Her phone rang before she could respond and she took advantage of it to give her a moment to think—breathe. She pulled her phone out of her purse and saw it was Noah. Perfect. Exactly what she needed. To hear his voice—a reminder of why he was much more than just a need. “I have to take this,” she said and answered.

Derek motioned that he was going to use her bathroom and Veronica nodded, glad for the privacy. She walked into her kitchen where she’d have even more.

~*~

Sipping their beers, the guys watched him, Hector still munching on his nachos as Noah waited for Roni to answer her phone. Noah was certain that he’d soon have the simple explanation. As confident as he was a very small part of him worried that Roni might still have feelings for Kratz, especially considering the pictures she not only hung onto but had kept up front row center in her darkroom.

He shook off his insecurities. She said she wanted nothing to do with him and after the week they’d had not to mention their morning, Roni would know he’d have an issue with her hanging out with her ass**le ex. This had to be some kind of fluke.

She answered on the second ring. “Hey,”

“Hey, Roni.”

“You don’t have to leave, Noah. That’s not why I texted you. You just asked me to let you know when I was home.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’ll still be out of here soon. I just wanted to ask you something real quick.” He glanced up at his friends. They were all staring at him. He almost laughed. “Did you run into Kratz this week?” His laughing mood took a dive when she didn’t respond. “Roni?”

“Yeah, I did. A few times actually.”

That literally jolted him. He actually sat up straight in reaction. “A few times?”

“I was gonna tell you but I was waiting for after your fight and then this morning I got the call about Nellie.”

His stomach recoiled. “Tell me what?”

“About the few times I got together with him after work.”

Noah didn’t even care anymore that his friends would see him go bat-shit crazy if she said she’d done anything else with the guy. He felt like the biggest f**king idiot. He was about to ask her why the hell she’d gotten together with dick when he heard Kratz’s voice loud and clear in the background.

Noah heard her tell him she’d be with him in a sec. He squeezed the phone feeling the adrenaline rush he usually felt only in the ring when he was about to take someone down. “Are you with him now?”

“He stopped by again,” she said her voice hushed now. “But—”

“He’s at the house with you now?” Noah was on his feet in an instant, his heart racing as he stalked to his bike, each stride longer than the last.

“Yes, but he won’t be here long.”

“What the f**k does he want?” He jumped on his bike but before she could respond he asked what he really wanted to know. “Do you still have feelings for this guy, Roni?”

“No!”

“You still want him coming over like this?”

She exhaled loudly. “No.”

“Good, I’m on my way.” He hung up on her and put his helmet on.

Abel and the guys were already in his truck as he raced his bike past it and down the street. For years in high school he’d had visions of beating the shit out of Kratz. Who knew he’d ever actually get the chance to follow through.

~*~

More concerned about the fact that Noah could have no way of knowing that Derek carried a gun, Veronica was not about to wait and see if he’d be provoked into using it.

“You gotta go,” she said as she rushed into the front room where Derek now sat.

“Why? What happened?”

“I’ll explain later, Derek, but right now you have to go.” She opened the screen door and held it open for him.

Derek stood up but didn’t budge. He stared at Veronica concerned. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing!” Her heart beat faster with every second that passed and Derek was still in her house.

He finally took a few steps toward her but obviously didn’t share her urgency to leave. “Veronica, look at you. You’re a mess. Let me guess. That was Noah and he’s on his way home. What? Are you not allowed to have anyone here or is it just me he doesn’t want here?”

Veronica didn’t know why he was pretending he hadn’t already figured it all out. She was surprised he hadn’t pointed out the glow she’d worn all day from her morning with Noah. He was that good at picking up on the tiniest things.

“Derek, if you know already, why do you want trouble?”

“You can’t be serious about this. You and that kid?”

“He’s not a kid.”

“You called him that yourself when you first told me about your new roommate.” You wanna tell me what’s changed since then?” His eyebrow lifted slowly, he already knew the answer to that one, too. “He’s still the same age isn’t he?”

Veronica took a deep breath and held her ground. “I think you already know that and you know what? It’s none of your business. You need to leave now, Derek. I’m serious. I don’t want any problems.”

He didn’t move and her heart nearly gave out when she saw Noah’s bike pull into the driveway and Abel’s truck pull up behind it. Noah pulled off his helmet and jumped off his bike. Veronica closed the screen door behind her and rushed to meet him at the stairs.