Noah was obviously slow to catch the connection his phone had with her sudden change in mood that now had her bolting from the room. “What’s wrong?”

She’d made it all the way into the bathroom, locking the door safely behind her. But instead of crying which was the original plan she took a deep breath and rinsed her face. She hadn’t slept with him yet—something her gut had managed to win out on all this time. For that she was eternally grateful. There was still time for her to pull out and do some damage control to their friendship.

As unpleasant as any thoughts of being around Noah with other girls or to even have to hear him talk about other girls if she wanted to keep him in her life it was something she’d have to consider. This was not going to work.

Veronica had just managed to ward off the tears when Noah knocked on the door. “You okay?”

His voice alone was enough to have her choked up again. “I’m fine.”

“What happened? Did you suddenly feel sick?”

“Yeah, I did.” That was one way to put it. “But I’m okay now.”

She turned the shower on in hopes that he’d walk away. She wouldn’t be able to talk to him much longer without him noticing the strain in her voice. Thankfully he left and she could shower in peace.

The long shower she took did the opposite of what she thought it would. Instead of calming her it gave her more time to evaluate the facts. First of all Noah had lied. She couldn’t be certain that he’d actually slept with Rita New Years day, but Rita’s body language in the picture made one thing clear. His visit with her that day hadn’t been as innocent as he’d made it out to be.

Second, Rita was obviously under the impression that Noah was with Veronica now. They lived together for Christ’s sake. The two-faced bitch had the gall to be all over him like that and be texting him with that f**king picture? She had to know the possibility of Veronica seeing it was a good one.

Veronica thought she’d been a little too nice—a little too accepting of the fact that the guy she’d just done a few weeks prior was now giving his undivided attention to another female. Maybe this was her way of sticking it to her.

Unless of course since Noah seemed so impressed that Rita wasn’t the clingy type, she probably was the type that didn’t mind being his whore on the side. Veronica was so worked up by the time she got out of the shower she had to fight the urge to confront him about it.

If she did, the way she was feeling now, she knew without a doubt the conversation would probably end with her screaming at him to get the hell out of her house. That’s exactly what she didn’t want to happen ever. As much as she hated to admit it, the very thought of Noah no longer living with her was one she wasn’t ready to accept. She wasn’t even ready to think about it. Not yet anyway.

Maybe in time. Maybe once she’d slipped back into her life—got a life of her own—without him. Maybe then it wouldn’t feel so unbearable. For now she’d just have to start slow. Take a few steps backwards. And—this thought made her literally gasp—stop the goodnight kisses.

~*~

Noah heard the bathroom door open and Roni walk into her room closing the door behind her. It took him a while but he’d finally found some tea bags in the pantry. Chamomile—perfect. No matter what the reason nothing fixed an upset stomach better than chamomile. Jack swore by it and it always helped Noah whenever he wasn’t feeling so hot. It even worked for hangovers. The sour stomach part anyway.

He fixed Roni a cup and waited for her to emerge from her room but she never did. After a half hour of flipping through channels hoping to hear from her he knocked on her door. “Are you feeling better?” he asked softly in case she was already asleep.

“Not really,” she said her voice sounding so strange it made him nervous.

“Anything I can do? Take you to the doctor’s or something?”

“No, nothing. I took a sleeping pill and it’s really kicking in.”

Though the thought of going to bed without the taste of her on his lips was disappointing his worry outweighed anything else he felt at that moment. “Maybe you shouldn’t go to work tomorrow.”

“No, I have to. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

After saying goodnight he walked the mug of tea to the kitchen and dumped its contents in the sink. He cleared anything they’d left out in the kitchen from dinner, something they usually did together and called it a night early. Even watching TV without Roni wasn’t the same anymore.

He was still lying in bed awake when his phone rang. He rarely got calls in the evening but it was even stranger that it was from Hector, so he sat up little worried.

“What’s up, Hector?”

“Did Roni and that ass**le Kratz actually go out?”

The call alone was out of left field but his question was even odder. “Why?”

The phone got a little muffled and Noah heard a door squeak closed. Hector lowered his voice. “Well, you gotta promise first of all that you won’t say anything to Abel.”

“About what?”

“About me being in the Deans office …again.”

Noah chuckled. He knew first hand all about being in the Deans office on a regular basis. Kratz was such a hard ass it made total sense that wiseass Hector would be on his shit list. “I won’t.”

“Alright, so I’ve been in there a few times lately but today I noticed a picture of him and some chick. You know like a couple in the snow. I had to get a closer look to see who the f**k would be with ass**le Kratz.” He laughed but Noah was already feeling too annoyed to laugh. He had a feeling where this was going. “I didn’t recognize her at first because she’s wearing a beanie and shit but she looked familiar then just behind it there was another picture and there she was, Roni and Kratz holding hands in front of that Medieval Times place.”