It Started with a Crack by Piper James

Chapter Thirty-Four

Noah

Iregretted stalking out the second the door slammed behind me, but my anger quickly overtook the regret. She’d basically accused me of being a whore who could never be satisfied with one partner.

While I might’ve been what some would call promiscuous back in L.A., those were all flings. I didn’t do girlfriends, and I always made sure my partners knew that before we slept together. But Dakota was different. I thought she’d understood that. I told her about my past, and how I’d changed, not sleeping with anyone in all the months I’d lived in Texas. Until her.

I burned rubber as I left, but the squealing tires and stench didn’t make me feel any better. I forced myself to keep to the speed limit as I drove around aimlessly, searching for some kind of relief for the pain thumping in my chest. I held onto the anger, knowing if I released it, the devastation would roll in and destroy me.

Spotting the Bull’s Eye sign, I whipped into the parking lot too fast and practically fish-tailed into a parking spot.

I needed some fucking beer.

I stalked into the store, my anger and heartbreak giving me tunnel vision as I made a beeline for the beer aisle. I spotted a twelve-pack that was calling my name and moved toward it, but came up short as I realized the beer wasn’t really calling my name—someone else was.

I skidded to a stop and turned to see Sage walking in my direction, my nephew Daniel’s hand held tightly in hers. He pulled out of her grip and darted forward, slamming into me and wrapping his scrawny arms around my waist in a tight bear hug.

“Uncle Noah! What are you doing here? Did you know I was here? I miss you. Can we go fishing next weekend? Sage’s house is nice, but I wish you still lived with us. What are you buying? We’re buying ice cream. ”

The words flowed out of his mouth without pause, and I couldn’t help but smile despite the hell I was going through. I loved that kid so much, and I missed seeing him every day.

“It’s our house, buddy,” Sage said with a smile as Daniel peeled himself off me and retook her hand.

“Hey, kid,” I said, ruffling his hair despite his protests. “I miss you, too.”

I looked at Sage, who was staring at me with a concerned expression. Smoothing out her features, she looked down at Daniel.

“What do you think, buddy? Should we treat Uncle Noah to some ice cream?”

I didn’t want any fucking ice cream. I wanted to buy beer, go home, and drown my sorrows alone. But Daniel got so excited, hopping from foot to foot as he shouted a dozen yeses, there was no way I could say no. Sage smirked, and I narrowed my eyes at her, but she didn’t relent.

Bull’s Eye had an old-fashioned ice cream store in the back, with twenty flavors you could choose from for a cup, cone, or a sundae. Daniel and I chose chocolate cones while Sage ordered a cup of cookie dough. She sent Daniel to sit at the kids’ table, which was covered in butcher paper and had cups of crayons and markers so kids could draw pictures as they ate their treats.

Sage led me to a table several yards away—it was close enough to keep an eye on Daniel, but far enough that he wouldn’t hear our conversation.

“What happened?” Sage asked, taking a big bite of her frozen treat.

“You mean you haven’t heard?” I asked, my voice dark.

She shook her head. “I’ve been with Daniel all day. Ember texted me and Belle for an emergency intervention, but I couldn’t go. Why don’t you tell me?”

“I’m sure the girls will fill you in,” I said.

I didn’t want to get into it. I wanted to finish this damn ice cream, buy my beer, and go feel sorry for myself. Alone.

“I want to hear it from you,” Sage said, concern written all over her face.

Heaving a sigh, I told her what happened. All of it. The scene Dakota walked in on. How she misinterpreted it. My explanation, her acceptance of it, and her refusal to let me make things right, despite believing that I hadn’t betrayed her.

My jackass behavior when I didn’t get my way.

“Oh, boy,” Sage said when I finished.

“Oh, boy is right,” I said, slumping. “I don’t know why Dakota is so convinced I could never truly commit to her. I am committed. Shit, I have been since the minute I first met her.”

I barked out a self-deprecating laugh. It was true. I hadn’t even looked at another woman since I laid eyes on Dakota Jones. Not with any romantic interest, anyway. She was it for me.

“That’s not exactly true,” Sage said, and my gaze flew up to meet hers. “And I think that might be the problem.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confusion muddying my thoughts. “There’s been no one else. Not since I moved to this fucking town.”

“But you tried. The night we all met at the bar. And Dakota overheard you.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” I demanded, then shot her an apologetic look for my harsh tone.

“The two blondes? At the bar?” she asked as if that would prod my memory.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, shaking my head.

Sage heaved a sigh. “Dakota is going to kill me for telling you this.” Another sigh. “You guys were dancing, having a great time, and she really liked you. She went to use the restroom, and when she came out, she heard you asking two hot blondes for a threesome.”

“The hell she did!” I shouted, then ducked my head and mouthed an apology to a couple at a nearby table. Looking back at Sage, I shook my head. “I absolutely did not do that, Sage. Besides the fact that I’d never proposition strangers for something like that, I was all about Dakota…that…night… Oh, shit.”

Realization dawned on me, and I felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Fucking hell.

“What?” Sage asked, and I pinned her with a hard stare.

“She didn’t hear me say threesome. She heard me say three-way.”

“What’s the difference?” Sage asked, tilting her head.

I leaned in close, keeping my voice low. “There’s a big fucking difference. I wasn’t talking to them about sex, Sage. I was talking about a three-way switch. For interior lighting. For the new house those women had just bought together. As a couple.”

“Oh shit,” Sage said, repeating my earlier sentiment.

“I went to grab a beer, and they stopped me, saying they saw me get out of the work truck with Perry Brothers Construction printed on the side. They were trying to install a three-way switch for their hall light so they could turn it on and off from either end.” I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. “I was explaining how to install a fucking light switch, and Dakota thought I was trying to hook up with two women the minute she left my sight. Damn it, it was a job. They hired me on the spot to rewire all the electrical in their house.”

“I’m sorry, Noah,” Sage said, seeming at a loss for more words than that.

“That’s why she took off that night,” I murmured, more to myself than to Sage. “That’s why she tried to stay away from me. That’s why, even though she knows what happened today was a big mistake, she refuses to trust me and let me back in.”

I know what kind of man you are. I may have forgotten for a while, but I won’t be making that mistake again.The kind who likes to sleep with strangers. The kind who devotes his attention to a woman one minute, then moves on the second a pretty blonde—or two—catches his eye.

My head fell back as my heart rate accelerated. Dakota’s words had seemed like a bunch of nonsense when she said them, but now they made sense. Pushing a harsh breath through my nose, I looked back at Sage.

“What am I going to do?”