Noah tried to tell her she’d been right to speak up and tell Nellie how she felt, especially given the fact that Roni said Nellie would have done the same thing had the tables been turned. Still as much as she tried to pretend nothing was wrong, there was no masking it. She was sad and he hated to see her that way.

That afternoon Roni kept herself busy in the kitchen and later in her darkroom. She’d just walked out of the darkroom and Noah turned, glad to see her smiling for a change.

Someone knocked at the front door and Roni walked through the front room to get it. They’d ordered pizza but it was way too soon for that to arrive. Since Noah had been living with her, the only people that ever came to the door were solicitors. Not once had she had any visitors. Even Nellie was yet to drop in since he’d been there.

They’d moved on from boxing to Call Of Duty, a military type game where they paired up in teams. “Noah, what are you doing?” Abel nudged him with his knee. “You’re supposed to back me up, he almost got me.”

Hector laughed, going heavy on the bombs taking advantage of Noah’s slipup. Noah made a few maneuvers getting his man out of harm’s way but his eyes were back on the door where Roni smiled as she greeted whoever it was. She glanced back at Noah with an expression he couldn’t quite make out before she walked out onto the porch closing the screen door behind her.

“Dude, can you f**king pay attention?” Noah looked back at the screen in time to see his man blown up. “You see?” Abel nudged him again.

The screen changed and Noah was down one life. He only had two left but he couldn’t care less. He paid more attention now but still glanced back at the front door repeatedly. From the window that was partially covered with thin drapes he could see a man leaning against the railing of the porch but he couldn’t see Roni. She was probably leaning against the wall.

It could be anyone, a solicitor, a neighbor, but his already tightening gut told him otherwise. Since Roni had gone back to work, she’d mentioned reacquainting with old friends. That look she’d given him as she walked out put him completely on edge.

Noah managed to stay in the game for another fifteen minutes until he and a very annoyed Abel were wiped out. Fifteen minutes was a relatively short time considering they could’ve gone on much longer had Noah actually been trying.

Noah stood up tossing his controller on the sofa. “Leave it off, Hector. The game is gonna start if it hasn’t already.”

“Oh yeah. The playoffs are on today,” Hector said, flipping it from the PS3 to television mode.

Gio, who was always the first to catch on to what was going on in Noah’s head, didn’t miss a beat asking in a curious but cautious tone, “who’s that out there with Roni?”

Noah shrugged on his way to the door, but he was about to find out. He opened the door leaning his upper body out. As he suspected, Roni was leaning against the wall just outside the door. Noah recognized the guy immediately and smiled feeling an immediate relief wash over him. No way could Roni be into this ass**le, though he did wonder what Kratz was doing visiting her. “Small f**king world.” Noah reached out his hand to shake the dean’s.

Roni shifted nervously. “You know Derek?”

Like a flame doused with ice water the relief Noah felt just moments earlier was snuffed in an instant. “Derek?”

Derek shook his hand heartily with a smile. “Well, he probably remembers me only as Dean Kratz, but yeah I remember Noah. How the hell are you?”

Noah nodded suddenly at a loss for words. The dean was Roni’s ex?

“You two related?” The dean asked with a curious smile.

“No, uh,” Roni glanced at Noah then back at Derek. “Noah is my roommate.”

That fizzled the dean’s smile a little. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” Noah said, looking him square in the eyes.

Noah took in the Dean from top to bottom. He hadn’t changed a whole lot since he last saw him. Still tall, well built for his age and he still carried that pompous air about him, but something was gone now. Maybe it was because Noah was no longer at the mercy of his rule or maybe it was that he’d just jumped to the top of Noah’s list of all time ass**les, but he was no longer as intimidating as he’d once been.

“Roni mentioned her roommate was a boxer but I would’ve never made the connection. I remember you boxing even back when you were still in school.” The dean gave him a once over. “What are you a junior lightweight?”

Noah caught the double ended jab and chuckled. The guy was big but not as big as he obviously thought he was. He stepped out into the porch so the ass**le could get a good look at his lightweight frame. “Light heavyweight actually.”

Derek raised his eyebrows as Noah crossed his arms in front of him. A car pulled into the driveway grabbing all their attention for the moment. The driver reached in the back seat and jumped out of the car with pizza boxes. “Oh, let me get my purse,” Roni said, stepping away from the wall.

“I got it,” Noah said, sticking his hand in his pocket.

“You sure?” Roni asked.

Noah nodded as Gio walked out the front door pulling money out of his pocket. He handed Noah two tens. “This is me and Abel’s share.”

Noah took the money and walked past Derek. Turned out the man who once towered menacingly over him was exactly his height now. After paying the delivery guy he turned back to Roni who held the door open for him. Gio had already gone back inside. “The paper plates are in the pantry. I’ll be right in,” Roni said as Noah walked toward her. “I’m just gonna walk Derek to his car.”