“Noah?” she grunts. “Noah Cage? Like King of Haven Falls? Pack leader? Most intimidating guy on the face of the earth?”
My cheeks flame as I suddenly become sheepish. “Yeah.”
“Well… shit,” she says, giving herself a moment to get used to the idea. “So, Spencer?”
“Was supposed to be fun.”
She scrunches up her face. “Doubt it,” she grumbles before giving me a small smile. “I’m happy for you,” she says before she starts biting her bottom lip. Kaylah is quiet for a moment as she looks down at her hands. “I’ve missed you,” she admits. “It been pretty shitty not having you around. I had to make new friends at Broken Hill and it wasn’t easy.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I’ve missed you too, but you could have called me or come by.”
She lets out a sigh. “Do you think…?” she cuts herself off, unable to word whatever she’s thinking.
“Yeah,” I tell her, being able to read her like a map. “We can.”
“Slowly?”
I shake my head and give her a grin. “No way in hell. You’re not getting one foot through the door just to hover in the damn thing. If you’re in, you’re all in. None of this taking it slowly bullshit. We’ve been friends for too long for that crap.”
Kaylah lets out a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank God,” she rushes out before throwing herself forward and crashing into me with wide arms. “I’ve hated being angry with you.”
“Fuck,” I curse, cringing in agony. “Get off me, skank.”
She gasps. “Shit.”
She hurries off me and checks me over before scrunching up her face. ‘I think you need a shower. All your blood is matted in your hair.”
“Great.”
She helps me up off the couch and slides her arm around my waist as we walk slowly towards the bathroom. She quickly strips off my clothes and orders me into the shower where I’m finally able to feel somewhat human again, despite the way my body screams with every touch.
Afterward, I wrap a towel around myself and sit down on the closed toilet and watch as she darts across to my bedroom, thankful that she knows her way around my house almost better than I do. Kaylah searches through my closet and pulls out a pair of sweatpants and grabs a shirt from the clean washing pile.
I smother a smile as I realize she’s grabbed the shirt Noah had given me after he threw me in the cold shower. Kaylah pulls it over my head and it takes all of three seconds for her to glance down at my body. “Is that a boy’s shirt?”
“Nope,” I say, which technically isn’t a lie. I’ve definitely claimed it as my own so as of now, it’s my shirt.
Kaylah rolls her eyes. “Alright,” she says. “Are you good? Do you need pain killers?”
“I should be fine,” I grumble. “I just want to eat something and go to bed.”
“K,” she murmurs, walking forward and slipping her arm around my body. She walks me back out to the living room where we find Jackson sitting on the couch with no sign of the bloodied tissues and bandages.
I give him a grateful smile and go to crash down on the couch, only he stops me with a shake of his head. “You’re not staying here by yourself tonight. Do you want to stay at our place?”
My back straightens as I think it over before shaking my head. I have too much shit to work out with Noah. “Can you take me to Noah’s place?”
His eyes narrow, clearly not liking the idea of me and Noah, but there’s not much he can do about it. He doesn’t know him the way I do and he’s taking the fact that he’s into shady shit and using that to judge his character. Not fair.
Jackson all but carries me out of the house and helps me into his car before Kaylah climbs into the back. The movement of bending down into his car is nearly enough to kill me. It’s excruciating and I can happily say that I never want to get jumped by a bunch of cheerleaders again.
Don’t be fooled. I will get my revenge for this. Henley Bronx is not one to sit back and let this type of shit happen. They will get what they deserve and I’m going to love every second of handing it to them.
As Jackson takes off up the road, I can’t help but take in Rocko standing out the front of his house, his head is bent down over the front of his car as he works on something in the engine. He didn’t have to go out of his way to call for help, but he did and I’ll forever be grateful. Hell, maybe he’s trying to make up for all the shitty things he’s done in the past. All I know, is that at some point, I’m probably going to have to say thank you.
Chapter 19
I point out a few directions and it’s not long before Jackson pulls up at Tully’s place and helps me out of the car. It feels like a lifetime getting from the car to the front door, but when we do, relief surges over me. I’m so close to being able to crash down onto a bed.
Noah’s Camaro wasn’t parked out front which all that manages to do is make me question what he’s doing. Is he with her or are he and Rivers doing whatever the hell it is they do? On the good side, he’s not here to bug me with a hundred and one questions about what happened to my face, just Tully who will probably rush around, making sure everything is comfortable and in reaching distance.
What would I do without her?
Kaylah knocks on the front door and Tully pulls it open a second later. Her brows pull down, probably wondering why the hell Kaylah and Jackson Millington are standing on her doorstep, but then her eyes roam over me.
They widen in terror. “Oh, my God,” she screeches, reaching for me. “What the hell happened to you? Who did this?”
Jackson helps me inside and leads me straight to the couch as Kaylah hangs back at the door. I can’t help but look back and notice a slight flicker of jealousy pulsing through her, but that’s that price you pay when you abandon someone. You can’t expect them to wait around forever. Things change.
I turn back to Tully. “Who do you think?” I grunt out.
“No,” she gasps. “She wouldn’t...She couldn’t.”
“Well, she sure as hell did.”
Jackson sets me down on the couch and looks over me. “You all good here?”
“Yeah,” I say with an awkward smile. “Thanks.”
He nods. “Alright, Kid. I’ll see you around, k? Don’t be a stranger.”
“Look who’s talking,” I mutter. He laughs and sends me a wink before heading for the door and dragging Kaylah back up the driveway, completely disappearing.
“Well, that was weird,” Tully murmurs.
“Tell me about it. It was uncomfortable while also so familiar, but we were able to talk some shit over. Rocko called Kaylah to say I needed help. I guess he hasn’t taken much notice of the fact that she hasn’t been around for a while.”
“Yeah, well you know Rocko. If it doesn’t concern him, he usually doesn’t give a shit,” she reminds me before a sheepish cringe flutters across her face. “How are you feeling? Do you want to talk about it?”
I press my lips together and shake my head gently, knowing that if I was to move too fast, the pain will shoot back through my head like a jackhammer. “No. Do you know where Noah is?” I ask. "I should probably talk to him.”
“Seriously?” she scoffs. “He’s not going to expect you to sort out all your shit right now. You can sleep on it and talk when you’re feeling a bit better.”
“No, I just… need to talk to him. What happened with Monica, he just… I really need to talk to him.”
“OK,” she says with a heavy confusion. “I’ll try calling him again, but I haven’t heard from him all day. Rivers still hasn’t seen him either. Have you tried texting him?”
“Monica smashed my phone,” I tell her.
Tully sucks in a breath. “Are you kidding?” she demands. “I swear, that bitch has taken it too far this time. Was it just her? I bet she had Candice with her.”
“There were about five of them,” I inform her. “Candice and Monica jumped me while some skank held me down and the other two ransacked my place. It’s a fucking me
ss.”
“Shit,” she sighs. “I’ll help you clean it.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“It’s fine,” she tells me. “Now, how are we going to get her back?”
---------
A pain stabs through the back of my ribs and I continue tossing and turning just like I’ve been doing all night. I’ve hardly slept at all as every time I move, I end up pressing down on another bruise.
This sucks. Big time.
I sit up in Tully’s bed and reach over her to light up the screen of her phone. It’s just after three in the morning, but the good news is that the headache that came with being jumped seems to have faded to a distant hum.
Realizing that trying to get a good night’s sleep is ridiculous, I push up out of her bed and tiptoe out her bedroom door, hoping I don’t wake her as I gently close the door behind me. I stop in the bathroom and pee before checking myself out. My bruise from Noah looks nasty and the rest of the cuts and bruises over my body make me look like I was jumped. Oh wait, I was fucking jumped.
Who would have known that a bunch of cheer bitches could cause so much damage?
I turn on the light in the living room before making my way through to the kitchen and rummaging through the freezer for an ice pack. All I find is a bag of frozen vegetables and decide it’s going to have to do.
I grab some more pain killers and a bottle of water before lifting myself up onto the counter and sorting out the pills. I quickly swallow them before taking the frozen veggies and holding the bag against my sore ribs. They’re definitely not broken, but they sure as hell are bruised.
“What are you doing here?” a low voice rumbles through the darkened kitchen.
My head whips around to see Noah leaning against the wall, studying my back, but the second he takes in my face, his eyes widen and he rushes forward, completely forgetting about the bullshit between us as this is so much bigger than us.
He makes his way around the front of the counter and practically pushes himself between my legs in his need to look me over. “What the hell happened?” he demands, studying every little mark on my skin, his eyes jumping from left to right and back again in nothing but pure panic. “Who did this to you?”
I place the frozen vegetables down as distaste flashes through me at having Noah see me like this. I like being strong. I like being seen as the girl who doesn’t get affected by shit, but right now, I’m weak. I’m more than weak. I’m hurt and my soul is crying out for him.
Noah's fingers gently brush over the bruise and stitches that he had given me and I see nothing but devastation clouding his eyes. “Fuck,” he breathes.
My hands move up from my lap and find his shoulders before trailing around the back of his neck, desperately needing him close. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, moving in closer and resting his forehead against mine as I wrap my legs around him.
“It’s ok,” I murmur. “It was an accident.”
His hand brushes over my ribs, right where I was holding the bag of frozen vegetables somehow manages to make it feel a million times better. “This wasn’t though,” he says with a raging storm growing behind his green eyes. “Who did it?”
I ignore his question and remove one of my hands from around his neck. I place it at his chin and raise it so he looks me in the eye. “Are you ok?”
He shakes his head and I can’t resist him any longer. I lean into him and press my lips to his.
His lips capture mine for the briefest second before he pulls back. “Spitfire,” he whispers with regret.
Hurt floods me as I pull him back to me, ignoring his blatant rejection. I press my lips to his once again, not giving a shit what he thinks is right. I need him and I’m taking it whether he wants it or not. A groan is pulled out of him as he gives in and he winds his arms around my body before sliding me forward on the counter until our bodies are pressed firmly together.
Not for a single second does he remove his lips from mine and suddenly all the pain and heartbreak of the past week seem like nothing. Noah and I have something that neither one of us have been able to explore, but it’s there nonetheless and I’m sick of holding back from him.
I am his. Body, mind, and soul. Every part of me even if it means dealing with girls like Monica and Candice. He’s my alpha, my pack leader, and I’m his beta, ready and willing to be anything he needs me to be.
I sigh into him, everything I’ve been through today was worth it just for this moment with him.
Noah’s hands slide up my back as he holds me, making me feel like I’m home. This is where I want to be and from now on, I’m going to start fighting for it. No more pushing him away.
Noah pulls back and asks me for the third time. “Who did this to you?” he questions, looking into my eyes with nothing but concern and a sick desperate need for answers.
Realizing his patience is running thin, I can’t drag this out any longer. I take his hand in mine and thread our fingers together, loving the way his hand in mine makes my heart race in all the good ways.
I drop my eyes, unable to look at him, though I don’t know why. Maybe it’s shame for allowing this to happen or maybe it’s fear in being the one who has to tell him the ugliness of today. I let out a shaky breath and prepare myself for the worst. “It was Monica,” I whisper. “Her and Candice jumped me this afternoon with a bunch of the other cheerleaders.”
He takes a step back, watching me with uncertainty. "What?” he demands. “I know she can be a bitch, but she wouldn’t go this far, especially not now. Not with the baby.”
“Noah,” I sigh, tugging on his hand to pull him back in, absolutely hating myself. “That’s why she did it. There is no baby.”
I’ve never seen someone so still. “What are you talking about?”
I try tugging him to me again, but he pulls his hand from mine, absolutely gutting me, making me realize I have to suck it up and tell him the whole story. We’re never going to get past this if I can’t get it out. I need to be strong, not only for myself but for him too.
I swallow back my fears and give it to him straight. “After the nurse stitched me up this morning, I overheard Monica and Candice talking. Monica was asking advice on how to keep faking the pregnancy and Candice told her that in a few weeks when you realized there was no bump growing, she needed to fake a miscarriage so you’d feel obliged to stay with her.”
Noah shakes his head, unable to believe what I’m saying, but I don’t stop. I can’t. Not yet.
“I recorded the conversation and made the mistake of telling her that I was going to tell you. I should have just kept quiet,” I tell him as my eyes fill with unshed tears. “I should have gone to you straight away, but I was just so angry with you, with everything. I had to open my big fucking mouth.”
Finally, he steps back into me and wipes the tears as they fall. “What happened?” he demands, still as stiff as a board.
“There was a knock on my door. I thought it might have been you or Tully, but when I opened it, they barged through. Monica pushed me down and started beating on me with Candice while someone held me down and the rest of them searched my house and trashed it. They got my phone, deleted the recording, and then Monica smashed it.”
I let out a sigh. “Jackson and Kaylah cleaned me up and brought me here. I hope that’s ok. I just… I needed to see you after everything.”
“Jackson?” he questions with a strange jealously pulsing through his eyes as his fingers tighten around mine and has me desperate to set the story straight.
“He was helping me, that’s all. We talked through some shit and now I can really move on.” He seems to accept that answer and slowly nods his head.
Noah lets out a deep sigh and places both hands down on the bench beside my thighs before leaning into me and resting his head on my shoulder. I listen as he tries to calm himself, using me to help keep himself grounded as he takes slow deep breaths. My hand winds up his arm and hooks around his neck, holding him to me. “Are
you sure?” he questions. “There’s no baby?”
I squeeze his neck, giving him all of me. “There’s no baby.”
“So…me and Monica?”
“Are through.”
He raises his head and watches me before slowly pulling back, watching me as he retreats. “I’m going to make this right,” he promises before going to step away.
“No,” I cry in pure desperation, making him stop in the entryway of the kitchen, terrified of him leaving without knowing where we stand. “Please. Don’t go. It’s the middle of the night. Stay with me. I just… I need you to stay.”
Noah turns and those green eyes come to mine. As if sensing that need within me, he rushes forward and kisses me with an intense need and desire. His arms pull me in, crushing our bodies together while being careful not to hurt me.
I moan into him, winding my arms around him, holding him tight to me, and finally coming to terms with the reality of just how much I like him. In fact, I think it’s a little more than that. I think I’m falling for him. How could I not?
Noah picks me up off the counter and I wrap my legs around his waist again, knowing he’ll never let me fall. He walks down to his room, turning off the living room light as he goes and lays me down on his bed. “You know I love it when you wear my shirts.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“What else do you see in my eyes, Spitfire?” he questions, looking down at me with a burning desire, but buried under that is something I’m not quite sure of. Something I’ve never seen before. Is that love? Does he love me?
I look up at him with confusion and all he does is smile before bringing his lips back down to mine. “You’re fucking beautiful, Henley.”
Noah’s lips move to my neck and I let out a satisfied moan before reaching for his shirt and tugging it over his head, desperately needing to feel his warm skin beneath my fingers. He pulls the shirt over my head, being careful not to jostle me too much before his lips trail down further, exploring my body.
He kisses me where I have bruises forming and his gentle fingers somehow make it feel better. My eyes close as the pure pleasure pulses through me. I need more. I need all of him.
Untouchable: Haven Falls (Book 1) Page 19