Double Standards

"To say hello." She walked over to the fridge and pulled out a can of soda. "You want one?" she asked, holding out the can.

"No, I'm good. Did you know he was coming?"

"No." She popped open the soda and took a swig before setting it down on the counter. "He said he'd been meaning to stop by for a while."

She wouldn't encourage an interrogation by offering too much up front, but she could understand his concern. Given the fact that he'd allowed her to unleash her questions about Rita when she hadn't the slightest will to hold them back, she'd allow him to ask away, but she'd keep her answers short and to the point.

"So are you two friends again, or is there something else I should know?"

She hadn't even realized her eyes had been glued to her slice of pizza until the change in his tone made her look up at him. "Should know?"

"Yeah, like you planning on picking up where you left off with him?"

"No, of course not." A simple no would've sufficed.

Adding the of course not was uncalled for. It confused things, and she immediately saw it in his curved lip and suddenly bright eyes. It validated a decision she was yet to make, not that it wasn't one she wasn't close to making, but this was too fast—too soon. This was a huge life-changing decision that could ultimately break one of the best friendships she'd made since Nellie. She needed more time to think it through.

"Did you tell him it's outta the question?"

"He didn't ask," she said. "I just don't have any interest in picking up where we left off."

And that was the truth right? That was the reason she'd so swiftly and adamantly nixed any idea that she would even consider reconciling with Derek. There may be a bigger reason soon, but for now she wanted to make this absolutely clear.

Noah finally pulled himself away from the counter he'd been leaning on. "That mean if he shows up again," he said, picking up a slice of pizza, "I can kick his geriatric ass to the curb?"

She had to laugh. "Geriatric?"

"Yeah, he's gotta be pushing fifty, right?"

There was an age difference between her and Derek, but he wasn't that much older. She knew where he was going with this. "He's thirty-six, and no, you will not be kicking anyone's ass anywhere."

"Interesting." He chewed his pizza as he stared at her for a moment. Though humor laced his eyes, there was still that bit of raw intensity she saw earlier when she first walked in from outside. "He's eight years older than you?"

She nodded. "Yes." And Noah was eight years younger than her, not a big difference to him she was sure, but there really was. "But it's different."

His eyes opened wide. "Really? Wow, this should be good." He took another bite of pizza then wiped his mouth. There was a slight kick in his tone now. "Tell me how you dating a guy eight years older is different from me dating a woman eight years older?"

"It's not the amount of years in between; it's where the two people are in their lives when they meet." She didn't even know why she was arguing anymore. She was so close to giving this a go anyway. Any argument she made now would be negated soon enough. "When Derek and I met, we were at a place where we both knew what we wanted."

"So, that made him a sure thing?"

"No, nothing's a sure thing."

"Exactly." He smiled, but there was still some fire behind that smile. He'd won the argument, but he was still peeved. "And for the record," he leaned in close enough to kiss her, "it's not written anywhere that everyone reaches that place at the same age. Seems to me Derek and your friend Nellie's husband are prime examples of this." He leaned in closer and kissed her softly on the lips.

"You're done with this guy and want nothing to do with him anymore, right?" His words were self-assured, but she could still see the uncertainty in his eyes as he waited for her response.

She nodded amazed at how readily she'd given into him. He smiled satisfied and pecked her one more time before pulling away. "Then you'll have to be a little more specific about what I can and can't do the next time his ass shows up. Because I tend to have selective hearing, and I'll tell you right now the only part I'm gonna remember is you not wanting to have anything to do with him." He smirked before picking up another slice. "I've already blocked out the no-kicking-anyone's-ass part."

As she was about to reassert her no-kicking-ass rules, Hector interrupted her thoughts.

"Yo, Noah!" he called from the front room, holding out a controller. "C'mon, it's halftime. Let's go again. Abel says we got lucky. Lemme just beat your ass one last time."

Noah smirked at her, shrugging as he began to walk away. "This conversation isn't over, Noah," she warned.

He put his hand to his ear as if he hadn't heard a thing, mocking her with that sexy smile of his before turning his back to her on his way to the front room.

"For fuck's sake, can you pay attention?" she heard Abel mutter as Noah took the controller and sat down on the floor.

Gio and Hector laughed, and the television was suddenly booming with machine gun fire and bombs. Hector yelled out something about that not being fair while the others laughed. Abel threw a pillow at him. It hit Gio instead who protested loudly. In the midst of the chaos, Noah suddenly turned and glanced at her. He smiled so tenderly her heart turned over, and she swore she felt it swell.

Who would've thought, just a few months ago when she was moping all alone in this silent house, feeling fat and completely uninspired, that she'd be here with all these new friends?

This day might've gone entirely differently had it not been for Noah and the guys. She still hadn't heard from Nellie since the day she left her place in tears, and her anxiety about that was beginning to really get to her. Noah and the guys, but mostly Noah, had really gotten her through today. For an instant, the fear was back in her heart—fear that one wrong move, one hasty decision could make this all go away.

Then they all laughed loudly again, and she decided to let the fears go for now, already anxious about tonight's friendly kiss.