserve an apology for what happened. You don’t deserve to have him blow you off like you’re some random person from his past. You’re more than that to him, and you deserve more than that. Like an explanation for never coming back, for fucking starters.”

I exhale heavily. He’s right in some ways, but I also understand why Noel reacted the way he did. It’s not like I handled last night perfectly either. Heck, I haven’t handledanynights perfectly, especially not when he left all those years ago.

“We were both in shock, that’s all.”

“Stop making excuses for him. That’s the same thing you did when he left.”

“I’m not making excuses. I’m just saying—”

The bell over the top of the café door—the one Gianna and Greta insisted on keeping because it belonged to a great-great-Rossi-someone-or-other many years ago—dings, and we turn toward the entry.

Of course, Axel and his ginormous self are right in front of the door, blocking my view of whoever just walked in.

“We’re closed!” I call out to the person I can’t see. “We’re remodeling and will be open—”

“You.”

It’s one word uttered by Axel, but it’s all I need to know who just walked through that door.

“Uh, Axel, hey,” Noel says. “Been a long time.”

“Not fucking long enough, Hollywood,” my business partner growls, stepping toward Noel, who I’m suddenly very worried for.

“Axel!” I hiss at him, lunging toward him to stop whatever madness is about to ensue. It takes him a second, but he stops.

Probably because he knows that even though I’m only five foot six, and much, much smaller than his frame, I’ll still kick his butt if he messes up my jobsite by fighting.

His big shoulders hitch up and down, his free hand making a fist at his side.

I step up beside him, coming face-to-face with Noel for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. How can you go a decade without seeing someone, and then suddenly, they’re everywhere?

I place a hand on my partner’s shoulder. “You can go now.”

“What? Not a chance. There’s no fucking way I’m—”

I glare up at him, daring him to keep going.

To my surprise, he doesn’t.

Instead, his chocolate gaze darts around my face like he’s looking for any sign I’m in trouble or not serious, but I am serious. So, so serious. I don’t want this to turn into something it doesn’t need to, like them fighting or Axel coming to my defense.

“Okay,” he relents. “Okay. But if you need me foranything...”

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