"Don't make promises you can't keep."
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Noah Reed is lost. Fed up with his constant attitude and need for self-destruction, his mother sends him to live out the rest of the year with his father in hop...
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I'm not sure what to think as I watch Noah Reed toss a football back and forth with my brothers in the yard as I help my mother set the outside table for our family dinner with the Reed's.
I don't know what I had been expecting to come out of having Noah Reed over to my house and meeting my family. I guess I'd been expecting Noah to show up and act the same way he's been since I first met him: indifferent and brash. However, he's surprised me today.
Since the moment Noah walked through my front door, he's been nothing but polite. I'd assumed that he would have reverted back to his usual ways by now, but this new behavior of his has prevailed.
When Reeve had asked Noah if he wanted to toss the football around with him and Grayson, I'd half expected Noah to laugh in my brother's face. Instead, he'd smiled and agreed.
Now here we are.
I bite my lip as I spot Noah glancing my way, waiting for Reeve and Grayson to stop tackling each other in the grass. He notices me staring and tilts his head to the right slightly, raising an eyebrow at me in question. I bite down on my bottom lip harder, hear racing in my chest as my eyes dance over Noah's.
"Blake, honey?" I blink, turning away from Noah to face my mother. She offers me a knowing smile, glancing over at Noah as if she knows exactly what I've been thinking.
"Sorry," I tell her. "Did you ask me something?"
"Could you run inside and grab the tea pitcher?" Mom asks. "I forgot it on my way out."
"No problem." I wander into the house, heading for the kitchen. I spot Brooke standing by the window, staring out the glass wistfully, seemingly lost in thought.
"He's so cute," Brooke murmurs to me as I enter the kitchen, not bothering to look up from the window. I assume she's staring at Noah, and that he's also who she's talking about. I doubt she finds any of the other males outside right now "cute".
"Uh, yeah, I guess," I mutter.
"Do you know if he has a girlfriend?" Brooke whirls on her heel, abruptly turning to face me expectantly.
"I don't know," I admit, glancing over at my sister. "Why do you ask?"
Brooke frowns at my response, looking over her shoulder at the window once again. I spot him through the glass, football in hand, gesturing for Grayson to go long.
"I was just wondering," Brooke says casually. "He didn't seem that interested in me earlier. Like, it was pretty clear I was flirting with him. And he, like, shut me down. So, he must have a girlfriend or something. Why else would he turn me down?"
I bite down on my lip as I study my sister, lost in my own thoughts. I'm still not sure why my sister's blatant flirting with Noah had had me feeling so uncomfortable. I can't explain why, and this confuses me.
