Page 39 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Something flashed through her eyes briefly. I tried to process what emotion it was, but it was gone before I could put my finger on it. “Would you mind if we just hung out with everyone for a little bit? It doesn’t have to be for long. Just enough so we don’t seem rude. Then we can go up to my room . . . ”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Pulling her against me, I pressed my lips against hers in a soft, lingering kiss before grabbing her hand and walking us out to where the others were sitting by the pool.

Amber, Jess, and Kaeli were in the pool, playing some sort of game that had to do with blow-up rafts and balancing. Jess squealed when she suddenly lost her balance and splashed clumsily into the water. She came up laughing and spluttering.

“Amy!” she shouted. “This was your idea! You need to get your ass in here and have your turn!”

She looked up at me, suddenly seeming torn. I gave her a devilish grin and squeezed her hand. “Yeah, Amy. You’re up. Go kick some ass.”

She giggled. “You know I’m going to fail, right?”

Dropping her hand, I gave her very fine ass a light smack. “Get rid of that attitude now, Princess. Toughen up and get in there and do it.”

Her eyes narrowed a little, then she smiled and dashed off to the edge of the pool and bombed in right beside the girls, spraying them all with water.

“Hey, man. How’re you doing?” Noah asked beside me.

Flopping down on the lounge chair next to him, I shucked off my shirt and nodded. “Yeah, good.”

“When are you heading off?”

I pushed down the ache that flared up inside my chest. “On the twenty-ninth.”

He made some noise that sounded a bit like sympathy. “Not long, then . . .”

Inhaling deeply, I glanced out at Amy, who was currently standing atop five inflatable pool toys, laughing hysterically. The ac

he flared up again.

“Are you okay with that?” Noah asked quietly.

Turning my attention back his way, I gave a non-committal shrug. “It’s a bit of a head fuck. I’ve been looking forward to this for years, still am. I’m pumped to get into it . . . ” My gaze automatically went back out to where Amy was still balancing precariously. “But I hate the thought of leaving her. Especially now, since all this shit happened with her parents.”

“Yeah, that was some fucked-up shit,” he said, his brows creasing into a pissed expression. “She’s a nice chick. She deserves better than that.”

My shoulders dropped a little more. “Yeah, she does. She deserves more than I can give her right now too.”

Noah’s sharp gaze pinned me from his seat. “Who told you that?”

“No one’s had to tell me. It just is. I’ll be in Australia for at least six months, then most likely back in San Diego after that, and unless she wants to move down there, I’ll hardly get to see her.”

He studied me carefully before looking back out to the girls in the pool. “I hear what you’re saying, but from what Kaeli’s been saying, Amy’s pretty committed to you. I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

Drawing in a slow breath, I watched Amy laugh with her friends. “For now, maybe. I just don’t want to be the next person in line to let her down. To not be here for her when she needs it.”

Noah leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He sighed. “I get what you mean, but you don’t have to be physically present to show someone you’re there for them, either.”

I nodded as I let his words roll around inside my head. That was all I could do, really.

A loud splash followed by a round of laughter had us both looking over to the pool again. Pool toys were in the process of scattering across the surface, and limbs seemed to be piled right in the middle.

I saw Amy’s head appear from beneath the surface, wet hair dripping in a tangled mess.

I laughed.

“Do you think they’d mind if I stole her for the rest of the night?” I asked without taking my eyes off her.

Noah chuckled. “Do you really care?”

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