Friendship On Fire. Joss Wood

daily conversations one of them could’ve told her that Noah was back in Boston.

      Five words, not difficult. “Noah is back in Boston.”

      Or even better: “Noah is back in Boston, living in our house.”

      He was tall and built and it wasn’t like they could’ve missed him!

      Jules sat down on the edge of her bed, her feet bouncing off something unfamiliar. Looking down, she saw a pair of men’s flat-heeled, size thirteen boots. Lifting her head, she looked around her bedroom. A man’s shirt lay over the back of her red-and-white-checked chair, a leather wallet and a phone were on her dressing table. No doubt Noah’s clothes were in her closet, too. Noah was not only back in her life, he’d moved into her bedroom and, literally, into her bed.

      Jules frantically pushed the buttons on her phone, cursing when neither Darby nor DJ answered her call. She left less-than-happy messages on their voice mails and she was about to call Levi—who hadn’t shared the news either—when her phone vibrated with an incoming call.

      “Mom, guess what I found in the house when I got home a little while ago?” Jules asked, super sarcastic. “Guess you didn’t know that Noah was home either, huh?”

      “Damn, you found him.”

      In the shower, gloriously, wonderfully naked. Spectacularly naked and I must’ve looked at him like I wanted to eat him up like ice cream because, before saying a damn word, he kissed the hell out of me. “Yeah, I found Noah.”

      “I told your siblings to tell you,” Callie said.

      Hearing a noise coming from her mom’s phone, Jules frowned. “Where are you?”

      “At a delightful coffee shop that’s just opened up next to the gym at LCC,” Callie replied. “Amazing ambience and delicious coffee—”

      “And the owner is really good-looking!” A deep voice floated over the phone and was quickly followed by Callie’s flirty laugh. Wait...what? Her mom was flirting?

      “Is he?” Jules asked, intrigued enough to briefly change the subject.

      “Is he what?” Callie replied, playing dumb.

      Really, they were going to play this game? “Good-looking, Mom.”

      “I suppose so. But too young and too fit for me.”

      “I’ll admit to the fit but not to the too young. What’s ten years?” the cheerful voice boomed. “Tell your mom to accept a date from me!”

      Well, go, Mom! Despite her annoyance at her family in general, Jules laughed, listening as her mom shushed the man. “Maybe you should take the guy up on his offer. Might be fun.”

      “I’m not discussing him with you, Jules,” Callie said, and Jules was sure she could hear her blushing.

      Since Callie normally shared everything with her daughters, Jules knew this man had her unflappable mom more flustered than she cared to admit. Now, that was interesting. Before Jules could interrogate her further, Callie spoke. “So, how do you feel about Noah being back in Boston?”

       Sidewinded. Horny. Crazy. Flabbergasted.

      Not wanting her mom to know how deeply she was affected by this news—hell, the world was Jell-O beneath her feet—Jules let out an exasperated laugh. “It’s not a big deal, Mom. Noah is entitled to come home.”

      “Oh, please, you’ve been dreading this day for years.”

      Jules stared down at the glossy wooden floors beneath her feet. “Don’t be ridiculous, Mother.”

      “Jules, you’ve been terrified of this day because you’ll no longer be able to leave your relationship with Noah in limbo. Seeing him again either means cutting him out of your life for good or forgiving him.”

      “There’s nothing to forgive him for.” Okay, she had a couple of minor issues with that gorgeous, six-foot-plus slab of defined muscles. Things like him getting engaged to a woman he didn’t love and kissing her on New Year’s Eve while he was engaged. And then for remaining engaged to Morgan, disappearing from her life without an explanation—she was still furious that he dropped out of college without finishing his degree—and not trying to reconnect with her when he and Morgan had finally called it quits.

      In the space of seven years, the two men she loved the most, her best friend and her dad, had dropped out of her life without rhyme, reason or explanation. Her dad had been healthy, too healthy to be taken by a massive heart attack but that was exactly what happened.

      Jules doubted there was a reasonable explanation for Noah abandoning her and their lifelong friendship, for not being there at her dad’s funeral to hold her hand through the grief.

      Okay, maybe that last one wasn’t fair; Noah had been in the middle of his last race as a professional sailor at the time.

      “No more coffee for me, Mason,” Callie said, snapping Jules out of her wayward thoughts.

      She grabbed her mom’s words like a lifeline. “Mason is a nice name. Is he hot? If he’s too young for you, can I meet him?”

      “He’s far too old for you and not your type.” Well, that was a quick reply...and a tad snappy. Did her mom have the hots for Coffee Guy? And why not? It was time she started living for herself again.

      “I don’t have a type, Mom,” Jules replied, and she didn’t. She dated men of all types and ethnicities but none of them stuck. She didn’t need a psych degree to know that losing the two men she loved and trusted the most turned her into a card-carrying, picket-sign-holding commitment-phobe.

      “Of course you do—your type is blond and brown-eyed and has a body that would make Michelangelo weep.”

      She hadn’t said anything about Michelangelo, had she? How did her mom know that? “Why do you say that?”

      “I’m old, not dead, Jules. The boy is gorgeous.”

      Noah, wet and naked, flashed behind her eyes. Goddammit. Like she needed reminding.

      “You need to deal with him, Jules. This situation needs to be resolved.”

      Why? Noah had made his feelings about her perfectly clear when he dropped out of her life. She’d received nothing from him but the occasional group email he sent to the whole clan, telling them about his racing and, after he retired from sailing, his yacht design business. He didn’t mention anything personal, instead sharing his witty and perceptive observations about the places he visited and the people he met.

      His news was interesting but told Jules nothing about his thoughts and feelings and, once having had access to both, she wasn’t willing to settle for so little, so she never bothered to reply. For someone who’d had as much of his soul as he could give, she’d needed more, dammit...

      “Mom. God, just butt out, okay?”

      There was silence on the other end of the phone but Jules ignored it, knowing that it was her mom’s way of showing her disapproval. “Mom, the silent treatment won’t work. This is between Noah and me. Stay out of it.”

      Jules rubbed the back of her neck, feeling guilty at snapping. Her mother had mastered the art of nagging by remaining utterly silent. How did she do that? How?

      “Mom, I know you love me but I need you to trust me to do what’s best with regard to Noah.” Not that she had any bright ideas except to avoid him.

      “The problem, my darling, is that you and Noah are so damn pigheaded! Sort it out, Jules. I am done with this cold war.”

      Jules heard the click that told her Callie had disconnected the call and stared at her phone, bemused. Her mom rarely sounded rattled and considered hanging up to be the height of rudeness. But as much as she loved her mother, she was an adult and had to run her life as she saw fit. That meant leaving her relationship with Noah in the past, where it