I never expected to love writing so much, but it’s a new type of freedom, getting to sit down and put all the knowledge I’ve gathered when it comes to business in one place.
It means I haven’t had a lot of time to give Noah the experience of a new relationship... not like I probably should if I want to keep this thing going.
I know I’m attractive, but what if what Noah wants is a life more full of adventure and fancy events every day?
Maybe he’s filling up his days because he has to to stay entertained, to stay fulfilled.
The need to actright nowhits me like a sledgehammer. I fall back in my chair and reach for my phone, clicking on the contact before I can even second-guess myself.
“Hello, Chase.” Harry’s smooth voice grates on me.
“How do you keep Tristan happy?” I demand without preamble.
Complete silence isn’t really the reaction I was going for, but then again, I’ve never asked him anything like this before. I’ve never called in a panic before... I don’t think.
“What is this about? Gab told me you had things handled with Noah and you’d call when you had something to say.”
I curse silently at myself for not letting Harry know everything that happened after they left the castle.
Then again, they left without a goodbye, so it’s his own damn fault, isn’t it?
So I spend a good half an hour telling him everything. About how we’re now together, how I’m happily funding his agency, and how I’m worried he’s lacking something in his life that I just don’t know how to provide.
Or maybe I’m not the right man to provide it?
“Stop that!” he snaps at me.
“What?” I demand.
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you asshole. You’re handsome and rich, you have good fucking intentions, and you’re already beyond salvation when it comes to Noah. You were exiled by your family and abandoned by your best friend before you had a fully-developed frontal lobe and still managed to build an empire, so get a hold of yourself for fuck’s sake.”
Well, that’s one way of getting me to snap out of it.
Whatever that was.
“Do something. If you think he needs more excitement, then sweep him off his fucking feet. Fly him down to Africa for a safari or to the Amalfi Coast or something. Take him to Japan, or to see the pyramids. You’ve got everything you need, you just need to remember.”
“What if it’s me, though? Or what if he’s just spiraling because of...”
“Because he’s now in charge of his own success?” Harry asks knowingly.
I hear him sigh before the creak of his chair comes through the line. He’s clearly settling in for another lecture—which I don’t mindat allbecause I’m lost with a capital L.
“We all get that way when we start out, until we find a routine that works for us, until we have a clear understanding that the whole world isn’t actually on our shoulders. He’ll get there on his own eventually, I think. He seemed like a bright man when we met him, but if you want to avoid him suffering in any way, then I’d say just get him to talk to other humans.
“It was that more than anything that actually helped me when I took over Crawford Inc.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, an idea already forming in my mind.
Just one day later,I finish lighting the unscented candles on the mantlepiece at the house, and I’m waiting for Noah to come home when the doorbell rings.
Nate and Ru aren’t early—that would be too impolite for someone with Ru’s training in manners—the problem is that Noah is late.
He’s late to dinner with our friends even though I told him last night, even though I saw him set a reminder.
He’s late and he’s probably engrossed in work and won’t even hear if I call him...
What the hell do I do now?