Chapter Nineteen
Noah
Pain shot up my right knee when I lifted the bar one last time with a grunt. The weight of it dug into the back of my neck while I placed the bar back in place, letting out a relieved breath. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck when I reached up to rub at the aching muscles there.
I wasn’t supposed to be working out intensely with my knee being so fragile, but after an entire week of nothing from Iris, I needed to blow off some steam.
I extended out my leg to ease the pain shooting up my thigh now. Nothing would ever feel right with it. The damage was too far gone. Even walking about the PHU campus hurt like a bitch.
Grabbing a towel from my bag, I wiped away the sweat on the back of my neck while I ventured back to the locker rooms. School would resume next week with hopes of spring lingering in the air. The snowstorm had passed , and much of the snow was already gone, making everyone’s spirits chipper.
Except mine.
I stomped into the locker room in the direction of the showers to get ready for dinner at Hunter’s house. Whatever issue the two newlywed lovebirds had before was now blown over according to Hunter when he had called to extend an invitation for dinner. I had a suspicion that he wanted to question me about Iris more, so he used the pretense of a free home-cooked meal to coax me over.
The hot spray did little to ease the tension in my body. My knee hurt like a bitch, but it was just easier to blow steam off this way. I had papers to grade, as well. That would provide a good distraction from the fact that Iris had never answered any of my texts after she left.
None of it made sense to me. I knew the intensity had caught her off guard, just as much as it had caught me by surprise. Still, she didn’t seem like the type of woman to just sleep with a teacher to get a passing grade, but her silence started to grate on my irritation levels that were already boiling at dangerous levels.
She had been the one to accept my offer in staying with me for spring break. Not once had I expected for us to spend the entire break pretending to be a couple. Hell, I hadn’t expected things to turn the way they did.
I washed up quickly to drive over to Hunter’s house. The front door opened up to reveal a beaming Livvy in some loose, gray pants and a white blouse.
“Hi, Noah,” she said, flourishing me in with a grin. “You look good, as usual. How is everything going?”
“Good,” I replied, a bit taken by the cheerful greeting. Livvy had never made it a secret that she didn’t trust me around her husband. I was deemed the “bad influence,” when in truth Hunter and I had been friends for so long that neither one of us could remember which one was actually the bad influence.
“Everything is going great,” I said. “How are you doing?”
Livvy grinned as she took my jacket. “Just wonderful. Please, come in. You brought wine for dinner. How nice of you.”
She took the bottle from my hands as Hunter jogged down from the stairs to greet me at the door, as well. He shut the front door while Livvy swept away to the kitchen with the bottle of wine.
“Why is she in such a good mood?” I asked, warily. “Did you two just have sex before I got here?”
Hunter threw his arm around my shoulders with a laugh. “Maybe. Come on. Let’s go outside to get the prime rib from the smoker and have a couple of beers.”
I followed him down the long hallway, passing the kitchen where Livvy was busily chopping up a head of lettuce. She smiled at us both before we stepped out into the warm evening. The smell of meat and garlic swirled in the air. My stomach grumbled in appreciation.
“I figured you’d be happy to have dinner here,” Hunter said, tapping the lid of his smoker with a fingertip. “I noticed you eat nothing but frozen pizzas or take out. How do you keep so damn fit?”
I accepted a beer when he offered one from the cooler. “I work out at the campus gym when I’m there.”
“I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to be doing that with your knee.”
“I’m not, but I’m not a fucking couch potato,” I stated, and looked right at Hunter as he opened his own beer. “What is going on? Livvy never invites me over for dinner.”
“We’ll get to that at dinner,” he replied absently. “Have you heard anything from your student-”
“Iris,” I cut in shortly. “Her name is Iris.”
“Right, Iris. No word?”
“No, nothing.” I scowled when he chuckled deeply. “I’m glad you find the situation humorous.”
“Not the situation you’re in,” he said. “Just the fact that this chick got under your skin. It’s bugging the shit out of you.”
I took a long pull from my beer. “Yeah, well. Can you blame me?”
“No. Maybe she just wanted your dick to get a good grade. Ever think of that?”
“Unfortunately,” I said, grimacing. “I don’t think that’s it, though. She doesn’t strike me as that type. I would know, too; I’ve slept with enough women who wanted my dick for various reasons. I never got that feeling from Iris.”
“Women can be sneaky and manipulative,” Hunter said. “There’s a reason why they are considered the smarter sex.”
Livvy stepped out onto the back porch. “Is the prime rib done?”
“Medium rare and perfect,” Hunter replied, grabbing a tray next to the smoker before turning back to me. “I’m just taking advice from your own playbook – hit it, then quit it. That’s what you used to me all the time.”
“I was twenty-something when I came up that shit,” I said wryly. “I don’t have the fucking energy to just hit it and quit it anymore.”
Hunter opened the lid of the smoker. Gray smoke spilled out as he grabbed the roast and placed it on the tray.
“Something tells me that you aren’t telling the truth about that,” he said. “Let’s eat. I’ve been thinking about this prime rib all damn day.”
I sat on the opposite side of Hunter as Livvy took a seat next to him in the dining room. The entire table was covered in plates of food and various decorative candles. I looked up in confusion at Hunter who merely grinned at me.
“So,” Livvy started, taking a hold of Hunter’s hand in her own. “I imagine you are wondering why we asked you over here.”
“I’m mainly wondering why you both are so cheerful. What type of drugs are you taking, and can I have some?”
Livvy’s grin faltered slightly. Something hard kicked me in the shin, and I smiled apologetically when Hunter gave me a warning look.
“Sorry. I was being sarcastic. What is your wonderful news?”
“Well, we are in a good mood because we are expecting a baby,” Livvy said.
My jaw dropped open in surprise. “You’re shitting me, right?” They both shook their head. “You’re having a baby?”
“We are,” Hunter confirmed proudly. “We just found out this past week that Livvy is five weeks along.”
“Wow. Congrats,” I said, and forced myself to smile at the both of them. “Really, that’s great news guys. Congrats.”
Livvy reached down to place a hand on her stomach. She beamed over at Hunter before looking at me. “I know you’ll be sad without your buddy to hang out with all the time, but I promise that I won’t keep him from you. I know you two you’ve been friends since college.”
I gulped down a large mouthful of red wine.
“That was years ago,” I gasped out. “He should be more of your buddy than mine. I’m getting sick of his face, honestly.”
“I’m getting sick of yours, too,” he shot back. “All through college you were the man in a sea of boys when it came to everything. That’s why you went to New Zealand to play.”
“Why did you stop?” Livvy asked, curiously.
Swirling my wine, I looked up to catch Hunter’s gaze from across the table. True to his word, he remained silent despite Livvy looking over at him in confusion.
“Things happened,” I said, taking another gulp of wine.
The tips of my fingers tingled slightly, and I quickly shoveled a couple of bites of garlic mashed potatoes in my mouth to fight off the effects of the wine. She didn’t bring the topic up the rest of the night. When it came close to 10:00, I thanked Livvy for dinner before she headed upstairs for the night. I grabbed my jacket from where it hung behind the front door.
“You going to be okay, man?” Hunter asked.
I slid my arms into the sleeves. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“Just this whole thing with Iris. I’m worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, clasping his shoulder. “You worry about your life. You’re going to be a dad. That means you worry about that only. Not me.”
He looked unconvinced, but didn’t say anything further when I opened the front door to step out into the now chilly night. I turned to look back at him, shoving my hands into the pockets of my coat to keep them warm.
“I’m happy for you, bro. I really am.”
He smiled. “Thanks. I hope you get to this point in your life. It’s a good feeling to have. Trust me.”
I doubted I ever would. Just watching Livvy and Hunter together was painful enough because I couldn’t handle that type of relationship.
“Maybe,” I said.
I bid Hunter goodbye before returning to my SUV. Thumbing through my contacts, I found Iris’ number from when she had called to clarify directions. I backed out of the driveway with the phone glued to my ear.
“Hi. This is Iris. Leave your name and-”
I hit the red button with a sigh. I was acting like a teenage girl obsessing over a boy she’d never get to have again no matter how much she wanted him. If Iris wanted to play this game, then she had no idea what she was in for.