Chapter 200

Noah

I had no idea why Lexie suddenly wanted to go to the mall, but at that point I’d learned not to question her weird detours. She wasn’t talking much either—just walking fast, checking over her shoulder like she expected a sniper in the food court which, at this point, I had learnt not to question either.

“Lex,” I said as we stepped inside. “Where are we going? You’ve got that CIA face again.”

She didn’t laugh. “We need somewhere safe.”

“Safe?” I repeated. “We’re literally in public.”

“Exactly.” She kept scanning. “Too many ears in the dorms. Too many in the parking lot. And your house? Noah, every time I go there I see another creepy car. I’m over it.”

She wasn’t wrong. “Yeah, okay. It does feel like someone’s listening to me breathe lately.”

Her hand brushed my arm—a real one, not the fake girlfriend act we’d been doing for weeks. “Come on. Just trust me. One place is safe.”

“Oh yeah? The bathroom?”

“Noah.” She shot me a look. “We’re going to a coffee shop.”

“That’s not safer.”

“It is when Micah works there.”

I stopped instantly. “Micah? What Micah?”

She just smiled and dragged me along like I was a toddler. We headed into this small indie place near the bookstore—low lights, music that sounded like someone sighing into a microphone. And right there, at a corner table with three iced coffees and a pile of croissants, sat Micah.

He waved like he’d been waiting for us all morning. Too happy. Suspiciously happy.

I slowed down. “Wait, you know each other? What the hell…”

We got close and Micah leaned back like he was our therapist or something.

“What’s up, dude?” he said. “Sit. We gotta talk.”

I sat because Lexie pushed me into the chair. “Okay, what’s going on? Why are you two—talking? And plotting? And… smiling?”

Micah shrugged. “Lexi and I formed an alliance.”

“A pact,” Lexie said with a straight face.

“A sacred emotional pact of mutual heartbreak,” Micah added.

I stared. “…what?”

Lexie sighed. “Noah… Micah told me he knew you were in love with someone else.”

My head snapped toward him. “You WHAT?”

Micah held his hands up. “Relax. She already knew! You literally told her five minutes before I walked in. I was going for drama. You ruined it.”

I groaned. “Jesus Christ.”

Micah leaned forward, elbows on the table like we were in a strategy meeting. “Anyway. We had a moment.”

“No we didn’t,” Lexie said flatly.

“We totally did,” he insisted. “We bonded over both wanting stuff we can’t have. Me wanting Aiden to stop being a self-sacrificing martyr—”

“Micah—”

“—and Lexie wishing she wasn’t being shoved into marrying her emotional support football player.”

Lexie smacked his arm. He didn’t even flinch.

“Can someone tell me WHY I’m here?” I asked.

Lexie took a breath. A big one. “We’re going to help you see Aiden.”

My whole body froze.

“What? You are… but—how?”

“After our conversation, I went to meet you for lunch the next day. At first, I was hoping we could still make the best out of our situation, you know? But I found you in the locker room and…That call you had with him,” she said softly. “The one where you were… begging.” Her voice cracked a little. “I heard the end of it. I just—Noah, I can’t let both of you spend your whole lives wondering what would’ve happened if you’d had one more chance.”

Micah nodded, suddenly serious. “We’re getting you to Houston. To Dominion. You’ll see him.”

My throat closed. “That’s—no. That’s impossible. Your dad follows me everywhere.”

“Noah, he follows both of us,” she said. “That’s why we need a plan.”

Micah tapped the table. “First of all, Lexie thinks she’s gonna talk to her dad.”

“I am going to talk to him,” she snapped.

He looked at me. “She thinks he’ll listen.”

“I didn’t say that, Micah…” she muttered. “But I’m his daughter, and he needs to know that I know before the wedding. Maybe—maybe he’ll be satisfied with your football contract if I plead with him not to force the marriage.”

Micah raised an eyebrow. “And you think your tyrannical father will just drop it and let these two be happy… right?”

I didn’t even need to answer. Lexie and I made eye contact and both said:

“Not a chance.”

Micah pointed at us dramatically. “THANK YOU. Finally, realism.”

Lexie sighed. “But I still have to try. If there’s even the tiniest chance he backs off, I have to attempt it.”

“But we’re not betting on that,” Micah said. “We’re betting on Friday.”

He pulled out his phone like he had a slideshow ready.

“William and his wife are attending some fancy opera opening. Big deal. Cameras. Press. He’s sponsoring it. He has to be there.”

Lexie nodded. “He told me he was taking us, but I’m going to say no. I’ll tell him I want one night alone with you before the wedding. A real date.”

Micah grinned. “Oh, the dude will LOVE that. Noah finally dropping the brooding act and playing the perfect fiancé? He’ll relax so fast it’s embarrassing.”

“He always does,” Lexie whispered. “When he thinks he’s winning.”

Micah raised a victory fist. “So while Daddy Dearest is clapping at a soprano he probably paid for, you two will be completely unsupervised. No bodyguards. No shadow cars. Nothing.”

My chest tightened. “But someone’s been following me every day. I hear them. I feel them. Obviously he's not doing it himself. He has men to do that.”

Lexie squeezed my hand. “Not that night. If he’s at the opera, he won’t waste men on us. And he’ll think we’re spending the night together. He'll even be proud.”

Micah smirked. “Which is… gross. But useful.”

I could barely breathe. “You guys… you’re serious?”

Lexie nodded. “I want you to be happy, Noah. Even if it’s not with me.”

Micah tapped his straw against his cup. “And I want Aiden to stop acting like a Victorian widow.”

I laughed. I actually laughed. And it hurt because it had been so long.

They both smiled at me—Lexie soft, Micah smug, as I felt my chest loosened.

Micah lifted his drink. “So. Operation Reunite the Idiots is official.”

Lexie raised hers.

I swallowed, my voice barely coming out. “Thank you.”

Micah winked. “Don’t thank us yet. We still gotta keep you alive until Friday, but then again… What's the worst that can happen?”

And just then, I should’ve slapped him for asking the worst question known to men…