“I'm sure I can do a better job than her.” Noah’s body stiffens, his eyes narrow as he slowly turns a glare full of hatred on Bianca. Her eyes widen slightly as she takes in the wave after wave of anger, frustration and hatred.
“Don’t talk about my fiancé like you’re better than her. You’re so far below her that you don’t even deserve to share the same air with her.”
“Fiancé?” Her voice comes out half laughter, half anger. “You expect me to believe you and Valdo are engaged? That’s insane, Noah.” She spits out my last name like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
A cheeky grin spreads across my face. I slowly raise my left hand, holding it out to her. A horrified gasp leaves her lips as her eyes fill with tears.
“Pretty sure this ring agrees that we’re engaged.”
“Oh! Lemme see! Lemme see! I didn’t know you guys got to the jewelers already!”
Miranda pulls my hand across the table, turning it one way and then the other examining every single detail of my beautiful ring. Noah did an amazing job of picking it out. I was with him but I asked him to pick it. I wanted it to be from him, something he’d choose if he’d gone alone. Somehow him picking the ring makes it feel more special to me.
“Damn, big man, you did an amazing job!”
Noah smiles one of his massive smiles, showing off those gorgeous dimples. Bianca’s eyes are as wide as a deer in headlights.
“You’re smiling... you don’t smile.” Bianca sputters.
“I do when I have my future wife by my side.”
“I don’t believe you’re actually getting married.”
“You don’t have to. It won’t affect Frankie or I.”
“I can't believe this!” She shrieks as she stomps away, catching every person in the cafeteria’s attention.
“Well, that went better than expected.” Miranda says happily. I can't help the snort of laughter spilling from my lips.
“How did that go better than you expected? What did you think she’d do?”
“I was positive she’d punch you. I took off my hoops in preparation for a throw down.” She pulls her hair back, revealing the empty holes where her earrings should be.
“The bestie’s got your back.” Noah says proudly.
“Damn straight!” They fist bump like they've been friends for years and not a few weeks.
“So, when are we planning the wedding?” Miranda’s face lights up with excitement as she stares over at me.
“I don’t know yet.” I glance up at Noah, his eyes are locked on me, a huge smile plays on his lips. He wraps his arm around me, pulling me into his side and places a gentle kiss on my forehead. I couldn’t love this man any more if I tried.
I have no clue when we’ll officially get married, but it honestly doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is having him back in my life. Not only did I get my best friend back, but I gained the love of my life, and my future husband. I never dreamed of a future filled with this much happiness, and our happily ever after is just beginning.
Chapter Forty-One
Miranda
“Liam! Wait up!” I jog down the hall, trying to catch up with him before he leaves. We both know he won't wait for me; he’ll gladly leave me behind even though he knows I want to talk to him. He’s a pain in my ass.
“Nope!” He calls over his shoulder. I swear he starts jogging to get away from me faster. Too bad I’ve been a runner my whole life. It takes some effort but I catch up to him before he reaches the door to the parking lot.
“What do you want, Miranda?”
“You know, you don’t have to act like you hate me all the time.”
“It’s not an act. I actually hate you.”
“You see, you say that... but all I hear is You’re my best friend, Miranda. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’re absolutely delusional, do you know that?”
“Pfft, I think you mean absolutely amazing!”
“What do you want, Miranda?”
“I just wanted to chat... You ok? You’ve seemed off lately.”
“You don’t care, Miranda. Just leave it.”
My chest aches. He thinks I don’t care about him, but I do. I care if he’s going through something. I care if he’s in pain. I want to be there for him, I want to help him however I can. We might not be friends by choice but we might as well learn to tolerate each other.
“I know you don’t believe it, but I do care, Liam.” I place my hand on his forearm. His gaze snaps down to where my skin meets his. His whole body tenses before his eyes meet mine. “I'm serious, Liam. I'm here for you... I don’t know anyone here other than Frankie and Noah. Maybe we could try to be friends.”
“I'm not sure I can handle you, Miranda.” Liam rolls his eyes, quickening his strides, I almost have to run to keep up with him.
“Fine! Then we won’t be friends. You can hate me but I'm not going anywhere, Liam. Frankie and Noah are going to force us to be around each other. I figured it’d be nice if we were friends all on our own and not just forced to be around each other. But, whatever.”
I slam my door shut, ending our conversation. I'm trying to be nice but he can't stand me enough to even try. I'm not going to put forth a ton of effort for someone who doesn’t even care. He can go fu-
My phone rings, pulling me out of my I hate Liam thoughts. My lips lift from a frown to a smile.
“Maxy! I miss you so much!”
“Hey girly, how’s everything going? How’s the new school?”
“Ehh, it’s ok.”
“What’s wrong, Miranda?”
“Who says something’s wrong?”
“I say. I know you; I know when you’re upset. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Ugh! Sometimes I hate you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Spill it, darling.”
“It’s just, I love being here with Frankie. It’s awesome and her boyfriend, Noah, is amazing. Noah’s friend, Liam is... difficult.”
“What does that mean?”
“He hates me, Max. He makes it well known that he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I don’t know anyone else from this school and it’s really lonely. Frankie and Noah are awesome, they include me in everything they do but I always feel like a third wheel. I'm tired of feeling like no one cares.”
“Sweetie... You know people care about you. I care about you, you’re the most important person in the world to me.”
“More important than your girlfriend?”
His chuckle rings through the line, warming my heart even more. I miss him.
“Yes, even more important than Shelly. You’re never alone, Miranda. You can always come visit me at college.”
“I'm going to. I just need to get settled here first.”
I hook up my phone to the Bluetooth in my car then pull out of the parking lot.
“I miss you, darling. I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“I know. I miss you too, Max.”
“Don’t forget about me.”
“Oh, please! I could never forget about yo-“
My words drift off when I see a familiar figure on the side of the road.
“I thought you’d never forget about me! You didn’t even finish your sentence.”
Squinting to make sure what I'm seeing is real, I start pulling over to the side of the road.
“Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you back.”
“Mirand-“
I press end, cutting off Max’s words. I need to figure out what’s going on right now. Rolling down the passenger side window, I lean over as far as I can.
“Hey, handsome, what you doing walking?”
His body freezes when my voice floats out of the car. His shoulders slump, he looks completely defeated. It breaks my heart a little to know he hates me this much. I don’t understand why.
“You can't leave me alone, huh?”
“Get in the car, Liam.”
“Just go home, Miranda.”
“No! I’ll follow you the whole way home.”
“Why are you so stubborn?”
“I was born this way. Why do you hate me so much?”
“Why did you stop, Miranda?”
“Because even if you don’t care about me, I care about you. Get in the car, Liam.”
“If I do will you be quiet the whole way home?”
“Mmhmm.”
“You’re crossing your fingers, aren’t you?”
“No!” He narrows his gaze on me, clearly not believing a word I say. “Fine! I was! We both know I can't be quiet! That’s like asking you not to have a sexy smile, it’s just not possible.”
A small smile tugs on his lips, I swear his eyes soften a bit towards me. He looks around, contemplating what he’s going to do.
“I'm not joking, I’ll follow you home. It’s cold as balls out here, there’s no reason for you to walk if you don’t have to.”
“Fine.” He lets out an exhausted sigh. “You can drive me home but you can't ask any questions.”
I roll my eyes, making sure Liam can see it. I know he’s hiding something. I'm going to figure out what it is, I'm never giving up on him.
Author's Note
Thank you so much for reading Never Letting Go! I hope you enjoyed Frankie and Noah’s story. I binge wrote this book, completely obsessed with the story. They stole my heart and wouldn’t let go, I pushed aside every other work in progress to get their story on paper. Would you believe I came up with their story after finding a cover photo but no story to go with it?? Sometimes I get inspiration from the craziest things! I want to thank my mom for being my biggest cheerleader through all of my writing, always being the first to read whatever mess I hand her. Always demanding more! Tia... I don’t know how I can properly thank you for everything you do for me. You kick my ass into gear and calm me when I go into panic mode. My stories would be a world of difference without you ripping them apart and pointing out all my errors. Thank you! You’re more of a super human than you believe! ~Kristin
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Also by Kristin MacQueen
Charlie's Boys Series
Adoring Addi
Keeping Kendra
Overlooking Olivia (December 2019-Preorder now)
Loving Lacey (March 2020-Preorder now)
Surprising Sammie (Coming Soon)
Kissing Kennedy (Coming Soon)
Daring Delaney (Coming Soon)
Never Series
Never Letting Go
Never Giving Up (Coming spring 2020-Preorder now)
Stand Alone Titles
Life After I Do (Coming Soon)
*All titles are subject to change*
Never Letting Go Page 19