Page 48 of Because You Loved Me

He pulled her into his arms. “No probably about it, sweetheart.” He kissed her deeply until she wiggled backward.

“Your turn.”

He eyed her sideways. “My turn for what?”

“Tell me what your story is.”

Asher rocked back on his heels and shook his head. “I answered your questions already.”

“We’re done with that game.” Noa waved away his protest. “You owe me.”

He laughed and jumped to his feet. Still naked, he moved through to the kitchen and started to dig through the fridge for the makings of a charcuterie board for dinner. “I think if anyone owes anyone anything, it might be you.”

He was teasing, but when he looked over his shoulder at her, Noa had wrapped the blanket tightly around her shoulders and had dropped her head onto her knees.

Was she crying?

Shit.

“I was only kidding, Noa.” Asher abandoned the fridge and crossed the floor quickly. “You know you don’t owe me anything. I was just?—”

“It’s not that.” She looked up at him with dry eyes, but the distress on her face was clear. “It’s just…I haven’t even called them.”

Oh.

“Do you think they’re worried?”

Asher nodded. “I’m sure they have questions. Yes.” There was no point lying to her. If Kat had pulled a move like that and then disappeared from the face of the earth for a few days, Asher knew without a doubt they’d all be worried. “Use my phone.”

* * *

The call was long overdue, but that didn’t make it any easier. Noa almost hung up the second she heard the ringing on the other end of the line.

She’d dressed in leggings and an oversized sweater, and she had the blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she sat by the fire. But still, she shivered the moment Ryan answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Ryan.” Her voice shook. “It’s Noa.”

He didn’t speak right away. “You’re okay?”

“I’m okay.”

She heard him exhale a breath that he’d probably been holding in some capacity since the day of the wedding. “That’s all that matters.” He was silent for a moment, and they both started speaking at the same time.

“Ryan, I’m so?—”

“That was a pretty ballsy move?—”

She stopped. “What did you say?”

On the other end of the line, he laughed. “Damn, Noa. That was a pretty ballsy move, running from the wedding like that. Dramatic. Even for you.”

The sound of her best friend’s laughter, after everything she’d just put them through, almost made her cry with relief. “I’m so, so sorry, Ryan. I know I shouldn’t have done it like that. I just…” Her fingers fiddled with the gold rose around her neck. “It all just felt really real, all at once, you know? I wanted to talk to you, but you were out there already and…I didn’t know what else to?—”

“It’s okay.”

“It is?”

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