Page 99 of Love is a Harmony
The person knocked again.
“What?” Noah hadn’t meant for that to come out so harsh.
Ava pushed his door open and flipped on the light.
Noah cursed. “Come on, Ava. I’m sleeping here.” He let his head fall back to the pillow.
Ava crossed her arms and surveyed the room. “Yes, I can see that. Got into a fit of rage while sleeping, have you?”
He sighed. “No. I was awake.”
She skirted the broken glass to sit on the end of the bed. “Blimey, Noah. You’ve got glass in your foot.” Her fingers latched around his ankle as she leaned in. “I’ll be back. You—” she pointed, “—don’t move.”
He rolled his eyes to the ceiling, feeling a bit embarrassed now about the destruction of his room. But Ava wouldn’t judge. She never did.
She returned a moment later with a pair of tweezers, a wet cloth, and a large bandage.
“Hold still, ye daft man.” The bed jostled as she sat. “This won’t feel good.”
Noah clenched his teeth as Ava pulled the piece of glass free. How had he not felt that before?
He hissed when she pressed the cloth to his foot. “What are you doing to me, woman?”
“Hush, you. It’s alcohol. I have to clean it.”
“You could have at least brought me some to drink.”
She sent him a deadpan stare. “Yes, because the man who just destroyed his room needs to drink. Shut up.”
He didn’t say another word as she bandaged his foot.
“There. The big bad rock star has been tended to.” She scooted up the bed to sit against the headboard beside him.
“Why are you waking me up in the middle of the night?”
She shrugged. “Because it’s fun. But also, because you missed dinner and putting Stella to bed. She’s okay, by the way.”
“I knew she would be. She has Nan.” He rested his head on Ava’s shoulder like they used to when they were kids.
“And she has you.”
“She will always have me. Ava, I didn’t know I could love someone so quickly or so fiercely, but don’t you wonder what Carson was thinking? I’m not exactly father material.”
“Yeah, well Carson always saw stuff in all of us we couldn’t see ourselves.” She leaned her head on his. “I miss him, Noah. He left me, us, years ago, and yet it feels like we’ve lost him for the first time.”
“I know what you mean.”
“All this time I’ve waited for him to realize I was still here.”
He wrapped an arm around her. “You’ve been in love with him as long as I can remember. I’m sorry he never came back for you.”
They fell into a comfortable silence, listening to each other breathe. Before Noah ever met Jo, Ava was his person. He abandoned her just like Carson had, replacing her with his drummer, but having her here in his arms made him realize his childhood friend could never be replaced. She connected him to his brother, filling some of the void his absence created.
“So.” She lifted her head. “Nan tells me you got married, that it was a stipulation of Carson’s will. He always was a manipulative bloke.”
Noah pulled away from her. “Not manipulative… he just wanted me to be better than I was.”
“Which is why you always did the opposite.” She pursed her lips. “I expected this new wife of yours to come with you to keep up appearances if nothing else.”
