CHAPTER 13

~ Noah ~

I could feel Ash's gaze burning a hole in the back of my neck as I slid another version of my work-in-progress over the bar towards Dex. When I'd actually last looked at my boss, he hadn't been exactly glaring; there had been a frown on his face, but it had been more of a puzzled one.

That had been almost half an hour ago.

Half an hour of me mixing up variations of the minty cocktail, while trying not to turn back and just scream 'Would you stop staring already?!'

Raising my voice to my boss was not a good idea, even if I'd figured out by now that Ash wouldn't fire me over it. He wouldn't be pleased, and he would let me know it, but he wouldn't fire me as long as I didn't make it a habit.

And as long as he didn't watch me like a hawk, I'd have no reason to shout at him.

Besides, I was sure he wasn't staring because he was dying for me to come up with something new for his menu. No. He was here because Dex was here, and he was staring because Dex had actually relaxed after we'd closed up for the night and he'd started on his role of my cocktail tester.

I still didn't have the slightest clue about what had shaken up both guys, but my plan to distract Dex had worked so much better than I'd expected, that's to say, it had actually worked.

Not only did it seem like Dex was too busy to think about whatever had upset them, but seeing his brother more relaxed, had calmed down Ash... Even if he'd switched from anger to 'what the fuck is going on' mode.

Erik, Jess, Gracie, and Mac had stayed behind after hours and seemed just as surprised at Dex's change in mood, and for some reason, the blonde waitress actually seemed excited. She was grinning, occasionally leaning sideways on her stool towards Gracie and whispering in the latter's ear. I knew they were all worried about the Bailey brothers, so I could understand being relieved, joyful even, but excited?

I'd have to ask Jess what that was all about.

But not now.

What mattered now was Dex.

I didn't even care if I'd figure out the right recipe for the cocktail tonight.

All I wanted was to help him.

"I don't like this one," Dex concluded, pushing the cocktail back and taking a gulp out of a bottle of mineral water. "Too sugary."

"I was thinking about omitting sugar from the mixture altogether," I admitted and got a nod from him. He took another sip of water, and then:

"I like the sugarless versions much better."

And in my mind, that settled it. Our most popular cocktails all had sugar in them, which was why I'd included the ingredient in this one in the first place, but I decided that regardless, this particular cocktail will go without it.

"Any more versions for me to try out?" Dex asked, but Ash beat me to a reply:

"I think you've had enough alcohol tonight."

I turned around to see him push himself off of the wall he'd been leaning on and approach the bar.

"And it's time to go home."

An odd sense of disappointment came over me.

I was happy that I'd managed to help Dex out, but even though I agreed with Ash that he'd had enough for one night, I wanted to prolong this and spend more time with the younger Bailey.

I did not say it though.

What I did was nod and start cleaning up the glasses I'd used for the minty cocktails.

~ Dex ~

Ash's silence as he drove me home was setting my teeth on edge. He was no longer angry, but there was something on his mind, something that's been keeping a thoughtful frown permanently on his face ever since he'd seen me test out Noah's minty cocktail versions.

I'd expected Ash to want to speak about it once we were on our own, but we'd been driving for ten minutes and he hadn't said a word to me. Both hands on the steering wheel, eyes on the road, lips sealed, and he gave no indication that would change any time soon.

I shifted in my seat again, arms crossed over my chest, fingers rapping over the bare skin above my elbows.

A part of me craved to ask what he was mulling over, but another part was afraid we'd open up a whole new can of worms and we'd just barely closed the lid on the Julian one.

For now, at least.

As per usual when we drove in the wee hours of the morning, there were barely any other cars in the streets and only the occasional staggering drunk on the sidewalk, so there wasn't much to distract myself with. Five minutes later, I couldn't take the quiet anymore. I gave in to my nerves, and after sighing, I asked:

"Are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"

My brother took a few moments during which I started to tap my foot against the car floor.

"You are not sleeping with Noah," he said, my foot halting at his words, toes raised in the air.

I blinked at him before I finally stammered:

"O-of course I'm not."

"I know." He nodded and spoke no more. I gave him a couple of minutes, but when the silence stretched out again, I asked:

"Why would you bring that up?"

"I just can't figure it out." He made a turn and slowed down as we neared one of the faltering drunks. When we passed by him without having him topple over onto the street in front of us or over the car hood, Ash accelerated while still driving within the speed limit.

"You can't figure what out?" I asked, and this time he stopped the car to wait at a red light. He took the opportunity to turn to me, that frown still in place.

"How you two are not even together and yet he made you forget Julian."

When I'd been in my early teens, a classmate of mine had invited me to his house after school. He'd had a goldfish that he insisted he took out of its round aquarium and place on a small metal tray 'so that I could better look at it'. I remembered how sorry I'd felt for the poor thing that had struggled to catch its breath, flailing its tiny body about.

Trashing aside, I was sure I strongly resembled that fish now.

Eyes large and rounded, mouth opening and closing without any sounds coming out, before finally managing:

"I didn't forget..." But the denial died on my lips.

It had been only for about an hour, but during the time I'd spent with Noah, I hadn't thought of Julian even once. It was after we'd parted and my attention got back to my brother that I remembered my ex, the apprehension that Ash would want to talk about him coming back and eventually being replaced with the confusion about my brother's silence.

The light switched to green and Ash started the engine again. Two blocks down, I asked:

"Aren't you going to warn me again about not getting close to him? About confusing gratitude for saving my life with affection?"

"You seemed to be doing alright."

"'Seemed to'?"

"Seemed to." He nodded. "Now I'm thinking I might've missed something."

"I told you: we are not sleeping together," I slowly stressed. "And we are not going to."

His next words made me do my goldfish-out-of-water imitation once again:

"Why not?"

My arms dropped to the sides of my body, then immediately went back up around my torso.

"Do you want me to sleep with Noah?" I asked, a breath of incredulous laughter escaping me.

"I didn't say that." Ash's grey eyes were on the road, eyebrows knitted. "But you find him physically attractive, and apparently he can make you feel better when you're down - something I, who've known you for longer, failed to do - so it makes me wonder. If you like him, how come you haven't asked him out?"

"You know why I haven't asked him out." I turned my face away from him, hands tightening their grip on me.

"I don't want you to jump into some sort of a rebound, recovery relationship, but even I think that you should, at some point, give another guy a chance. You shouldn't spend your life alone, Dex."

"Really? That's rich coming from you." My voice came out as a snarl, that dark, burning anger that had dissipated with Noah rekindling. "You're always working and you've never had a serious, long-term relationship. Speaking of which: how's Yadira? Did you two even have a second date or did you keep putting it off due to work until she got tired of waiting for you and told you not to bother calling her?"

"We've had a second date." He replied calmly, and I almost laughed at how our roles had switched. Me, the usually level-headed one was irrational and snarky, and my easily annoyed, impatient brother was cool and collected.

"And a third, and a fourth," he added. "Would be having a fifth too, but we're both busy. We're doing vastly different things - what, with her saving lives, and me providing people with an escape - but she understands what it's like to be passionate about what you do and to dedicate yourself to it, even if you lose sleep over it. She gets that, and she gets me."

The sudden, fiery rage died out to barely smoldering embers.

"So what? You two are officially a thing now?" I asked, feeling about him as he must've felt about me: hopeful that there would be a new person in our loved one's live, a person who'd care for them and on whom they could depend on. It was a pleasant and warm sensation, but it came with a dose of embarrassment about how I'd reacted to him only a few brief minutes earlier.

"We're not anything. We're just taking things one step at a time and seeing how it will turn out." His arms turned the wheel. "I like being with her though."

I tried to recall whatever I could about my brother's sort of girlfriend from that one time we'd met. The most vibrant image from that night was Noah's worried, gorgeous green eyes after he'd pulled me away from that car. Everything else - the trip with Yadira to Plymson General, and what had happened there, especially after they'd given me some drugs 'to calm me down' - took a step back to that image that would forever be embedded in my mind.

And yet, I had a fussy recollection that the nurse had been calm, professional, and had eventually put my brother in his place when he'd begun shouting at my doctor. If she could handle Ash, that would already be a good sign, and if she truly understood what it was like to be obsessed with your job, then maybe their relationship could indeed head to something long-term.

"We're here."

I turned to Ash with raised eyebrows and noticed the car had stopped moving. Looking about, I realized he'd parked in front of my apartment building. I nodded and unbuckled, saying a quick 'thanks' and wishing him a good night as I got out. Before I managed to close the car door, he spoke again:

"I'm not saying you must find someone now, and I'm not saying that that someone must be Noah."

I sighed before I leaned down to face him and tell him to just let it drop. The tired look in his eyes kept me quiet long enough for him to say:

"I'm just saying that if you ever consider him in that way, I might not be that opposed to it. He seems like a good kid and he's certainly no Julian."

Before I could reply, he reached for the handle and closed the door. I was still standing in my spot, his parting words playing on repeat in my head when his car was too far away for me to track it with my eyes.

-----

A little reminder: when Noah pulled Dex so he wouldn't get run over by that car, Yadira was also there. She'd been the one to suggest Dex go to the hospital and after Noah rushed off for his job interview, she took Dex there herself.

Anyway.

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PS: I'll have some free time next week so I should be able to make that Who Is Who chart...