“I’ve never had much family and the only friend I ever really had is Nellie. So I’m immune to these kinds of things. They don’t affect me like they would other people.”

Noah wasn’t buying this shit for a minute. He reached over and touched her hand. “You have me, now.”

She stopped chewing and stared at him. He saw a bit of what he’d seen in her eyes the night he told her how old he was. “Noah, I—”

“I mean, we’re friends right? Not just roommates. So you can include me now as one of your friends.” He sat up straighter panicked that the look in her eyes was still there. “Why don’t you come with me to Gio’s house for Thanksgiving? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind and—”

“Oh no I couldn’t.” She shook her head adamantly.

“Why not?”

“I hardly know him.” She stood up and Noah stood with her. “Really. I’ll be fine.”

“Then I’ll stay with you.”

She turned to him her eyes even wider. “No!”

God, she was cute when she was being stubborn. “Why the hell not? Look you’re my friend now. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Noah, you’re being silly. I’ll be just fine. You should be with your friends. You said it’s where you always spend Thanksgiving. You were looking forward to it.” She crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m not going to keep you from it.”

Noah could see she wasn’t going to give in to this but he’d be damned if he was going to let her spend the holiday alone. He knew what that felt like and he didn’t want her to. “All right.”

She seemed a little surprised he’d given in so easily but pleased. “Good. I appreciate you offering but I promise you I’ll be just fine.”

Noah couldn’t help but smirk. Yes, she would be fine. He’d make sure of it. “Well, maybe you don’t plan on eating a lot this week but I do, so I say we get in a damn good work out tonight.”

That smile of hers was breathtaking and Noah struggled to pull his eyes away from it. “Okay then. I’ll go get ready.”

He couldn’t help feeling a little irritated with himself for staring at her as she walked out of the room. He had to stop with all the thoughts he’d been having about her lately. They were friends now and nothing would ruin a friendship faster than doing some of the things he could only dream of doing to her.

The tension he felt throughout his entire body was unreal. Food had nothing to do with why he wanted to work out hard tonight. Between watching her make love to that damn string cheese and then staring at her lips as she explained why he shouldn’t stay home with her on Thanksgiving, a hard ass workout was exactly what he needed.

~*~

Thanksgiving morning Veronica woke to a familiar aroma. One she hadn’t smelled in the house in years. She wasn’t completely sure but as she walked through the hallway toward the kitchen the smell was unmistakable. Honey ham and it smelled delicious.

She turned the corner so see Noah in the kitchen wearing an apron peeling potatoes. The dining table was set for two, centerpiece and all and there were pies on the center island. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Noah glanced up at her with a grin. “I’m making Thanksgiving dinner for us.”

“No you’re not. You’re going to Gio’s house. You said you were really looking forward to it.”

He raised an eyebrow with the grin turning into an all out smile. “But what I decided I’ve been looking forward to even more—my entire life—was preparing a Thanksgiving meal.”

When she didn’t return the smile his smile turned into a pout. “Foster care system all my life remember?”

How dare he use that to guilt her into not being mad at him. She should’ve known better when he’d given in so easily the other day. When his smug grin returned, she couldn’t help but smile this time. She walked toward him trying to appear still angry but secretly she was a little excited. Though it really wasn’t a big deal that she’d be spending Thanksgiving alone she wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. “I can’t believe you. When did you do all this?”

He seemed relieved that she was more curious than upset. “Well, I’ve never actually prepared a meal like this so I sort of cheated. The ham was already prepared and spiraled. All I had to do was stick it in the oven and I figured a turkey would be too much for just me and you so I got a stuffed turkey breast that again, all I had to do was stick in there.” He gestured to the oven. “I’m not much of a baker so I bought pies already made but I did wanna prepare something and was hoping you’d help me. We could sort of… you know… do this together. So I’m making the mashed potatoes and I bought some string beans so we can make a string bean casserole.” He pointed at a bag on the counter by the refrigerator. “And in keeping with the Mexican tradition I bought some tamales from the lady selling them in the parking lot.”

Veronica laughed bringing her hand to her mouth. She didn’t want him to notice how giddy she was beginning to feel. This was completely unexpected and she hadn’t had a Thanksgiving feast like this in ages.

“So whatta ya say? You gonna help me with this or what?”

“Sure I’ll help.” She walked around the island to where he stood.

“You wanna do the potatoes or the green beans?”