Chapter 12

twelve

Noah

I tap the heel of my foot on the ground as I lean against the rented SUV, my eyes on Rose through the wall of windows of Katie’s Diner.

According to Rafael, the private investigator he hired found out she’s been working here since leaving Kingstonville, the same day I left. He also mentioned she’s been working at a family law place, but the investigator didn’t find out why. Rafael didn’t care; he was just happy he found her after he cut her off, but I, on the other hand, care.

She was supposed to be working with mammals right about now, or heck, even animals within the veterinary industry for some experience with animal behavior, but she’s not.

I guess that’s what happens when you have a child before you hit twenty, though it doesn’t explain why she wouldn’t get a job within her interests. The diner, I can understand; she has experience, but the law firm….

My eyes take her in as she smiles and talks to some brunette before I side-eye the KTM 250 Duke, the dark blue shining in the sun.

Oh, what I’d give to grab that thing and take it for a spin, preferably with Rose clinging to my back.

My eyes go back to my girl, I mean, fuck….

I shake my head, looking down for a moment.

In my heart, she’s still my girl, has been since I was fourteen years old, but I fuck, in my head, I’m confused, so very fucking confused, it’s why I haven’t confronted her yet, but that ends now. I’ve been in town for two days, and I’ve sat in this same spot each time she’s in work, with my head fucked up over our situation.

I called in a few favors, and yes, I used my status to get the information I needed, but apparently, she was supposed to be on vacation for two weeks, and her boss asked her to work.

I also sat outside the law office yesterday morning. I got there after her and waited until Al needed me to give him a lift back to the airstrip, taking his plane back to Kingstonville.

He said she wouldn’t speak to him.

When he heard I was coming to find her, he asked to come along. I told him she may not want anything to do with him, and I guess I was right.

I still don’t know what he and Van said to break their relationship, but I know that they haven’t had one in nearly two years.

I side-eye the bike again, regretting not buying one yet. My past and all the conversations with Rose about wanting one clouded me.

Sighing, I push off the SUV, and head into the diner.

The bell dings above my head as I look around the light blue and white place. It feels homey, but there’s only one person I want to focus on, and I look her way as she stands, turning to greet her new customer but freezes, her face paling.

I take in her light-yellow apron and instantly hate it. I hate that this is what she’s doing, something that wasn’t her dream, while I live mine.

But she had a kid, a kid Barnett and Cameron believe could be mine, not putting it past my sister to lie to me, though something this big, this serious…. If Rose were nearly ready to give birth when Gina saw her, she would have been quite big, and Gina would know the difference between a four-month bump and an eight. Right?

I haven’t allowed myself to think about it just yet because once I do, I know I’ll hit the bottle, and I know I’ll kill my sister.

Our eyes connect, and the itch for a smoke I originally wanted before I walked in here. I haven’t had one in two days, and it isn’t lost on me that this woman is the reason why.

She hated it then, so I’m guessing that’s something that hasn’t changed.

I watch as she takes me in, pain, hate, and lust shining in those beautiful dark green orbs of hers.

“Rose?” the dark-haired woman says, snapping Rose out of her head. I don’t move or attempt to speak, knowing what she’s about to say, but I let her.

She needs to think she has the upper hand.

“Natalie, can you please take this customer?” she rasps, and I smirk; I can’t help it.

I saw this coming from a mile away.

“I’m not going to disappear just because you’ve asked someone else to serve me, Petal; we need to talk,” I rasp, her nickname slipping out, but a part of me doesn’t seem to care.

She is my Petal, and she always will be. I have to live with that, because I don’t believe it will ever change.

I watch as she flinches, quickly turning from me, probably hoping I don’t notice the tears building. I grit my teeth.

I want to go to her, to fucking hold her and tell her how much I missed her, but I just, fuck….

That photo was so goddamn heartbreaking, and the feeling that consumed me seeing it—it scared the shit outta me. I’m man enough to admit it, my music proving it anyway without me opening my mouth.

The woman, Natalie, nods and tries to be professional, giving me a fake smile, but the hate in her eyes is real. I try not to smile, knowing Rose has actually made a friend who’s willing to stand up for her, her words confirming it.

“Just because you’re a rock star doesn’t mean I like you. I’m team Rose all day, every day,” she states firmly, giving me a sarcastic smile.

I grin and reply, “Well, I’ll just have to win you over because I’m not going anywhere until Rose and I talk, something we should have done a few years back.”

I see Rose go still, and my grin widens as Natalie narrows her eyes and pushes me toward the other side of the diner. I reluctantly follow and take a seat in the first available booth, but before I can order a coffee, a squeal hits my ears, and I wince as some blonde bimbo with tits that have to be fake rushes over, “Oh my God, I knew I saw you come in here. You’re Noah Scott, the lead singer and songwriter for The Delinquents.”

Her voice goes through me, and Natalie even attempts to cover her ears.

The woman stops right before the table I’m sitting at and shoves Natalie out of the way, making her gasp in surprise, and I silently groan.

She’s one of those fans.

“Can I hug you?” she squeals as I look over to Rose to see her heading to the hole in the wall with plates in her hands. I notice her flinch, and I grit my teeth, hating she reacted that way, but a small part, the fucktard part, kind of likes it.

I smile at the woman, ignoring how her tits are nearly popping outta her tank top, while Natalie steps forward, her face red.

I know a catfight is about to break out because this woman is clearly a really good friend of my….

Ah, fuck it, yeah, mine, she’s my girl.

Fuck me….

Shaking my head, I lift my left hand, showing her Rose’s name on my ring finger. Natalie gasps as the woman’s face falls, and she whines, “Damn, I thought they were just rumors….” She shakes her head and asks, “Can I have an autograph? I have to tell you your song “My Petal” is my favorite….”

I give her another professional smile, grab the pen and paper from her, and state, “Thanks, and no, they are not rumors. Actually, I wrote “My Petal” for my girl when I was fifteen; we’d been together for a year at the time.”

Her body deflates, and I rub my hand over my mouth to hide my smile while Natalie just grins. The woman takes her pen and paper, sulking, then turns but stops and looks over her shoulder, asking, "Can I give you my number, you know, just in case you and your wife don’t work out? I mean, you're nearly twenty-one. Not many marry that young and last….”

I smirk when I see Natalie tense, and I state, “I’ve been in love with my girl since I was fourteen. She’s the only girl I’ve ever been with despite what the tabloids are trying to say, so no you can’t have my number.” Her shoulders deflate, and she walks away. I look at Natalie. “Can I have coffee, please, and keep them coming? I have a feeling Rose won’t come over to me while I’m here.”

She clears her throat and nods, then rasps, “If you love her that much, why did you leave without speaking to her? I uh, I mean, I saw your finger, the letter R on your forearm with the roses, and then there’s the music, and somehow, I doubt that’s the first time you’ve got rid of a woman’s attention that way, and then your confession….”

I sigh and tilt my head toward Rose, only to growl when some dark-haired dick side hugs her before going through the double doors.

“There’s a lot of history. I was hurt and ran instead of confronting her. Now I’m hearing shit, and my head is all over the place. We need to talk,” I admit.

She asks, “And if she refuses before your final show?” I raise a brow, and she just shrugs, “I like your band, not you.”

I snort and state, “It’ll be canceled if she doesn’t speak to me.”

She winces, knowing all the upset that canceling the gig will cause, but I shrug and say, "Though, if you can convince her to speak to me, I’ll give you five free tickets and backstage passes.”

She chuckles and says, “Nice try,” then walks away. I chuckle and sit back, rolling my tongue bar along my bottom lip, and watch Rose.

She can ignore me all she wants, but she knows we need this; we need to talk everything out, even if it's just so we can move on….

Hours, it feels like fucking hours that I have watched Rose before she finishes her shift, laughing and joking with that fucker who seems to be the cook.

Are they together?

Is he the biological father to her child?

Does she love him?

I grit my teeth at my thoughts and watch as she rounds the counter, picking up her bag, but sigh in relief at seeing her say bye to the fucker with a wave instead of a kiss.

With a nod to Natalie, I get up, leaving her a very large tip, and walk out.

I lean against my rented SUV and watch the door for her to come out. I know she thinks I’ve left, but we have unfinished business.

I can’t keep going, feeling numb.

I love her, I always have, and something has to give. Whether or not it’s just for closure for both of us, well, that’s yet to be seen.

Rose walks out, digging through the purple bag I bought her for her sixteenth birthday, and I notice she’s also wearing the necklace I bought her.

Something inside me flutters, but the feeling soon disappears when she walks over to my fucking dream bike and puts her bag in the saddle.

Motherfucker….

Anger takes over, and I snap, “Let me guess, your boyfriend’s bike?”

She looks at me in shock, and our eyes connect, and anger and hurt shine through hers.

All the fucking nights I promised to take her away on that bike, for us to tour the country on it, with the boys in a car behind, before I knew we were getting signed, and she’s got that fucking bike, the one I swore I’d get for her and me, with another man….

Her nostrils flare, and she snaps, “Actually, jackass, I bought this bike on our graduation day as a surprise gift for you!”

My eyes widen in shock, and she scoffs, climbing on the bike and turning it on. She revs it up, and then spins out of the parking lot, and I snap out of my head.

Fuck!

I run to the driver’s side of the SUV and climb in. Spinning outta my spot, I quickly follow her through town.

She has another think coming if she thinks she can tell me something like that, then run off.

More information is just not adding up, and I need fucking answers, and I need them now.

I follow her for two miles before she pulls up outside a colorful building, the sign saying “Alice's Daycare” large above the door. I don’t follow her in; instead, I wait inside the SUV.

She clearly doesn’t want to continue our talk and knows I won’t cause a scene where several kids are.

I know I should leave and try to find her again tomorrow. I'm not sure I can speak to her holding a child that could be another man's, but instead, I roll my tongue bar along my lip again, ignoring the itch to grab a cigarette.

I wait for ten anxious minutes before she finally walks out, smiling and talking to the baby in her arms, and I decide to say fuck it.

I grab my pack of smokes and pull one out.

I shouldn’t have waited because seeing her dote all over a child that could be another man’s is fucking gut-wrenching.

I go to put the smoke between my lips but halt when she places the kid on a harness on the front of the bike, his hands clapping as he grins. I watch as the kid looks my way, and everything in me stills, the smoke that I thankfully didn’t light dropping to the floor.

He has dark red hair and freckles like Rose, but his smile, dark blue eyes, and jawline are all his father.

He’s all me….

Fuck what did I do?

My mouth parts as she pushes the bike toward the sidewalk, but I don’t follow, pain and horror killing me slowly.

She had my baby all alone….

Gina lied to me, which means she lied about the photo, and the four-month bump she swore she saw….

Oh, fuck no…. Did my fucking sister ruin my life all so she could stay on Piper’s good side?