Love and Murder

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Noah and I didn’t talk about Frank after the appointment. He knew in these type of cases, my job required me to poke holes in the prosecution’s case to ensure that the jury saw reasonable doubt. We decided to follow up with Noah’s contact in Pineridge, his dad, a retired cop, in the next few days.

Noah and I had a busy day with Chel. After the appointment with Frank, we drove over to pick her up from Elena’s. Then we took her to Legoland, where for several hours, we spent taking in the attractions, stuffing our faces. Internally, I bitched about the lack of alcohol at the park.

On the way back, my daughter fell asleep.

When we got to my apartment, Noah lifted her from the back seat of the car, put her head on his shoulder, and carried her upstairs, his V-shaped athletic frame making a nice silhouette in the night. I followed them closely, then opened the apartment door for us when we got to the top of the stairs.

After Noah carried her to her room, we quietly removed her shoes, and tucked her in. As Noah left, I kissed her cheek.

“Love you, Dad,” she whispered, moving her head into the pillow.

I stepped out of the bedroom, closed the door, and looked to see if Noah was in the hallway. I found him in the living room, sitting on the large leather couch, and joined him there.

“Is this when you ask me to stay the night?” he asked.

I smiled, and brushed his hair behind his ears. “I love the way you smell, Noah.”

“Flattery will get you only so far.” He chuckled and squeezed my thigh. His hand trailed up my crotch. “I guess I should tell you what I love about you in return.”

“Oh?” Even though I’d heard it before, it didn’t hurt to hear it again.

“I love your sarcastic humor, your crooked smile, and—’’

“And what?”

He laughed. “And that you have great taste in boyfriends!”

“Funny! It doesn’t get old, that joke.” I hunched behind him to massage his shoulders, and answered his earlier question. “Yes, I’d like for you to spend the night. But you know the rules.” I sighed. “By the way, Elena violated them last night though. She had someone stay over.”

“Wow.” I felt Noah tense up as I massaged his neck. “Sounds like her to do that. So, is this the first time she had anyone stay over?”

“I think so. Chel’s never acted like anyone has been staying over.”

“It sounds like Elena gets to do whatever she wants, meanwhile pushing you around, using whatever guilt you have for leaving her against you.” He grabbed my hands and turned to face me. “Why’d you even marry her?” Noah asked.

I wrestled my hands back from him. “We’ve gone over this. We were in law school,” I said, kneading his mid-back. “I thought I was in love with her. It was a tough time for me because I just lost my parents. Look, now I know it was a mistake.”

“Well, at least Chelsea came out of it. She wasn’t a mistake.”

He turned to me, and we kissed. His soft lips contrasted with the feel of his stubble. I could smell his aftershave. It had a hint of sandalwood and citrus. I started unbuttoning his shirt, running my hands over his muscular chest.

He worked out four, maybe five times a week and had the six-pack and biceps to show for it. I barely worked out, maybe twice a week with him. I tried to be careful now about eating too much pasta, conscious that running didn’t burn away the extra pounds like it did when I was younger.

My fingertips on his n*****s, Noah grabbed my hands, stopping me from going any further. “I think we should call it a night.”

“That’s kind of abrupt. What are you upset about?”

“I’m not upset about anything. But there’s no point in going past first base tonight right, is there? I’m not allowed to stay over when Chel’s here. Elena gets what she wants, and you get s**t on some more by Elena.” Noah scowled.

“Where is this coming from? You and my daughter are the most important people in my life. Didn’t I prove it to you the other night?”

Noah looked straight at me. “You shouldn’t have told me about Elena because your actions right now speak louder than words. Our relationship—you and me—it doesn’t seem that important to you.”

“Noah, I don’t think Chel is ready, yet. And just because Elena has someone sleep over doesn’t make it right for me to have someone—”

“Someone?” His tone was sharp. I could see he was upset. “f**k you, Jake,” he whispered, his lip thinned as he held back.

“Bad choice of words. I’m sorry.”

“Problem is that you said it.” Noah stood. He didn’t turn back to look at me.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Stay.” I stood up and followed him. “Please, Noah.”

Without looking at me, he left the apartment. The door banged open and stayed that way. He took the steps fast. I hoped he would turn and look up at me, as soon as he got to the second landing, but he kept going.

I sucked in some air, and in the distance heard his Jeep start up, then the engine noise faded as he drove off.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk to him. Tell him I’m sorry for being such an asshole.