Page 20 of Love Unspoken

"Because I don't want the car payments."

"Are you short of money?"

I sighed and felt irritation flare. "It's really none of your business." I was usually not rude, but he was pushing all my buttons.

"It is if you're not getting paid enough to even buy a car."

"I'm paying off my father's medical bills. Insurance didn't cover everything and so…until then I have to be careful. You pay me fine."

"I thought Nolan was helping you with that."

I couldn’t stop a laugh and then pursed my lips, regretting the outburst. "He and Kara just bought their house, and he doesn't have money to spare."

"I see."

"Okay then, bye." I got on my bicycle and pedaled as fast as my legs would allow so I could put some distance between Amias and me.

EIGHT

AMIAS

I called Hayes on my way to my apartment.

"What's up? You in New York already?" Hayes asked.

He was in Chicago with his family for Thanksgiving. He was close to his parents and siblings—unlike me who came from a completely dysfunctional family. But even in my family we'd not do what Nolan was doing to Naya.

"Leaving in a few hours. Do you remember when we were talking about Nolan's dad's medical bills?"

"Ah…remind me?"

"This was after he died, and Nolan mentioned there was a mountain of bills and⁠—"

"Yeah, and he had to pay it down. That's when he went on the rant about the how expensive healthcare is," Hayed chuckled.

"What if I told you that he isn't paying one damn cent and Naya is carrying all of it?"

There was a pause. "Wouldn’t surprise me. He and Kara bought that house they can't afford. He gets to live in a nice home, and she has to pay this off on her own?"

"Yeah, man. Ann ridiculed her the other day for living in some hovel in South End and she bicycles everywhere because she can't afford a car."

"She's bicycling in Boston in this weather?" Hayes exclaimed.

"Yeah. Just watched her ride off into the snowy night," I bit out.

"Well, Nolan is a dick. We know that. I feel bad for Naya though. She's a good kid."

She wasn't a kid. She was a woman. And today while she was presenting, her hands in the pockets of her dress slacks, I spent an inordinate amount of time watching the fabric tighten across her ass when she moved. She was in some baggy blouse that hid fսcking everything, but I'd seen her in a tight tank top and had no trouble imagining her tits. Sure, they were smaller than what I usually preferred but I remembered how they were pert; how her stomach was tight and her arms feminine in their strength. She'd put on her windbreaker too quickly for me to peruse properly but what I'd seen was still sexy as hell.

"And it's her first Thanksgiving since her father died…guess where Nolan and Kara are?"

"Fucking hell. She alone? You said she had a boyfriend, some ex-NFL player."

"He's just a friend, and he's in Miami. She's all alone for Thanksgiving, Hayes. What the fuck is wrong with Nolan?"

"He's a selfish mother fucker and his wife is a narcissist."

"I don't know what the fuck to do."