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Amid the calm, I heard the crunch of snow I openeddown the trail His hands were shoved in his pockets, and his turkey headband was gone; instead, he wore a pensive expression I seeardless, ed it not to Noah wasn’t meant to be mine

I rubbed ether “Hey,” I whispered

“Hi,” Noah’s deep voice ru, Cams”

“You’re talking to me now?” I didn’t mean to be snarky I knew I had screwed up last Saturday, but the feelings I had for him made his silence hurt

He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes “Cams, you frustrate the hell out of me”

“I know And I’h the snow to the water’s edge A ic of this place Or ht back to a night long ago when Noah, Ben, Mara and I, along with a few other friends, had all decided to camp out down there Everyone else had fallen asleep but Noah and s, heads propped up on our aran to rise We talked about everything froers would make it to the World Series that year I wanted us to be able to be friends like that again I would forget that I had any ros were I realized how much I wanted him to be a part of my life

“Cams” He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me

I turned around and naturally snuggled into hi I just soaked hioodness and friendship in I did my best not to e could behis warm breath felt across my skin

Noah broke the silence “What’s troubling you? Why did you come out here alone?”

I leaned away and was caught by his intense blue eyes boring intoto understand me The consternation I caused him was apparent in the lines on his face He needed to know the truth about why I was so neurotic And I knew I needed to be the one to tell him

“Noah, I know I’ve screwed up and frustrated you and been a terrible friend, but I have my reasons Reasons so painful, I couldn’t tell you”

He rested his forehead against ”

I tried my best not to think about how close our lips were or how inviting his breath was “How’s Annika?” I asked out of the blue I needed a link to reality so fierce