Page 30 of Call My Bluff
What? Don’t encourage him!she chided herself. Then she cleared her throat and crossed her legs. She’d intended to take off her shoes, but somehow that felt presumptuous now that she wasn’t alone. “I didn’t even know you were in town,” she said. “I figured you’d gone home like everyone else who isn’t local.”
Noah huffed and swung his socked feet to the floor so he was facing her with his forearms on his knees. “Home is where the paycheck is, and vacations are when I make the big bucks,” he explained.
“Oh, really?”
“Well, everyone else is gone, and somebody has to pick up the slack,” he pointed out. “Might as well be me.”
“Have you not seen your family at all?” she asked. The very idea of spending an entire holiday break alone in a college town was depressing to consider.
“The store was closed for two days at Christmas, so I saw my mom then,” he explained. He must have seen the stricken look on her face, because he went on. “It doesn’t bother me, actually. I have the whole house to myself, which means the dishes actually get washed and nobody eats my food. Conner’s gone, so no booby traps, and I never have to wait in the drive-thru.”
“Still, though. I’m sorry you don’t get more of a break.”
Noah shrugged as if it didn’t matter. Then he gestured toward his black pants and white button-up shirt. “I just came from work, actually. That’s why I look like a waiter.”
That pulled a laugh from Olivia’s throat. “Well, you could have kept your green vest on for color.”
“Oh, yeah, and have people ask me if beer is on sale all night? That’s a good idea,” he quipped, and Olivia felt her smile stretch wider.
“So, I take it you didn’t drive yourself here, since you’re hiding instead of bailing?” she asked.
Noah scrubbed his palm across his face in obvious frustration. “No, I didn’t. I was going to, but then my car wouldn’t start so I caught a ride with Riley. I’m pretty much stuck here until she and Bryce decide to go home.”
“Ah, that sucks,” Olivia commiserated.
“What about you?”
“What?”
“Why are you hiding instead of bailing?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m actually staying the night. Robin is a friend of mine.”
Noah nodded in silent understanding. “So, that’s how you knew this place was out here.”
“Yeah, I’ve been here before. How did you find it?”
“I was wandering—because that’s what sad, lost little grocery boys do, right?”
His tone was biting, almost like he was berating himself for matching his own description, and Olivia felt her brow pinch in the middle as she considered him. He did look a little sad, and maybe somewhat lost, but mostly just very, very tired. There was silence as Noah stared down at the rug between his feet.
“You okay?” she finally asked.
Noah’s shoulders rose as he drew in a breath, but he didn’t answer.
“It’s okay tonotbe okay, you know,” she went on. Then shewaved her hand to encompass the walls around them. “No shame here. Cone of silence. Expires at midnight.”
His eyes drifted closed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. Then he chuckled dryly. “You want to hear something funny?” he asked.
Olivia blinked in surprise. That was not the answer she’d expected to hear. “Uh, sure?” she replied.
“This morning, I was attacked by somebody’s grandmother.”
She barked out a laugh and then clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, you werewhat?”
He sighed and propped his elbows on his knees and his chin in his cupped hands. He sounded drained, but there was still a trace of his usual good humor on his face. “Alright, you want the long version or the short version?”
Olivia leaned back against the cushions and crossed her arms over her chest. “You got anyplace better to be?”
